Gravely Ill Dog

Over the last week we have seen Dylan’s dearly loved dog, Max, go from being vibrant and full of life to near death.  This is absolutely devastating to Dylan who loves Max with all his heart.  Recently, Max stopped eating and drinking and then his breathing became extremely labored.  We have had the vet visit our home nearly every day this entire week.  Max was first diagnosed by the vet with pneumonia.  He was given a series of shots and even IVs that were all administered at our home.  We have maintained a constant vigil by the dog’s side, giving him water through a syringe and feeding him baby food with a spoon.

Yesterday, his fever broke and we thought Max had turned the corner.  But, this morning his fever spiked even higher.  He has muscle spasms that have worsened and become constant over the last several days, starting in his side and spreading to his back legs and now into his front legs.  When the vet visited this morning he diagnosed Max with distemper (even though he has had his vaccinations).  Pneumonia is just a symptom of this fatal disease.  There is no cure for distemper and the vet said Max has a 10% chance of living. 

Dylan is heartbroken; we are all struggling as we watch this dog fade before our eyes.  Our family has had many talks about faith, life, suffering, hope, eternity, and God’s faithfulness.  We covet your prayers for Max and especially Dylan as he sits and sleeps by his dog’s side day and night, tending to his every need. 

Regardless of whether Max lives or dies, we praise God for His unfailing love and faithfulness and the gift He has given our family, and especially Dylan, in this special dog! 

A Regional Gathering

Every two years our company has mandatory regional gatherings for the staff.  This year, our part of the world gathered in Albania for a week of meetings, collaborating, networking, and training.

At these gatherings, there is training for each member of the family.  This is so important to us; our company does a great job of training and equipping our children for what they are experiencing as “third culture kids.”  This training for our kids is valuable; but, what is priceless is the time that they get to spend developing relationships with other kids who are just like them.  Trying to navigate the world as “third culture kids” is not always easy, but having a community of peers who are feeling and experiencing the same things is such a gift.

Albania was a beautiful and interesting place.  We were staying on the beach, but October is "off season" so the beach was deserted and not maintained and all the shops were closed.  The water was cold, but that could not deter several determined kids!  It was nice to see that cows and stray dogs are free to roam in Albania just as they are in India…even on the beaches.  Haha!  Our hotel was doing some major renovations during this time to prepare for tourist season…this included demolishing an existing building and preparing for new construction. 

The conference was great!  We feel very blessed to be a part of a company that cares so much for its entire staff...all the way down to its youngest members.  We also feel very blessed by you and your partnership! Thank you!

Public Education

I mentioned last month that we had the blessings of helping care for five foster teenagers while their foster parents were away for a couple of weeks.  This family is a part of our fellowship and they have become very dear to us.  So, we were delighted to help out!  They were pretty self-sufficient; we only needed to help get the kids up and off to school in the morning and then provide dinner for them in the evenings.  We loved spending time with these amazing young men and women.

During our time with these kids, we learned more about the public school system here.  We had heard that schools here focused on memorization.  While they were at our house, the kids were studying for their mid-term exams.  One boy inquired about American schools; he wondered if teachers allowed for independent thinking.  He showed us pages and pages of long, detailed answers that they have to memorize and reproduce on exams.  This is how their schools operate.  Students are not allowed to deviate from what they are given by their teachers.  It’s not about creativity, comprehension, or critical and independent thinking.  It’s about being able to memorize and then reproduce answers on demand. 

This might not be the experience for all public schools in this area, but this is the reality of our dear friends.  This post is not meant to bash the school systems here but simple to help educate you on some of the difference between our two cultures. 

Our Meat Department

Everyone has their issues, right?!?!  Well, it’s time to come clean…I’ve struggled with this for decades…it’s really quite embarrassing…please don’t judge me…I have a real issue handling raw meat.  My disdain for touching raw meat was so bad that when I got married, my mom gave me a stack of rubber gloves so that I could cook for Tony.  Yes, I know that is lame, but it’s true.

So now, here I find myself on the other side of the world…where this is no Kroger, Wal-Mart, Costco, Meijer’s, Aldi…and to my great dismay no meat department.  Well, I guess you could call the section of the road where about 10 meat shops operate our meat department.  But just walking through this section of road makes my stomach turn.  The smells…the sights…it’s all very unsettling.  Live chickens trapped in tiny jails awaiting their demise.  Goat carcasses hanging on hooks (did you know their skin is orange?), goat heads and entrails, chicken parts and pieces, and fish, all on display in the baking sun, covered with flies, waiting for potential customers.

After being here for 1.5 years, I still cannot bring myself to go to the “meat shop” to purchase our chicken.  That is a job that only Tony can do.  Just yesterday, Dylan wanted some meat sauce for our pasta, so I sent him to get a kilo of minced chicken breast from “our meat guy.”  What he came back with, we ended up feeding to the dog.  It had the skin, the cartilage, the fat, some bone, and other unwelcome items all minced together.  Both Dylan and I were gagging as I tried to salvage the breast meat for our spaghetti sauce.

Tony has gotten really good at bringing me chicken that I can deal with.  He is very thorough about what we want and what we don’t want.  Of course, the “meat guy” and everyone else think we are crazy because we don’t want the skin, the fat, the feet, the head, or the bones.  I know people eat these things…especially here…many consider these items to be the best parts.  So, whenever we buy chicken, Tony brings home the parts I want…just the breast meat...and we make our friends very happy by giving them all the other parts.  Even then when I get the meat, I always have to sift through it by hand…bare hand…mind you…which is such a stretch for me to remove all the questionable items before I can cook with it.

So now you know my issue…at least one of them.  Haha!  I hope you enjoy these pictures…

Our favorite meat shop...as you can see it meets all the of latest USDA health regulations! 

Look Mom...no gloves...aren't you proud!