My youngest daughter, Rachel has been corresponding with her school class from the US and here is what she recently sent them. I thought you would enjoy the pictures as well!
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view from the airplane of the Swiss Alps
Our house
the mall near our house (10 minutes by car)
You have to put money in the cart to use it but you
get your money back when you put it away.
They have bread in wooden crates unpackaged so you can get however many you want, they alsohave packaged bread.
(tichinky)They have different kinds of pretzels like, cheese, onion, and potato, as well as
normal pretzels. They may sound gross but they’re actually quite good.
more pretzels: Left - onion and Right - potato
They have milk and juice in one liter cardboard boxes
That is not syrup you put on your pancakesthat is fruit flavored syrup to flavor your water with.
Yup, that is all salami and pepperoni, they havepepper salami, sliced salami, non-sliced salami,
you name it, they have it.
They have spices stored in small green paper bags.
They have grocery stores in the malls...this is the mall near our house.
A castle five minutes from our house in a big park.( It is actually bigger than thisbut I could notget it all in the picture).
Since I'm not sure exactly where to start as so much has happened since our move to the Czech Republic on March 3/4. We are settling in to our home and life, trying to not rush headlong or be pushed forward into doing a lot of activities which seem really worthwhile and important. We find ourselves waiting and praying more and then taking steps and following where it seems we are to go.
So, now that we are back and in full-time Roma ministry...wow, the opportunities seem to be just opening up before us. I am remembering my main priorities: wife and mom and teacher, then that limits, naturally enough, what I will commit to in ministry at this point.
Klub Rachel has been fun to attend and see what is going on. There are a lot of new faces and these people are particularly serious about studying the Bible. They meet weekly for a Bible study and prayer. On Thursday there is Klub time with a short Bible teaching, games and activities for the kids and lots of fellowship time. Sunday there is a service which starts at 3:00 p.m. and people usually hang around until 6 or 7. We are excited to announce that there are many people who are asking for baptism and we are in the middle of planning a baptism service to take place soon! The instances of physical healing and protection from demonic oppression are amazing and really encouraging and remind us of how real the spiritual battle is. Please keep these brothers and sisters in your prayers.
Otherwise, we feel like we are finally settling into this house as home. Our move from Vlasim the summer before last was really fast and we jumped into/kept going in ministry and didn't really fully unpack and settle in to this house. Our return here was fret with lack of sleep and messed up schedules so we used the times we were awake to sort through ALL the boxes and things and sort and get rid of things we no longer used/needed.
I am homeschooling Matt, Hannah and Rachel now, so this is another adjustment as I figure schedules. Another adjustment is shopping. Things are MUCH more expensive than they were when we left and our budget is feeling that...requires some scrutinizing our receipts to see where we can cut back.
I guess the theme for this time of life is: ADJUSTMENT. Thanks for your support and prayers during this time.
We had a lovely day today. Our last church service here in the US was really good. The kids all had good "goodbye's" with their classmates in Sunday School/Youth Group. Tom and I had the opportunity to share with our class about what we plan on/have been doing in Czech. Thanks for the encouragement you all! The box of goodies to bring with us was such an encouragement, as were your words to us and prayer as well as financial support! We will miss the support and friendship of the class!
After lunch, I sorted and packed 5 boxes of things to bring back with us...not sure we will make it in the allotted 12 suitcases/boxes, although we are doing our best to pare it down!
We watched our favorite show, "The Amazing Race" while eating supper. Then there was a spectacular lightening storm over the lake. Really beautiful!
I finished baking the cinnamon rolls for tomorrow. They are baked already as Tom leaves at 5:30 a.m. to return our van to Righteous Rides in St. Louis. He then flies to Chicago and takes a bus to the town near us. Whew! All in time to go with us and the cousins and Rachel's best friend from school.
Yes, this week is filled with many normal activities that we will enjoy for the last time. We are particularly sad about leaving the YMCA. What a great place to go and exercise, enjoy Zumba, gymnastics, swimming and weightlifting. There is nothing like it. We will try to find something close as the exercise has been great, especially in the winter. Thanks to all the staff who gave us such friendly service!
I talked with Matt today...boy do I miss him! He is doing well and will play catch up after a busy week last week preparing for the Renaissance Night they performed three times this last weekend. I have seen some pictures, talked with him about it, but can't wait to watch the recording of it with him! He is already planning a meal for Friday night and Nate has planned some activities with him as well. We have all missed him a lot!
So, since it is late and tomorrow promises to be full, I will close.
What a beautiful, talented and smart woman! Meredith and her husband have two lovely girls with whom we have such fun when we are together. Many of you already know this, but my blog is lacking the update, so I will write it here.
Meredith was diagnosed with breast cancer and has the surgery behind her already. She is now recovering and heading into chemotherapy part of the treatment...all while we are packing to leave the country!
Please keep Meredith in your thoughts and prayers. We certainly are! We are really sad that she has this cancer to beat and that we have to leave while the worst of the fight is going on!
