Thankful Thursday...Please pray!!

Almost forgot about this today as we are super busy getting ready for our children's festival outreach we are doing as a church Saturday.

Please pray for good weather, for boldness to share the gospel, for hearts to receive Truth, for all the practical stuff to come together, for that area of the city to be blessed. Thank you!

So, there is much to be thankful for this week as well!

• Already posted but I am very thankful for the love I was shown for my birthday! It was awesome! 30 isn't so bad after all.
• For time away with my husband. It is something we have not ever been able to do (no grandparents nearby:) and it was so cool!
• For the Australians here helping us who made our night away possible and who are truly dear friends and co-laborers.
• For the Lord's healing work in our lives. I love that He pursues our hearts and desires us to be faithful to Him, to want Him, to be with Him.
• The ability to have this festival and all the things that the greater body (other churches!!) gave to us to make this come together.
• For sunshine. I know I say it a lot but it was really a long winter and it is such a beautiful change.
• A great time in the prison last week. After many weeks that did not go well, we had some new women and they were eager to hear about Hope, Life, and Truth
• Much support I have been given about writing a cook book. (More to come on that but it will be simple, whole foods, "American recipes" for the Hungarian family).
• That the Lord gives and takes away. That this life is not all there is.
• For four weeks of working out and healthy eating. I feel great and seriously notice the effects of sugar on my body for the first time in my life (that I can remember). It feels great!

Hope you all have a great week and take a minute to think about and thank Jesus for all the blessings He pours out!

30!! Best birthday!!

Wow! That's all I can say about this birthday. It was awesome!

First, my friend took me to get my nails done and then surprised me with a restaurant full of all of the girls from our church. Thank you Viktoria! It was super cool. They blessed me beyond what they will ever know.

While we were away, my husband put up kitchen shelves for me which I have wanted for so long!! They are super sweet!

On Sunday, another friend made my favorite cake (expect your chocolate cream supreme mom!) and brought it to church.

After church on Sunday, my husband surprised me with a get away date. Ok, we have NEVER left the kids before. That's right, 3 1/2 years and one of us has always been with them overnight. So, I was a little nervous but I let it go and we left. Thank you to Palma and Kim & Andy for taking super good care of our kids! He took me to Budapest where we stayed on our wedding night and then we walked all over like we used to when we were first friends. We had dinner at a super cool restaurant and then the next day hiked up Janoshegy and took the cable cars (it was what we did the first time we ever hung out). We had lunch and then headed home. It was awesome!

We cam home and BBQ'd with Kim & Andy and then had cake made by Ellie & Kim.

It was seriously the best birthday!! Thank you all for making me feel so loved!

(More pictures on facebook)

Thankful Thursday

Not many posts this week but definitely things to be thankful for!

• We finally found a stork for Ellie to see!! We have been reading a book about them and finally found one!!

• Awesome days outside lately!! Today rain but most of the week beauty!!

• Amazing teaching from John Piper here. Still chewing on it. It's worth the 50 minutes. Definitely understanding more of God's love for us after listening. Also, super thankful for a regenerated heart that wants less of me and more of HIM!

• Two upcoming outreaches for our church. So thankful for the turning point for our church. Please pray for these (Apr. 29th, May 1st)

• For my husband who took the girls with him the other morning (I spring cleaned). He even brought home lunch so I didn't have to cook. Then the girls napped and after we all headed out to the church for the prayer meeting. I felt so refreshed with just a half of a day alone!

• For the adoption process. It is so hard to wait and pray and wait and pray but it reveals the Father's heart for us so much as we better understand what it means that He has adopted us.

• That I will turn 30 this week! God has given me the gift of life. It is my prayer and heart's cry that I make much of Him with all that I have left.

• For being healthy and able to focus time to workout and figure out how to feed our family healthier. It feels so good!

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday

While the weather has been a bit gray and wet this week we still have much to be thankful for!

• We saw the most incredible ice storm I have ever seen. It began with sunny skies, then sudden darkness, lightening & thunder. Soon after some serious rain came but it was not just rain, it was ice and a lot of it! My neighbor ran out to cover his car in blankets *he likes his car a lot* There ended up being a nice layer of ice balls everywhere. It lasted about 20 minutes and then, sunny skies again.
• We scored some amazing deals & produce from the farmer's market this week. We are so happy for Spring vegetables!!! I also got a great source of raw milk so now we are going to be making all of our own cheese, cream, buttermilk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. We are excited for the adventure, saving money, helping others, and healthier dairy products!
• So thankful that my husband is on board for our family to make the switch and eat healthier. I have been making slow changes and since he has loved everything, he gave the go ahead to completely change our eating!! So thankful! I have tried before and failed but with him beside me on this, we can do it!! (Changes we are making will come soon)
• Super stoked for a friend's recent adoption. They brought home their little boy last week. God is Amazing! Also very thankful and overwhelmed with joy that the Lord has provided for my brother and his family to move forward with their adoption! We are so thankful that God has called us to be involved with taking care of orphans through adoption! We can't wait to bring our new child home.
• For the Australian couple (post about them coming soon too) who have helped us more than we could ever have imagined. We thought they were coming to help practically but it has been so much more! We are so thankful for them!
• The Word! It is awesome! I love that I have the privilege to teach women from His Word three times this week. I love that It has power to change lives, that It brings healing, comfort, restoration, freedom. I love that I never am the same after reading It! I love that I have freedom to have many bibles, to read them, to teach from them. I am thankful for the bible!
• Thankful for my family who helps and supports us so much even though we are so far away. My sister taking care of all of my DMV hassle, my other sister sending me Reef's in an emergency, my mom sending us packages even we we ask her not to, my other sister leaving me notes on my Facebook wall and reminding me of my quickly approaching 30th birthday!
• For the wonder of God in the caterpillar and butterfly process. We are studying this with Ellie this week and are seriously amazed!

What are you thankful for this week?

Healthy Snacks

We are on a quest to kick our sweet habit (i.e. too much chocolate) and in that spirit I have come up with 4 new snacks for us to enjoy. They are easy, healthy, and not expensive. Those are the kinds of snacks we look for.

First, we were having company over on Sunday afternoon and I needed something quick but did not want to make a cake or cookies because I end up eating ALL of the leftovers. So I looked around the kitchen and found a box of light cream cheese.

Here what I did:

I added a teaspoon of honey

I blended up about 1/4 a cup of walnuts

Mixed it all together

Sliced apples and served as a dip. It was awesome! I think you could add a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg for a more "fallish" snack but it's Spring, so none of that!

Second, I was really craving chocolate. It happens. A lot. Here's the remedy

A glass of cold milk

A teaspoon or two of cocoa

A teaspoon of honey

Mix and drink with a straw for added fun.

You can heat this in the winter, blend with ice cubes for a more shake approach, or drink with a side of strawberries to be ultimately "springy."

Next, I was looking for healthier alternatives for snacks for my girls and made this:

Peel one banana

Drizzle with honey

Allow your three year old to crush some corn flakes and roll away.

Result: one girl licked all of the toppings off before eating, the other ate it as is. Both loved it!

Next up to try (with recipes to come if they turn out):

Homemade graham *and chocolate* crackers (we can't get them and homemade would be way healthier)

Peanut butter smoothies

Strawberry smoothies (when they are in season in a few weeks but the season only lasts a month here so we will have to get our fill)

Enjoy! Any other healthy snack ideas? I'd love to hear

Ministry Update

Wanted to give a quick ministry update and ask for some prayer for the upcoming things. We are super excited but it is a lot of work in the coming weeks and we need your prayers for Jesus to come near to us and to people we meet with.

Youth group:

Balazs and Andy *the Australian* took the boys to Slovakia for a youth conference where Balazs taught two sessions. Two weekends later they took the boys to the Calvary Youth Conference and again Balasz taught two sessions. The boys are really getting serious about following Jesus and we are so blessed to be a part of their lives. All of the youth kids have at least one (most of them both) parents who are not believers. Please pray for God to use these kids in the lives of their parents.

Church: *Prayer*

We have really felt led to bring the church together through prayer. Especially with all of the upcoming events, we must see together that it is only with the empowering from God that we can do anything. Because of this and the dynamics of our church, we will be providing childcare for the next two weeks to enable more people to be able to come and pray. If it goes well and more are able to come, we may do childcare every week. Please pray for our church to be burdened for prayer.

Outreach:

We have 2 major outreach events coming up in the next couple of weeks. First, April 24th we, along with 4 other local churches are hosting a concert at the largest event center in our city as part of the Cultural events for the year (Pecs is one of the 2 cultural capitals in the EU this year, this is a BIG deal). We are responsible for cleaning the entire center along with other stuff. Each church will fast and pray for a day the week before the concert. Please pray that this concert and the gospel being shared at this event opens hearts to saving faith in Jesus.

The second outreach is May 1st. A team from the bible college will come down to help us host a kid's festival where we will have a bounce house, craft tables, games, face painting, and a band playing *Balazs & others*. We will share the gospel with the parents who come as they are waiting for their kids. We have done this type of outreach before and it was great. Please pray for all of the planning and organizing we need to do and for permission to be given by the police station. Please pray for our church to be totally involved, for them to invite people to come, for them to take ownership of this outreach. Please pray for the church to grow in their faith and trust in Jesus through this event. Please pray for people to come to know Christ and for people to come to church.

We have some other plans coming up for church retreats and prayer days, for a recipe exchange outreach with women, for a church women's retreat, and other events. None of this will be possible without prayer. Please pray with us for these things. This really is a big step forward for us and for our church. Please partner with us in prayer. Thank you!!

Thankful Thursday

Wow! Lots to be thankful for this week!

• We had an awesome Easter weekend celebrating Jesus! Lots of friends, fun and food! First BBQ of the year, oh yeah! Tiramisu & cheescake! It was great! We had everyone over who did not have family to celebrate with. We ended up with 14 people!

• Still super thankful for the warm weather & sunshine. Loving loving loving the spring flowers and am still in awe (after 5 years here) that the plants sprout and grow before your eyes. It is something you don't notice in Ca and I love it!!

• We had a great day at the park today with a good friend and her kids! Ellie and I and her 3 year old really enjoyed the big slide (we all went down together). I have not laughed like that in a long time! It was great! We went down like 15 times.

• Super stoked on the sales I got yesterday while doing our monthly shopping. Avocados are a real rarity here and I got 4 baby ones for $1!! Yeah!!

• I am grateful for the work the Lord is doing in my heart. It is not pretty to see the yuckiness that is there but it is awesome to know that I am on the road to freedom once again!

• I am super thankful the God wants us to walk continually in freedom and not be in bounds of sin, legalism, selfishness, etc.

• Thankful for my family even though I don't see them often, they are a huge source of support and blessing in my life.

Embracing bitterness on the road to finding freedom

I am going to share something many of you may not know about me. I am an amazing builder. I build fantastic walls that rival the likes of the Great wall in China, the walls of Barcelona, or the great walls of Cairo.

The only difference is my walls surround my something much more valuable...my heart. I will not go into why I do this, but suffice to say it is a very effect protective mode that I embrace any time I am in danger of being hurt. I find it far easier to shut off any emotional connection than to deal with whatever it is that is threatening me. Clearly this pattern is not glorifying to God. Nor trusting in His ability to escort me through the circumstances I find myself in.

Through a series of events, God has been speaking to me loudly about this issue. Roots have a funny way of finding ways through seemly impenetrable places. Case in point, my heart. For the past couple of years, we have been dealing with something that I thought I had been handling very well and because of my wall, I was able to deceive myself. This past week however, I have seen how some roots have made their way in. Roots of the most destructive type. Roots of bitterness. In my case unforgiveness. Hebrews 12:15 talks about the roots of bitterness and how they spring up and cause trouble, and by it many become defiled. One thing we are learning as we minister, is that bitterness is very destructive in the life of a believer and in a church. Because of the walls I create though, I didn't even realize I had been hurt and that over time that hurt turned sour and bitter. I thank Jesus that He has shown me this before the reaches of this are too great to overcome.

I am teaching this week in the prison on bitterness and forgiveness. It is funny how God always teaches me far more than I teach anyone else. I do love that about our relationship with Him. He wants us to be conformed into the image of His Son and He is relentless in His efforts if we are willing.

I think in general I am a very forgiving person, I don't hold grudges easily and I usually just let go. One of the ways that I knew I had been changed by the saving power of the gospel is that I let go of all the anger and bitterness I had held onto for years in the matter of a day. I was free. I realize now of course, that holding onto it did nothing to change the other person, it only put me into a prison and held me there choking out any chance I had at being free. But then Christ entered my life and I was able to let it all go. I have tried to remember throughout my walk with Jesus that as I have been forgiven much, so must I also forgive (Col 3:13). For the most part, I have been able to do this but then God is showing things like this in my heart right now and it breaks me. It reminds my of the depth of my sinful heart and brings me to my knees in repentance.

I realize than in order to clean out the roots that have taken hold, I must let the walls down, accept that I have been hurt, go immediately to the only One who can comfort, heal, restore, and then... let it go and walk in the freedom that comes in forgiveness.

I share this with you in the hopes that you will search out your own heart and ask God to reveal any roots that have taken up residence. I share this as a way to be healed (James 5:16) and ask you to pray that God would do a work in my heart. I share this with you to ask you to pray that the work that the Lord does in my heart would open up floodgates in our midst here and allow a deep work of forgiveness and healing to be done. I share this with you so that He may be glorified as we all witness the power of a sinner being set free once again through His grace.

Thankful Thursday

Seriously stoked on Spring still!! We changed our clocks this past weekend and are loving the extra daylight!! Super thankful for a friend who always blesses us with apples and other goodies!! Hosea 10 rocked me this week! Very thankful for how the Word shapes me, challenges me, and makes me cry out for the Spirit to transform my heart! Already mentioned, but still very thankful for the free day we had this week! Very blessed and grateful for my husband who God is changing before my eyes. Thankful for his love, for his humblesness, and mostly for his dependence on Jesus. Nothing is more amazing in a man. Thankful for my little girls who keep me on my knees! Super excited (does that count as thankful?) for our Easter breakfast with the church and BBQ with friends after!! Very thankful and humbled as we celebrate our Redeemer this weekend!