Nathan's Wedding Update  -  See Wedding Photo Gallery

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Dear friends,

The months have flown by since my last posting at the one year memorial for Lynette.  They have been wonderful, full and challenging.  We have closed some chapters and opened new ones, there have been moments of great pain and also of great joy.

The greatest of these joys is that God has brought a new wife and mother to our family.  Gabriela and I were married by Archbishop Anastasios on January 10, 2008 at the Anunciation Cathedral here in Tirana.  It was a small but beautiful wedding with only our closest friends and family in attendance.  Throughout the months of Lynette's illness we had the deep conviction that God was working for the salvation of all of us through her sickness and that he had a plan not just for her but for all of us.  During those months we did not seek to look ahead or consider what that plan may be, we simply enjoyed one another and rested in the conviction that our loving heavenly father was watching over us.  As time passed after her death my spiritual father and other trusted counselors advised me that I should be open if God were to bring a new wife and mother to our family.  The conviction gradually began to form in my heart that God, knowing his plan for Lynette, had been preparing someone for many years to be that person.

Gabriele is a very dynamic and talented young woman who has been a friend of our family since very soon after our arrival in Albania.  We first met when she interviewed as a candidate for theological studies at the seminary in the fall of 1998.  She completed her studies at the seminary with great success as valedictorian of her class.  She then began work under the direction of Faith Veronis in the newly founded National Orthodox Children's Office.  After the return of the Veronises to the US, Lynette and I became responsible for the Children's Office. Gabriela became a treasured coworker as we collaborated in various areas of ministry beginning while she was a student and deepening as we worked together in the Children's Office.  We worked especially closely in planning and leading camps in Kosovo and for the Summer girl's camps.  Gabriele and Lynette had a special affection for one another and especially enjoyed working together on craft projects for the camps.

Gabriela has known Tristan and Katherine since a few months after their births.  She is especially gifted with children and has been a special person in their lives from the beginning.  After the return of our family to the US for Lynette's cancer treatment I once heard the children discussing together who their favorite person in Albania was and they quickly agreed that it was Gabriela for both of them.  Last fall after I had communicated my belief to Gabriela that perhaps God was preparing us for one another I again overheard the children having a conversation.  We had been wondering and praying about how to share our relationship with the children.  Katherine brought up the subject of the possibility that daddy would get married again, a subject which they had not previously discussed.  The outcome of the conversation was that they wanted a new mommy and they wanted it to be Gabriela.  They came to me and ask how I was going to arrange that for them.  This was a tremendous confirmation to us that God's hand was at work bringing us together.  Some weeks after that the kids and I took Gabriela out to lunch and they officially asked her to be their new mommy.  From that time they have rejoiced in having a mother again.  They are very blessed to have two wonderful mothers that love them.  We remember and pray often for our dear mommy Lynette who is now in heaven.  We also treasure her prayers for us.

Like so many of the young people in this land where committed Christians are a tiny minority, Gabriela had prayed and wondered for years how God would provide her with a godly husband that would be a committed partner in ministry.  A friend who had visited Albania several years ago and knew both of us wrote when she heard of our relationship that she "always wondered who could be good enough for Gabriela".  She went on to say "yours is truly a match made in heaven." 

We truly rejoice in God's goodness to us.  We have seen in so many ways the fact that God has prepared us for one another.  Gabriela is a dynamic partner in ministry.  She is theologically trained and of course already knows the language and culture of Albania better than I will ever know it.  She has tremendous zeal in the service of Christ and a deep desire to share His love with every person on earth and especially the children of Albania.  She is fluent in English which she began studying at the seminary and in which she is now finishing her degree at the University of Tirana in addition to her work in the Children's Office.  Gabriela and I have learned to trust one another over years of working together often under very challenging conditions like leading the camps in Kosovo.  Gabriela's close relationship with Lynette also brings us together.  She understands and is sensitive to our continued grieving process for the loss of Lynette because she too is grieving.  We all love and miss Lynette together. 

We have been affirmed over and over again as we have shared our relationship and sought counsel from our hierarchs and other wise people who we look to for guidance.  We have been deeply concerned to be sure that our relationship was truly God's calling for us, not simply our idea.  We have rejoiced in seeing how God has brought together so many different aspects of our lives to show to us that his hand is indeed at work.  We thank you for your prayers for us and we ask you to continue to pray.  We are aware that we will face many challenges.  Though we are both fluent in one another's languages and familiar with one another's cultures there are still special challenges in our cross-cultural marriage relationship.  We have already experienced several occasions where we have profoundly miscommunicated because of our different cultural presuppositions but we have also improved in our ability to spot these and solve them early.  We feel enriched in the combination of our cultural traditions and life experiences.  Gabriela and I truly feel blessed by each other each day and are so thankful to God for bringing us together.