February 9th, 2012 by Kim

Things on my heart this week:

Hampton:  he continues to be stronger and stronger against going to school. this is very hard for me. Thankfully, Zac is taking him to school each morning for me. He is much stronger than me! I really do not know what else to do.  I decided that each time he is talking about and fretting over if he will have to go, I must stop and pray for him at that moment; for peace and not fear. as well as praying for him constantly as he leaves the house crying. I KNOW that God can give him peace and take away all fear. I am praying and TRUSTING God for that.

Emili- i need to secure a tutor for her.  i met today (wednesday) with one young teacher. I think she will be perfect! Emili is excited about her. They will meet 2 times a week for 90m each time. Thank you Lord!

School- for their slovak school: understanding/comprehension in all subjects, especially Slovak Language (for them all) and math and chemistry (for Emili and Gwyneth). Also  for their English teaching. I need to get better organized and give them weekly assignments. Sometimes I get panicky when I see them with free time. I don’t want them to forget their English!

French class- Emili and Gwyneth are struggling in their French class. From what i can understand, there teacher was not happy about the time they were away. She is being very strict with them. Ok, I understand that. However, i don’t understand why she is not willing to help them “catch up”. Emili has gone to her privately on a few occasions to ask for help, extra exercises, information on how to better study, etc. According to Emili, the teacher is not willing to help her. My response is to have a meeting with the teacher, however, the girls are scared this will only make the situation worse and not help. Today (thursday) they have a test, and we were are all nervous wrecks last night. We need to pray and ask God how we should respond to this teacher.

teaching- I started my teaching again last week. I have 2 days at the primary school, where I teach 4 classes two times per week (tuesday and wednesday). I love being at the school where my kids attend. I love being able to see them in their envirnment. Equally, I love the relationships I have with the teachers I teach with; sharing my life with them, conversatations about God in my life. In addition, I am teaching at a private firm, one day per week (Monday). this is new for me and I was VERY hesisant. However, I really believe that God gave this opportunity to me. Yesterday was my first day. I have 6 adult  Slovak students from one  german company about 30m away. It is mostly conversation however, the first lesson, I was doing most of the talking! They had so many questions about me! Mostly: why are you in Slovakia. So i had the whole 90m to tell them about why I am a missionary to Slovakia! It was great!

House- It’s complicated. We are still living in Kompas. The house is NOT finished. We are still working on signing a “legal” contract. We really like the owner, he is very kind and I think has a good heart. He wants to help us, but at the same time he does not/can not have all the money we are paying go for taxes-40% (he as a loan for this house he needs to pay back). Zac is talking with him daily and trying to reach an agreement that is good for each of us. In addition, his girlfriend is pregnant (with twins) and was in the hospital this week. He is under a lot of stress it seems. We know that it is no mistake that God put us together. We are excited to see how He will work in their life!

Health- Before this week, I wanted to tell you how we are celebrating everyone being healthy, despite the unusually cold weather. Maybe you have heard about it in the news that Europe is experiencing extremely cold days now. It is -16 to -20 most mornings! The wind really smacks you in the face. There is ice everywhere as well. Everything on you that is exposed, freezes (including nasal passages and mucus)!  Despite all of this, we continue to be healthy! What a praise! We have been taking a new kind of vitamin a friend has given us, maybe you know it: Juice +. It really seems to be doing a good work in my children, we are so thankful to have this for them. HOWEVER,  on Sunday we stopped in at the house to check on the progress. There was dust everywhere from where they are making holes in the walls for the gas, water, electricity and such. We were only there a few minutes, no more than 30. Immediately Samuel  is struggling with asthma, and is back taking his medicines and inhalers (he has not needed them for 3 weeks).  Last night (Monday) was a difficult night for him. I was up with him, praying for him. I feel so sorry he has to battle with this. Please help me pray for him.