As I sit here and write this blog I realize we only have 8 days left here in Kosova. So weird. My mind and spirit are a mix of emotions. On one hand I am so incredibly excited to see my family and friends...but on the other hand I am extremely sad to be leaving our wonderful students and new friends we made here in Kosova. God truly blessed our time here and I would not exchange it for anything. Being here is Kosova has made a huge impact on my life. I now see Jesus in a totally different way. Being the church means more to me than it has ever before. And being a wife and mother has taken on a whole new meaning. God is good and I am thankful.
I am so excited to see what God has in store for us in our future. There are TONS of unknowns and at times it is a bit scary and overwhelming, but I know that our God is in control and because of that I can put my whole trust in HIM.
This week will be crazy for us. Not only are we in the midst of packing and trying to crunch our life into 6-8 suitcases we will also be attending lots of parties and dinners. It will be so much fun to have one last hoorah! with a few of our good friends here.
Kyler is changing so much. I am so excited for our families to see him. He is talking so much and he is so funny! I think we might have a comedian (or class clown) on our hands. What a joy to be his mommy! In the midst of all of my health stuff and very frustrating moments he can always bring a smile to my face. I love that little guy so much.
I am sure that I will be updating again soon. Just wanted to check in to the blog world!
Until next time....
Much love,
Tiffany
PS...dont forget to check out Richard's amazing website... www.hisnamenotmine.com
(he is so humble and doesnt want to make a big deal of anything but let me just share...he has been approached about submitting a couple of his posts to various magazines for publishing.....i am just a LITTLE proud of him!!!)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The journey continues.....
Hello friends and family,
We seriously have the best supporters, friends and family ever. We love you all so much. The flood of emails we have gotten with encouragement from you all has been amazing. But we realize not everyone knows what is going on.....so let us share.
Since Tiffany's gallbladder surgery she has continued to be in a lot of pain and began experiencing some other serious health issues. After a couple of months of these issues we realized that she needed help so we told some trusted friends here what she was dealing with and all three of them gave the name of a Christian British doctor who is in Kosova to train fellow doctors. We felt confident in seeing her because she is one of the top doctors in her field in Europe thus knowing that her facility/instruments would be sanitary.
We went expecting her to be able to look at Tiffany and tell us what the problem was and then be able to prescribe some medication to heal her. What happened instead is she told us the seriousness of the issue and that Tiffany would need another surgery. So we thought we were going to be making another trip to Greece, but when we told her this she said Greece was not an option. She explained that given the sensitivity of the area in need of surgery and seriousness of complications we had to go back to the States. We couldn’t believe it and tried to talk about other options, but she emphatically said over and over that the only option was to go back to the States right away to receive the proper medical care. Even waiting till May she said would result in serious lifelong consequences.
We left the visit and went to a nearby restaurant to debrief the news we had just been given. We both cried sitting there. We had resolved to our motto “endure through the suffering” and fully believed that we would press on through our commitment here even though things have been tough (school situation, health, and other issues we shared with many of you). Our prayer has always been, “God we are not going anywhere unless you clearly tell us to go.” And now that is exactly what is happening and we are sad.
We have sadness because we don’t want to leave Lide (our nanny) and her family. They have become part of our family and it breaks our hearts to leave them so soon. We also are sad to leave our students and miss out on opportunities to share the Gospel with them. For example last week I a student point blank asked me how I could be so confident that I was going to Heaven…if that is not an open door then I don’t know what is. In this time we hold on to 1 Corinthians 3:7-9:
“It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building.”
We realize how we have been and how we will respond to this tough time will speak volumes to those looking on about our hope and faith in God. When we suffer the spotlight is on us. People are looking to see if we respond in a way that will validate our faith or will we respond like those with no hope?
We are also very scared. Because we know that by coming back to the US the suffering is not going to stop. In fact in some ways the suffering will be simply changing shape. Yes it will be easier by having you all and family nearby but we thought we had 5 months to line up a place to stay and places to work but now we only have 2 weeks.
So the craziness begins. Today we were able to secure plane tickets for Dec. 21. We will be flying to Indianapolis where we will spend a few days with Richard's family before heading down to Joplin to be with Tiffany's family for Christmas and shortly following....the surgery. Some VERY dear friends of ours, the Winstons, have been helping us raise money to get back to the states, have some for medical expenses, and hopefully still have some extra to see us through for a few months until we find jobs. These dear friends also have been in contact with a great doctor for Tiffany. He is willing to see Tiffany for free if the insurance doesn't pan out. Tiffany's health issues where explained to this doctor and he is familiar with the type of surgery Tiffany needs....although he said it is very delicate and if he cannot do it, he will refer us on. We are SO thankful for our friends and how they have help support us in so many ways.
At this time we are simply trusting in God. We know that HE is in control of what is going on and we trust in HIM completely.
We will continue to keep this blog going...but it will just change directions!
Continue to follow us here to find out what is next with the Jett's.
We love you all so much!!
We seriously have the best supporters, friends and family ever. We love you all so much. The flood of emails we have gotten with encouragement from you all has been amazing. But we realize not everyone knows what is going on.....so let us share.
Since Tiffany's gallbladder surgery she has continued to be in a lot of pain and began experiencing some other serious health issues. After a couple of months of these issues we realized that she needed help so we told some trusted friends here what she was dealing with and all three of them gave the name of a Christian British doctor who is in Kosova to train fellow doctors. We felt confident in seeing her because she is one of the top doctors in her field in Europe thus knowing that her facility/instruments would be sanitary.
We went expecting her to be able to look at Tiffany and tell us what the problem was and then be able to prescribe some medication to heal her. What happened instead is she told us the seriousness of the issue and that Tiffany would need another surgery. So we thought we were going to be making another trip to Greece, but when we told her this she said Greece was not an option. She explained that given the sensitivity of the area in need of surgery and seriousness of complications we had to go back to the States. We couldn’t believe it and tried to talk about other options, but she emphatically said over and over that the only option was to go back to the States right away to receive the proper medical care. Even waiting till May she said would result in serious lifelong consequences.
We left the visit and went to a nearby restaurant to debrief the news we had just been given. We both cried sitting there. We had resolved to our motto “endure through the suffering” and fully believed that we would press on through our commitment here even though things have been tough (school situation, health, and other issues we shared with many of you). Our prayer has always been, “God we are not going anywhere unless you clearly tell us to go.” And now that is exactly what is happening and we are sad.
We have sadness because we don’t want to leave Lide (our nanny) and her family. They have become part of our family and it breaks our hearts to leave them so soon. We also are sad to leave our students and miss out on opportunities to share the Gospel with them. For example last week I a student point blank asked me how I could be so confident that I was going to Heaven…if that is not an open door then I don’t know what is. In this time we hold on to 1 Corinthians 3:7-9:
“It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building.”
We realize how we have been and how we will respond to this tough time will speak volumes to those looking on about our hope and faith in God. When we suffer the spotlight is on us. People are looking to see if we respond in a way that will validate our faith or will we respond like those with no hope?
We are also very scared. Because we know that by coming back to the US the suffering is not going to stop. In fact in some ways the suffering will be simply changing shape. Yes it will be easier by having you all and family nearby but we thought we had 5 months to line up a place to stay and places to work but now we only have 2 weeks.
So the craziness begins. Today we were able to secure plane tickets for Dec. 21. We will be flying to Indianapolis where we will spend a few days with Richard's family before heading down to Joplin to be with Tiffany's family for Christmas and shortly following....the surgery. Some VERY dear friends of ours, the Winstons, have been helping us raise money to get back to the states, have some for medical expenses, and hopefully still have some extra to see us through for a few months until we find jobs. These dear friends also have been in contact with a great doctor for Tiffany. He is willing to see Tiffany for free if the insurance doesn't pan out. Tiffany's health issues where explained to this doctor and he is familiar with the type of surgery Tiffany needs....although he said it is very delicate and if he cannot do it, he will refer us on. We are SO thankful for our friends and how they have help support us in so many ways.
At this time we are simply trusting in God. We know that HE is in control of what is going on and we trust in HIM completely.
We will continue to keep this blog going...but it will just change directions!
Continue to follow us here to find out what is next with the Jett's.
We love you all so much!!
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