A Note From Greece

Hey everyone,
I have been getting messages and emails asking us if we are ok. Yes, we are fine. Life in Agios Dimitrios is business as usual. The strikes haven't really affected us in any way, and we are far enough away from Syntagma Square to have to worry about anything directly affecting our family.  Of course, we will be avoiding the downtown area for a while.

A picture of the αστυνομικός outside the financial building, picture courtesy of Athens News.

In case you have no idea what I am ever referring to, there have been massive strikes and continuous protests in Athens over austerity measures for the last two days. Parliament is voting on the measures this week, and there will be severe pay cuts to go along with everything else. But, the parliament really has no choice in the matter, or else the EU is going to stop the bailout that Greece so desperately needs. That isn't going to stop the Greek people from letting the government know this does NOT make them happy. But the thing that you won't read in the media is that there ARE people that want to peacefully protest, but the Anarchist and Communist groups here in Athens are taking advantage of the press and situation and throwing rocks, chairs, and Molotov cocktails at the police. This is making the peaceful protestors mad, because then the protests have to stop.

In any case, I just wanted to give everyone a quick update and ask everyone to please pray for Greece. The people here are really struggling with unemployment and don't know how to deal with the imminent situation regarding pay and government spending cuts. Can you blame them? Please also pray that God would protect the police officers... we are watching them on the news and it is clear they are not very organized and are really lacking in what we would consider in the US to be essential policing equipment (according to Travis who was an officer for a short time).

We know that God really wants to touch this country with the love and grace of His Son, Jesus Christ. Please join us in prayer.

Gutter Potato

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that the economic situation in the United States is really affecting our family (even though we live in Greece, our support comes from saints in the States since it's illegal for us to work here). But we always try to keep a sense of humor about it, knowing that ultimately, God will provide. This week as we were walking home from our outdoor market where we bought 6 lemons, 30 eggs, and one head of lettuce. Normally we would have gotten more vegetables but the budget was really tight this week. So as we are crossing the street away from the market, I saw that someone dropped a potato on the street. It was sitting in the curb, and it looked fine to me at a quick glance. I thought about it, and I asked Travis if he thought I should grab it. "What are you going to do with one potato?" He joked, but then he realized I was serious, and he pointed out the potato was in a dirty gutter. "We have sunk to new lows," he said, and we both bursted out laughing.

Come on, it's funny! Have you ever been in a similar position? All you can do is laugh or cry and laughing is much more fun, and burns more calories. Fast forward to later this week and I was at the grocery store getting the most essential things food wise, and as an extra I was going to buy some frozen fries. Well, I didn't have enough for the fries, so I asked (gesturing of course, because I don't how to say freezer in Greek) the helpful young man working at the store put them back in the freezer. And all I could think about was that potato in the gutter! Ha ha ha ... and then I thought, well you could really only make like 10 small fries out of that, and it would be a waste of energy to make such a little amount. But you know, next time I see a potato in the gutter, I think I will pick it up and wash it off when I get home. It never hurts to have an extra potato.

Photo Tour

I have been slowly working on getting our living room decorated, and I'm pretty sure it is finished. Take a look :)

Comic book frame.

T-shirt quilt along with comic book frames.

Finally got some RIT packs in the mail from my mom to dye our slip covers.

Today I also had an involuntary reaction, in a good way. Kati dropped her hat at the outdoor market (big shock, right? lol) and this man handed it to me. I said thank you (in Greek of course) and did the Greek sign language for "I really, seriously thank you!" without even thinking about it. I had never even done it before, but I see people do it all the time. Anyway, that was a cool moment for me because it means I'm picking up things from this culture.

God bless! Hope you are having a wonderful day :)

Longing

Hey everyone :) I hope this blog entry finds you well as we enter into the wonderful, long days of summer.

Today I want to talk about something pretty serious, longing. Not just any kind of longing, but longing for someone.

long-ing: n. a strong persistent yearning or desire, especially one that cannot be fulfilled.

Quite a while ago, when I first started this blog, I mentioned that I had a miscarriage in between Ksena and Katienne (I was only 7 weeks along, but it still stung). For anyone who has experienced this, you know it's not fun, at all. I feel much better today, but for the past couple of days I felt sad. Sometimes I get into this stage for a few days where I miss the baby, and I think about it, what it would look like… what its personality would be… I miss him or her. And I believe that our child is up in heaven, and someday I will get to meet them. But I get into this funk for a few days where I just long for them. I can't help when it happens or how long it will last. It feels like I got punched in the stomach, and although I can still go about my daily duties, it gnaws at my insides. And there is nothing I can do about it. I can't just go see them, they aren't here. It reminds me that God did not intend for man to die, and death is not something we were made to deal with.

This definitely motivates me, to understand a small part of what God is feeling, and knowing I can do something about it by sharing His gospel with others. Also, by living as a witness of His love and grace ("A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies." Proverbs 14:25).

But it also reminds me to have an eternal perspective. God created all the people on this earth, and He loves them. He longs for them! It says it right here in 2 Peter 3:9-

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

I don't want you to worry, I'm fine, really. God's grace is sufficient for me. I just wanted to give you some food for thought this week. God loves you! He longs for you! He created you because He wants to spend time with you. He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants these things, but He can't make you love Him or want to be with Him. You are the one that chooses. Just know you can depend fully on Him.

Have a good week!

Kristin

Big Announcement!

First of all I want to update you on our plane tickets. We finally got them, the price went down to semi-reasonable and the money God provided was enough. We just posted an update on our missionary blog. Check it our here for more details and info on what we need prayer for.

I have been kind of off grid the last couple of days because I have been working on the blog I mentioned earlier, about traveling with young children. Well today I officially launched it! Please check it out:


Sprouts En Route

I am really excited about it!

You might be thinking, what does that mean for this blog? Nothing bad, that's for sure! I am more dedicated to keeping up this blog than I was before, and I am learning a lot about blogging through experience of having a professional blog. I actually have a few goals I want to implement on this blog as well.

The first thing I want to do is incorporate more video blogs. I am going to say once a month for now. I also want to start blogging recipes. I do A LOT of cooking, and I have made up a few recipes since there are a lot of American ingredients I cannot get here in Athens (although I have to say there are a lot more here than other countries I have lived in). I am going to commit to blogging on this site once a week for now, until I get my new schedule figured out with SER (sprouts...) and language study, which I am trying to spend more time doing. I am also homeschooling Ksena, and I need to spend more time making lessons and things, because she catches on pretty quickly.

So, in closing, I'm really excited, and I hope you will enjoy the changes coming on this site, as well as the new one.

One more thing, since I'm making changes to THIS blog as well, is there anything you would like to see me change/incorporate on here? Please be honest, I won't get offended. Email me, or leave a comment.

God bless!!!
Kristin

Day w/the Girls

Today Travis, Frank, and Suzie (Szuszu... as Kati calls her) are riding with Jonathan (the leader of Helenic Ministries) to the HM camp so they can catch up. Jonathan has been really busy lately and this is a good time for him and Frank to talk.

So I am home with the girls today :) Ksena started learning to draw uppercase letters today! I have to say, I am really blessed. We get school done super fast because she is really motivated! She loves "school" with mommy. Kati still isn't feeling well, we think it is a growth spurt and have ruled out an ear infection because she hasn't been pulling on her ear or anything since a few days ago.

I wish I would have started video blogging earlier! My video blog entry is 3 views away from being my most popular post ever. Thanks for viewing :)

Travis really needs new shorts... lol. He has been wearing the same pair every day since it started getting hot. I found some at OldNavy that are a pretty reasonable price. If anyone has an ON gift card they aren't planning on using, I know a missionary that will put it to good use ;) Or if anyone wants to send us some used size 30W shorts... please don't hesitate to send me an email. Hey, it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

We found out that we did get some $ in for our Hungary trip, so please pray that the plane ticket prices would go down, or they would run a special or something. Right now they are $450 each! Yikes... but we know God supplied us with a certain amount of $ and changing the ticket prices is no big deal for Him to do.

And now here is a message from Kati:
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God bless :)