Family Outing

This summer Matt and I discovered the Arboretum, about a 40 minute drive from our city.  This place has THE BEST play structures for kids I've found in all of Slovenia.  (Safe play structures were something I took for granted when we lived in the States.)  It was a bit of a drive, but oh so worth it!  The day we spent in this beautiful park breathed life into my spirit.

Our Little Performer

(Not sure why this video isn't posting properly.)

Baptism

Our good friend Carolynn getting baptized in Lake Bled.

An update on two of my favorite guys!

Hmmm. . . I just went to check on our blog and noticed that the last two posts never published.  Not sure how that happened.  Anyhow, here is one that I wrote a while ago. . . Interesting because just yesterday I made another paper chain with the girls for Matt's time up at Križ.

How funny - my last blog entry was talking about the paper chain I made with the girls when Matt went on an intern recruiting trip several months back. . . funny because early this morning he left for the Ukraine and then will be heading to Poland and then the Czech Republic for the interns Amazing Race and then training.  I spent the afternoon with the girls making their paper chains for the 10 days he will be gone.

Click here to learn more about JV's summer intern program.  That's what Matt will helping with this next week and a half.  I was planning on going up to the Czech Republic with the kids (and bringing one of our college students as a babysitter) so that I could be a part of the training.  But two of our three kiddos are sick - and one of those two (Alex) is a mess.  So Matt and I decided it would be best for our kids to have some time at home, resting and getting some focused time from mom.  I'm bummed to miss out on this time with the interns, but I'm at peace with it because I know this is what our kids need right now.

And because every blog post should have a cute photo, I'll leave you with this shot of Matt and Alex a couple weeks ago (when Alex was feeling much better - trust me you wouldn't want to see his photos from today, pour little guy).

Aren't they both so handsome?!

Popularity contest?

Recently someone wrote on the side of a building here in Ljubljana.  It said...

"Kristjani – klali smo vas 1945 – klali vas bomo 2013" 

Basically it says - Christians, you were slaughtered in 1945 and you will be slaughtered in 2013.

This is most likely referring to the time when Socialism/Communism Regime came into power here in Slovenia and somewhere between 100,000 - 130,000 people were slaughtered in an estimated 600 mass grave sites.  Click here to read more.  Many of the resistance to the communists were democratic Christians.

There is good chance that whoever wrote this had some bad experiences with the church and is reacting to the hypocrisy and brokenness they see.  But there is also a spiritual reality at work here too.  The Bible talks about it in  2 Corinthians 2:14-16.  It says,

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, ¹⁶ to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.Who is sufficient for these things?

There is a reality that as the true followers of Jesus in Slovenia model their life around His, and talk about His heart and message to the world there will be some who are attracted to Him.  Conversly, some will despise it.

But instead of living in fear (and even if this graffiti were to become a reality), we always need to remember these words of Charles Spurgeon:

"Never did the church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in the blood. The ship of the church never sails so gloriously along as when the bloody spray of her martyrs falls on her deck. We must suffer and we must die, if we are ever to conquer this world for Christ."

My point simply is this: stories such as the one above often lead to fear.  But as followers of Jesus, who know the end of the story, we do not need to live in fear.  

Today's the day . . .

Today is day #12 of Matt being gone (he was on an intern recruiting trip for JV).  For two little girls who don't have a great sense of time, it can feel like daddy might never. come. home.  

Something I started this past summer was having the girls make paper chains on the first day that he is gone (camps, Kriz etc.)  On the inside of each ring is a number (how many days left until he comes back) and something we can pray for daddy on that day.  Here is where we started 12 days ago:

Well, today is an exciting day because Daddy is coming home!  Here they are now.  

(One of my favorite things about this photo is Eliana's tiara - she wanted to look extra pretty for daddy.)

Ok, gotta go make an airport run . . . 

We like hats

Little Mamma

Maia is in a "baby phase."  She is usually carrying around a doll (or two), or pushing her little stroller, or telling me that "Babee Awesh cay-in'!" (if I'm not responding quickly enough to Alex's fussing).

Oh how I love this shot.  

Two purses, a stroller, a backpack and a baby in a car seat.  

Feels like my life :-)

Her baby is all wrapped up in the blanket.

People person

Alex is a little people person.  If he feels that he has not been given enough attention in a while he will start to fuss.  Sometimes I can pick him up  . . . and sometimes I can't.  So, I do the next best thing: I plop him in the Bumbo somewhere near where the girls are playing.

Works like a charm!

The heavens declare the glory of God . . .

. . . the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Psalm 19:1

Taken outside our dining room window.  The picture does not do it justice!

Moments like these . . .

Students who participate in Kriz take part in a two week training time in the summer.  They also go to three weekend retreats throughout the year for more teaching.  This is one of those weekends.  Matt is mentoring a few students there and is also in charge of food for the weekend (yeah - word is out that he loves to cook and is good at feeding large groups.)  He left a few hours ago so it's just the kids and me here at home.

And this is part of my "new normal."  Being at home with three kids, three and under while Matt is at meetings, retreats etc.  I'll be honest - it's often been really hard having to sit out on things that I would love to be a part of.

But now I get to enjoy moments like these.  And I love them!

And so it begins . . .

Life as a boy . . . with two older sisters.

(note the bracelet on his arm)

Lucky for Alex, he has a daddy who totally understands ;-)

Daddy will you dance with me?

It's been a busy summer.
Matt has been gone a lot with camps.
Earlier today he was in the middle of a project and I overheard Eliana ask,

"Daddy, will you dance with me?" (She had put on her ballerina skirt and waited patiently, expectantly for his reply.)

I could see him hesitate, busy with the project at hand.

"You know," I said, "There is coming a day when you would give anything to have an opportunity like this again."

"You're right," he said . . .

Trust Fall at Kriz

(I just wrote this for our email update. . . . but I've included more photos here on the blog.)

During Kriz (the two week training time in Bible and theology), Matt led the students in a trust fall.  I just spent some time looking through the photos from Kriz - but it was the photos he took of the trust fall that struck me the most.  He took a photo of about half the students before they fell and another one mid-fall.  I began to notice a pattern:  

As each person 

prepared to fall,

their faces were filled 

with a mixture of 

nervousness

excitement

anxiousness

& fear;

But . . .

once they made the decision

to fall . . .

and they took a

step of faith

past the point of no return

their countenance

completely changed

every time!

Their faces changed to reflect

assurance,

confidence,

 but mostly

peace!

Here in the blog I can share more before and during photos:

 

 

 

 

 

As I sat and reflected on what I saw in the photos I felt the Lord was asking,

 "Isn't it the same with you?"  

And I had to admit it was true.  

How often do I let myself stand "on the top of the wall," my heart filled with fear and anxiousness, wondering if God really will come through for me. 

 But once I step out in faith, trusting God's power, His goodness and His love, the fear melts away and is replaced with his peace!

Oh that I will trust Him more quickly each time!

  

Group hug after the trust fall was done.

Having my parents here to help with our kids during Kriz was . . . incredible . . . at so many different levels.

* It freed me up to really be able to enter in to my times of teaching at mentoring at Kriz.

* It was the first time they have been able to visit us during our 4 years of living in Europe (2 years here and 2 years in Lithuania)

* It was the first time they got to meet their grandson, Alex.

* It gave me many great moments of "downtime" with them.  So often when we visit them in the States we only have 4 or 5 days to spend with them at a time, and we work hard to squeeze a whole lot of special times in.  (They live in Washington, about 2 1/2 hours from where we used to live in Portland.)

Oh, my list could go on, but I think instead I will let these photos tell some of the story of their visit here:

Oh how very thankful I am for their visit here!