We are sorry there hasn't been any recent postings. We have all had our share of sickness these past two weeks and simply getting out of bed has been a challenge. I don't think we've been that sick as a family ever!
We are currently getting better one at a time and right now Micah would be the worst out of all of us. We have experienced our first bout with culture shock and with tears came smiles of God's comfort and goodness. The culture shock hit when the doctor prescribed medicines in the wrong dosage and for the wrong body part twice. Being sick and having to look up every medicine before giving it to our family was exhausting but God was good to show us the need for this and therefore we avoided potential problems.
Last week Bulgaria announced a flu epidemic for the area and this news only made me want to hole up in our apartment and not get sick again. I began to wonder if my obsession with my anti-germ campaign was more culture shock than anything and part of it was. I guess I was hesitant to put our trust in the medical care here again and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. God softened my heart and reminded me that we dwell under the shadow of His wings and Psalm 91 brought me hope and faith to step out into our lives here again. I got a text message this morning telling me that Micah's school is cancelled for the next two weeks due to the flu and a man from my Mom's church has offered to check all the medicine we're prescribed with and look it up and the correct dosages for us. God spoils us and is prompt to take care of all the details! I love Him so much and He amazes me all the time with His love and goodness!
So what does a family who is just about well do when they live under the shadow of His wings...Go Sledding for a little bit!! Don't worry we stayed warm and only outside for a little bit! The pack of stray dogs helped bring us inside!! EEk!
Love you~!

Reason 202 to visit the Zoo...Cotton Candy!!!

Now who wouldn't want to visit the zoo and eat cotton candy that is the size of your entire body?! Just another reason we love the zoo here in Sofia!
On another note, Cameron and I seem to be allergic to Bulgaria and keep suffering from allergies that make us feel horrible! Please pray that this will be resolved.
Since we are limited in our language we have tried to show God's glory in ways in which we live. We have language home work every meeting and part of our homework is to create sentences with the things we have learned. One word I learned this past week was "Love" in Bulgarian and what better sentance to write out than John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that who ever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life"
I translated this verse to the best of my ability and my language teacher was able to correct my translation with her favorite red pen and begin her unexpected travel through scripture. I will continue to follow her home work expectations by using scripture as my sentence structure and include my new bulgarian words I've learned.
Acts of kindness in this cold cultured climate is another way we are showing God's glory. It is amazing at the reaction you recieve when you simply hand someone on the street a tissue for their nose, give a piece of candy to someone sitting next to you on the metro, or simply smile and say hello in your broken Bulgarian.
Thank you for praying for us!
Jenn

The answer to how many deer are now in the zoo after last winter's stray dog attack...#3! Micah and I are happy to display that number in the picture above! =)

THE ZOO

Today was Micah's second day of school and it started off with the usual egg sandwich! He rode the school bus for the first time today and daddy rode with him. At first he was very shy and daddy said he just laid his head in his lap and seemed a little bit scared. Soon another boy got on the bus that Micah recognized from his classroom and Micah quickly warmed up. Cameron said soon after he was sitting in the back of the bus with his other "new" friends having fun. The pictures are above and Micah's friend, the boy sitting next to him in the picture is a Roma child! Isn't it cool how God works?!
When Cameron came home from dropping off Micah, Ben and I took daddy to the zoo! We have heard stories of the zoo but have not actually made it there. Last year the zoo lost their deer exhibit to a pack of stray dogs who broke in through a hole and ate all the deers! (actually one male survived) I wondered if they had been replaced this winter or not and unfortuately did not get to find out.
The zoo was massive and covered in snow. Alot of the animals were in indoor exhibits. The wolves were amazingly friendly and seem more like the dogs we're used to. They wagged their tails and begged for affection, unlike the stray dogs who roam around the streets outside the zoo. The lions and tigers were extremely loud when they roared and since we were indoors the sound threatened to burst one's ear drums! Only a bar keeps you arms length from touching their cage so eyes on children must be practiced diligently! A zoo keeper didn't make the job of warning children of danger very easy when he went past the bar and pet on the lion treating him more like an indoor pet kitty~ The whole experience was extremely cool and we only saw a small fraction of the zoo due to time restraints of needing to pick up Micah and go to language school. We hope to return tomorrow and take Micah and the sled! Two other things we noticed at the zoo: A stray dog is roaming around and so the deers should be warned! As seen in the above pictures...The zoo will feed the lions dead horses from the Roma and you can have a full experience of smelling their food and seeing them enjoy it. I don't believe we had the enjoyment of a dead horse but we did enjoy the left overs of another animal that the wolves and foxes were feasting on! Ben loved this! gross boy!

Wednesday

Micah starts school on Wednesday! I was so excited for this day, so excited for him, and now I am sitting on the couch crying! I want the desire of his heart to have friends to be fulfilled and I know he will be fine but I am wavering in my strenth. Today he watched a Bulgarian cartoon and called out to me from the bath tub that night "Mamo" which sounds like 'Mom-Mo' (means mom) and it was this moment in our day that I keep finding peace in. He is picking up Bulgarian everyday on his own and when he is in a class setting being taught the language I know he will thrive! It is important for him to go and it is equally important for me to let go and trust God. Pray for our family as we begin making life adjustments that will equip us for ministry in Bulgaria.

Hide and Seek

There is alot to update on and by this weekend we will have some new posts. I thought Ben's little hide and seek adventure will help you understand one of the lessons we have learned during our short time here...Not everything is as it first appears! As seen in the pictures above, it looks like there is a simple guitar case laying on our bed but as you come closer you discover it just appears that way. The guitar case is really just a great hiding place for a 3 year old who is small enough to climb in and stay there quietly! Bulgaria has been alot like that guitar case sitting on the bed. Things seem as simple as a guitar case laying on a bed, but when you get closer to what you assumed was something you've seen a thousand times you realize first appearances are not always what they appear to be.
The other lesson that is reflected in the pictures above is what we are learning every day and what Ben learned today with the guitar case...Sometimes our expectations are bigger than the reality at hand. No matter the passion or determination, Ben could not get Mommy into the guitar case!

It's been one month!

When I looked at the 7-day weather projection for this week I asked "Hmm, I wonder what a snow shower is?" It's raining flakes of snow in a "down-pour" fashion! So my question was answered. Some may think this question to be silly but growing up if I heard the word "snow" I was jumping up and down excited and didn't care if it was a shower or one flake in the midst of sleet! The kids have enjoyed the snow too! Yesterday Cameron and the boys threw snowballs and the snowman was unsucessful but attempted. I will apologize now for any grammar mistakes in our blogs. During language learning I have found the letters begin to turn backwards and your brain struggles to figure out what language you are attempting to speak and you end up horrible at both!
In a facebook post yesterday I mentioned that our organization provides training for those who are moving overseas and to the best of their ability they will prepared you for the things you will encounter while living abroad. I mentioned that our organization should include training on how to ice skate on sidewalks as I learned through falling three times that I'm not good at it! It was amazing to see children who have grown up here literally skating down streets and doing tricks as they show off for one another. I asked Cameron if he fell on his way to class and he said no. I asked him how he managed to keep from falling and he said very simply "Stay off the ice." Hmmm, if only I would have thought of that! lol He's a nerd and ended up falling his fair share while taking out the trash this morning =)
Please pray for Cameron as he will travel this weekend with a member of our church and their band out of town near a mountain range towards Turkey. The group he is traveling with holds Christian concerts and will be holding a concert for school aged children this weekend. Schools here, much like in American schools, do not allow religious education/influence into school and this is a way to gather kids and introduce them to the gospel. This trip will also provide Cameron with an opportunity to explore other places in Bulgaria and look for Roma clusters to possibly work with in the future. Please pray for Cameron's safety, ministry opportunities amongst the kids that are gathered, and knowledge of the area that Cameron travels to for potential ministry opportunites.
Yesterday we looked into a school for Micah and should we gain approval he would start January 3rd. The school is a Bulgarian Christain School and is perfect for what we were looking for. The teachers are Bulgarian and teach in Bulgarian however his teacher has an English degree and can address and understand any needs Micah should express. The school also adheres to Bulgarian national standards and when Micah eventually transfers into national school he will be on target. He will finish the remainder of this year at 3 days a week and then will re-do kinder for next year at 5 days a week in the same school. This will give him an introduction to Bulgarian school without being overwhelming and then he will be ready for full-time September 1st. He already made a friend at the school named Grace and it seemed the perfect name of his first friend because it truly was by God's grace that we feel this school has been provided!
The pictures above are of our crazy hair game. I make my hair crazy and chase the boys around trying to poke them with my hair horn. The other pictures are of us on the balcony watching the first snow fall.
We love you!!!
Thanks for praying!

From December to December

It was last December that I was laying in bed crying over the loss of our fifth and last baby. I cried out to God and then my mind started to ponder our work in Bulgaria and the orphanages I would have the opportunity to visit. I immediately began thinking of the babies and children who needed a mother and how I was a mother who longed for another child. It was at this moment that God interrupted my thoughts and demanded my attention. He clearly told me that I would follow Him to Bulgaria with my eyes focused on Him and nothing else. If He added to our family while we were there it would happen while my eyes were focused on Him. He told me to quit trying to fix the broken pieces of my heart with a baby. I cried some more and rededicated my thoughts and focused my eyes on Him alone. The next day at church Pastor Lee told a story about an orphanage in Russia and of some missionaries that helped the orphans recreate the manger scene. They were confused when one of the orphans had two symbols for baby Jesus in the manger. The orphan explained that unlike the wise men who brought gifts for baby Jesus, he had nothing to give. The orphan then explained that Jesus told him that he could get in the manger with Him and if he got in His manger he could be with Him forever. At that very moment God spoke to me and said "Jennifer quit focusing on putting babies in your crib and focus on putting them in My manger. Even if you adopt forty children and put them in your cribs, there are still hundreds of thousands who have not made it into my manger." Oh I still get teary eyed recounting those tender but needed times with God and the focus He gave me!
This week I have had the opportunity and privilege to visit several orphanages around and outside the city of Sofia. It was so sweet reflecting back from last December until now. Last December I could only imagine the orphans that I so longed to work with and this December I was playing with their hair and holding their hands as we exchanged smiles and love. I cannot tell you how badly they need the hope of Christ and what that baby in the manger means for them. I cannot tell you how squeezed my heart was and how overwhelmed I felt at the capacity of needs that overflowed in each situation. One day we may be given direction from God to adopt, but at this moment my eyes are focused on how God wants to move amongst the Roma in those orphanages and put as many of them in His manger as possible. Pray for the orphans around the world who need the hope of Jesus and the Roma who seem to dominate the population inside the orphanages I visited. As you sit around your tree opening presents this year keep in mind those who still need to meet the greatest free gift of all, eternal life and a relationship with Jesus. He is the only one in life who will never leave them nor forsake them! If you attend a church that takes up a Lottie Moon Christmas offering please consider donating to that offering. Lottie Moon is essential in funding and sending missionaries overseas to do the work God has called them to do. Thank you for giving to this offering, it is because of those who give that we are able to be here in Bulgaria!