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:)