Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things.
This month, my squad is participating in “Manistry”, a time of ministry where men and women are separate. With a new team, we were asked to create a new name. My teammate Jami recommended Team Christmas, because ”We serve a God of Christmas morning surprises.” I eagerly adopted this new name and the new mindset that each day this month I would approach the Lord like a toddler running to see the tricycle that Santa brought.
[Except, God is way better than Santa— I do not even have to go sit in his lap at the mall. He offers His perfect gift to all. With Him, there is no worrying whether you have done enough to make the nice list. All you have to do is receive! That is another blog though.]
Just like the God of Christmas morning surprises that He is, God keeps filling this month with my favorite things—the children showering us with love everyday and singing to Jesus with contagious joy, teaching the Cupid Shuffle to 100 Albanian college students, and praying for individual requests of each student in an English class to later find out all are Muslim. Everyday has been exciting for me to participate in—not an act of service on my part but a gift that God has given to me!
This past Tuesday, ministry was certainly my area of expertise—babysitting— one of the top items on my resume. One of the missionary families’ 3 year old daughter was having an operation done, and they requested someone to watch the other two children. Abbie and I volunteered and arrived at their home early that morning.
For my first experience foreign-language-babysitting, I must say it went pretty well. The google translate app came in very handy as I could say “What do you want for lunch?” The creepy computer voice translated into Albania and their 2 year old, Emily, would reply “Macaroni!” Good, I know how to do macaroni.
Their 7 year old, Isabella, knew enough English to communicate that she would like to go to the park. Abbie and I, looking like professional nannies, took the bikes from the apartment balcony and walked hand in hand with our Albanian children to the park across the street. We chased them down all the sidewalks and pushed Emily on her trike, completing the trip with a stop by the market for candy on the way home.
We painted nails, read storybooks, played dress up, danced with teddy bears, watched Albanian cartoons, and the cherry on top for me, I took the liberty of using their wifi to FaceTime one of my best friends back home. Of course, as soon as their parents returned, we got tattled on for all the unspoken rules it is every babysitter’s prerogative to break. After the first 30 seconds Isabella had told dad about the park, the chocolate, and that she had met Chelsea in America. Cool Bella.
Returning home while the rest of the team were still helping out at the English school, Abbie and I grabbed some soup and cornbread and settled into bed with blankets and to watch The Sound of Music. I was on overload with things that warm my heart. I love children. I love spoiling children. I love coming home to a quiet house every now and then. I love movies. I love musicals, Julie Andrews, and Austria. I love snuggling. I love Abbie. I love days that are different from routine. I love that Iliora’s surgery went well. I love that we were able, in a small way, to help out a family who have dedicated their whole lives to ministry.
So as I reflected on the fuzzy feelings from the fulfilling day, Maria and I connected. I could sing her song with a few different words—
Dimples on children and praying for others. Singing to Jesus and being a “mother”. Just living life with the girls on my team. These are a few of my favorite things!
Bella showing off her freshly painted nails and Emily at breakfast
