Hamish the Cat

We love animals, just not in our families life! We travel so much that it just isn't practical. Four kids and a bunch of begging have weakened our resolve on a few occasions...a poodle, a cat, a snake. I like the fish we have (as long as Dave shows up once a month).

So, a couple of months ago I was gone to Moldova. When I got back there was a ginger cat outside our door - a stray had dropped by. Chrissie, who has ended up caring for all the other broken promises made by our kids, spoke so firmly, "That cat will not be fed." Everyone knew she was serious.

I was then quite surprised when a dish appeared at our back door. Hamish (that's what my daughter Lauren named it after the big, redheaded, bearded character in Braveheart) was now getting gourmet food... from… Chrissie! I got McDonald's the other night. Hamish got salmon with shrimp.

At least Hamish was outside, lying on our patio furniture and not in the house. Allie, our little granddaughter, loves this cat. She sits on it, grabs its tail, shows me its ears, eyes, nose, etc. Chrissie said something a couple of days ago that really shocked me, "That's a good cat! It never gets upset at Allie."

Hmm, so.. It's 2 in the morning, and I am not asleep because Hamish was outside my bedroom window… crying. (Oh, did I forget to mention that every time we opened the door Hamish comes in? There is only so many times you can pick up a cat and throw it out). I couldn't sleep for the wailing. What is a man supposed to do? I let the blinking cat in. So, it's now 2:26 a.m. I'm in my bed typing this as sort of a confession. I hope no one reads this. Hamish is curled up at the foot of my bed and Chrissie is going to have a fit when she wakes up.

The lesson.. Would to God we had as much quiet persistence as Hamish. We could change the world!

Now can I get to sleep?

E-mail from Moldova 20/4/10

Here is a letter I got from Irina, one of the girls of Stella's house.. She is talking about the new girls beginning to learn about Jesus.. It is an insight how the older girls share their faith, the faith that has brought them so far and how they see how God can change lives!!

Hi daddy, how are you?
i wanted to let you know that i love you very much and miss you...
we had a great day today, Vica and Marinica are here and we all went to a park with the church and they liked it very much and they also were very happy and excited to go to church today..i was amazed that they want to go to church... looking at them i see my self how i was a few years ago and i see how much I'm changed and how far I've come...many times i speak with you and never thank you for what you gave and today i want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in Stella's house where I'm safe and thank you for this bed, thank you for the food you buy for us,for the clothes and everything else. I love you daddy a lot and i'm very glad i have a father like you,i love my family very much and i love to be home.

Irina Cameron...

Easter in Moldova

We are going home tomorrow! We leave Moldova at 4:45 in the morning and
arrive in Montgomery twenty four hours later. Many times when we come here,
we are caught up in a whirlwind of meetings and doing things that need to be
done, but this has been a blessed time because we came deliberately during
the Easter season. The girls were on holiday from school and we have
basically stayed up late, eaten too much and have spent hours of great
quality time together.

In the middle of all this fun, though, we did have two deadly serious
meetings. We met with the Minister of Children's Protection over all of
Moldova. Ms. Valentina Buliga. She is the only woman in the recently elected
government in a cabinet-level position. We met last Wednesday at her office
for a few hours, and even though it was Easter weekend she came and visited
us in Stella's House. She was also able to tour around Stella's 3 with great
excitement. Also present at the meeting at Stella's House was the Vice
President of the city where Stella's House is located. Both of these
powerful and influential women were astonished at the homes we have built to
save these girls. In fact they both said half-jokingly, "When we leave our
positions in government, can we come work at Stella's House?"

We had some great breakthroughs while talking to these women. The result
will be an accelerated growth in our Stella's House ministry. The other
great news was the imminent takeover of the Cupcui orphanage. When it is
reopened, it will have more children than it had before it was closed down.
I have never been as excited in our twenty years of work in Romania and
Moldova as I am now to see what is around the corner. Thank you for praying
for us! God is so faithful!

Now it's back to Montgomery to begin the process of rebuilding our office
that was completely destroyed by fire. Please pray that God meets that need
as well, as everything we do as a ministry comes out of that office... God is
able!

Coming Home?

How can you travel half way around the world and arrive... home? On
Saturday, Chrissie, Andrew and I traveled for 24 hours to Moldova. When we
got through customs and immigration and pushed our laden trolleys out into
the waiting area... Standing waiting for us was Liuda, one of the senior
girls at Stellas. She stood there, so beautiful and confident. My heart
leapt inside me. "Mom, Dad, I love you!"

Everyone turned to watch as we walked arm in arm to our van. We got home to
Stellas and girl after precious girl hugged and kissed us, each one a story
in herself. Chrissie was soon unpacking the big Rubbermaid bins that have
now become our baggage of choice, and the older girls stood back to let the
new girls get the best of what we'd brought. This morning we sat together
and thought and shared about what resurrection means to us today. I soon got
emails asking more questions! They were writing in English and emailing me
from inside the house!! Typical young girls!

Boy, it's great to be home! I trust you have found something to thrill you
as we have been thrilled helping others... Then helping the helped help
others!!!

Tulips

I bought them several months ago, put them in the trunk of my car and brought them home to Chrissie. To me they looked like onions, boring and unexciting, but as I unloaded these boxes of tulip bulbs, Chrissie's face lit up. She immediately began to plan where she would plant them. Over the next few days she, Constantia and Natalie were out in the garden, oblivious to the cold, planting these "onions" in the ground. I soon forgot about my purchase, caught up with all the busy stuff my life involves, and I gave no more thoughts to the tulips in my yard.

As you know this winter has been extraordinary. In Alabama we have had the most rain in recorded history and also the most snow. Lots of days, I almost felt I was living in my native Scotland. The ground flooded around my house on several occasions and one day Chrissie said to me, "There is no way these tulips will grow this spring." That was the second time I gave a thought to the tulips! Then got some more bad news... Chrissie was told by a lady that we were supposed to put them bulbs in the refrigerator before planting them. I never knew tulips could be so complicated. On hearing this news, I gave up all hope that I would see a tulip in my yard.

A few days ago, you would have thought that heaven had thrown on a switch... a tulip switch! They all showed up at one time, around the base of the trees, along the front of the house, each one seemingly in a race to explode into color. I do not know how God does it, but in the nature of that bulb, put there by some invisible force is the power to grow and be what it was created for. In my life and in yours, through floods, snow and mis-connections (did I mention fire), there is in me and you, His divine nature. That tulip was not stuck in the mud thinking to itself, "I've got to get myself together to make a flower!" It just is.

Born inside you, when you are born again is... "Is!" You do not have to fight for it, you do not have to pump it up. You just have to be what God has called you to be. I do not think a tulip could make a very good potato, but I can tell you from personal experience that tulips make very good tulips.

My prayer for us all is that as we realize our destiny, we (to put it in my new-found garden terms) must bloom where we are planted! Happy Spring!