30 Things I'm Thankful to God for in 2014

I started this list wanting to do a thanksgiving for each day of November and also walking through what all He's done for us this year. I thought I would be overwhelmed trying to come up with 30 but this list took me less than 10 minutes and I could have gone on for so much longer! It was great to remind myself that God has given me SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for each and every day!  I am so thankful to my God and Savior this Thanksgiving day for being a living and active God in my life!

1. creating the job description within our company that matches our passion for University students and Serbia.
2. The sale of our house within 24 hours for more than our asking price.
3. The spiritual growth that came with selling all of our belongings, trusting Him, and this move.
4. The friends and family in our lives that allowed us to stay with them, eat their food and consume their space with 3 littles who were not yet sleeping through the night or potty trained!
5. The wonderful ministry and team we were able to be apart of at Tech BSM.
6. Our great church family in Lubbock who was everything God made the church to be.
7. Our Lubbock friends who walked with me through some of life's hardest and greatest times.
8. FBC College ministry which allowed us to invest in our passion and its awesome leadership.
9. For the mission house in Lubbock that allowed our family to have some stability and time together during all of our transitions.
10. For my kids' friends and their great Christian influence on my kids' lives.
11. For our grandparents who did a wonderful job of spoiling our kids and us while we stayed with them.
12. For beautiful Texas weather and swimming pools.
13. For beautiful nature for our enjoyment.
14. For the best cousins and aunts and uncles for our kids.
15. For our extended family love and support.
16. For our many pryr partners who choose to support us and walk this journey with us.
17. For FBC Bellville for the love and support and special sending off service.
18. For my Bar Nun family.
19. For a safe plane ride overseas.
20. For a great team to join and work with.
21. For our company's leadership and their character and examples.
22. For a friendly warm hospitable culture to live in.
23. For rivers.
24. For friendships already made.
25. For neighbors.
26. For the believers in Belgrade.
27. For a great home.
28. For hot water.
29. For jalopenos.
30. For my beautiful family God has blessed me with- Stephen, Makayla, Maddy, and Nate

and on and on it goes...   Thank you Jesus for each moment!

Welcome to Serbia

So much has been going on and I have so much I need to write! I apologize for the lack of posts since we’ve arrived in Serbia, every day seems to be full of a new adventure and it takes awhile to do even the everyday things when in a new culture and foreign language.

Arrival

We arrived to an amazing welcoming crew and much to our surprise, zero customs- we just got our luggage and walked right out of the airport! Our team leaders took us to eat and show us around our block the first night.

Our neighborhood

 We live in New Belgrade. Everything we need is within walking distance and we have a mall just a few blocks away. Stephen's work is in the apartment complex right next to ours.

Our home (I attempted to plug a video tour of our new home here but couldn't get it to work) you can check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/mandy.alexander.18

The City

                                         The Sava River
                                         (1-2 miles from our house)  

                                                               

                                          Walking Street (tourist area)

Orthodox Church in New Belgrade

(right by our house)

Happenings

                                                                       Playgrounds

                                                 Bus Rides (usually they are jammed packed)

                                                                      Flea Market

                                                               Eating European Style

                                                                    Chasing Pigeons

We have been doing lots of furniture shopping trying to set up our new home, exploring the markets and our neighborhood, and learning culture. Things take a lot longer to get something done here when you have to walk where you want to go or use the bus system, when you can’t speak the language and can’t read signs or food labels, when you have to google translate messages in order to communicate, and when you don’t have a dryer and have 3 messy kids J  We are enjoying our time though and love learning.

Fun Story to End With (I could tell so many already!)

We had been in the country right at 1 week. We had learned that this culture is very laid back and an appointment doesn’t always mean anyone will show up (3 out of 4 scheduled appointments were no shows that week already) and this is a night culture so you never know what time someone might come by.  It was 8:45 that night, the kids were asleep and Stephen and I were in the living room. A plumber was supposed to have come by that day but did not show. All of a sudden we hear keys rattling in our door.  3 people proceed to enter our house, 2 men and a woman. I met them at the door and it shocked them. None spoke English very well. I assumed maybe it was the plumber and an apartment manager who was letting him in, not knowing the customs for this culture. I did wonder why he didn’t have his tools and why all three of them? But I proceeded to direct them to the bathroom and explain in hand motions what was wrong with our plumbing. They were nodding there heads and saying “Da Da” (Yes, Yes). After that, they pointed to the kids’ rooms and wanted to enter. I told them (in hand motions) my kids were sleeping. So they then started going into our kitchen. By this point I realize they are not here to fix our plumbing issues. One man who spoke very broken English managed to say they wanted to buy the place. I was thinking maybe like in America, sometimes people can rent a place while the owner is still trying to sell the house. I asked if he knew our landlord, the owner of the apartment and then explained/ motioned that we had just signed a 2 year contract. When they understood, everyone started laughing and they were on their way. Stephen the entire time was thinking, “Who all has keys to my apartment?!” It turns out, our owner forgot to tell one of her realtors that the place had been rented. Oh the adventures!

Life in Training

So it's been awhile since I've been able to post. We are exhausted and pretty much are ready to fall into bed by the end of the days here. We've had good times and bad but I underestimated the physical and mental strains of this process but are so grateful that we get to be on the ride :)  Some highlights from the past month:
Going to the Beach

Visiting Washington DC

DC went great! We were able to test out our city skills with all three kids and it went amazing- with one exception at the very beginning where we got cussed out for not running down the escalator for the train- we learned quickly :) Nate rode on my back all day and the girls took turns in the stroller and working on their leg muscles and endurance.

A Week of Sickness

We all got a strain of the flu that seemed to last forever. The flu then caused pink eyes and earaches resulting in one busted eardrum. I think we are all better and have our last follow up appointment for Makayla this Monday. It is good to have our "normal" kids back.

Trying Food from a Balkan Restaurant (the area we are moving to)

We are not going to go hungry for sure!

Princess Parties

One of my favorite parts of training has been the community living. This is so unlike America and I've enjoyed it so much! We live together, eat together, go to class together, play together, worship together. We've loved it!

Nate's 1st big boy haircut

My baby boy has grown up so much in the short time we've been here. He was barely walking when we got here and now he is climbing a jungle gym, walking across bridges and going down way too big of slides!  He has already said his first Serbian phrase- "Dobro Dan" which means "Good Day" although he has no clue the meaning.

My Girls

The girls have loved every minute of being here I think! We are going to have to be on alert after this type of living because they will now walk up and talk to anyone and everyone and be their best friend. The university students here have adopted our children and make the girls feel right at home. The girls are also enjoying every minute of their school and I am so grateful to have the help and am amazed by what my kids are learning about countries all over the world!

We hit the road September 18th, this next Thursday, so please keep us in your prayers for safe travels and good goodbyes with our families.

Training and Shots

We are finally getting settled into our training here. We are already almost 1/2 done! The schedule is very demanding but we are enjoying getting to learn and hear from awesome people and mentors. We live with 6 other people while here and love them all! We get to do a lot of "life togetherness" here to prepare us for communal societies overseas. 

Our room

Our Roomies

The kiddos have taken a little while to adjust to waking up so early but we've got a good routine going now. They are LOVING school where they get to learn about different countries around the world, make flags, try new foods, and play international games and crafts.

Today was our first (of three) shot day. The kids did Awesome! We are going to try and get off campus this weekend and go to the beach to have some family time. So grateful for Saturdays (our one day off)! Enjoy your weekend!

Virginia here we come- hopefully!

We have had amazing family time over the past few weeks (I'll post more on that later, pics & stuff) but we are now in route to virginia for two months of training. We left at 8am yesterday, making amazing time & our kids are traveling angels at this point. 5 hours in, in flash flood zones & pouring rain, heavy traffic on i10 & our van breaks down! So here we are in Baton Rouge, la with 3 littles sitting on the side of  i10 in heavy traffic waiting for a tow truck. We get towed to a ford dealership who says they can't even look at our vehicle until Monday. We are supposed to report to va by Monday. We know what is wrong with it because it has happened before, water in the engine. We go to enterprise to rent a car for the night and get a hotel, while there, maddy proceeds to choke on a cookie where I am with all three kids by myself. I beat it out of her and she throws up all over makayla, me, Nate, and the floor! Everyone justs stares at us while I try to get my kids to the bathroom to clean up. Thank God for this guy who hangs up his phone to help us while everyone else just stares. He looked like the last person in the room that would have helped, yet he was the one who went out of his way. Reminds me not to judge.  We got a rental and a room. We had major decisions to make at this point, how will we get to va by Monday with all of our luggage? What will we do with the van? Should we fly? What do we do about the hotels we have already booked and paid for? After many phone calls, our uncle has a vehicle we can use for the next 2 months that stephen's parents are bringing up now. We have sold our van as scrap and should continue our journey this afternoon. Props to my husband who has done an incredible job in the midst of a very stressful situation and to all my kids who are so flexible and find joy in everything! Just one of the adventures in the lives of the Alexanders! Praise God for all of the provisions and lessons He is teaching us each day!

Packing & Crating

Our moving, packing, selling process has been very long and drawn out. It all began back in January when we got back from Christmas. Our goal was to declutter our house in order for us to put our house on the market by the first of February. Our house had to be sold by mid April because you are not allowed to be in any debt with the company we are moving with. We thought it would take a couple of months for our house to sell and we would be in Lubbock until the end of May. Well that was our plan, however God's plan was different. Our house sold in less than 48 hours! Therefore, our declutter strategy turned into a get rid of everything fast. At this point, our country was on the "Do Not Crate" list which meant, for a family of 5, we had to fit everything we wanted to carry into 10 suitcases. We spent the next month going through everything trying to figure out what we would need to live on in the States over the next 7 months, what we would need overseas, and what we would store. Everything else was sold or sadly thrown away :( For those of you who know me, you know how cheap I am and how hard it is for me to throw something away that still has use in it.

We all had our individual breakdowns during this process. Our girls were seeing everything they knew going out the door, their bed, toys, clothes, bikes, …. You would think their breakdowns would be over something sentimental right? No- Makayla broke down over a basket we put our outdoor shoes in "But what are we going to put our shoes in?!"  Madyson started carrying around her toothbrush holding it close to her chest and rocking it back and forth "I don't want to get rid of my toothbrush mommy!"  I said, "Baby, I think we can take that one with us :)" My breakdown was over a stuffed bear that had no sentimental value at all! And the roller coaster ride had begun…

After we moved out of our house, the kids and I went to stay with family while Stephen continued to work in Lubbock bunking with a friend and then getting a house from our church for a couple of months. When we reunited, we found out that we could now crate to our country. This was a huge blessing as there were some sentimental items we were hoping to carry along with some items you cannot get that we wanted to take. We also began to shop! Some items, such as clothes, are approximately 3-4 times as much as they are here in the States. Therefore, we stocked up on childrens' clothes for the next 3-4 years!

So all that to say… here is what we are left with/ blessed with :)

80 cubit feet of clothes, sheets, kitchen items, home decor, toys, art, and a bike. Probably still too much but it has been a cleansing experience!

“Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are." Luke 12:27

Floods

Many of you have probably heard about the flood that covered our country this past week. It is said that a flood like this only happens 1 in 1000 years. 1/4 of the country's population has been displaced from their homes. Many of them are currently staying in large arenas on pallets on the floor. Some of the major concerns are: disease, misplaced mines that were left from the war in the 90s as well as the warning tapes being washed away, and economy as this is an agriculture based country with little import/export & much of the land has been destroyed. This country is in great need of international help and rebuilding which will go on for many years. Please keep lifting them up!

poplava-poplave-obrenovac-reka-voda-nasip-foto-mup-srbije.jpg

Big Adventures for the Alexander Family

Thank you all for being a part of our adventures! We are in the process of moving our family to the Balkans region of Eastern Europe! We are hoping to use this blog to share some of our adventures with you and to post pictures of the kids for the grandparents ;) If you are interested in receiving our deeper monthly newsletters, please send your email to Alexander.Impact@gmail.com.

Currently we are rotating houses between grandparents to spend quality time before we leave. We will go to training in July-September and then head overseas in October! I'll begin to share our journey soon so stay tuned!

PS- I am new to the blogging world, so it may take me a little while to get used to it :) ~Mandy