Seeing God in the Everyday

 Seeing God in the Everyday

Sometimes we forget to see God in the day to day life. Yesterday I was talking a stroll on the coldest day of the year and saw a man taking time to feed the birds. Everyone calls him grandpa (gjyshi) his pockets are filled with candy for the children and he loves feeding the pigeons bread crumbs. I stopped to talk to him and was amazed by the mass amount of pigeons surrounding him. He puts a few bread crumbs on the ground but then he keeps some of the bread crumbs in his hand. As soon as he says come the bird almost fight to jump up in his hand. They aren't afraid of him at all.They know him. They trust him and they eat from his hand. Learned a lesson and asked him if I could take his picture.

A couple of things popped into my mind. First off Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Secondly the thought that God calls all of us to come. Do we listen and come to him? Are we afraid? Do we trust him? God has a great things for us all we have to do is trust and obey.

May we be more like this gjyshi!

Several years ago I started a MOPS group. It has transitioned over the years. Durres is filled with lots of foreign families now. They are in an unknown without knowledge of the language. These moms are desperately needing interaction with other moms. We rely on each other so much from asking simple questions like where do you buy this to what are you doing with your kids about this. We have become a close knit group.  I love these moms!!! Our moms group is filled with encouragement, helping each other, laughing until we cry, and big smiles! We talk and do simple crafts together, from painting rocks to making Valentine's day candy poppers from toilet paper rolls. It isn't about what we make or do but the amazing bond of motherhood we are building with each other!!

Thank you for praying for our outreach for Christmas! We had a full service and 4 new families came! We were able to give out food boxes and gifts to the children. Abby even played the violin in front of everyone. We sang and Arian gave a short message. We were glad to have a nice turnout from the community. 

Every week we go to the nursing home in Kavaje. For Christmas we bought hats and winter socks for them. We even bought a couple pairs of gloves to those who requested them. When we go Arian does a short Bible study to the residents who are interested. Two weeks ago the nursing home caught fire when a resident was smoking in her room and the blanket caught fire. Thank goodness the fire was contained to one room. There was smoke damage throughout the entire nursing home and the one resident did get burned but is healing. Please pray for the residents this week temperatures have dropped in the 30's and without heat it is very difficult for them. 

Service also continues in Luz i Madhe. We have two families that are very poor that we visit and encourage and usually take them food. They live off the land. One family celebrated the one year anniversary of the death of their husband/father. Another family is without electricity and has to do everything manually. They both live off whatever crops they plant. Even though they deal with such hardships they are always happy to see us and hear about God. Our friend Cleo from Germany was visiting for Christmas and he got to go with Arian to Luz i Madhe to encourage them! 

As for us, Abby has started violin lessons and is doing rather well. She is quick to pick up music skills and is also singing in the choir at school. She is doing great in 1st grade and loves school and is becoming quite a little reader. She is getting used to eating without her front teeth! Maybe they will grow back soon. (1st grade problems). David is doing well in 4th grade. He loves Math and and is reading very well in both Albanian and English. We are very thankful for these to blessings in our life. 

Please pray for: 

* Growth and revival of spirits and hearts in 2023! 

* Dr. Nikolla is 85 and starting to feel the effects of his age. Pray for his health and stamina. 

*People of Albania to be warm during this extremely cold week. 

*Salvation of the moms in the moms group. 

Thank you for all! We appreciate all your prayers and support for us! You are all a blessing! We'd love to hear from you anytime! 

God bless, 

The Kostas

Arian, Stefanie, David and Abby

L3 Rr Egnatia Ap 1043

Durres, Albania

kkdurres@gmail.com

Fb: Kisha Kristiane Albania