I looked out my window, this morning, and saw rain, not an unusual sight. Two minutes later I looked out again. My surprise knocked a book off the table and sent Sarah running into my apartment. Mixed with the rain was a bit of snow. About this time, I got a text from Egla, my assistant. It read, "Look outside your window." I wrote back, "We finally have our snow day!" I quickly got my camera, thinking that the snowish rain was going to be the only snow I would ever see falling in Tirana. Before my eyes, it started to rain/snow harder. That's when I lost my mind. I raced outside and over to the school. Why I ran there, I have no idea. Maybe it was to take pictures of the snow falling around my classroom, or maybe it was just because I needed a place to run. Standing in the middle of the campus, I was shocked when snowball sized snowflakes began falling. I raced back over to the playground area and found Flutra, our weekend guard. We took pictures in the snow and exclaimed over the beauty of the morning, both in English and in Albanian. Then I danced back to our apartment building and raced up to Amy and Travis's apartment. I knocked loudly on their door and Travis came to answer. "How do I look?" he asked. "Like you just woke up," I answered. "Sorry, I forgot that it's only 9 in the morning, but look!" Luckily, Travis wasn't angry with me when he saw the snow. "Amy get out here now," he yelled. By that time Stephen and Valbona were outside enjoying the snow too. Oh, what a beautiful morning!
Allow me to reflect for a moment. Do I believe this very unexpected snow was a direct birthday wish granted? No. Do I believe this snow was a gift from God? Yes. I think God delights in giving us good gifts. He brought snow. He will bring me a job and the other desires of my heart. In his time. I love it when theology comes to life.
The beginning... Views from my balcony
The evidence! We have this thermometer hanging outside of my classroom for scientific purposes. I took a picture to show my students.
The snow queens... I loved having free rein of the campus this morning. It became my playground. But I was so glad to run into Flutra. It's more meaningful when you can share the joy.
Well, what do ya know? Snow!
I know that I got a bit carried away with the pictures. This is just a small sampling of the 40 that I took this morning. Believe me, I want to remember this forever.
