An Update

It has once again been too long since our last post. Life gets rolling and blogging seems to be another thing on the list sometimes! Why does the list always seem to grow and never shrink?

Anyways, it's time to give a bit of an update on our life here. The past few weeks have been busy for our team as we were preparing for a big Thanksgiving program/dinner for the English school students and their families. It was neat to see how our team really worked together and put together a nice event. The evening started with the students enjoying hot spiced apple cider and snacks while reading about the history of Thanksgiving that we put together. We had set up a tepee in the Entrance hall that gave the room a Native feeling, while 'real' Pilgrims and Native Americans greeted the guests. When it was time, the guests were invited into the dining hall where their first sight was a tribe of Natives, led by Chief Massasoit, sitting around the fire. After the guests were seated, music started and the Natives began a dance. After the dance, Chief Massasoit began telling the story (in 'real' Sioux, mind you) of when white men came to their shores.

After, the guests got to enjoy a dance by some of the youth group girls and a student of mine. The girls choreographed a dance to "Cherokee Morning Song". It was beautiful! Throughout the rest of the program, the guests saw the history of the pilgrim's crossing through video and live action. They saw the Natives, led by Chief Massasoit, befriend the Pilgrims and teach them vital life saving techniques for living in the new land. In the end, everyone was able to celebrate and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner together. After dinner, guest were challenged to "challenge the Natives" with some silly games. Before saying goodnight, our school Director gave a moving talk about the Lord of the Harvest. We pray that there will be a harvest from this event, that students and their families would have seen the Spirit of God at work and felt his gentle call to become part of His kingdom.

We really enjoyed this event. From working with our team, to setting up, to visiting with the guests, to the last moment of going home. There are times when I, as their teacher, am frustrated by how difficult it can be to seemingly share Jesus with them. During class, I have to be careful that I don't preach at my students because they are paying to learn English. But during events outside of the classroom, we really try to be more evangelistic. It was a blessing to see this come together and hopefully bless people. Thank you for your prayers...please continue to pray that hearts would soften and students would accept Christ as their Saviour.

With some disappointment, we will be staying in Czech over the Christmas season. We have about $2000 that we still need in order to renew our visas, so there was no option to purchase airfare. Our visas expire the end of this month, and must be renewed by the 15th, so we have the paperwork about ready, and are trusting that if God wants us to stay here, He will provide the rest needed to pay for the expense of our visas. Renewing passports and visas overseas is significantly more expensive than doing it in North America, we have found out. And requires a lot more red tape! Lord willing finances and paperwork will all come together in time.

Although we will GREATLY miss being with family over the holidays, we are reminded that God has a plan in everything, and trust that His will is perfect and good. There will be many opportunities over the Christmas season to shine the light of Jesus to those we come in contact with. There will be a group coming from Minnesota over Christmas, so it will be nice to have some down time and hopefully some time of refreshing with the group through prayer and services.

We are also looking toward February and the hockey trip! As we hear, there is still space for some more hockey players and non players on this trip. We are praying that God would bring those He wants as participants. Maybe you know someone or you yourself should come? Please go to canadasos.ca for more information, or e-mail us directly.

Every third Saturday Jody and the teens have been hosting "The River", a youth led church service for youth. Each week a topic is prepared, there is worship, there are videos and a short but pointed message all following the theme of the evening. It seems that God is really moving in this area, and we look forward to seeing what more He has for this ministry. Jody especially feels called to this work and putting his heart into it. He enjoys working with the youth to prepare each service and feels God's anointing as he is preaching the message. The hope is still to one day have a drop in centre where these services may take place, but today, God has given us a great building where it is working. We pray that we can be faithful in this work.

Thank you for your prayers and support! Drop us an e-mail sometime and say hello!

The Strain of Following Christ

Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a super-natural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself ~Oswald Chambers

A Lost Harvest

Living in the Czech Republic now for nine months we have had the privilege of enjoying a sample of all four seasons. As we have driven throughout this beautiful land, we noticed the roads lined with fruit trees, mostly apple and some pear trees. Now, when I say lined I am not exaggerating. For miles and miles these quaint little European roads were completely bordered by fruit trees. I have to confess that on more than one occasion while out on a family drive we would pull the car over and just help ourselves to some delicious fresh fruit. The interesting part about these trees is that they appear to belong to no one. There is no orchard and no farmer; indeed these are wild trees. As the summer was coming to a close and fall was setting in on us, we could not help but notice that many, if not all, of these trees were losing their fruit. It was literally rotting on the branches and then falling to the ground dead. None of it was being harvested. We are not talking about crab apples. These apples would put the best Ontario apples to shame (no offense if you happen to be an apple farmer in Ontario). Rachael would often comment on the sad waste of all that fruit, “How many people could have been fed if only there were workers to harvest the fruit.”

I remember one particularly beautiful early fall day here when this really began to set in. We had gone for a Sunday afternoon family drive to a nearby town. As we were heading out of town we came over the crest of a hill and saw a little country road full of apple trees whose fruit was rotting. In that moment, a powerful picture hit me as hard as I’ve been hit in a while. These trees represent the people of the Czech Republic. We live in a country of 10 million people who are everyday rotting and falling to the ground dead, never having received the message of Salvation through Christ alone. And Rachael’s words came back to me, “If only there were workers to harvest all this fruit, imagine the people it could feed.” Wow, if only there were more workers here and more resources available. Imagine all the people who could hear and respond to the Gospel and in turn imagine all the people they could feed. What a tragedy that all this fruit is dying, never having been harvested. Last week this picture really hit home for me. I was told of 3 great tragedies that took place in the last two weeks right here in our own community of 10,000 people. The first is the story of a man who on Sunday night was out drinking with friends. At 2 o’clock in the morning he called his wife to come and pick him up. Sadly when she got there he pushed her out of the car and took off driving. The man drove his car right into the side of a small hotel/restaurant and died. What a loss! My heart was so grieved to think of how quickly life can end, and if it ends without Jesus: what a loss indeed! On the same weekend there was a man in his 40’s partying in a village five minutes from our town. It was a village wide celebration and many town officials were there including several fireman. In the middle of the afternoon this man who had been drinking very heavily, jumped into a pool. While people stood by laughing, thinking he was joking, the man drowned. Finally, two weeks ago an 18 year old boy who only had his driver’s licence for a few months went to pick up some friends who had been partying late one night. After dropping off his friends he headed home and lost control of his car. He hit a tree and died less than one kilometre from our house. These stories immediately brought to mind the un-harvested fruit all over this country that is everyday falling to the ground and rotting and dying.

There is good news however, the Bible say the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. That’s what we are here for. We so desire to be those harvesters! For us, God has called us to be the Harvesters in the field of the Czech Republic. For you, it may be elsewhere. Jesus called us to go in to all the world. That means our neighbourhoods, cities, countries and places where no one else is shining His light. Please don’t lose sight of the global call of our mission.
I know God does not call all of us to leave our homes and countries. For if He did who then would minister there? But I believe that God has called us, the Rectors, all four of us, to this country for a season and for a reason. I know that God works way beyond what we can imagine. He also works through the Body of Christ, His church. His church knows no borders and we all have a different role and place within it. For now, ours is to be here to be Harvesters of the lost.
We hope and pray this letter finds you all well. Thank you for your support and prayers. We have been so blessed by the love and support we have received so many times by complete strangers, family and friends a like and above all by our Father in Heaven. God Bless you all and may you know His love and Peace deeper and deeper.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving from Czech

Happy (late) Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a Czech-style Canadian Thanksgiving this past Monday with our friend and fellow missionary, Steve Belzner. It was a great time of food, fellowship and more food!

Hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours was!

The Success of the Cross

The success of the Cross

Close your eyes and picture the cross. Now picture Jesus on the cross, nailed to it bleeding and beaten, hanging for all to see. Picture the crowds mocking and scoffing, hear Jesus as He says “it is finished” and gives up His spirit. See the Roman solder pierce His side with a spear, watch as they take Him down from the cross and what few friends He had left wrap His broken body and lay Him in a borrowed tomb. Imagine what those who followed Jesus while He was alive must have thought seeing all this. Jesus the promised Messiah, the one who would rule with Justice and be the King of Israel is dead, killed like a common thief. Where was the power people claimed He had, this man claimed to be God’s son and now it’s over with out even a fight. If that was the end of the story then what a tragedy the cross would have been, but we know that’s not the end and the cross is the greatest victory the world has ever known. A wise man once said “never let a fool see a job half done” and that’s it. So many times we judge success by worldly standards and we fail to see God’s plan and His perfect timing, we fail to see that many times when we seem to lose its then that God’s greatest work is done. When we come to the end of ourselves and pour out all we have that’s when God has room to do His work, work that only He can take credit for and work that only He can do. Jesus wasn’t defeated not for one second. He was, is and always will be God almighty the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and the cross was His great moment of triumph, triumph over death hell and the grave and He won this victory by His obedience to the will of the Father
Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." I can’t begin to explain the mystery of all that Jesus did on the cross, but I know it was all anyone could ever need to be forgiven and I know that the cross despite it’s horror is beautiful and wonderful and victorious and it is the single most amazing picture of true love the world has ever known or ever will know. (John 3:16) And through faith I see the success of the cross.

Bouquet of Virtue

I have always loved a good story. But to me, a European story is the best story. Somehow, everything always seems more beautiful. The heroine is always more beautiful, her hero is always more handsome, the food always looks tastier, the sun always looks warmer, and there is always violin music playing in the background. Even the difficulties of the main characters always seem less, well... difficult.

I don't think that before moving here I expected my life to turn into a European movie. But somewhere along the line maybe I wondered if things really were better in Europe. Having lived here for a bit now, I can tell you a few things: the food really is tastier! You know in the movies when friends or family get together for a meal and the table is heavy with all sorts of delicious looking cuisine? That really happens here...and the food really is presented with such care as to make it look even better! One of my personal favourites (and a Czech national dish) is Knedlo vepřo zelo (dumplings, pork and sauerkraut). "REALLY!?" you say. Now, before you toss my credibility out the window, you will need to try it sometime. It truly is amazing. In fact, I almost can't write about it anymore because my mouth is watering too much.

Another thing I can tell you is that while the sun (at least where we live) is not warmer...the sunrises are more beautiful. I cannot even begin to be able to compare the beauty of watching the sun rise over the tops of these rolling hills with any North American sunrise I have seen. Understandably though, a sunrise is an intensely personal affair and I would not disallow you the right to contradict me on this one.

As for the heroine and the hero... What do they really look like in Europe? They still wake up with bad breath (well, maybe just our hero does). In order so they don't get fat, (due to all the good food, of course) they need to exercise more. They don't hear soft music playing while they stroll through the fruit market. They are late. They are impatient. They disappoint people. They fight with each other, and they are sometimes too hard on their kids.

The truth is, we love our life here. We love this town, we love the people, and we love our God who sent us here. But it doesn't come without stress. If you were to pick a different flower for each of the lessons and virtues that God is teaching us, you would have a stunning bouquet. And the plot line would unfold something like this:

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self control, perseverance and in your perseverance godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (New American Standard)

If you are wondering what life is like here, or what God is doing personally in our lives, this Scripture sums it up. In the midst of all the hidden stress we struggle through, the joys we celebrate, the faith we cling to and the daily failures we succumb to...you have the story of two servants (not a hero or heroine) who are seeking for God to add to our faith...

Moral Excellence

Knowledge

Self Control

Perseverance

Godliness

Brotherly Kindness

and Love

Please pray for us that we would apply all diligence to this work.

School Days, Happy Days

*Deep breath* It's September! On Tuesday our daughters started kindergarten in a Czech school... Wow, I just have to take a moment because that still amazes me! From 6:30 in the morning, our girls were wide awake and eager to get off to school. You would have thought that it was Christmas with all the anticipation and excitement (Jody remarked that he hopes their exuberance for school doesn't wane over the years!). So after a quick breakfast, some braids and pig-tails, we were headed to the school drop off. Because the girls are in different classes, we dropped Gracie off first. In Czech, the children come to school in their 'day' clothes. Then when they arrive to school, the go directly to a type of cloak room where they change into their 'comfortable' clothes. In the cloak room, there is a spot for each child to hang their belongings in a special bag. Throughout the day, they will change into play clothes, sleeping clothes and then back into their comfortable clothes. Finally, at the end of the day, they will change back into their 'day clothes' for their parents to take them home in. On a side note, I can't imagine how exhausted their teacher must be from helping 12 children change their clothes five times in one day! After situating Grace's belongings in her special spot, we took her to her class. We were amazed at the grace with which she walked into the room and was instantly comfortable. In fact, after a few minutes she actually asked us when we were leaving because she wanted to be at school alone! Next, it was time to get Hannah to her class. There was the same process of changing clothes, etc...and then it was time to say goodbye to her. She also did amazing! Her teacher introduced herself and Hannah walked away like such a big kid off to class.

Now, having never taken my own children to school, I had no idea what to expect. Would they scream and cry? Would they not let go of my ankles and kick up a terrible fuss? What a surprise and relief to see them so bravely walk into a room of complete strangers who don't speak their language, and jump right into things. It was a blessing to know they were happy, safe and enjoying themselves. All day, I kept picturing them in their classrooms, playing and making friends. Around 10:00 am their classes go outside for playtime. I knew they would be outside and I couldn't stand it...I had to know how they were doing. So, (yes I am ashamed to admit it) we slowly drove by the school to see if we could spot them playing outside. I can't tell you the joy it gave me to see my kids playing happily at school with other children! It was like a gift!

Another benefit of sending your kids to school is time. After taking the kids to school, Jody and I decided to 'celebrate' by going out for coffee together. We had been sitting together for a little while talking when an elderly couple sat down at a table beside us. It struck me right away how different our stages of life were. From first glance, I saw that they enjoy the freedom of eating dessert for breakfast, something that guilt still does not let me do. However, I hope one day when I am also wearing orthopaedics, that dessert for breakfast will be a nice bonus. Aside from the age appropriate shoes and their cuisine choice, I thought about how this couple didn't take their children to school today. In fact, it probably has been about 35 years since they took their first child to school. The fact that it was the first day of school in Hlinsko probably had no impact on their life. For them, it was just life as usual: wake up together, head to the grocery store together, do some errands together, have breakfast together, etc... As Jody and I were enjoying our chlebiček, coffee and friendship it struck me that time together builds friendship. It's not that I never realized this before, because I have. It's simply that in the busyness of life, it's easy to forget, and I am thankful for the reminder!

In thirty years, on the first day of school, I hope we are having dessert for breakfast together!

Looking back on the week, the girls ended up doing really well. I think there will continue to be adjustments for awhile yet, but that is to be expected. There did end up being tears on a couple of occasions, but they were short lived. And it was even amazing to hear them come home speaking more Czech even after the first week!

Pray for Hannah and Grace, that they would know above all, they are not alone at school. Pray that they would know the ever-present, presence of Jesus, and His peace.

The End

We are heading into our last week helping out at the YFC Conference Centre. It is hard to imagine that summer has flown by as quickly as it has! The weather this past week was truly beautiful...in fact it felt like summer had finally arrived! This morning, however, it really has that "fall" feel in the air. I was hanging out clothes to dry and it felt like I should be bundled up in a sweater and jeans. It's funny how the changing of each season brings a different feeling. The change from summer to fall brings a nostalgic feeling for me. I know it is still only the end of August, but when the air is crisp and cool and when I start seeing some leaves changing colours and falling to the ground, I just have the desire to visit a pumpkin farm and drink a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks...or whatever seasonal drink they are serving! It's also the best season for long walks in the colourful forest or the golden cornfields! Alas, it is still August and the weather forecast promises to be back up to summer temperatures this week. So I will put my nostalgic fall musings aside and enjoy what is left of the summer. In the meantime, I may have to put some effort into making my own pumpkin spice latte in time for fall!

September 1st will be my (Rachael) return to the classroom. I have yet to open my books and begin lesson plans, but I must! Right now, I am feeling a bit worn out from the summer and honestly, the thought of teaching makes me a little tired! Please pray for a refreshing next week so that I will be able to welcome my students back to class with joy and energy!

Hannah and Grace will also begin školka (kindergarten) next week. They will be in seperate classes because we want them to be able to learn Czech more quickly. Also, Hannah will go to real school next year and we felt it was better to keep them in different classes from the beginning instead of having to seperate them next year. They are really looking forward to going to school! Please pray for them that their adjustment will go smoothly and that their little minds and tongues will learn the language quickly. Pray also that they will be able to make some good friends at school!

Jody is back on the ice! Today his team has their first game (I believe it is an exhibition game, not a regular season game). He is enjoying being back with the guys from his team and also being back on the ice. You can pray for increased opportunities for Jody to introduce his teammates to Jesus.

This Thursday (the 27th) we will head back to Hlinsko and have a few days to rest until the fall semester begins. We are really looking forward to being back home and having some time to rest. As always, pray that we will experience spiritual growth and that we will continually be growing closer to Jesus. Feel free to drop us an e-mail or to chat with us on skype anytime!

Blessings!

Another Goodbye

Today Bethany, Jody's cousin, headed back to Canada. She had spent the last two months working at the YFC Centre and helping out with our kids too. She has been such a blessing to not only our family, but to everyone that she came in contact with. If there is one person who I have met who simply exudes joy, it's Bethany! No matter if she was serving food, mopping floors, washing endless dishes or being attacked (lovingly, of course) by my children she always had joy. I know personally how much I will miss her here.

Thanks Bethany, for all your hard work and for always doing it with a smile! Thanks also for loving our kids like you did...if the aren't talking about you, they will be talking like you! You were a great example for them, and I know that because of you they know Jesus better too. Love ya Bety!

It's 7:17 and I'm slipping on my running shoes about to head out and burn some calories:) I like to run because it keeps me in shape, but ultimately, it's the time alone to talk with God that I so look forward to. This morning, I feel desperate. I have a need to talk with Him in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. Almost like holding your breath under water for too long and your lungs burning to have air released from them, and then filled with crisp, fresh air again. So, while my family sleeps peacefully in the next room...I'm going to tiptoe out the door and get some fresh air in these lungs...

Hannah's 5th Birthday!

July 27th our oldest daughter Hannah turned 5 years old...it's hard to believe how fast she is growing up!

For Such a Time as This

Having given birth to two children, I know that the process of life entering this world is an experience that is second to none. The joy, the tears, the pain, the happiness, the peace is so completely surreal that it almost feels other worldly. This morning I was thinking about another kind of birth, that is Spiritual birth. It, like childbirth, has it's share of joy, tears, pain, happiness and peace. Now childbirth takes place when Mother Nature says it time. Sometimes that's in the hospital, sometimes it is on the kitchen table, sometimes it is in the car...you get the point. It can be a private affair with just mom and dad, or it can be a very public affair too (like the people who video tape their baby's birth and post it on Youtube...right). Anyway it happens, it is beautiful to see life enter the world. Today though I realized that we are getting the incredible priviledge of seeing another life be born!

No, I am not pregnant!

Indescribably beautiful and lasting for eternity, is the joy of watching someone be born into the family of Christ. Here is the story of one such birth taking place.

Recently, one of my (Rachael) student's has started working here in the kitchen at Dlouhy. She is one of my best students and also happens to have a great heart and personality. A young girl who I also consider a friend. Last week, there was a missons team from Wales here. A lot of their ministry has been built on years of returning to Hlinsko and building relationships. It's incredible to watch the fruit of that grow! The team put on an INCREDIBLE English Camp, and my student was one of the participants. She had never come to this particular English Camp before and so meeting the Wales team was new for her. Being out going, it didn't take long for her to make friends. At the end of the week, the team hosted a concert (they are also incredible muscians!) that they had been inviting people to come to all throughout their ministry week. I wasn't able to watch the whole concert because Jody and I were preparing for a BBQ that would be held after the concert, but just from being in the building, I could tell that God's Spirit was moving for sure. As I was setting up for the BBQ, one of my friends came to me and told me that this girl had raised her hand at the end to accept Jesus. Even now I am crying just thinking about this. I immediately went into the building and saw her talking with another one of the missionaries, and she was obviously emotional. I joined in the conversation and she was saying that she didn't really want to talk about what had happened because it was loud and too hot, but that she would talk to me later about it. Now, I haven't had the opportunity to talk to her since, and I think that is good because she needed time and space to think about what God had done. This morning, I had the joy of serving with her in the kitchen. To her...it's just a summer job so she can save money to get her driver's license in January. But I know it is so much more. Knowing that our God is such an incredible story writer, I think it's safe to assume that He wrote her working here into her life story at just the right time in her life. I know she encountered God with the Wales team, and I believe that getting hired on here shortly after is part of His grand plan for her life. Today, I am looking for the opportunity to sit down and talk to her. Hopefully to pray with her too! One thing I am sure of, is that God doesn't write 'chance' into our life story. I believe that she is here for such a time as this! She may not know it, but I know that Jesus is walking beside her, saying her name and telling her it is time to be born into His family. I look forward to being able to write a new blog post with the details of her birth!

Keep Praying!

Quote

Read this quote today and thought it was great:

"It's God's universe and He does things His way. You might have a better way, but you don't have a universe." J. Vernon McGee

FIRST CZECH NEWSLETTER!!

Please click on each page for a full view to read:)

YAY!

I titled this entry "YAY" because we are very excited today! Jody's cousin Bethany will be coming to Czech for the summer to live and work at Dlouhy. She will also spend time with our kids so that we are able to have some time together:) It will be great to have her here, and we know that God has big things for her this summer!

So this morning we are off to Prague. It will be Hannah and Grace's first time on a train and they are very excited about it! We will spend some much needed family time in Prague today and then pick her up early on Friday morning at the airport. Please pray for safe travel for us as well as Bethany (and also for her parents who will be a little nervous I bet).

Will write more later.

Jody's Birthday

Yesterday was Jody's 35th birthday! We celebrated by having a quiet day together. Hannah and Grace's first thought in the morning was, "It's time to give Daddy his presents!" So first thing, we sat down and Hannah gave Jody a mug that says: '35 Let', which means '35 years' in Czech. Then it has wishes for good humor, big happiness and a lot of optimism (maybe he will need more of this now that is he is on the half of the decade closer to 40!). Then Grace gave him cologne to "smell better!" The day was rainy so we went to the mall in Pardubice and had lunch and coffee out. Then back home for pizza and a movie night! It was a great family day. I was excited to give my gift to Jody...Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! Thanks to a friend who brought them over when she was visiting a few weeks ago.

Happy Birthday Jody!

Yellow Fields and a Bird

The other day I was praying with Nela, one of the youth in our youth group and we saw this bird fly out from the bushes and in front of us. I was intrigued by it and wanted to know what kind of bird it was, but couldn't find information about it. Our friend from Canada was here visiting and when we were in St. Barbara's Cathedral she pointed out to us this bird that is used as a symbol of Christ (she knew nothing about my seeing the bird before). It is used as a symbol of Christ because it gives up it's life for it's young. Since then I have seen the bird again twice and I feel as though it is very meaningful for the youth here. I believe that God is reaffirming His heart for the youth here. Telling us that He did give up His life for His young...and it is His desire to reach them all! Seeing this bird is a repeated reminder that He is here and He is at work!


And much less symbolic and spiritual...here are the beautiful yellow fields that dot the Czech countryside in spring. I just love them!

School and Spring

This week is my last week of teaching for the semester. Then next week is review and the students will take their "big" quiz covering the year's grammar. Then on the 19th we will have graduation. I am looking forward to having a break from lesson plans and being busy every Tuesday and Thursday evening, but I know that I will miss seeing my students in class. After school ends, throughout the rest of May and June we will be helping get the Conference Centre (Dlouhy) ready for the busy summer season. Hannah and Grace love the days that we are working out there. Here in town we have no place for them to play outside, but at Dlouhy they have tons of open space and lots of little friends to play with.

Our team recently had a couple from Minnesota come for two weeks. This couple has known Christer and Kicki for many years and has a heart to see the church mobilized around the world. So every year they come with a team and build into the youth, the missionary team and the church leaders. This year, just the two of them came, and it was a pleasure to meet them. It was a refreshing time for us where we learned many things and were greatly encouraged.

The weather here has been so nice that the other day I was telling my students about May 24 weekend in Canada and what everyone would be doing with their holiday weekend and I completely forgot that it was actually April, not May. We had never seen spring before in Czech, only winter and fall, so for us it has been fun to see the trees grow leaves, see green grass, hear birds chirping and pick some Czech Lilacs (they look and smell the same as NA ones). There are also beautiful yellow fields of Rapeseed, Canola oil, growing (I guess it makes sense that they would produce this when they will fry anything from cheese to cauliflower). Driving through the countryside it is likely the most beautiful sight I have ever seen! Bright yellow fields throughout lush green rolling hills with picturesque villages dotting the landscape. Just beautiful! I will have to take a photo and post it on here for you. Not so fun though for Jody's allergies...it seems this year it is really bad, probably because of the different things that are in the air here than in Canada.

This Saturday we will have a team "field trip" to a castle with all the missionaries and then after Jody and I will be doing "The Amazing Race" with the youth group, so it will be a busy week of planning! Here's praying that the weather will be nice for it!

Drop us an e-mail sometime! We'd love to hear from you!

Visas!

Update on our Long Term Visas:

We are happy to say that our Long Term Visas have been approved and we were able to pick them up yesterday! Praise the Lord for quick approval and processing! Thanks for your prayers!

From the Director

Dan Grace, director of Canada SOS, sent out this e-mail about our first October hockey trip. If anyone is interested, let us know! Pass on the information if you know someone who is interested!

Hey everyone, just a quick note to get you thinking about joining us for a fall mission trip to Czech Republic this October 3-13. They will have ice in Hlinsko and the weather will be great! What better way to spend the thanksgiving holiday than to share our gratitude for God’s work in our lives with the Czech people?! The trip will cost approx $1400 plus airfare for hockey players and $900 plus airfare for non-players. Airfare is usually between $900 and $1000. We are expecting great things from this trip as we continue to see God work in Hlinsko and in the hearts of Czech people.

We expect to be involved in a number of ministries such as: work in public schools, visiting orphanages, serving in local church, 4+ hockey games with an event at the end of week to spend more time with players and any other opportunities that God brings our way. This trip will mark the first trip since Jody and Rachael have settled in over there and we’re excited about the possibilities that their ongoing work will bring us.

In case you hadn’t heard, we received our charitable status with the government so we are able to give tax receipts for Canadian donations. Let me know as soon as possible if you are interested and we can kick off the application process and get your fundraising started. Keep an eye out for our Newsletter in the near future and feel free to forward this on to anyone you may think is interested.

Dan Grace

Treasures of Darkness

A great pastor friend of ours recently sent us an encouraging e-mail. He was speaking from Isaiah 45:3, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD." When I first read through his e-mail, I wasn't quite sure I completely understood the concept of "the treasure of darkness." Here is a little excerpt from his e-mail:

The word treasures is translated from a Hebrew word which means depository. This reveals that God purposely will allow times of darkness for the express purpose of making spiritual deposits in our lives. But why darkness you ask? At least I did when this came to me! We cannot see in the dark. However God sees in the darkness as in the noonday. When we are in darkness we must fully trust him and remain focused on Him (Isaiah 50:10). We must allow Him to take us by the hand (give up or control and independence) and lead us. He leads us to his "hidden riches" which translated means "secret storehouse" and "secret places" which translated means "secret covert" or "hidden shelter." He revealeth the deep and hidden things, HE KNOWETH WHAT IS IN THE DARKNESS, and the light dwelleth with him (Daniel 2:22). Many run from dark times and take comfort in the shelter of their own making. But God wants us to find the "secret shelters" (protection) and "secret storehouses" (spiritual provision) of His presence. When we know where these spiritual secret places are in Him and how to access them we can abide there in the midst of any difficult situation here in the natural realm with righteous, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit reigning in our heart. We also know how to lead others to those same sanctuaries.

This past week and up until Sunday our church has been praying 24 hours every day. Tonight when I was praying, I came across this verse again and was intrigued by it again. Our pastor friend told us that, out of love for us, God sends us times of darkness when we must seek his treasure. I thought about a treasure, and its value. And God spoke this to me: A treasure earnestly sought after is more highly valued then one stumbled upon by chance, or one received through no effort.

Think, if you will, of a precious artifact in a museum. Can you see in your mind's eye, numbers of people all filing past as they look in awe at this amazing treasure? They recognize it has value, and appreciate it on some level for two minutes and then move on to the next exhibit. Now, imagine the man or woman who spent countless hours possibly in the dark, digging and searching for treasure. Imagine how differently they would view the same item...how differently they would value it. They didn't just happen upon some incredible thing lying in the street, they sought for it, and their efforts were rewarded.

I think we are experiencing the same situation here in Hlinsko. It feels strange to call this time, "dark" because that can give a negative feeling. But I would say that it is dark in the sense that what God is doing or is about to do is unknown, hence it is "dark". We feel a need to press in and search in the secret places and the dark corners for the treasure that God has waiting. I know that it will be a multi-faceted treasure, and I know the more I seek, the more I will personally value whatever it is He has waiting! It is quite the experience to be a fellow seeker alongside the youth here! Their passion for searching is contagious and exciting. When the treasure is revealed, I know that their joy will be outstanding! They have such hearts for their peers, and for their country...what an exciting time!

Czech lessons

We had our second Czech language class today. Our teacher speaks incredibly quickly, and she can be difficult to understand. There were many times in class today that I felt like, "I might as well leave because I will never learn it anyway!" The US Army listed Czech as the third most difficult language in the world...fun for us! I pray that God would give our minds favour in learning this language! Through the month of April we will have class once a week for two hours and then beginning in May we will have it twice a week, two hours each time.

Please pray for our minds and tongues to adjust quickly to learning a new language!

SOS Canada

I just want to connect you with the SOS Canada homepage. We are planning for a hockey trip in October, and if you are interested, it would be great to check out the homepage!

www.canadasos.ca

Deep Thoughts With Jody :)

I (Jody) don’t often blog. In fact this may be my first time writing on our blog, but I have a lot on my mind and heart and just want to share some of it.

So much has happened in the two short and very quick months that we have been here it’s hard to know where to begin, so I will share with you what I feel God’s Spirit is speaking to me. Let me begin with our town Hlinsko and the meaning behind the name of our town. The name Hlinsko comes from the Czech word "Hlina" meaning clay. This area was once famous for the high quality potter's clay found here. That got me thinking and I opened the Word of God and was lead to John 9:6-7 NKJV. In this verse, Jesus heals a blind man with his spit and some clay from the ground. As I read this passage I began to wonder, "What if God is going to use Hlinsko (meaning clay) the same way Jesus used the clay? What if God is going to pour out His Spirit on the people of this town in such a way that He then uses them to restore sight to the rest of the nation and around the world." Why Hlinsko? What is so special about this town? Maybe that is the very reason why...there is nothing special about this town, but our God loves to use the ordinary to do extraordinary things ('Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:16 NIV). I can’t tell you why, but I can tell you that I really believe we are standing on the edge of a pouring out of God’s Spirit like few have seen. Here in Hlinsko we have a beautiful hill that overlooks almost the whole town; it’s a great place to go up and be alone. The other day I went up the hill to pray and I began to weep for this town and pray for God to move in the hearts of the people. As I was praying I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “Tell them to wake up!” and so I began to say, “Wake up.” And then I felt the Spirit say, “Louder!” So I said it louder. And again He said, “Louder!” And before I knew it I was shouting at the top of my lungs, “WAKE UP!” After this I continued to pray and I felt the Spirit say, “Declare the name of Jesus to this town.” And so I began to say “Jesus” over and over, and again I felt the Spirit say, “Louder” and once again I found myself shouting the name of Jesus over this town. I shouted it in English, in Czech, in Spanish and in Hebrew over and over. It was one of the most amazing prayer times I have ever experienced.

I have been reading a great book on 24-7 prayer, Red Moon Rising, and I began to feel as though God was calling us here in Hlinsko to prayer 24-7. I shared this with some youth from our church and they told me that there is one youth who has had that on his heart also. And with that we have decided to press into God 24-7 in partnership with the church and youth group and begin continuous prayer the first Sunday of April.

I also now more then ever see the vision for a youth drop-in centre here. There is one particular building that we have been praying about and we will see how God moves and provides. The vision is to see a drop-in open during the week after school and on the weekends with Saturday night being a youth lead worship and praise service and every week a clear presentation and invitation to receive Jesus as Saviour. So for now I am working towards that vision as God leads and laying the foundation in prayer for a mighty outpouring of God in this town and nation.

View of Hlinsko from the hill

Hopscotch at Home

The girls and I decided to make an indoor hopscotch court today...in the livingroom! We used tape to make the floor and then had a great time!

Now I have to go get groceries and get ready to teach tonight...fun, fun!

Oops!

Yikes! It has been waaaaay too long since I last blogged. I have to make a rule about blogging at least once a week, because this is unacceptable!:) I have to give you a bit of an update...


We have settled in here quite nicely and are really enjoying our life! Hannah and Grace are still speaking in their own made up language because they want to learn Czech so badly. It is neat to hear how real Czech words are starting to pepper their speech though. We registered them for pre school (školka) last week! They got to see their school, meet the Director and even play for a bit. They won't be able to begin until the fall, but they are excited! The other day, Hannah prayed: "Dear God, please help me to learn Czech so that I can make friends here!" ...Talk about ripping a parent's heart out!


The hockey season officially ended last night with a win for the Skulls! Their championship game was last Saturday and it was also a victory! The team was so excited; you would have thought that they won the Stanley Cup. At the final buzzer the team threw their gloves and sticks in the air and were yelling, and hugging and spraying champagne into the crowd! It was a great experience for Jody and, from the outside looking in, it was neat to see how they really love him and are truly happy that he is part of the team. At least a couple of times a week, there is someone from the hockey team calling Jody and wanting to get together with him. It is awesome to see this openness he has with the guys!

Teaching English has been a wonderful experience for me. I am really seeing how it can be used to establish relationships with people. After six weeks of teaching them, I have begun to care for my students in a deeper way and I hope that we have more opportunities to deepen relationships and share about our Hope in life. I find teaching itself, enjoyably challenging. At the end of a class, my brain is on overload! I never realized how difficult it could be to try and explain certain words. It's funny because my speech becomes so simplified as a result of speaking on my student's level, that I sometimes forget that my family and friends can speak English and I talk to them like they are my students. Jody will often look at me and say, "Rachael, I can speak English!"

This last week we have a group from Word of Life Church in New York here. This morning Jody and I were talking about how they don't feel like a group, but like family. This is the church from New York that we visited in December and it is SO wonderful to see them again! Their hearts for ministry, for Hlinsko, for serving, and for Jesus are as big as Texas! Pastor Greg preached on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as Dave and Clarissa (their worship leaders) led worship with our youth group on Saturday. It has been a time of spiritual blessing and refreshing for us as we have prayed with them and fellowshipped with them. We don't want them to leave!

Oh, another update...poor Jahoda our snail died. We are ok with it though...snails don't live forever:)

This week we have a group of Americans serving here in Czech. They are families of servicemen and women serving with NATO in Holland, Belgium and Germany. They have been visiting the English classes in the public schools, doing many work projects at the English school and the conference centre, and also having conversation with our English students at the English school. Being the first team that we have worked with that was not a SOS team; it is interesting for us to see a different team operate. And especially this one because it is a "family" team, ages ranging from one year to 50 years old.

Having gone from the hockey team leaving on Saturday to this team arriving on the same day, you can imagine how exhausted our missionary team here is! Please pray for us that God would rejuvenate us and give us rest! With a busy schedule, and with our family still adjusting to a new life and a new way of doing things, it can be difficult to find time for rest and family time, etc...

Hopefully in the next week and a half we will have a newsletter out again...time permitting!

Thanks for your prayers!

Jahoda, our pet

Our kids have been wanting a pet so badly since we moved here. And we have been telling them that when we get settled and if God gives us a house someday, we can get a pet. But we also told them that they can pray about it and maybe God will say 'yes' to their prayers and give them one sooner.

Today their prayers were answered. I was excited the other day because they had fresh strawberries at the grocery store in Hlinsko, so I bought some. Today I was washing them and cutting them up for Hannah and Grace to snack on, and I was surprised to see a snail snacking on them first! Naturally, Hannah being the all-things-slimy-expert, declared that he should be out pet now and live with us because he didn't have parents anymore.

We had just been practicing some Czech words with the girls and "jahoda" was one they were learning. It is Czech for strawberry. And so for the price of a pack of strawberries, we not only got a great healthy snack, but we also got a pet! Meet Jahoda the snail...

Winter Windows

This might be silly, but I have been looking at this all day and I think it is so beautiful! I'm not a photographer, so I didn't quite capture how it looks exactly, but maybe you'll get the idea...
The icicles have now almost reached the growing pile of snow on the window ledge. We have been getting pummeled with snow so much lately that I feel like I am back in Wingham! It's terrible to drive in here because the roads have little maintenance, but it sure is pretty to look at!

Powerful, Powerful Prayer

I have been feeling from the beginning of this trip that I was supposed to share a bit of my testimony. There were a couple of meetings with the team where I thought it was perhaps the time, but it just didn't happen. Then yesterday Faith mentioned that she felt like God was telling her that someone on our team was supposed to share something during the concert we would have with the campers. I knew that was me, and that it was time. Usually when I share my testimony I don't get specific with how my dad died, but I felt like I needed to this time. I just wasn't sure what the point was that I needed to make with it all. Faith and I prayed together before and I just trusted that God would give me the words...

The song before I spoke was "Mighty to Save" and one specific line in the song is very simple, but very powerful, "Everyone needs forgiveness." And I knew that was the point I needed to make. I shared that 21 years ago on the 16th of this month my dad was murdered. Those words are still difficult to say, especially in that setting. I shared how years ago, my heart was turning black because of the unforgiveness that I was holding for the person who did this. And how unforgiveness takes our life away. I shared how seven years ago I was walking around the lake on the very property where everyone is staying, and I knew it was time for me to forgive. I told God that I didn't have the ablility on my own to forgive, but that He needed to give me the forgivness. In His mercy He gave me forgiveness and I heart has healed. For certain there are two people in that room who that message was for, and I invited whoever to talk to me about forgiveness. I pray that God would continue to press on their hearts and that they would come to the place where they can talk, and forgive. And by forgiving, they can be forgiven.

Please continue to pray. I know that there are so many of you praying for us, and I hope that this encourages you that God's ear is open and his Hand is moving. Prayer is powerful and right now I have this picture of prayers for this little town being offered up like incense and they are sweet to our Lord.

May His work here continue!

Oh yeah...

Oh yeah, maybe I should also post a photo of me teaching in one of my classes! I know the visuals help you picture our life...and even when you are praying it can help!

L-R: Klara, Ivana, Lucka and Jarda. Lucka and Klara are two students that I feel a deeper connection with. Lucka will be at the English camp this week, and I have no idea where she is spiritually. Please pray that I (or anyone on the team) will have the opportunity to get to know her better!

SOS Hockey Team

We are really excited about this week! Only the first two days have come and gone, but we see God moving and stirring not only in the hearts of the team, but we feel in our spirits that He is going to do some great things here this week.

This blog is a reminder and a request for your extra prayers during the next six days. We are praying to see a real harvest over the next few days. Many of the people we will minister to this week know Who we are about, however we are praying that this will be the time that they want Who we are about in their lives!

The next three days we will be doing a camp at the Conference Centre for orphan kids, English students and the youth group from our church. The week will also include work projects at the church/Engligh school, and of course hockey games! Please, keep these areas in prayer, prayer, prayer!

Pray for relationships among the team members.
Pray for the team's hearts to be soft to the Holy Spirit's leading and prompting.
Pray for the hearts of the campers to be soft to the Holy Spirit's calling.
Pray for the hockey team's relationships with the Czech teams to be deepened.
Pray that as a result of those relationships, some of the Czech's who have been "hanging around the cross" would lay down at the foot of the cross.
Pray for energy and strength for the team.
Pray for good communication and teamwork among the missionary team.
And pray as the Lord leads you!

Blessings!

Free Heat

I think this is great. We live on the third floor of our apartment building. As I am sure you are aware, heat rises! As a result, we have turned on our heat maybe one time in the past two and a half weeks! It really is incredible how warm it is...especially on a day like today. It is pretty snowy and cold out and we are toasty and warm in our little home, without having to even turn on any heat!

Another thought, I think I like not having a clothes dryer! This really surprised me because I was kind of dreading not having one. Even though the clothes rack takes up space in the living room and doesn't match the decor, and even though my jeans feel like sandpaper when I put them on, it actually feels great to hang dry all our clothes!

Teaching is WAY more exhausting than I imagined it would be! At the end of the four hours, I feel like my head is just swimming! I didn't know that teaching something that you use everyday without even thinking about it would take so much thought! I do enjoy my classes though. There are a few students that I feel a deeper connection with, and I hope that I will be able to connect with them outside of the classroom and begin a friendship with. Just as an interesting fyi, two of my students (they are married to each other) are bee-keepers! I don't think I have personally met a bee keeper before so I thought that was neat. They have about 40 bee colonies and they get stung all the time.

I continue to be amazed at how Jody is picking up Czech. He seems to understand and speak way more each day.

Our trip to Austria went well. It was a beautiful drive and a nice time to spend together! It wasn't a sight seeing trip though: we went to the embassy, filed our paperwork, and came home. Still, it was fun to just have been to the country now. We are praying that our long term visa paperwork will be approved by the end of April when our short term visas expire.

Only four more days until the hockey team from Canada arrives!

A million updates

It feels like a long time since I have been able to sit down and write an update on here...great news though: we have internet at home! So, now I will be able to keep you updated regularly. As you can imagine, so many things have happened. I'll try to give you as much info as possible, but it might be a little scattered!

We arrived almost two weeks ago to Hlinsko. It was a relief to walk into our apartment and our friends had made our beds and had food in the refrigerator! It wasn't an "early to bed" kind of night however; we had people stopping by welcoming us here until almost midnight! Even though we were so tired, it was an instant confirmation of why we are here. Seeing Czech friends and our missionary friends right away was a wonderful thing!

Honestly, for me (Rachael) the first few days were very difficult. Hannah was very sick and I was recovering from being sick as well, so initially it was hard to adjust. It was very different to see Czech through "I live here now" eyes as opposed to, "I'm here for a week" eyes. I think being sick though was the biggest reason that it was so difficult. I really just wanted Lipton Chicken soup and my Canadian bed:)There were other difficulties too. For example, when I realized that although I had been in Czech grocery stores, I had never shopped for things like vanilla, shortening, vinegar, baking soda, etc... Try standing in a grocery store in the spice section with a Czech/English dictionary looking for all the different spices you use: it is not easy! Another thing is that most stores here close at 5 pm. When you are used to having some store open at almost any time, it is difficult to adjust your mind set! And of course, not being able to speak the language yet is always difficult.

Then there is the issue of our paperwork, we have had two weeks of going to the foreign police to make sure that we have all our paperwork, then going back to Prague to get some paperwork "super legalized", then going to a notary and having our paperwork notarized. Now on Monday we have to go to the Embassy in Austria to "officially file" our long term visa paperwork. We are very thankful for our friends here who know so much about the process and are able to help us complete it. Please pray for our trip to Austria on Monday that we would have safe trip and that we would have favour with the officials.

Jody is enjoying playing hockey with the Hlinsko Skulls. They had a "contract signing" where they made him sign a contract saying that he will play with them until he is 100 years old:) It seems that they are very happy to have him, not only because he is a "Canadian hockey player", but also because they are genuinely interested in friendship with him. He has had many opportunities outside of the rink to continue to build relationships with his teammates.
Friday was Jody's third game with the team and although he had gotten some assists with the team before, he scored his first goal as a Skull. After he scored, the team captain Filip (in the photo bellow) picked up the puck and presented it to him. It is our prayer that God would continue to connect and build relationships between him and the team.

Last week, I taught my first English classes. I teach two classes on Tuesday and two classes on Thursday. Each class is two hours long. Before my first class I was so nervous that if someone had an airplane in front of me with a free ticket back to Canada I would have taken it! But within minutes of beginning, my nerves were settled and I really enjoyed it. Thankfully, both of my classes are the same level, which means that I prepare one lesson and use it for both classes. Between the two classes I have 23 students, and I pray that every one of them will see Jesus in me and be open to knowing Him too. Although I am there to share Jesus, the classroom is not an open forum for sharing about Him. Please pray that I will be able to build relationships with the students outside of the classroom so that I will be able to share more about the Hope that is living within me. I will be able to post a photo of me in the classroom later, so check back for that!

We have found a car and bought it! We are thankful for Christer who helped us through all the details of that. In Czech, you cannot always trust what the odometer says, so finding a car that is true to the kilometres listed can be difficult. Without being able to know for sure, you have to rely on how God leads you. There was another car that we were on our way to buy that the guy sold about 20 minutes before we got there. Although we were disappointed, we figured maybe that wasn't the one God had for us. Two days later, we found a 2000 Ford Focus wagon with 113,000 Kms. Even though that is low mileage for its age, the body and interior's use is consistent with that mileage. We pray that God would bless the life of this car and that it would be a blessing to us and in our ministry here!

We have almost been here for two weeks and it is really starting to feel like home. Our girls are beginning to really enjoy it here and settle in nicely. They look forward to starting preschool and learning more Czech. We are also excited because it looks like we will have a really good Czech tutor for us. Jody is picking up the language very quickly, but I am having more difficulty with it. I hope that this will change, however with a tutor!

The SOS Canada hockey team will be arriving in Czech on Saturday! We are looking forward to seeing people from home and ministering with them! We are praying for travel blessings and a spiritual harvest here in Hlinsko!

Here is a view from our apartment window, just so you see what we look at everyday!

And here is another view. If you click on the photo and look closely between the two buildings, you can see the hockey arena (the green and white building). Very appropriate I think that an important place of ministry for Jody is not only so close, but visual for us to pray over every day!

One pastor who has an incredible heart for Czech is praying for Hlinsko to be a place that God inhabits. Right now, this is our number one prayer for our hearts, our home, and our town. "Lord prepare me, to be a Sanctuary!" is the song of our hearts. If you pray one thing for us right now, please pray that God would inhabit, with the fullness of Him, our hearts, our efforts and in turn He would inhabit this town!

Thanks, as always for your support and prayers! We are blessed to have some wonderful people supporting us and praying for us. We love you and miss you all!

We Are Here!

Have you ever seen Horton Hears a Who? At the end of the movie the Whos in Whoville have to make their existence known to the animals in Nool. They collectively chant, "We are here!" so that the animals will hear them and believe they exisit. For the past week, I have felt like if I just yelled, "We are here!" loud enough then all of you would know that we made it to Hlinsko safely!

I don't have much time to write, but our first week here is going smoothly. Our bodies are still adjusting to the time change and we are almost finished unpacking our bags in our apartment. There will be a long time of adjustment, but keep us in your prayers as we get our feet wet in ministry and life here.

We do not have internet yet at our apartment, but we will hopefully have that in the next week. We are actively looking for a reliable vehicle, so please pray that we will be able to find an affordable, reliable car. We have an amount set aside that we can spend on a car, but if there is anyone who might be interested in giving us a gift towards a car, that would give us more flexibility in purchasing a reliable car. If that is something you would like to help, with you could send us an e-mail and we can talk about the details.

Thank you all for your prayers so far! We will keep you updated as we get internet access at home.

Quiet Love

We are down to 5 days until we leave! At this point it feels as though my stomach has turned into a Butterfly Observatory. I think that nerves are a normal part of a journey like this, however it doesn't make the feeling any more pleasant knowing that. It seems that stress is present whether or not we are aware of our feeling it.

This past Sunday we were able to join Jody's brother's family at Wilmot Centre Missionary Church. After the service, one of the pastors prayed over us the words of Zephaniah 3:17,

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

This brings to my mind a picture that I love. Whenever Jody picks up his guitar and begins to play, Hannah and Grace usually come running from wherever they are playing. He has changed the words of the song "Brown Eyed Girl" to be personalized for his three "brown eyed girls." They dance, they sing, they clap, they laugh with him. They feel secure because their daddy is singing words of love over them. They love for their daddy to sing over them.

To be quieted with His love, the love of the one who is LOVE, is a gift. I am giving my butterflies and stress to Him and I am receiving quiet in it's place. I will turn my ear to the song that he sings over me and allow it to quiet my soul. I pray that as you endure stress and mountains in your life that you will remember the words of Zephaniah 3:17 and listen for your song...for He surely sings over you.

We have five more days until we leave. Much to do!

The Ultimate Move

I have been reading the story of Noah lately, really trying to get some deeper bits and pieces. Last night I began to look at Noah's wife a little more closely. The past couple weeks it has been taking me more time than I imagined to sort through the last of our things and figure out what I am doing with them. Every item I am looking at with the question, "Store, take, or throw/give away?" As it is more difficult than I ever imagined it would be, I have begun to get a bit whiny about it all.

And that is where Noah and his wife come in. I am not sure where Noah, his ark and all his animals became a cute, cuddly picture for the nursery wall, but I believe there is something there that I can learn from...maybe you can too!

Just to give a little background in case you aren't aware, the story of Noah took place approximately 750 years after Adam died. For interest sake, Adam actually lived to see the birth of Noah's father, Lamech, but died when he was about 30. The inhabitants of the earth had gotten increasingly wicked to the point that God wanted to just kill them all. Sounds harsh right? You can read that part for yourself...Genesis 6. Anyways, a guy named Noah caught the attention of the Almighty and He came up with an alternative to killing them all: it was killing most of them. He would spare Noah and his family by having him build a massive boat, gather a bunch of animals and button down the hatches for 40 days while it rained and poured, and while "water sprang from the deep", which would have been quite a sight! Now, sometimes I think we tell the story with a little yawn and fail to grasp the enormity of the situation. Just to give you a scale here is a photo of a replica ark that a man in Holland built.

You can read the how and why behind the picture here, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-451746/Noahs-Ark-ready-floods-Holland.html. It is pretty interesting.

So, back to Noah and his family. Maybe you already knew this, but I always thought that it started raining and once it started to get a bit extreme they all decided to get on the boat for safety. However, God had them board a full seven days before a drop of rain even fell. Imagine the faith to build the thing in the first place, but then to have to actually sit there surrounded by monkeys and lizards for seven days while your neighbours are still outside gardening, would require immense faith. Or maybe that was the easy part, I don't know. But God had them do it for a reason I am sure.

This is the part that gets me. For the sake of typing I am going to name Noah's wife Norah. In the midst of all my whining, I thought of Norah. Wow, talk about the ultimate move! Imagine her last walk through her house. What did she pack? What did she leave behind? What was going through her mind? Having no idea what a flood even looked like, and having no understanding of the size of the earth, would she have known that she would never see it all ever again? Did she sweep the dirt floor before she left? Were her neighbours so wicked that they looted her home while Norah sat on the ark and listened? Did she cry? Or did she hold her daughters -in-law while they cried?

I obviously don't have answers to these questions. I won't have answers to them until I sit beside Norah in Glory and have the opportunity to ask her. Maybe it won't matter then though. But right now, the questions themselves help me to have faith.

The end of the story is interesting also. After the 40 days of rain, it didn't end there. They didn't just walk off the boat and set up their new home. All in all, they were on the ark for over a year, waiting for the waters to recede.

I am inspired by the lives of Noah and his family. Inspired to have more faith and to stop whining. Obviously, the journey we are embarking on does not in any way have the enormous implecations that Noah's does. But I believe in all things, we are to have faith. Faith in God is to have an anchor, a sure anchor.

So in the difficult moments of life, I know my anchor holds.

January 2009 Newsletter

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Happy New Year...Kleenex alert!

Wow, the last week is a bit blurry for me, but I think we have passed Christmas and at some point we have entered 2009. It has been awhile since we have posted anything so I just wanted to give an update on how we are doing. We have survived our move!!! Right now, any belongings that we are not taking to Czech are in a storage unit and the ones we are taking are currently overflowing Jody's parent's basement.

I cannot tell you that our spirits are high and that we are full of energy. The past three days have been some of the most difficult of our lives. Saying goodbye to things, was an emotional ride. Not because of materialism, but because of memories. Especially as a home maker, our things were props in the stage of my life. For the past six and a half years I have cooked, cleaned, cried, sang, danced, and loved around these possessions. (Right now Jody is upstairs singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane", how appropriate!) And I am reminded of my purpose...at this moment they are two little girls and one big kid of a man sitting upstairs eating French Toast. No matter where we are, the props in my life will look different, but the purpose remains the same...Mother, Wife and Servant of the King.

In 25 days we will be getting on an airplane and moving to the Czech Republic; if the Lord wills. I am sure the next three weeks will be full of joy and sadness. But as Jody reminded me last night, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." Hebrews 12:2 Pray for us that we will not lose sight of Christ.

Happy New Year!