Some pictures from today's post

The park and romping through the woods!

A need for a cattle prong!

HA! Public transportation is a fine art and there are unspoken rules you must know before taking part in this art. Rule 1: Know the language of your country so you know the spoken rules! Rule 2: If you don't know the language you will find great comfort in not knowing when you are being cursed out =D Rule 3: When the bus is so full that the doors won't close just squeeze in tighter because at least ten more people are going to get on! Just be happy you aren't the one hanging out of the bus! Rule 4: If you would have allowed your wife to purchase those cool numb-chucks she saw the day before then she could have taken care of the man who very rudely shoved her husband around when he couldn't squeeze further. Rule 5: Walking is sometimes the greatest gift of all and should be taken with pleasure during a beautiful day~
LOL oh the joys of learning new things =)

This week has been a great week. Ben started a little day school Monday through Friday and Micah attends with him on Tuesday and Thursday. Two of their friends already attend there and so it gives them plenty of time to learn language and play with kids they love. The teacher is wonderful and takes her time to give one on one learning time with each child. During the summer the kids can sign up for fencing lessons, cooking lessons and field trips. This was our first week and everyone did great with the new schedule. Cameron and I found moments in the day that we could actually have lunch together between or after language class or explore a different part of our city without having to worry about little ones. The week ended with a beautiful day spent at the park and exploring a wooded area. We then decided after all that romping around in the woods that we should spend some time googling poisionous snakes in our country and made a plan to stay only on the trails from now on! HA!

Cameron will be going out of town on Saturday with a church from Louisiana. Please pray for the ministry opportunities that will take place this weekend and next week and for their safety as they serve the Lord in northwest Bulgaria.
My sweet friend Ginna is also coming into town next week to spend some time with us and I am SO SUPER excited to see her!
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement from our last post! We are very blessed to have such a great body of believers that will faithfully lift us up!

Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?

On a scale of 1 to 10, the last two weeks have been the hardest weeks we have faced since arriving. The enemy went after our hearts by attacking our son. Unfortunately there was an older boy at school who had been inappropriate with Micah and thankfully Micah told us about it before it got any further. We know you can respect us to allow us to spare the details and I assure you that everything will be okay, but no one wants to have to even deal with shallow issues regarding this topic with their kids. There were a lot of tears and sadness for everyone involved.
This sweet boy was adopted a year ago and more than likely has experienced some darkness in his fragile years of life living in the orphanage. Thankfully he has been given a gift of hope and placed in a loving Christian home but this family needs your prayers for strength, wisdom and healing for this boy. I am sure that as they seek God's wisdom and counsel they will rise above any of his past pains and have a mouth of praise for a Savior who restores and makes all things new!

Last Wednesday was our hardest day and after spending some time in prayer and tears we decided to get out of the house and look for a fun distraction. We ended up at the mall in a big game room and waited for our turn to play a game the boys love. While waiting, I noticed two roma boys playing with the air hockey machine with a ping pong ball. They were having a great time with their 'free' re-invention of air hockey and I would retrieve the ball when I saw it fly through the game center and give it back to them. They were surprised at my continuing to give them their ball and I noticed the puzzled look on their face as to why I was "wasting my time" doing that for them. I took a moment to say hi to them when I gave them the ball and smile every chance I got and they took the chance to ask me for some change to play a real game of air hockey. We only had a game card and so I couldn't give them any change but I invited them to play with our boys at the game we were waiting in line for. They agreed and all four boys played their hearts out. While Micah, Ben, Mitko and Rauko were having a great time, I went and bought Burger King for everyone. We all sat down for dinner and I noticed the oldest boy take a bite out of the burger, then a chicken nugget and then a french fries. It was as if he couldn't decide what to eat first and feared getting too full before he was able to enjoy the taste of everything. Mitko told me about his 6 sisters and 3 brothers at home and I told him I had a lot of children too. He looked confused at that statement and then asked if my other children were at home. I told him they were at home with God. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use our biggest heart aches to turn other hearts to Him when we allow ourselves to choose to use our grief for His glory. As Mitko listened he began to see me as a human rather than just an American. Mitko said he believed in God but he didn't go to church. Dinner was coming to an end and Mitko became insistent on telling me something and this is where my language hit a brick wall. To my shame I assumed he was asking me for money for his family. He was using hand motions and repeating the same thing over and over. When I told him that I couldn't give him money I very clearly understood his body language of frustration with me and the sentence "I am not asking you for money." I was embarrassed! I asked Cameron to call a Bulgarian brother in Christ and get him to translate for me. Our friend translated to me that Mitko was saying "Just like God doesn't like us to waste anything; I don't like to waste either." He didn't want me to throw away any leftovers but instead wanted to take them home to his family! Talk about feeling worse! At that moment I wanted to apologize and give him all my money! lol Since our friend was on the phone I wanted to invite him and his brother to church with us on Sunday. Our friend translated the request and told him to meet us at the mall at 10:30. Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not." We told him whether he came or not, we would be there waiting. On Sunday Mitko and Rauko were waiting for us! =D After church I asked them if they would want to come again and Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not" =) So once again we will pray and see if they meet us on Sunday.

As I said in the beginning of this post it had been a horrible day but each day we all have a question to answer: "Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?"
Judgment is coming. Our Lord will return and the Bible says that EVERYONE will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There are some who find comfort in denying Hell's existence but there is no way of getting around it in scripture. We know there is eternal life and there is eternal death and the sword of judgment is coming to separate those who are covered under the grace of Jesus Christ forgiveness and faith in Him and those who cover their eyes and ears to the truth of God's Word. To be blunt the last three weeks in Bulgaria have been the hardest and we have cried a lot, but it does not excuse us from being the watchman God calls us to be and overlook sharing the truth with those who have not been told.
"If the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the trumpet, so that the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, BUT I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood." Ezekiel 33:6
We had lifted the issues of the day to God in prayer before we left the house and felt His peace cover us and assure us everything would be okay. It would have been easy to continue to wallow in the situation as I have done so many times before and miss what God was doing right in front of me but it is in those times I am not allowing God's grace to be sufficient for me. Pray that there is never a day I spend so focused on me that I miss an opportunity to share Him with others. Only God is the great "I AM" and so when I find myself defending my day's choices with "But I am..." I need to ask myself which 'I AM' I am serving that day. In the game room I almost said "But I am sad" "But I am going through something right now" and the list could have continued. Praise God for a heart that says "You are and by your grace and as your child you are the only I AM I will serve today and I know Your grace is sufficient in this moment!"

A girl named "Awesome"

When Micah first met my friend this weekend, I told him her name and he thought I said her name was "Awesome" and so we keep her named "Awesome" as a running joke. Out of respect for her privacy on this blog, we will keep her real name private and use Micah's name for her instead, "Awesome"
Awesome was one of the first people I met in December when I accompanied our church during their holiday orphanage ministry. It was a breath of familiar air when this beautiful girl started speaking english to me! Awesome had lived in America for a little while when she participated in a program offered in Bulgaria to work in a forign country for a specific amount of time. During her time in America she was drawn to take a Tae Kwon Do class that she couldn't afford or easily travel to. Something was pulling Awesome to this school and while she thought about the limitations of it being a practical choice, an employee came out and asked her if she wanted to sign up during their One Month Free offer. She immediately signed up!
While taking this class she met a Christian woman that befriended her and sought her friendship. Awesome has told me several times that she knew she was a Christian (she had no idea what that meant or what they really believed) but the woman witnessed with few words and with alot of deed! Awesome had to be admitted to the hospital and the woman stayed by her bed side the whole time. When Sunday came, Awesome realized that she stayed beside her and did not leave for the hour to go to church. Awesome said that it was then that she realized that being a Christian wasn't a religious thing but it was instead relational. Awesome moved to another state and found herself feeling like she needed to find what the woman had so passionately demonstrated towards her. It was during her visit to the local Baptist church in her new state that she met her Savior, Jesus Christ and it was Him who she had been missing! Awesome did not get a further work visa permit and had to return to Bulgaria. The church in America made some phone calls and got Awesome in touch with the Baptist church in Sofia. Awesome is faithfully sharing her faith with family, friends and co-workers. Please pray for the people she has purchased Bibles for and who she continues to witness to.
You never know where you will be or who you will meet when God places someone in your life who needs to know Him. Bride of Christ in America, you are a melting pot of all people groups coming onto your soil for work. Go out of your way to befriend those who may look different, talk different or seem culturally different. When we get out of our comfort zone we may possibly have the opportunity to introduce someone to Christ who will then return to their country and be a light for those they know best. You can send out missionaries all the time, but it just might be YOU who God wants to use to introduce all peoples, tongues and tribes to Him! Open your eyes and see the multitudes, they just might be living next door!