Parental Love

~ 12.28.1985 ~

 _____________________________

 12.28.2010 equals 25 years. 

4 kids. 4+ moves. (3 states and 2 countries).

Succesful years in ministry and careers. 

And dare I say, 23 years of successful parenting. :)

Love you Mom and Daddy. Miss you soooooooo much.

Hallelujah!

Woohoo this guy's playing is amazing. He makes it look so fun. Though I've never ever ever played like him,

I kinda miss not having a piano to sit down to.

The Nativity

Tuesday evening at Bible study we watched The Nativity. I had never seen the movie before and personally shy away from most human depictions of the Christmas story or the life of Christ for that matter. I could sit here and critique some things about it, but I got a lot out of watching it, and felt like-- for the most part-- they left the story in tact though some things were most definitely added.

Some points in the film got me thinking:

: : When [in the film] Mary said "why would God choose me? I am nothing," one's led to realize, that its not to far fetched to assume that's why God chose her. Humility is the virtue of a godly woman. She was both humble in position and humble in nature.

: : Her old friends looked on her with disdain when she became pregnant out of wedlock. For the first time I realized that with the mindset I have about a lot of things, if I had been there (or if I had been Mary!) I would have assumed that her vision and pregnancy could not have been of the Lord because he wouldn't have orchestrated the circumstances to appear immoral. I'm not a "break-the-rules-just-because-I-can" kind of girl, so I'm not saying we should.  But... What an important reminder to not put God in the box of our limited imaginations.

: :  Herod believed God in the sense that he believed His prophecy was real. But He did not truly know God or he would have known that there was no way his strategies to keep the prophecy from being fulfilled would ever succeed against an omnipotent God. For anyone not caught up in their own foolish and selfish ambitions its rather clear he was fighting a losing battle. Not only that but he was fighting the completely wrong battle. Christ hadn't come to rule a lost world. He had come to save a lost world in order that He might someday rule a righteous world. 

I was happy for some fresh revelation from the story we hear over and over at this time of year. God's Word never ages. May you have a blessed Christmas time with family and friends. I'm settling in for a cross-cultural one as I celebrate with the family I'm living with while here in Hungary. Blessings to you and yours!

Kürtőskalács

Saturday I took the train to Budapest with my friends Rozi and Agi. We had a fantastic day full of shopping and gabbing.

 Here's where we went:

Starbucks [where I had my fix of their special Christmas flavors]

Two outdoor stores [where I drooled over Keens and other comfy shoes]

A bookshop [where I bought a Turkish phrase book]

Mexican restaurant [where I ate a Gringa for the first time outside of Mexico]

A fine hotel [where we ate a fine slice of cake]

Ikea [where I decided to move next and permanently live.]

The Christmas market [where we ate yummy Kürtőskalács or "chimney bread"]

"To Know Him is to Want to Tell the World About Him"

"Lord, make my way prosperous, not that I may achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit to the value of knowing God" --Jim Elliot 

This evening I went with Katka to her adult English class. Being the Christmas season, she feels its a great opportunity to share the Gospel with her students so she asked me to come and share my testimony and the Gospel. After she boldly shared about being a Christian herself, I began to share. I had to use simple English so I wasn't sure if my story and the message were getting across. However, one woman had tears spilling over when I finished and another asked some great questions. There's nothing extraordinary about my testimony  (though it is a miracle in the sense that no one like me deserves the salvation I have!!!) so I'm really hoping it was the good news that they were responding to. Because of time constraints mostly (but also language barrier awkwardness, I'll admit) I wasn't able to really follow-up with them to see what their thoughts were. Nothing could possibly make me any happier than an opportunity to share about Jesus. With His help I step up and do my little part and just trust that He'll finish it.

"...Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..."

My Friend.

Meet [my friend] Reni

When we're together sometimes we pretend to be calm and even normal.

We have yet to fool anyone.

Reni, thanks for everything you've done to help me during my first few months in Hungary. Thanks mostly for just being there. As I'm sure anyone who's had to adjust to a new culture or moved far away from family can attest-- having a friend like you is a lifesaver.  Love,

New Look

So here's the new look. Let me know if you have an visibility problems. I never thought I'd pick pink for a main color, but I really like the clean and simple look of this template. The pink is a subtle enough shade, I think. :-) Thanks to Cappuccino Factory for the design and installation. Updates on life coming soon.

Off Air

This blog will be going "off air" for a little bit this morning and if all goes well it will reappear with a whole new look! I'm excited. But then, it is the simple things that make my day. Hope you have a good one! I'm on my way to the school to teach class number 1 of the day.

"They Kissed Right in Church..."

My friend Reni showed me these kid quotes today.
You may have gotten the email forward, but here's a few of my favorites.

"Dear God, If you let the dinosaur exstinct we

would not have a country. You did the right thing.-David"

"Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each

so much if they had their own rooms. 

It works with my brother. -Larry"

"Dear God, if you watch in church today

I will show you my new shoes. -Mickey"

"Dear God, I am Amearican. 

What are you? -Robert"

"Dear God, I think about you sometimes

even when I'm not praying. -Eliot"

"Dear God, I went to this wedding and

they kissed right in church. Is that ok? -Neil"

Who knows if kids really said these things, but I do know that kids have a way of putting a new spin on things and giving one a "new persective". Anyway, these made me smile.