November 30th, 2012 by Kim

how is rejoice different than giving thanks?
rejoice: To feel joyful; be delighted
              To fill with joy; gladden

so then, Rejoice is a feeling, a state of being.

giving thanks is an action. something we do.

What things can we “be delighted” with today? what things fill us with Joy?
for me, it’s:

Hampton feeling better (not having to go to the doctor)
happy children in the morning, getting ready for school
a fire in the fireplace
celebrating friends birthdays
reading/learning/understanding things about myself
getting paper work finished and sent in
advent projects
shopping with my boy
new christmas music
US radio station in the car

good news from the lawyer

medicines

Thank you Lord for all these things that you have given me to be delighted in. I know they are all from you, because You created all things and you hold all things together.

you are an awesome God. you are mighty. you are lovely. you are my healer. you care for me. you love me. I am known by you.

November 27th, 2012 by Kim

Cooking. it’s fuel for my soul.  This thanksgiving is just what I needed. A quite house,  a plan, music, step by step, success. I had so much joy.

Living here has made me a better cook. A REAL cook. taking on the challenges to make something better . it can be done. and with great joy. I still have a long way to go. I’m sure I didn’t always feel this way, the learning curve and all, but somehow i’ve forgotten those early days and all I can recall is joy. and that list of the “must haves” from the US keeps getting smaller and smaller.

In our house cornbread is made from corn meal and flour, and chicken broth doesn’t come from a can. Read the rest of this entry »

November 14th, 2012 by Zac

Maybe crisis makes us homesick or maybe we just realize the need for being home more often, but whatever the case, we have decided to travel back home to Arkansas for 3 weeks around Christmas time. We have already bought our plane tickets and will arrive in Little Rock on December 19. We are hesitant to leave our warm home during this festive season, but we are confidant that time with our families will be well worth the sacrifice! So, if you are in the Arkansas region, we look forward to seeing you during this short visit. Please respond to this post (below) if you have a notion to get a specific visit time on the calendar. We will cherish every moment we have to spend with you – our friends and partners.

November 14th, 2012 by Kim

How are you supposed to feel when that letter arrives. The official letter notifying you of the intent of the State to proceed with criminal charges with your name on it. I’ve sort of been avoiding thinking about it, since the letter arrived last Monday.

I want to say: isn’t it enough? Isn’t it enough, that I pulled his little body from the car window, and I watched and prayed and pleaded to God on that winding road for the life of my 5 year old boy that day?

Isn’t it enough that I got his 9 year old brother to pray and plead to God as well. That all I could do as we watched his body broken and bleeding all over the county road was SCREAM prayers and give my own shirt to cover and try to stop the relentless bleeding.

Isn’t it enough that once I regained consciousness in the ICU of a hospital 150 miles away from that bleeding 5 year old, I was told that my 12 year old girl , was in surgery for a broken arm and leg. Alone. at a hospital 90 miles away. Having surgery from a broken arm and leg from the car I was driving. Read the rest of this entry »

November 14th, 2012 by Zac

This is  a picture of Gwyneth that her and Emili constructed one day. I’m not sure what it represents – Eve? Rapunzel? Snow White? Confused teen? I’m trying not to let it scare me! You can make your own guesses in the comment section below.

Nevertheless, at least we can have a little fun now and then after all we have been through recently.

Gwyneth still has wires and rods in her body and she is due to have them removed soon. She is walking and functioning normally with the repaired bones. I’m not sure she’s ready for gymnastics, but she’s on a solid recovery road.

Kim just recently took her first trip alone since the accident. You can read more about that from her own “pen”, in her earlier “Prague” post. She gives herself injections of blood thinner each day and has recently started to have some back pains. Not surprising after the jolt she endured. Combined with the ongoing pain from her healing ribs, she rarely finds a completely painless posture or resting position. Read the rest of this entry »

November 14th, 2012 by Zac

Every day i am writing notes on facebook to high school students. There are so many I can’t keep up with them all. It is unbelievable the opportunity provided by EXIT Tour to share truth with the rising generation in Slovakia.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the EXIT ministry, it is a very special outreach project that visits public schools in Slovakia.  The goal of EXIT Tour is to speak the plain truth about the problems teenagers face today. The lectures focus on the truth about healthy lifestyles and true life values.  While we are in the schools, we provide an assembly for the students in their gym, where a music band performs a few songs. During the morning concert, we present our program, invite students to afternoon activities, and promote various preventative lectures taking place at their school that day. Students are divided into five or six groups to attend two of the lectures in their own classrooms, ranging in topic from sexual purity, to AIDS, relationships, drug and alcohol prevention.

As was previously, my lecture focused on divorce prevention, or steps to a healthy family. Whenever I mentioned healthy family, I have all eyes focused on me. Because statistics say that many come from dysfunctional or broken families. It is a great honor to be able to speak to these students (about 30 in a class at a time) about how to fulfill their dreams of a healthy, happy family.

We visited two cities in Slovakia over a two week period, visiting 7 high schools and around 2200 students! After each lecture, I would invite the class to stay and hear the spiritual part of this topic. Read the rest of this entry »

November 14th, 2012 by Zac

Every week is typically the same. I arrive at the train station at 1:00pm. My train departs for Povazska Bystrica at 1:17pm. I teach an English conversation in this small city every Monday afternoon. I buy my ticket for 1.85 Euros and listen to the public address system to see if my train is on time. Then my mind fast forwards to what I will encounter in the next few minutes. When the train rolls in, I climb aboard and walk from cabin to cabin looking for the right seat. There are 6 seats in each private cabin, so I need at least one empty seat among the 6. I prefer that at least 4 of the seats are filled.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 12th, 2012 by Kim

I don’t know if you’ve ever had this feeling:  The feeling when you know the Lord is showing you something. speaking to you.

right now for me, it is how the same theme/idea keeps coming up over and over in my everyday living. in different circumstances. from different people. different books. different scripture. and yet all saying the SAME thing. all pointing me to the same theme/idea. that’s when I know it’s God.

it is exciting, and overwhelming, and causes some anxiety and nervousness. because I want to understand it all, 100% percent,  RIGHT NOW. I want to “get it” and get it “right”, RIGHT NOW! funny how it  usually never comes like that 🙂

so i wait. and while i wait. i read his word. i pray for understanding. i mediate on those words (from His word). Lots of words from Psalms: “remembering” and “meditating” and “telling” and then other words from 1 Peter about “suffering” and “joy in suffering”.

and although I do feel a bit overloaded or overwhelmed by all the “words”. it’s a good overload. an overload that causes excitement for what he is doing. what he is bringing about in me and for what it is going to look like when i finally “get it”.