cHaNgEs

I know that life is always full of change and especially mine! :)

But, this is the latest to take the cake for us!

We found out on the 13th, just three days before we were to fly to the UK/US, that we received our visas!  Now, this is good news.  Amazing news!  Miraculous news, really!  We have received a two year, non work permit visa without having to buy Czech health insurance, which would cost in addition to our US health insurance!  And we received it after waiting only 2 1/2 months!  We have friends who are still waiting one year out!

But, this is also stress inducing because of all the details that have to be changed quickly in order to not lose our airline tickets ($$$) and changes to many visits, travels etc. that we had spent time working on before our trip.

It is also smile inducing as Matt gets extra time with friends, extra time to organize and think through details for next year.  Extra time to sort and pack.  We, also, have time to breathe after me making many cakes, graduating my second child and packing and sorting in a hurry.  I may even get to clean the house before the people coming to stay at our house while we are gone arrive.  THEY are thankful for that, too!

Here are some things that have come together and continue to bless us as we see God's fingerprints all over this situation:
     We have two places to stay in Florida, our start destination, for FREE!
     My parents (Dora's) are loaning us their car for the first week we are there instead of us needing to
          rent a  van...more ($) savings!
     Amy will be leaving on Wednesday (20.6.) in order to stay with my parents and look for a job.
          Pray for a good job for Amy as well as safety in her transferring from Heathrow to Gatwick
           and training to Worthing to stay with my step-sister and her family and her safe flights.
     Matt and Hannah will be flying out with Tom and I and the rest of us to Heathrow where we will
           all spend the night.  Matt and Hannah will fly out from Heathrow through Chicago and on to 
           Minneapolis in order to be there for re-entry.  Pray for safety and a good re-entry experience for                   them!
Please pray as we reschedule church visits, picking up our rental van from Fort Wayne, IN and driving
           it down to Florida (Tom who will pick up Matt and Hannah in Indiana and head south).
Please pray for details of doctor visits and preschool starting and other things to settle at our home
           here in Pruhonice before leaving the Czech Republic.

I will try to post more as things come together!

Here are a few graduation pictures for you to enjoy!

Graduation!!!

Matthew Thomas Becker




We are proud of Matt as he graduates from the Christian International School of Prague tomorrow night.  He has worked hard and excelled in academics, as a student leader and generally fun/ny guy!  We look forward to all that God has in store for and through you in life, Matt!

Next year Matt will be in Thailand serving with ReachGlobal (our mission) for a 10 month time period.  He is gathering prayer and financial support for the next year.  He will also be applying to colleges this summer looking for a delayed admittance.  All your prayers for Matt are appreciated.

Graduation is tomorrow night, June 14, 2012 at the International Church of Prague at 7:00 p.m.

mostly May happenings

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here are some pictures from May.  Matt took the picture of me one morning during a promised walk together in the woods in the park near our house. 

Friends from college days visited.  Here is one of several pictures with them.  I have some cool ones taken from a tower downtown Prague.

Also in May, Matt, Amy and Tom took part in the Prague Marathon, running 10K each in the relay part of the marathon.  They all ran well in their first timed official race.

Tom waving

Matt handing off the baton

Amy running

I am so proud of my family!  On top of good exercise, we were able to raise over $1500 for the Salvation Army and their work with the homeless in Prague!

I also was hired to make two very special cakes.  The first was for the worship leader at the International Church of Prague. 

The second was for the senior pastor a the same church whose official farewell service was today.  These families will be missed for sure!

Well, this is many words and pictures as well.  I think I'd better stop here!

friends

Alicia, Nate, Tom, Rachel, Lori, Anabel and Ken at the Jan Hus memorial in Old Town Square, Prague

I studied for two years at Grace College of the Bible, now known as Grace University in Omaha, NE.  While there, I was in chorale with Ken and Lori and many other fine folk.  Ken and Lori and some others formed a small group which toured separately from chorale and I and some others were in another traveling quartet.  Anyway, I have known Ken and Lori for about 26 years now.  Ken's uncle went to Grace with my parents!  Ken and Lori married in 1989 and moved to Brazil where Ken grew up to be missionaries.  Tom and I married in 1990 and Ken and Lori attended our wedding, almost 22 years ago! (June 16)

We have kept in touch with Ken and Lori through the years and get their updates about life and ministry and they likewise keep in touch with Tom and I.

Imagine our surprise and excitement to hear that Ken and Lori and two of their three girls were going to be in Europe and be able to stop and spend 3 nights with us here in Prague!  What fun!  We SO enjoyed getting to know their daughters, share stories of life and ministry, share about our families and relate in a deep way that only certain friends can.

Ken, Lori, Alicia, Anabel, Rachel, Nate and Tom in a park near our house.

Ken and Lori are now in Romania helping out at Bucharest Christian Academy where Ken is helping with construction and Lori with the music department.  Ken and Lori started a Christian school in Mossoro in 2000, so have some practical understanding of a newish school.  Ken has and continues to work on the construction of their school in Brazil, Alfa, through the years.  Lori teaches music.  God has richly blessed them as they educate leaders in Brazil and the world.

What a joy to have the Stucky's here and to get to share some of our life with them.  As you think of them, pray for safety as they travel in Europe and then the US before returning to Brazil.


Enjoy the pictures, too!

Tom and Ken

Nate, Rachel and Anabel

Too far behind!

Hi all!  I am so behind in updating you.  Seems life has been speeding up lately.  I can't wait to take a look back at some highlights with you. 

The latest news is that I arrived safely last week from 5 days in Spain.  Platja D'Aro to be exact.  What a lovely place for the ReachGlobal Women's retreat!  The time spent there was truly a haven of fun, relaxing and some chunks of time devoted to praying with friends and reflecting.  So much like an oasis.

Some of you know that I was asked to share a little bit of a talk (ended up being about 7-10 minutes long) with the women and then lead a craft.  After much prayer and reflection, the talk ended up being about life and how we are each born into a circumstance, God's plan, and then along the way we choose some things and together, these events/roles/circumstances form our life.  Some of these are dark, hard times and others are sparkling times, but together they add up to a beautiful, rich life. 

I brought 6.5 kilos of Czech glass beads to the conference for all of the women to create a necklace of their own, as I used the bead colors and shades in the talk as the light and dark times in our lives and how in the end each of our "necklaces" are beautiful and unique! 

I had a really neat time of listening to God that I will share in a later post as I am afraid I will run out of time for this one!  For now, I will leave you with a couple pictures of the beads and necklaces.

Dandy Dinosaur Day

Nate and I found a cute book at the older kids' library.  As you can see, we have been enjoying making some Dandy Dragons.  We also made sleeping Dandy Dragon sandwiches, but I don't have pictures!  They were made of bread with hot dogs on top and covered with cheese.  Additionally, we had "dinosaur hair" (spaghetti), dinosaur bones (hot dogs...I know...wimpy bones) and "blood"...tomato sauce.  Well, Rachel liked it anyway.  Nate didn't like that so we just called it sauce for him! :)

Since we have been ill around here and passing things on, there is a different pace to life.  I am fighting a couple of things and am resting a lot.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Visa update

visa update


Just letting you know that the office took all the paperwork and only needs a few additional papers!  Praising God for the friendly, helpful lady at the visa office.  As a side note, she ALWAYS asks about you, Meredith, and was happy to hear the latest about you.

Thanks for praying!  Now, just pray that the visa goes through!