Day 9 - Second Baptist Houston and Boyd family Thanksgiving (in May)

Our first Sunday in Texas brought us to my dad's church and Sunday school class at Second Baptist in Houston. After coming from a small church in Tirana (about 120 people total) this church campus and people gathering to worship (well over 8,000) was a bit overwhelming. What a great joy and blessing it was for Kris to be able to communicate with the dear folks in my dad's Sunday school class how grateful we are for their faithful prayers for our family and to give them and update on what God is doing in the country of Albania.

Everyone was so gracious and warm to us. We had a splendid day of worship together with this dear body of believers.
Happy (official) 11th birthday to Whitney Laine Stire! This may the 11th year of her physical life, but it is the first year of her spiritual life. ON April 26th, Whitney came downstairs with a paper that had these words on the front "The Prayer of My Life". Inside was this prayer that she had written to God:

"God, please forgive my sins in the past and in the future. I know I don't deserve to go to heaven and I am sorry that You died on the cross for my sin and You took the blame for me. I am thankful that You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but please send me to heaven where there is no sickness, no cuts or bruises, and no sin, just You. In the name of Jesus, Amen. "

Praise God for opening her spiritual eyes and awakening her spiritual heart to seek Him and find salvation! So, this birthday is an extra special one for us!
There is nothing like a traditional Thanksgiving meal - especially in May. We certainly were thankful for all that God has been doing in our lives and for bringing us together with our family again. My mom, sister, dad, Amanda, Aunt Wanda, Uncle Tom, and my cousin Elise with her sweet husband and 4 kids all gathered for a huge thanksgiving feast! Boy, was it good!
The girls had a wonderful time re-connecting with their 2nd cousins, Brooke, Bradley, Bethany, and Brenna.
Chelle and her dad, Bill Boyd.
Stephanie (Chelle's sister), Elaine (Chelle's mom), and Chelle
All the adults enjoying turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole (!), etc. Also, brownies, cookies, lemon meringue pie... for dessert.
Stephanie, Elise (Chelle's cousin), and Chelle
Chelle and Steph
Chelle, dad, and Steph
It was such a blast to talk, catch up, and play games together. One fun game involved blowing ping-pong balls across the table to try to get it off the table at other players spaces. I almost passed out from blowing so hard. I think Kris was victorious.
Brad and Kris were like long lost brothers together. They are hilarious playing ping-pong by their own rules. It was driving Amanda and Steph crazy.
Cousins - Stires and Groenemans
The Groenemans and the Stires - what a blessing to be together.
What a fun photo of all the kids! Memories in the making.
Uncle Tom (Bill's brother), Aunt Wanda, Bill, Amanda, and the Stire family.
What a tremendous day we had! Praise God for the church family and for our physical families. We are blessed indeed!

Day 8 - Houston or bust!

We were on the road long before the sun rose over the Texas hill country. As we drove, the slate- gray clouds raced across the sky allowing us glimpses of the splendid sunrise beyond. As night gave way to day, we saw the variegated greens on the gently rolling hills contrasted with the gray/blue sky as they met on the horizon. The smell of rain was in the air. Wildflowers - vibrant reds, bright yellows and rich purples - lined the strip of highway we travelled. Altogether, this stunningly gorgeous scene caused my heart to rise up and worship the ONE who spoke all of this into existence with a word.

The wonder of this all led me to ponder Psalm 65:8b and following, "You made the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; the stream of God is full of water;...the hills gird themselves with rejoicing...they shout for joy, yes, they sing." If all of yesterday's unexpected delays were soley to allow me the intense pleasure of these moments of worship, it was worth every second. Ahhhh, if this fallen nature is just a mere shadow of the beauty of the Lord, how I long for heaven to worship the glorious splendor of His majesty in all it's true splendor!
I drank in the beauty of the country side. I had forgotten how beautiful Texas country is. It's gently rolling hills, green plains, fence lined roads, content livestock feeding in the pastures, and windmills, made me thankful to be back in Texas (as they say, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could"). I have surely missed this land.
The girls continued to sleep contentedly as the miles rolled by. I just love to watch them sleep. Their sweet faces are so dear to me! Thank you God for giving us these gifts, blessings, and rewards (Psalm 127).
Everything is bigger in Texas - including the American flag. You can't really tell from this picture, but this flag is enormous!! I was so thankful to see it, not only because it reminds me of how thankful I am for America, but also because it is in Houston!!! Yeah, we had finally arrived (a day late) to the Houston city limits.

We pulled up and sounded the horn (which played the song "Somewhere over the rainbow"). What a great joy to see my mom, my sister (a wonderful surprise!!!), my dad, and his wife Amanda all at my dad's house. We laughed, cried, and thanked God for bringing us safely to Houston.
Then we ate a wonderful Mexican feast!
What a supreme blessing it was to look around the table and see the faces of all my dear loved ones. God had brought us safely home again to see their faces on this side of eternity! Praise His mighty name!
Whitney also celebrated (a day early), her 11th birthday. The presents were great, but the most wonderful part of the celebration was being able to be with family.

I love this photo! It captures the sweetness and fun that is all rolled up to make Whitney such an immense blessing to us!

Day 3 - day of preparations

** This posting has been post dated 5 days due to lack of internet **

Hanging out around L.A. with family


Monday was full of fun and preparations to begin our journey to Texas in the RV. Our day started early since our bodies are still adjusting to the new time in the states. I was up at 4 a.m. and ready to head back to bed when everyone else started waking up. But, we had so much to do that weariness soon fled. The girls had been waiting patiently since our arrival to open gift bags from Nonnie, Kris’s mom. She is in Israel with her Sunday School class and was sad that she would not be here when we arrived. However, she left lots of goodies at her house for us to enjoy and she worked extra hard to provide everything to make our stay wonderful and relaxing. The girls were so excited to get American candy, journals for their summer journey, and some fun things to do in the RV. What a super grandma!

Chelle and her sister, Stephanie, had a treasured time together talking, laughing, and recalling so many wonderful times together over yummy cups of coffee. Oh, how my heart was blessed to be with her. She is indeed a humble and willing servant in the hand of her Master. I am so honored to be called her sister (twice over)! Not only did she drive us all over the place to get some last minute shopping done, but she joyfully helped as we corralled 6 energetic children (her 2 and my 4). We made quite a racquet everywhere we went, but oh what fun all the cousins had together! My heart was full of thankfulness to God for this sweet time with together. Kris, meanwhile, was going with his dad to pick up the RV, have the tires changed, and learn all the ins and outs of RVing.

Whitney was ecstatic to open her birthday present from the Flowers family. She will turn 11 on May 23rd, but got an early birthday present from Steph, Jay, and the kids. Mason and Steph pose with Whitney and her new glittery art project. They chose her gift well since she LOVES anything artsy.




Another highlight of the day was visiting Kris’s grandpa in his assisted living home. He was so happy to see his “grandgirls”. What a privilege is was for us to share this time with grandpa Shipman. Finally, after loading the RV we headed to bed eager to start out on the next leg of our adventure.

Whitney turns 9!
May 23rd



It was a super birthday celebration with Poppy and Meme! Whitney was looking forward to her birthday because that meant that Poppy and Meme would be visiting from America.


Here's Whitney with the birthday cake she asked me to make. We (our family, my dad and Amanda, and my mom and Charles) had already given her her birthday present - her dog Oreo (you can check out that blog from April), but you can't have a birthday without a cake.


Kris's parents sent Whitney some art books and supplies. She was really excited about that. I know that Rose Ann is happy that one of her grandchildren has a real love of art, just like her Nonnie. Whitney is also wearing an adorable shirt that her Aunt Minnie (my sister) and family sent. We have a stupendous family!


My dad and Amanda and Breanna and Sierra are hanging out on the couch watching Whitney open her presents. It was fun to spend time with them - just like past birthdays.

So, another year has passed and Whitney has become a more mature young lady. My dad was noticing that she has really come into her own this past year. I praise God for her and look forward to watching her grow into a godly woman that serves the Master.

Our new dog - Oreo

This is Whitney and the puppy she got for an early birthday present.

Oreo, who is a miniature Schnauzer, is 11 weeks old. Whitney's birthday isn't until May 23rd, but these puppies were ready to be taken to good homes and so we got it for her early. Whitney named her Oreo because she is all black and has only a small patch on white on her chest and on one paw. Also, the father's name is Snickers. Sadly, I am now craving Oreo cookies, and can't even get a package at the store. My sister did send a bag of snack Oreo cookies to commemorate the name. Oreo is actually a present from us, Chelle's mom and her husband, and Chelle's dad and his wife. Whitney is an avid dog lover. She is always drawing pictures of dogs, talking about dogs. She has stuffed animal dogs all over her bed (sometimes she can't even get into bed because of all the animals), and she even sings songs about dogs. For the past couple of years, Whitney has showed interest in becoming a veterinarian.

Kris and I have been wanting to get Whitney a dog and were waiting until we thought she was mature enough to care for one. We praise God that she has really matured this year and is showing some real responsibility at home and at school. After much prayer, because Kris is allergic to dogs, God provided this short-haired, "allergy friendly" bundle of love. One of the missionary families here in Tirana was selling their pure puppies for a great price and we were happy to surprise Whitney with one. She was really shocked because it wasn't even near her birthday. She was beside herself with excitement when she realized that she would get to pick one of the three little puppies at the Livingstone's home. After much deliberation, she chose the smallest and most mellow of the puppies - for which I am really glad. Oreo, a female, will only grow to be about 12 pounds.

Here is Oreo on the first day at her new home. Yes, the dog house is from a "Build a Bear" store. It is actually for a stuffed animal toy dog, but Oreo is so little that she fit just right in there. I love the "Home Sweet Home" label. She is such a sweet and loving dog. She likes to sit on our laps and take a snooze. I am happy about this because I would prefer to have a cat that will just cuddle up on your lap and not a dog that yaps around your feet all day. However, Kris has a real aversion to cats and as long as he is alive, we will never have a cat. So, Oreo is a great compromise. Praise God for small blessings.
Of course, all the girls love Oreo. They are just happy that she is Whitney's when it's time to feed and clean up after the dog. The really great thing about having a dog in Albania is that all our floors are tile and we have very few area rugs, so any puppy accidents are really easy to clean up. We are working on house-breaking her. Too bad kids don't learn this skill as fast as animals. LOL! This picture is of Kaitlyn with Oreo. All the girls wanted pictures to take to school to show their friends.
Sierra and Oreo - happy and ready for fun. Oreo will be an outdoor dog when she gets big enough that she won't slip through all our fences. She is so small that she couldn't even climb down the stairs for a couple of weeks. She wriggled through a 3" hole in the mesh fence and wandered into our landlords yard. Thank God they were there and tied her up until we came back from our language class. The funny thing is that most Albanians are really afraid of dogs. Most avoid even the smallest of dogs, so she will be a good guard dog even though most cats wouldn't be afraid of her.
Oreo has been a great source of fun and family time together. Breanna has tied a piece of string to a stick and spends hours, literally, having Oreo chase this string on a stick. It is hilarious. We do have a veterinarian in the area that will give Oreo all her necessary shots and flea/tick care.

So, now we have joined the rank of pet owners. I have such great memories of my childhood years with my dog, and I relish the thought of my kids having these same great memories.

Picture the past

As we look forward to the new year and what God will do in and through our lives, I can't help but look back over the years and reflect on how faithful God has been to me and to our family. How easily I forget the extravagant goodness and mercy God has lavished on me. Sometimes just looking back at pictures of years past will jog my memory of the triumphs, trials, lessons learned, and how my gracious heavenly Father proved over and over His perfection to me. This brings to my mind Psalm 90:12, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom." And then Psalm 145:2, "Every day I will bless You, and I will bless Your name forever and ever." I thought that you might enjoy looking back, via family photos, over the past 10 year in the life of the Stire family.

Here we are in 1997. We were living in southern California where Kris was an officer with the LAPD. My sister Stephanie, who is pictured with us, was living at our house while she taught school. Our first daughter, Kaitlyn, was 10 months in this photo. We were so enjoying her and the wonderful dynamic that she brought to our family. When we took this photo, Kris was 26 and I was about to turn 27 (I am 8 months older than Kris). I remember that the aspect of God as Father took on a deeper meaning for me that year.
In September of 1999, when this photo was taken, our family had moved from California to Texas where Kris worked as an executive recruiter. We sold our house in California and were living temporarily (for a year and a half as it ended up) with my father. God had blessed us with the birth of our second child, Whitney, who was 4 months old in this photo. I was especially thankful for this sweet gift from God, as we had experienced 2 miscarriages in the years since Kaitlyn's birth. Kris and I were more and more grateful for the stretching times that God allowed in our lives as we got out of our "comfort zone". In the previous months, as Kris was working as an executive recruiter God had been giving Kris a greater desire to work in ministry full time. Kris had been involved in music ministry since high school and we had been on lay staff with the high school ministry, college and young marrieds at our church in California. When we moved to Texas, we started going to a small church and Kris began leading the youth ministry and we also started up a young married group. This REALLY stretched us a couple and also helped Kris to realize that he really wanted to serve God full time, not just in between recruiting trips. So in September of 1999, Kris started his job as worship pastor at a church right outside of Houston. We bought a house and became official Texans. That year was a time that I saw God's sovereignty in a way that I had not appreciated before.
Well, now it's September 2000 and yes, I am holding another baby. Sierra was born in July of 2000, 14 months after Whitney's birth. Her life was so precious to me because when she was only 6 weeks old, she almost died. Kris had been taking classes at Dallas Theological Seminary and was more and more confident that full time ministry was his life's work. During the year of 2000, God was giving Kris a greater desire to teach the Word. Unfortunately, as a music pastor, this wasn't something he could do. In God's providence, a couple that we had ministered with in California had a church in a small town an hour away from Houston and they were looking for a youth pastor/music minister. So, in the fall of 2000, Kris started at Lakeside Bible Church. We sold our house (again) in the Houston area and moved to Montgomery in February of 2001. The year 2000, was a year that I clung to the wisdom of God.

In June 2001, when this photo was taken, we had gotten settled into our house, ministry and being in cowboy country. My mom was living very close by us in Montgomery. The girls were growing and their little personalities were so fun to see develop. In October 2001, we experienced another miscarriage. God reminded me of His faithfulness in the past times of sorrow. We look forward to meeting those sweet blessings from God in heaven someday - they may all be boys! The year 2001 was a year that I was comforted and strengthened by God's faithfulness.
Here we are in July 2002. In this photo I am 2 months pregnant with Breanna! Kris continued to love teaching every week to the youth and the church was growing, by God's grace. Both Kris and I were being challenged to pursue Christ likeness to new levels as we developed relationships with the lay staff in youth ministry. Kris was blessed to be working with a pastor and elders who demonstrated wise leadership and a real heart for shepherding the flock. 2002 was a year that I rejoiced in the peace of God.
The beginning of 2003 brought our 4th daughter, Breanna, into our family. The girls were overjoyed to have another sister and we continued to bless God for her life. I was on bed rest for a time before her birth when I almost miscarried her. We had a wonderful time with Kris's parents when they came from California to visit. I was learning how to be a wife, mother, and discipler with 4 children. It was during this year in seminary that Kris was confronted with the call for full time mission work. We were both very open to this idea and started praying about what God would have us do in the future. God's abundance was a major focus for me in 2003.
In 2004, Kris led a team from our church to Russia for a missions trip. He came back with more conviction about his call to serve on the foreign field. We continued to pray about God's timing in this as well as where He would have us go. The relationships God had brought into our lives with friends and ministry partners was a constant source of joy. Our church had finished a building campaign and we were now settled into a new building. That seemed to bring some stability to the youth group and we were able to start meeting at the church instead of our house for youth meetings on Wednesday night. Kris was continuing to pursue his degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. I was also able to visit my grandma in Colorado and my sister in California, for the birth of her first child. The trustworthiness of God, as I saw Him guide our lives in ministry and in our family, was something I grew to appreciate more in 2004.
Here is our family in July 2005. When we took this photo, Kris and I had just returned from a mission trip to Albania. God was continuing to direct us to the mission field and both of us were praying that He would use this trip to confirm His will in our lives. We both loved Albania and the people there. It was at this time that Albania became the main focus of our direction for the future. We knew that we couldn't go anywhere until Kris finished his Master's of Theology degree at Dallas, he had 2 years left, and so we were content to watch and wait. Kaitlyn, Whitney, and Sierra attended the same elementary school that year. I began working with the women's ministry at Lakeside as a co-leader for the weekly bible study. This new area of ministry for me was a door for my passion for women and discipleship to enlarge. God taught me a great lesson in relying of Him when my dearest friend, Jennifer, moved to England. In 2005, God used His Word to till some fallow ground in my spiritual life. It was a time of intense pain as I saw hypocrisy, judgementalism, and discontentment for what they were in my life. They were not just "struggles" that I had, but serious sin issues that were an offense to my God. Scripture became a life-line to me and I realized how desperately I needed Him every moment. 2005 was a year that God's mercy held me fast as I contemplated big changes and saw God change me in big ways.The year 2006 was, for me, a time of faith building and sweet fellowship with God. Kris and I took our second mission trip to Albania. This time we came with the thought that God seemed to be directing us to move there in the near future. Our mission trip only confirmed that to us. In God's perfect timing, Lakeside hired a youth pastor to replace Kris and Kris moved to the position of Associate pastor of music and adult ministry. This was a wonderful ministry move for Kris. The God given abilities for leadership, discipleship, teaching, and administration were developed with his new role. I loved to see him flourish as we moved from being "youth" to being "real adults" after over 10 years of youth ministry. For me, God used the previous year of testing and refining to bring me to a place of great joy in Him. I had a renewed view of His majesty and "bigness". In the fall of 2006 we officially began to pursue becoming missionaries to Albania. Kris was finishing up his last year of seminary and was driving 2 times a week to Dallas (a 4 hour drive each way). The fund raising aspect of mission work, Kris's responsibilities at Lakeside, the immense amount of work Kris had for seminary, as well as family life were all major things that needed to be managed. We were more than ever reminded of our dependence on God. My own personal faith was challenged and grew in amazing ways. I loved seeing God work in personal and tremendous ways. The sufficiency of God and the joy that comes from living in dependence on Him truly amazed me in 2006.

This photo was taken in July 2007 on the top of Mount Dijti outside of Tirana, Albania. In God's great power and insurpassable graciousness, He allowed us to raise all the funding for our family to move to Albania in only 9 months. This was truly a faith builder for me. Kris also graduated from Dallas after 8 years of hard work. Each of our children were upheld by God as they looked forward to this great adventure. In the past 6 months the trials have come, as we knew they would. I am ever grateful for the deep reservoir of lessons I have learned over the past years. My own personal walk with the Lord was challenged as I learned to depend on Him in ways that I hadn't had to before and as I continued to see many areas that need God's renovation. The year 2007 was a journey that showed me God's sustaining grace in times of spiritual bounty and also in the spiritual wildernesses that we travel through at times.

2008...what will it bring? What lessons will I learn about God and about myself. How will His Word be alive to me in new and transforming ways? I look back to be reminded of His constant love and abundant grace and this comforts and encourages me as I look forward to the unknown year. I can say with absolute confidence:

"But He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:12

Getting ready to make the move

Here is Chelle with her mom, Elaine, and sister, Stephanie. They came to our house on June 5th to the 9th to help me organize, sort and pack everything to send to Albania. We were going to only take a few things with us to Albania, but we got some great insight from the team we will be working with in Tirane and they said it would be better for us to send our furniture and belongings on a container to Albania seeing as we will be there indefinitely. We were thankful for the good advice, but were a little overwhelmed with the prospect of packing our house for an overseas move. Enter - my mom and sister! Praise God for these two hard workers. My sister brought her two children with her and the cousins all played while we packed and sorted through what to throw away, sell in our garage sale or take to Albania. Only those who really love you will go through all this torture! Mom, the organizer of the year, was a wonderful help and a great source of fun while we worked. Having her there was a gift from God. I wish she was going to be there in Albania to help me get everything organized in our new home (we don't know where we will be living yet).
All this hard work is really STINKY!!! Steph and I had to protect ourselves from odorific people in the house. LOL! We made some really great memories and had such a blast spending 4 days together.
Here is Steph all tuckered out on the couch. Between babies and boxes she was worn out. It was a real sacrifice for her to come out from California, and I really appreciated it. Grammie with Kaitlyn, Breanna, Madeline (my neice), Whitney and Sierra. She always brings her "treasure box" and lets the girls pick out of it if they are good. It is such a treat and the girls look forward to this special time with Grammie!
Thank you God for such a wonderful family that is willing to set aside a few days to come and serve us. Not only did we get a lot done, but we really had great fellowship and fun doing it. I am forever grateful for the sweet memories of these last few weeks in the states with my mom and sister and her children.