Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving day

Our table will be spread with Ocean Spray Cranberries, which I found yesterday. We have fresh sweet potatoes, which someone graciously brought us from the states. There will be potatoes and dressing, gravy and beans and a skinny village turkey who gave his life for us yesterday. His lack of size will be supplemented with roast chicken. Even without the Butterball it is STILL very much Thanksgiving Day.

So many forget the thankfulness of the day and only focus on the turkey. And the tradition of America is a great meal set on the table this day in November.

But today amidst the craziness of our lives, I'm glad for a day to stop and give thanks. We have so much to be thankful for today.

First is God's great gift of salvation through his Son, Jesus. That is amazing. I'm thankful for His Holy Spirit who intercedes for us when we don't have the words to do so and comforts us with a peace that passes all understanding.

I'm thankful that God called me to Moldova and gives me the great privilege of serving Him here.

I'm thankful for a wonderful husband and three wonderful girls who also love to live and serve in Moldova.

I'm thankful for Shauna, who has given this year to teach our girls, freeing my time.

I'm thankful for all of those who have given to build the Home of Hope and I'm thankful for Misha, Victor, Valentin and the rest of the crew over there that are doing such a beautiful job constructing the home. They give of their time (even if it is a job) so willingly and stay in the home, even still, when the heat is not quite yet in!

I'm thankful for each one who supports us in giving and in prayer.

I'm thankful for our health and our strength for each new day.

God has blessed us so much and it is good to stop and Thank him for all the blessings, even if the turkey has exercised a bit too much in his life to make him fat and tender, I'm thankful that we found one just to say we could taste it today!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Tired of the Battle

Right now we are exhausted. Since returning to Moldova in August we have had one battle after another.

Our container is still not released in Ukraine. It is a waste of time to tell all that has gone on, but the fight with it continues and the shipping company there continues to make problems, although they had promised that the container would be released on Monday.

The problems continue to rise and we are really lost about what to do.

Please intercede for us. We are just lost about this and we are exhausted in the battle.

We want to just get this stuff done and be able to concentrate on the work we came here to do.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Family Matters

Please pray this week for my family in Minnesota.

Some of you know my dad has Alzheimer's. His disease is affecting his physical body faster than the deterioration of his mind. His care is becoming a 24/7 job that my mom just cannot manage alone. The wear on my mom's physical and emotional being is also very evident.

I'm very blessed to be the youngest of 6 children. Four of my siblings all live within a 20 minute radius of my parents. They have been meeting and this week they are going to talk to my parents about how they are going to need to make a change in their living situation. They just can't manage on their own any longer.

It is tough because my dad needs care, but his mind is still enough there that a memory care facility isn't right for him. My mom could still live many years easily on her own and so isn't quite ready for assisted living. But something has to happen that they can both deal with. They'll be married 54 years in March and to talk of splitting them up isn't easy either.

This week my brothers will talk with my dad and a nurse will evaluate him. They will also need to talk with my mom. The holidays are going to be very tough for my family there.

I ask you to pray for my family, the Horns, this week.

And I know you wonder how I'm doing. I'm okay with all of this. I have been dealing with this in a different way and maybe processing longer than the rest because I've been away so. I also knew last year that it was most likely my last year with my dad and that I'd be leaving him maybe for the last time when I boarded the plane in August. So, I'd been dealing with this for some time. But, yes, it is still hard to be slowly losing my dad.

I know that the weeks ahead are going to be hard for all those involved. Please pray for wisdom in words, grace and dignity in actions and peace in the storm as we cross one of these hurdles that is always a difficulty in life.

Thanks for your prayers, once again.

Blessings.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Peace in the midst

Today the rain is falling. It is cold and seems that it could easily turn to snow. I just want to stay indoors! On Sunday morning the wind blew and it kept knocking out our power as I tried to get ready for Church. It would go off and on, off and on. This is the time of unexpected weather!

Our lives continue to hold the unexpected also. We still don't have permits in hand, but we've been told to relax and they will happen. So we are relaxing and we'll see what happens in early December.

And our container with our shipment is in port, has been paid by the company we work with all the way from the US to our fair city, but the trucking company in Ukraine is trying to extort money from us.

Yes, we can say these are spiritual battles and they are. But sometimes I think they are more battles to help us grow in Christ and to help us be formed spiritually. Things don't work right in this part of the world. The governments are corrupt. Our government here is more authoritarian. (No matter what your politics, be thankful for the checks and balances in America). So because of these things, there is a battle.

I think the battle is far beyond only our family. Yes, it is a huge frustration, but anyone who has lived overseas knows that the governments and systems overseas don't operate like in America and people that are corrupt routinely get away with it and get rich doing so. The battle is a spiritual battle not just for our family, but for the very soul of this country.

So please pray that we can quickly resolve the issue with the shipment. But also pray for a spiritual break through here in Moldova and for other countries that are held by such power of darkness.

I thank you also for your prayers because I do feel God's peace on my life in this time.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Found my friend

These last weeks have been extremely difficult. The stress of not knowing and wondering what we need to do has been huge. We are not all the way through this yet, as we still don't have documents, but we are assured they will come and so we wait.

Last Friday we were having coffee at our favorite cafe' and I found my friend, Nastia. I have written about her in the past. Many have prayed for her and written to ask how she is. Well, I couldn't find her. Several times I'd called her cell phone, but it was always off. This usually means someone has left that number. Nothing helped me to find her.

So in the restaurant Elissa says to me, "Mom, is that Nastia?" The woman was going down the stairs to leave the restaurant and I could not see her face. So I ran after the woman and said, "Nastia?" She turned and we had a happy reunion.

It is a long story of what has happened to her life in the past 1 1/2 years, but she is married to a Greek, has a beautiful baby girl and lives here and in Romania. It was just wonderful to see her, meet her husband and baby. They were leaving the country again that day, but she will be back in a few weeks and we will meet intentionally at that time. I'm so glad to have an answer to her where abouts. Thanks for your continued to prayers for her.