A not-so-typical Sunday... sharing another "day in my life"

This morning started much later than a "normal" Sunday as I didn't need to be at church at 8:00am... so I slept until, shhh don't tell, 9:00am! The reason why is that I took this week completely off from worship team: no singing, no music picking, no practice and no overheads. The past couple months have been really hectic with Christmas prep and I was beat! I must confess that it was REALLY nice and MUCH needed to have the break.

Just as I was heading out the door I looked outside to see myriads of white puffy flakes storming down across the city, blown fiercely by a cold, horizontal wind. It totally reminded me of the blizzard that snowed in my friends and I in Wyoming last Spring. But alas, this riot of snow was not to last. Sure enough, by the time the taxi dropped me off it was already tapering off.

Church was great this morning. It was a little weird, though, to have no responsibilities, but I must confess that it was nice. :) The message was one of those that tends to hit ya between the eyes as well... about Lordship and is He really FIRST in my heart and life.... lots to chew on here.
After church I went home, made lunch, then cuddled under a fleecy blanket to watch a favorite 80's flick. Then it was time to get to work. Yes, I said, "work." You see, in the flurry of busy-ness in this past month with "refried beans" (aka bookkeeping) and preparations for the Christmas Eve service I was short on time and thus missed a writing deadline. For some reason, this particular report was a little challenging for me to write... writer's block I'd guess you say.

After a couple hours of making no real progress on the report, I ended up putting it on hold again to head off to "Soul Craft" (a church service that has contemporary worship and topical messages and all in Macedonian). With my responsibilities elsewhere it's been a long time since I've been there. I was SO NICE to see many faces that I've not seen for a while and to do some catching up. Walking home my heart was full with joy of reconnecting with some dear people. One of my "goals" (not "resolutions") for this new year is to spend more time with my Macedonian friends and work on reconnecting. Soul Craft is a place to start. :)

Once back home I set back to work on the year-end narrative. This time the words came a little more freely as I sought to sum-up this past year's work. It still took me quite a while to finish, but I'd determined to not go to bed until it was done. 2am Monday morning rolled around and I finally let my head hit the pillow having just emailed the report. Whew. What a day. (My perfectionist tendencies were most likely the culprit in it taking me so long to write something so simple... but that's another blog for another day)

Yes, so as far as blogs go, this one is likely more mundane and boring than others, but for those of you who wonder about a day in my life... here was another one for ya. :) If you made it this far, BRAVO and THANK YOU for taking the time to read. Thank you too for your continued prayers for me and my work here in this wonderful place called, "Macedonia." Until next time....

Happy September

This is a happy picture: the balloons swirling everywhere in various colors, the wide-open mouth of surprise, delighted flapping arms and wind-tossed hair. I see so much of myself in this picture right now.... but it's more like, "Look at all those things I've got in the air with arms flapping trying to catch hold of them!" Happy September!

Well, OK, it's not so bleak as that. ;) Though it is a good representation of the mix of fun and stress that has been my life for the last three months. The "blog-balloon" was just one of the "delights" that I let fly away in favor of the many other things that have taken priority.

The work balloons: When I got back from the US I had just over two weeks to not only catch up on 2 months of bookkeeping and to prepare for fiscal year-end and the splitting up of the books into two autonomous sets... I had to pack up and move the office. With the move to a new place comes all the little details that aren't so big in themselves, but simply suck your time away like a quickly deflating balloon.

Happy September, though, in that I'm caught up, moved, set-up (mostly), completed with the bookkeeping gymnastics and can finally hunker down and get back to "normal" and re-frying some beans (aka. bookkeeping).

There have been many other balloons swirling around in my life these past few months, some stressful, some sad, but also some joyful and pure delight. Now that some of the extra-swirly balloons from summer have been let go (aka. finished tasks/responsibilities), the picture for me is becoming once more a happy one instead of a stressful one. That is the mix that I see in that picture above entitled, "Среќен Септембри!" (Happy September!)

*******

And just in case I haven't already hacked this analogy to death, there is one more that the picture evokes, and it's related to the weather and seasons:

With September came the turning of leaves, the chilly breezes while the hint of summer heat inexplicably remains in the air, the sweet smell of roasting peppers and the SHOCK of the weather changing from Summer to Fall in a DAY (one Saturday afternoon it was 100+, by that evening it was 50 and hasn't really gotten above 80 since)....

The days of summer floating away like those colorful balloons..... Happy September!

OK enough with with analogies! lol. Frankly, I'm glad it's September with the busyness of summer behind me and the cool and more "normal" days of Fall ahead of me. =)

Moving, Chaos and My Disorganization...

Since I was 10 years old I have packed up and moved somewhere every 1-2 years. There was only one stretch of time when I was able to stay put for 5 years... This moving trend continues to be a major element in my life...

The field office moves on MONDAY and so right now I'm in my office and surrounded by Chaos and disorganization: stacks of filled boxes, binders, drawers pulled out of cabinets, computers and equipment unplugged and awaiting a box or the movers steady hands. All this while trying to catch up on bookkeeping, prepare for fiscal year-end and a big bookkeeping change for the team....

Nothing like getting back from the US two weeks ago and having to hit the ground at an all at sprint! Oui....

Have I mentioned before that I don't enjoy packing or moving?? As of this moment I feel so unready--Monday's coming way too soon! And because I'm just back from the US and playing catch-up, I've not been able to pack like I prefer... instead it's, well, unorganized chaos! =( I'm also finding that we're short in the number of boxes needed and.... can you tell I don't enjoy things like this??

Having moved so much in the last 30 years (ie. apartments, homes, offices, cities, states, countries....) I don't enjoy change and can get quite stressed about it. (I know, shocking for a "bean-counter" lol!) Add to that all the other things on my plate right now and.... well, I guess you could say I could use the prayer. =) Even amid the chaos, though, I can see how God is working to pull the details together and so He is my rock in the middle of all this. :) He will provide, I know. :) He always does. =)

Thank you for praying.

On Two Feet

Today was my first day back in the field office since getting sick. Though I love my job working to support the Balkan field as their bookkeeper, I can honestly say that today I was the most excited I've ever been about heading to the office... simply because I was able to get out of the apartment!

One thing that teaches me is that I'm someone who needs to go to work rather than just work from home. On the other hand, should the need present itself it's nice to know that my little portable external hard drive works well and enables me to work away from the office. I was able to do 95% of the bookkeeping while at home sick and just finished up the remaining 5% today. That's a good thing considering I'm planning on doing the field books while in the US.

Speaking of home assignment, there are a lot of things I need to get done before heading back. One of the big things will be the preparation for the team leaders of the financials they'll need for budget planning as well as field structure planning (in light of the major structural change that was made this past year). Additionally, it's a period of tough financial times for all right now and I believe that may weigh heavily during the budgeting process. Please do be in prayer as we work through this process. We want to be good stewards with what we've been given.

Back to today, it was truly wonderful to be outside and not stuck in my apartment. The weather has warmed up to the upper thirties and all the thick ice that had been coating the sidewalks has melted. It's such a relief! Tonight we also had a team get together, enjoying the wonderful culinary prowess of one colleage while sharing some laughter as well as well as meaningful field-related conversation and planning. It's so amazing to work with such a fine group of people who over the years have also become dear friends.

End note: The thing about this latest asthma struggle I've had is that it's served as a very real reminder of how I am completely dependant upon God for even the simple act of breathing. For someone who is prone to want to forge out on her own and do things in her own strength, it's a good reminder. This life I have, that I'm living, is a very precious gift and I want to live each day to honor the One who has given it to me. On another note, I want to express how grateful I am for those who have been praying for me or even sent encouraging notes during this time. Thank you so much.... I'm back on two feet. =)

Making Ajvar for a Team Meeting

Yesterday Christine and I drove down to Bitola to hang with some colleagues and to make a local specialty called Ajvar (pr.. "Aye-var"). When we left Skopje it was sunny with a kiss of warmth in the air, but halfway to Bitola the sky opened and it began to rain. And rain. And rain. I also realized it was high time I changed the windshield wipers as the harder it rained the harder it was to see!

Arriving in Bitola we got right to work on coring and roasting 75 kilos (aka 165 lbs!) of vibrant red peppers. Oh! Wish you could smell the wonderful fragrance that they make as they're sizzling on the stove. We enjoyed some great conversation and laughter under a patio umbrella as the rain continued to come down. (Cracking walnuts for roasting also in pic below).

Their landlords would pop in one and another at different times to say hello and to watch us Americans try our hand at a Balkan specialty. Mark let me take over roasting while he and his landlords son chatted over by the apple tree (while sampling a few fresh from the tree as well). I really enjoy roasting the peppers, though usually it's the men who do it. At one point I was roasting and Christine and Becky were coring as Mark brought us more peppers. I can only imagine how odd that must have looked to the locals! ;)

About 6:30 the gals and I left Mark to the roasting and headed to the church for women's bible study. Christine and I were put a little on the spot to lead the song-time... um.. in Macedonian. I must say that was a first for me. Usually I'm leading songs in English for the International Church, but this was a really great experience. Afterwards we all had some great discussion times about living our lives as lights to those around us. We ended with prayer for our families and then the gals and I returned home to find that Mark had just finished roasting the second bag of peppers.

Today we have 25 kilos left of peppers to roast as well as a bag of eggplant. This batch of peppers will be a bit different, though. You see, one of the discussions we had yesterday was if coring the peppers before roasting is better than leaving the stems on for roasting and coring and de-seeding afterwards. Every Macedonian will tell you something different (even about peeling... sweat the roasted peppers in a plastic bag but peel them while they're warm vs. sweat them overnight). Anyways, today we roast with stems and will compare our experience with yesterday. :)

Mark and Pattie are joining us today as well and we'll be having a team meeting while roasting and peeling peppers. I must say, this will be the funnest team meeting I think we've ever had. ;)

The Waning Days of Summer

This morning as I walked to work I couldn't help but notice the hints of Fall in the air. It was a warm morning yet there was also a light, slightly crisp, breese rustling the once rich green leaves that now are in fading into earth tones. Then, stopping for a moment in Vero to grab some lunch-making items for the office, I noticed the matted yellow-orange of the butternut squash in the produce bins... and smiled. They are one of the first major signs that summer's bidding farewell.

Other signs that summer's almost over include:

• The city's slowly coming back to life after a month of people vacationing out of the city.
• The cafe's are once again lively, though not quite until the wee hours of the morning...yet (which is good for my ability to sleep--without ear-plugs).
• School is starting next week locally and my colleagues kids are enjoying their last few days before heading back to boarding school.
• Summer teams are wrapping up and heading home
• Student camps/retreats are in full swing this week
• Colleagues are coming back from vacation
• Church attendance is increasing as people return from vacations and other new arrival expats come to begin their term
• Conversations are turning away from "where are you going on vacation" to planning ahead for the next few months like: "When will home groups start up?"; "What about beginning a new ladies study?"; and "Ready for an audit?"

While I enjoy summer time (not the weather, though, unless it's between 75-85F) this one has been particularly busy for me. Considering our fiscal year ended in June and we've also had some huge field transitions take effect it's not so surprising. Though closing one month just in time to begin closing the next one has been very wearying. (The delays in closing are 90% due to the field structure change and people's summer travel.)

Frankly, I'm looking forward to Fall as that will mean we'll have a couple months behind us bookwise in the new field structure and I'll be caught up on filing. Then maybe I can take a few vacation days (the 1-week trip to Albania seems sooooo looonngg ago now). In many ways I'm really glad that my busiest time of year has come when everyone else is in their slowest time. I dread to think how many more late nights I might have pulled had it be our busy season!


Throughout the summer, though, Wednesday nights have been the bright spot in my week as it's when we have worship team practice. It's so nice to set everything aside and, together with a talented group of musicians, to sing songs so rich and meaningful in praise to our King for anywhere between 1-2 hours in the middle of the week. Ahhhh... We also have such a great time fellowshipping and praying with one another. Sometimes we even extend our time together by heading to a cafe for coffee and/or ice cream and chatting about life. What a fine group of friends they've become. :) [Picture is from December]

Today is Wednesday and so there's practice tonight, but right now I'm in the office taking a break from closing July (yeah!) to reflect a little on these waning days of summer here in the Balkans. As we all look ahead to the coming Fall and busy season (that interestingly enough tends to coincide the school-year) please be praying for us and for the things that lay ahead. Thank you for being a partner in this with us in this way.

GCF Walk: Week 5 Reflections

Today is Saturday, my day to catch up on all things domestic. Besides cleaning the kitchen, mopping, re-arranging cabinets and changing sheets, I pulled out a stack of ALife magazines. I tend to hang on to them and over six years I've collected quite a few. It was time to purge. So, with the sounds of the Olympics and men's gymnastics coming from the TV as background noise, I started the project.

This week is a reflection less on a GCF walk than a pondering of those feet who've gone before me as well as those with whom I'm walking now.

At first I was just going to toss them all, but couldn't do so without perusing them and even clipping a few. As I leafed through the pages I paused on one story after another. Soon what started out as a quick project became a quiet-time of sorts: reading again the stories, challenges and prayers of so many and marvelling at the testimony and rich history represented therein. As I read on, pondering, praying, there were moments of tears and many smiles. Most often, though, my heart beat faster with a sense of passion, of call, of determination, of renewed desire to press on and to keep walking. Only half-way through the stack and I'm completely humbled by such a great cloud of witnesses, to be even a small part in this legacy of faith.

Now here's a confession: "I'm just a bookkeeper" is something I've often said... sometimes I say it just as a statement of actual job, but other times I've said it with meaning, having let in the lie that somehow what I'm doing is not real ministry... that somehow it doesn't stand up to the real work of my colleagues. Now don't get me wrong, there's no doubt in my heart that I'm exactly where Father wants me and doing what he's gifted and called me to do... it's just that working in the four walls of the office day after day I sometimes lose track of the bigger picture....

As I prepare for my next home assignment, I do struggle a bit with what I should share. What stories do I even have to tell? I sure don't want to bore people to tears with refried beans. Then today, as I read the stories shared by my colleagues and the lives that have been touched because of their ministry, the Lord chastened me... He reminded me again that I'm here doing what He's called me to do so that they can do what they've been called to do... and together we are His team... it's His story and that's a story worth sharing!

Can you hear it? It's the sound of the "four walls of the office" crashing down and my again seeing the bigger picture.

Rather than simply tossing the ALife's, I had the idea to clip all the articles, life-stories and snippets of info or prayers related to our field and to put them into a scrapbook. I think I'll also add some quotes or short stories from my colleagues email letters. Then, to finish things off, I think I'll add several of my photos (if you haven't already guessed, photography is one of my hobbies). The end product will be a coffee-table book that I can go back to on those days when I may be discouraged, or feeling like the four walls are closing in, to remind myself of the bigger picture. It's also something I can take back with me on HA to share with you, to share His story.

Thank you for so patiently and prayerfully walking with me.

*******

GCF Walk: Week 5 Tally
July Total: $46.51
Aug So-Far: 8 miles, $8.45 and counting (it was a really hot week)

Anatomy of Filing --> in a Binder

I sincerely thought Trent's nose must have grown longer when he informed me that we only had one filing cabinet and that we rarely used it. I further imagined a leaf sprouting when he said that we filed in binders instead.

Huh. Er... Come again?

A tilt of my head and a look of disbelief were all it took for my new boss to launch into a patient explanation to assure me that he was not spinning a tale (indeed a talent of his), that in fact the use of binders is the preferred way to file here in Europe.

Honestly, I was really stumped by this way of filing. I'd been working for almost 20 years in several different office environments and in a range of industries and the filing was all done the same way: in a cabinet with pull-out drawers. Then I moved overseas and my filing-life was turned upside down! That was six years ago now and I honestly cannot imagine ever going back to a filing cabinet. And no, my nose did not just smack my monitor and bear fruit! ;)

The first thing I had to get used to was using a 2-hole punch rather than the 3-hole punch I'd so dutifully packed with my outfit. The last time I used a 2-hole punch was when I worked in the mortgage industry and we used the 2-hole to bracket loan docs into client portfolio files (aka. manila folders). At this point I must confess that I can count on 1-hand the number of times I've used my 3-hole punch in 6-years.

The next thing to get used to was using clear plastic sheet protectors in place of a manila folder. Aside from college, my only experience with these slippery little things was in the set of family recipes that my Mom had compiled and given to my brothers and I for Christmas. She used sheet protectors so that the recipe could be pulled from the book and placed on the counter during cooking while being protected from food splashes. And since they are plastic they're easy to clean as well.

The next somewhat familiar items were the dividers to separate by category, person, account or other designation. Again, the last time I'd used a divider was in college to separate my Strategic Management class notes from the ones for Christological Epistles.

Then there was the binder itself. It had a funky bracket inside to secure the pages, sheet protectors or dividers as well as an external box-like thing that is called the "archive." When filing in a binder is complete, the whole thing fits into the archive and then sits nicely right on the bookshelf.

Here's an example of how the binders are organized:

• The color of the binder tells what budget year is covered (Green=2008, Yellow=2007, Black=2006, etc)
• Petty cash - binders by country, dividers by currency and reconciliation documentation
• Reimbursement reports - binders by country, dividers by worker, sheet protectors by month w/receipts
• Monthly work papers - binders by quarter, dividers by month, sheet protectors for approvals and monthly backup
• Reports - binder by year, dividers for major categories, sheet protectors for reports grouped by month
• Permanent documents - binder by year subdivided by category for the permanent records, reports, journals, etc. A backup disk with all the years data (both accounting program backup and report backup) is stored in a pocket taped to the inside binder cover as well.

By using the binders, previous years documents are stored on bookshelves and easily identifiable from their color and binding label. My binders for the current year are on a bookshelf right behind my desk and so, literally, at my fingertips. Additionally, by using a specific code at the beginning of an expense description when entering into our bookkeeping program I can easily track exactly what binder will have the hard copy backup for that entry.... a proven asset to have for an audit. :)

Now you may be wondering what on earth would inspire me to write an "Anatomy of Filing" blog. Well, the reason is simple: I'm knee-deep in filing at the moment due to the field-structure change that went into effect during the last two months of the fiscal year. I've had to re-organize the filing system to accommodate the change, and in the process it struck me how differently I file today as compared to when I was in the US.... and how filing in binders of all things is normal for me now and so I thought it'd be fun to share. :)

Now I must confess that I'm not at all a fan of filing (in fact it was number 3 on my list of things I don't like to do--right behind doing dishes) but I have found that re-organizing things is much easier since our "books" are filed in binders. Hmmm... I may just have to add "filing in binders" to the "If you told me 10 years ago I'd be doing this I would have thought you were crazy" list. :)

GCF Walk: July Tally & Reflections

It's a little hard to believe that July is already over. It's been interesting how people have gotten on board with this idea of walking in an effort to save some budget funds. I've heard from many people that they're experiencing a financial crunch as well and are looking for creative ways to save... and yet even amid personal difficulty we've seen more people give out of what little they have.... and it's humbling.

Out of all this, the "walk" and people's responses, it's reinforced for me more deeply the idea that we're walking this "walk" together... Each day as I've put tennie to pavement, driven or taken a taxi I'm reminded of those who have prayed for or encouraged me in my call over the years and am filled with gratitude. I know I couldn't walk this "walk" without you! Too I am humbled that I can take a taxi when needed because of those who've given so sacrificially. I think too of those who are poised to head out to the field, to leave so much behind to to answer a call to "Go" and those who are sending, supporting, praying for and cheering on these newbies... As we pray, give, send and go we're truly "Living the Call Together." :)

As mentioned before I will be continuing the GCF Walk through the month of August. The "GCF Walk" will be dropped, though, from the header and the daily tally will be dropped to a weekly one. This is to allow me some more flexibility with the different types of posts that I make. One series that I'm really looking forward to, though, is the one I'll be doing in September. You see, Ramadan (or Ramazan) begins on September 1st and runs through the month. My desire is to share a bit of the culture and local traditions associated with the fast like "Iftar" and "Bajram." :) Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for walking with me.

*******

Week 1: $10.78
Week 2: $18.33
Week 3: $8.60
Week 4: $8.80 (includes driving)
Total: 38 miles and $46.51

Would you be willing to match that savings with giving to the GCF?

Driving & Bookkeeping Change

Normally I don't drive a mission vehicle even if I have access because where I live it's near a miracle to ever find a parking place. It's gotten worse over the last year as well due to new buildings and police barricades for the embassy there.

However, the end of July and August are the exceptions as the city has emptied out for the people's "Годишен Одмор" or "Annual Vacation." Most people get a month off so right now the city's really really quiet... so much so that I can actually hear the "call to prayer" in the mornings and evenings from all the way across town.

Having access to the mission vehicle is a decent and welcomed option this week (and saves $2 a day) as since returning from vacation in Albania I'm buried in work and staying very late at the office each night working on on the accounting details associated with the changes to our field leadership structure. Having the option to drive home has been such a blessing... and your giving to the GCF makes it possible for me to drive it. Thanks!

Yesterday marked a huge milestone for me and the field books and I'm very excited to see things coming together. As you know, we are still one field but now made up of three teams. We still submit just one field report that includes all the details, however, each of the teams desired to have individualized reports specific just for their team. The most important one being the budget reports. We've been given a budget amount for our field from the GCF and that number subsequently gets divided between field-wide expenses (like for the field office) and then to team-specific expenses. Well, to make a long tedious Balkan-bean-counter story short, I was able to get all the budget information in yesterday and balance all four budgets! And thanks to QuickBooks (shocker that I'm admitting this, I know) the reports came together perfectly and I'm excited to share them with the team leaders!

Thank you for your prayers for me, the field and for this whole process that began back at Field Forum. The revised trial balance (sub-dividing things by team) and the individualized budget are significant steps for the field and the teams as they move forward and consider autonomy in the future. With these individualized budget reports they will now have a team-specific, accurate and detailed monthly reporting of their budget and expenses and how they are doing with regards to the bottom line. This information will be key in the budget planning for next year.

Thank you again for all the ways that you live this call together with us. And thank you for your giving to the GCF that makes all this possible. Thank you also to those who have committed to matching my GCF savings with giving. If you've not already, please let me know via comment (anonymous if you like) that you are pledging to match my savings with giving... it's a big encouragement to me to keep walking. :)

Day 15: $42.21 and counting

GCF Walk: Week 3 Update & Reflections

You'll notice by the tally at the end of this blog that my walking has dropped off significantly from last week. That was largely due to taking taxi's home because I'd stayed as late as 10pm (shhh... no comments) at the office working on year-end closing and set up for next year. This is normally a busy time of year for me with the bookkeeping, but this year it was made more complicated by the new field/team structure. The nice thing is that I'm now in a holding pattern for a week while I wait for various approvals and so will be taking next week off! ::::happy dance::::

Actually, a friend of mine needs to go to Albania to get some things from her apartment and has asked me to go with her. I'm looking forward to some decent hangout time and seeing a bit around where she grew up. Please pray for our trip as it's 600 kilometers (about 400 miles) to where we're going. I will be driving and Albania will be new territory for me. :)

What this means is that the GCF Walk will be taking a 1-week hiatus. When I come back there will be just three walking-days left in the month. That coupled with the fact that our organization will be evaluating things through August before deciding if they need to make the 10% pro-rata cut, I've decided to continue my GCF Walk through August. Please seriously consider praying and matching my walking-savings with giving to the GCF. If even two people match me, between the three of us it means $100. Just imagine what would happen if several more matched? Thank you for walking and praying with me.


Here's a break-down of what I've learned so far:

1. Carry a backpack instead of a purse... your shoulders won't hurt as much
2. You never know what gems you'll find when you slow down a little
3. A picture can start a contact
4. Taking a taxi is not a bad thing (especially when it's stormy)
5. The city is full of smells, both fragrant and repulsive
6. You never know what doors a whim will open for you
7. Seasonal shopping is a must (watermelons rule)
8. Street signs can give you an idea of what's important to the community
9. Macedonia has some cool culture
10. Drink lots and lots of water
11. The cats are taking over the neighborhood
12. Language learning can be fun when "hotaps" and "pektopah's" abound
13. Blisters hurt and so do my feet and it's no fun scraping gum off a shoe

See you when I get back from Albania. I'm bringing my camera so you can be sure I'll be sharing any gems I find along the way. :) Thank you for praying.

Week 1: $10.78
Week 2: $18.33
Week 3: $8.60
Total: 35 miles and $37.71

Walking for the GCF

Today is the first day of the new VERY TIGHT budget year. In honor of that I'm doing a 1 month experiment and challenge you to join me in prayer or in matched giving to the GCF (or both).

It's 4 miles to the office and every day I take a taxi it costs $4.30 round trip. Taking the bus doesn't save anything as I'd have to take two buses... and balance a crowded hot bus against an AC'd taxi and the choice is always easy.

Well things change. As you've all heard, read or suspected, the budget has been necessarily cut by 40% for this coming year. Being a bookkeeper, I've seen first-hand the struggle our team leaders have had in trying to make our budget stretch as far as possible... and of course that does not factor in rising local costs or the falling dollar.

This brings me back to my work-related ground travel and the challenge I've set before myself and would now like to set before you on this first day of the new budget year:

I've dusted off my shoes and am planning to walk as much as possible both to and from work this month. Like I said, it's 4 miles round trip and considering that it can get upwards of 100 degrees here, it's not going to be easy. But I figure that even if I wimp out and take an AC'd taxi home I've still saved at least $2.15 by walking to work. Figuring that, I can save our budget anywhere from $43 to $86 this month.

Now here's the challenge to you: I will be keeping and posting a weekly tally of how much I've saved my ground travel budget and am wondering if you would be willing to match that savings with donations to the GCF? Please leave a comment on this blog (anonymous, of course) if you're willing to participate or even to pray for the finances that we (and other fields) have to go farther. We desire to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us and to above all bring Him glory. :)

Now won't you walk with me?

Learning to be content one $7.86 gallon at a time

Well, just in time for summer, the price of gas is now upwards of 80 denars a liter (aka $7.86/gallon). That's up more than 60 cents in less than a month! Yikes.

This increase in fuel cost is also trickling down to the every-day items that we purchase to live and work here. It's affecting the types of things I'm willing to buy (sandpaper-ish TP) and what I'll simply go without (cheese). Even the usual low prices of seasonal fruits and vegetables are not as low as usual.

The rising local prices reflect increasing fuel costs, yet they also reflect rising inflation as well as the exponentially decreased buying power of the USD. Now you can imagine how that affects the regular persons pocket book, yet it also plays out significantly in the office and in ministry costs.

Here's one small example: The cost of the "cheapest" copy/printing paper has increased by $1 a ream in the last year. If you factor in the severe drop in the US dollar, the price has actually chomped into our budget by an additional 65 cents... aka $5.64 a ream! If ever there was a reason to go paperless, that's a pretty strong one!

The cost of ministry is even more keenly felt when we face a significant cut in budget for this next year. We are finding that we are having to cut things pretty severely to balance out. This is a reality not only for us, but across the board. Perhaps even you are feeling the pinch in the US.

Spending some time in Philippians has given me some important perspective as I've been learning to adjust and adapt to the new financial pinch that we all are facing. One verse in particular has challenged me deeply:

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Phil 4:12 NIV)

Like Paul, can I say with confidence that I have really learned this lesson? Call it "Learning to be Content 101." If I'm honest with myself, I must acknowledge that this is a class I've had to take many times in my life and am again re-enrolling in as we speak. I am glad, though, for the encouragement that comes with the next verse:

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:13 NIV)

This current situation is a lesson in trust as well as an opportunity to grow. I'm learning that as I trust in the Lord for everything, He gives me the strength to face anything.

Another day in my life...

Today is Friday and I'm glad it's the weekend. This week my head has been so in the books that I think I've got numbers permanently tatooed to my eyes... at the very least I'm really tired. So it should be no surprise that I woke up late this morning. It was late enough that I just washed up, threw on clothes, checked my hair and face for presentableness and rushed out the door... still wiping sleep from my eyes.

Once at the office my computer hadn't even finished booting when someone came looking for one of my colleagues. A quick phone call later and he was out the door to go meet that colleague for coffee. By this time my computer had finally finished booting... yeah, it's been running slow lately.

Todays work began with a check of email to find the last two reimbursement reports in the inbox, thus enabling me to do some more prep. As two of the 3 team leaders are out of town (seeing their kids graduate and/or to bring them home from boarding school) and won't be back to work until mid-month I prioritized the reports for the one team who's leader is still in town.

That said, this month is the first month of the transition time and I'm finding that I only had a SMALL clue of how complicated and detailed this change would be. You see, last month at Forum the field decided to move towards having three autonomous teams rather than one field. That means that instead of a Field Director we have three team leaders with whom I coordinate the bookkeeping for those specific teams... then I coordinate with a Team Coordinator for the final sign-off for the field books as a whole (the three teams combined).

In other words: 4 financial reports instead of 1, 3 different reimbursement reports (catered to each team), working with leaders via email rather than in person... and that's just the start for closing this month...

Also on the "to do" list for me right now is the preparation of the field books for the next budget year. That means completely re-doing the trial balance and account numbers so as to accomodate the three-team-in-one model... which means designing new upload reports, petty cash reports, procedures manuals as well as check-lists for the TL's who are new to the approving process.

Even as I write this, I haven't even scratched the surface of the details... and I'm pretty sure this blog is quite choppy... but it's an attempt to give you a brief window into my bookkeeping life right now. :)

These are a lot of details to juggle... and in the midst of this I'm also singing on worship team, reviewing the center books, saying goodbye to colleagues headed home for HA (and closing out thier accounts for the year) and visiting with church peoples.

Needless-to-say, I covet your prayers during this time and as I seek to support these teams as their bookkeeper in the best and most efficient way possible... even more so, to use the skills God's given me to bring Him the most glory. To give Him my best. Thanks for your prayers. More updates to come.

Image source:
Cat: http://emmathehumblekitty.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-day.html
Desk dude: http://www.aerohead.com

Gas - Wish it was as cheap as in the US

I hear that gas is topping $4 a gallon now in the US. If only we had it so good here. Yesterday a colleague spent $121 to fill up at the pump... translation: $7.20 a gallon!!

And we don't have the worst of it. It's all over CNN right now how bad prices are here in Europe, so much so that people are beginning to strike in various countries. These prices are also hitting us at the local markets where several months of record inflation is now being compounded by exponentially rising shipping costs.

All this makes me almost nostalgic now for that day in '04 in Southern California where stared in stunned silence and shock in a gas station parking lot when faced with having to pay $2.82 price per gallon (see pic). Heck, even the "2" on the price was quaking in it's space! In Northern California we were still paying around $2.12 a gallon. Sigh... I still remember the days before the Gulf War when we were paying less than $1 a gallon... or even further back in the 70's when even with the long lines at the pump and only being able to get gas on certain days (according to your license plate number) the price was only about $0.30 a gallon. All that seems like a dream now.

For those who are in the US now paying only $4 a gallon, please count your blessings. And also remember that GCF dollars are affected as well.... factor in the falling dollar ($1=€0.64), rising inflation and shipping costs, our budgets and personal funds do not go as far as they once did. (And that's not even mentioning that our budget is potentially being cut by 40% for next year... but that's another story.)

Yet I can't help to put all of this into further perspective... into that of the local. We foreigners do feel the pinch, but the local population feels this even more keenly. Of the 60-70% of the population that actually have a job, the average salary is about $300 a month. Many locals are lamenting how much less what little they make buys...

Examples: A small bottle of water that used to cost $0.50 now costs $0.60... milk that used to cost $1 now costs $1.07... bread that used to cost $0.64 now costs $0.77... even utilities have increased an average of $10 a month...

Most items across the board have gone up between 1-5 denars (or 2 to 13 cents) which may not seem like much but when added together makes a bigger hole in an already ripped pocket.

You know, I want to end by saying something clever and insightful, but there is truly nothing to say. It's a very stark reality that we're all facing... yet we can pray and rest in the One who can provide for all our needs.

Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my Blogger Balkan Update Blog. Many of my colleagues are using this format so I figured perhaps I should switch as well. Right. We'll see how it goes. :)

As this blog mentions, yes, I am a bean-counter living in the balkans. The team I work with has over 23 people spread throughout the Balkans and working in up to 5 different currencies -- and they're a bit happy I'm doing the bookkeeping for them so that they don't have to (think root-canal with no novocaine) -- and can be about their work. :) Actually, I feel quite priveledged to do the things I love in order to support the wider work of the field. (Yes, I actually like counting beans - though admittedly, sometimes I'm just full of them)

My hope is for this blog to be a mix of humor about living in the Balkans and cultural adjustment and life in general to news of how God is working here in and through quality people. Oh yes, and a dash of tediousness (aka. bookkeeping notes)... or, rather, refried beans. ;)