We are moving...

I despise moving.

There is nothing fun about it. 

The only fun part is the getting there and settling in.

Moving means new beginnings and fond memories...now that is what I really like!

Where are we moving you may ask?  We are still waiting on the Lord for that, but are praying about three places specifically.

So until then...my blog will be moving.  I thought about deleting it, but there way too many memories.  Instead, I will be moving the posts and blogging elsewhere.   Fresh beginnings are my favorite thing...so here is to fond memories and starting a new.

So long for now.

Buon Giorno

Our family was able to enjoy much needed time of  rest in a little seaside town of Jesolo, Italy.  The weather was perfect...not too hot or cold, shopping was excellent!  There is not much time to share everything we did right now, so I'll leave you with a happy ending to a wonderful week!

Much needed rest...

Thankful to be getting away....just the five of us

...beach

...sand & sun

...ancient city

...new language

...perfection

Awana in Croatia

I will start by saying that this is not our ministry, but that of another Baptist church in Croatia. We are so excited for the burden and vision of Petrinja Baptist church!! Please pray for Awana and how it will reach Croatian boys and girls for Christ. AWANA  has a special place in my heart!

https://www.facebook.com/AWANACroatia/videos/824509787617749/

Perfect Timing

Not too long ago a lady I was talking to at church asked me if I knew of the missionary family who lived near the border between Slovenia and Croatia. I said no, but immediately wanted to know more because she too was a homeschool mom and a mom to two girls just like myself.

  Naturally I looked her up on Facebook and sent her a message ackwardly explaining who I was and how I found her.  After a day or so I knew that I probably would never hear from her and she probably thought I was crazy! LOL

Well, finally I did hear back from her and was delighted to hear that her girls were very close in age to my daughters ages. We were making plans to meet for coffee but both got busy with life. However, this past week I ran into her just outside the store and we made plans to meet the next day.

Let me just tell you, I am so thankful for these people and the blessing they have been already.  It is really hard for kids to make friends on the mission field if they are not going to school there. My kids have struggled for five years. I am praying that this will be a beautiful new beginning for my girls. Now the only problem is moving Noah's friend Chriśtian from Sisak closer and things would be perfect!

God's timing is always perfect and He always gives us what we need, when we need it.

Wordless Wednesday...three hours north

....

Well, it has been almost three months since we arrived in Croatia and I'm just now able to update you on our family.  I don't know what I was waiting for?! The perfect milestone maybe? Thanksgiving and Christmas have both come and gone and now we are in a brand new year. We have our visa, new to us vehicle that I can actually drive, and finally on Friday we received our crate full of things we collected on furlough. This crate also contained a few Christmas gifts from Nana.

Our first three months in Croatia have been good...God has been so good to us.

Reminiscing ...

Our kids did a great job representing Croatia in our home church's Annual Missions Conference. I hope it is a blessing to your heart. So glad we have a missions minded church who is willing to send light all over the world.

Missions Conference 2013 from Buford Road Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Love our Church

"The Real Presence of Heaven" from Buford Road Baptist Church on Vimeo.

The Prayer

One of my favorite songs sung here in the Croatian language! 

Blessings and Enjoy!

A shopping I will go

I was going through my purse last night to make sure I didn't have any gift cards hiding or Kohl's Cash needing to be spent. As I was going through it, I came across my coupons that I faithfully clipped, but always had a hard time using up. I often wondered why I even clipped them since most expired before I could use them up. I guess it was just something every mom did on Sunday night to save her family money on their grocery bill. In reality, It is a good thing I never got good at it because Croatia does not offer coupons. We simply save money by watching the ads, cooking from scratch, and eating at home.

While in Croatia, I really learned how to cook and use the metric system.  Okay, maybe Google had a greater part in helping as well! :) I must say that I am ready to go back and continue to provide healthy and delicious food for my family.  I'm thankful for Pinterest and all the cool homemade  versions of our favorite restaurant foods.  My mom also gave me her Copycat recipes book that I always devour when I'm at her house. I can't wait to use it!!

Okay, before I go, how do you prefer to make your shopping list? Pen & paper or on your phone?  I've tried making my list in the iPhone and iPad and it doesn't work for me. It doesn't matter what kind of app I use, pen and paper always win. 

My list always starts with:

Milk

Bread

Eggs 

Juice

Butter

Cheese

Yogurt

I can't help it, it must start this way!! Everything else is then categorized by type of food. Call me crazy, it's just the way I roll and one of my silly quirks.

Do tell, how do you save on groceries, make your list, favorite recipe?

Our last Sunday

Today is our last official Sunday at our home church here in Richmond, Virginia. We have enjoyed worshipping with our church family while here on furlough.  They have been a blessing. Please pray for Kevin as he is preaching that God would use him in a mighty way.  Whisper a prayer for the kids and I as well as we will be leaving some wonderful life long friends.  Anyone who knows me, knows that it doesn't take much to make me emotional.

So, to whoever reads my blog, (and I say that because I only have a few commenters) and don't really know who my audience is. Our service starts at 10:45, so please don't forget to remember us then.  Who knows, I might be able to link this service for your viewing pleasure by next week. 😊

Thanks you all. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

I {heart} Technology!

I also love the fact that OUR church services in Richmond, VA are now available online!!!

Wow, I'm like a kid at Christmas.

So happy

So blessed

Maybe a little spoiled!!

I'll be back later

We are spending the next wonderful week with my family on a much needed vacation.  I'll be back later with pictures and stories to share.  Thanks for reading. ;)

Great Expectations

Everyone has them.

Some expect more than others.

What happens when our expectations are set too high?

-Disappointment

-Sadness

-Frustration

-Perhaps rejection 

As a missionary, we have expectations of how our furlough will go, how long it will take to raise our support, and when we will arrive on the field.  Sometimes our expectations are not doable because ultimately God is in control.  His timing is perfect.  If we had arrived in Croatia when we expected, we would not have been able to stay long. Croatia has just suspended the visa we needed.  God knew exactly when we needed to be in Croatia even though we were frustrated with traveling by that time.

I have learned in my 35 years of living not to set my expectations too high when it comes to lots of situations.  I am the type that gets disappointed easily when things don't work out.  I have learned that people and circumstances may let me down.  When things work out...great!  When circumstances go differently than expected...God has a plan and I shouldn't fret. God will never let me down.

When we arrived in Croatia, I thought for sure that we would be bombarded with phone calls on our US phone, letters, and messages saying how much we were missed.  Don't get me wrong, we did receive all of the above from time to time. I have NO doubt we were missed and that many prayers were lifted up on our behalf. Friends move on and change. Maybe my expectations were set too high.  You see, life did go on in Croatia and America after we left.  Life got busy and I know we didn't  keep in touch like we needed to.  I regret that.

Furlough has been a mix of many emotions for all of us. People we loved so much died, church was different, friends changed, no one understands you or your experiences. We were having reverse culture shock.  We were so excited upon our arrival.  We randomly called out our favorite places as we saw them.  Noah was reading signs.  We were giddy beyond belief!!  The newness has worn off now.  Living in a foreign country changes you.  You are kind of like a fish out of water.  All of a sudden we are not "in the loop" anymore.   I'm finding myself now making a bucket list before we leave Virginia of things I want to do and friends I want to see.  I'm running out of time.  My weeks are filling up quickly.  I only have a month left.  I am finding myself wanting to be in both places at once.  I hope our friends and family know just how much we love them and hope they promise to see us in Croatia.

Croatia needs us.  We have friends who are counting on us to return.  The Lord is counting on us to return and continue to share the Good News of the Gospel.  

So you may be wondering what am I expecting when we return?  My answer is that I don't know.  Eventually, we will relocate to a totally different part of Croatia apart from the many Americans we were with previously.  Things will be different there.  I'm sure lots has changed since we've been gone.  All I know to do is take life one day at a time looking to the Lord for guidance, strength, and peace.

I hope this didn't bore you.  It was just on my heart today.  Please excuse the poor grammar as well.  At least I'm consistent in something...and in both languages I might add.  Happy Monday!  

Where is Home for a Missionary Kid?

I guess it would depend on the child as to where they feel home is.  When we went to Croatia, Noah was just barely four years old.  He has spent half of his life in America and half in Croatia.  I think he identifies more with Croatia.  It's really all he remembers.  This video I found talks about just that.  Maybe you will understand more of what a missionary kid goes through as he/she eventually becomes a Third Culture Kid.

How Great is Our God

Lover of Christian music

that brings glory to God

and stirs the heart

 to worship the Lord.

Our God is GREAT and MIGHTY TO SAVE

us from our sins if we just ask!

I'm so glad I found this in the Croatian language.

Incidently, this concert took place in our hometown in Croatia

just after we arrived.

Enjoy!

Trim Healthy Mama

Many of you may have traveled or are traveling down the road called "Weight Loss Journey" a time or two.  Why is it that when that road gets bumpy and hard to follow, we give up.  Maybe we have hit a weight loss plateau. Maybe we have cheated one too many times and the weight is slowly creeping back on us.

I too have walked that road a time or two.  I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers after having Ally.  I lost 25 pounds and then started deputation a year later!  Needless to say, I gained it all back and then some...another pregnancy!!

I often wonder if I will ever make my goal weight and feel comfy with the way I look and feel?  I want to desperately, how about you?  What is stopping us?  We all know that the weight didn't come on us overnight.

Just recently through Facebook I have heard a lot about Trim Healthy Mama.  I joined the fan page and saw before/after pictures of women that looked just like me.  They all looked amazing!  I had to know their secret, so I bought the e-book.  The thoughts behind their plan is that our bodies are being bombarded by way too much fat and carbs together.  Our bodies cannot handle that kind of eating.  These ladies have come up with a plan to simply just separate high fat meals from those with sensible carbs.  This way your body can focus on burning on fuel at a time and then burning your own body fat.  I have not been following the plan to the letter, but I have lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks. 

If you are interested in knowing more about Trim Healthy Mama, the best place to start is HERE.  I will say that this diet may not be for everyone. 

Croatian Bible Study- New Fall Study

Over the summer I joined a Croatian/English Bible study through Good Morning Girls.  I remembered seeing a while back that they were going to offer the Bible study in the Croatian language.  I thought...perfect!  It would help me with constant language in front of me daily.  Well, it was helpful and a little overwhelming all at the same time.  I'm glad that I joined though because I "met" some really wonderful Croatian women hungry to hear from God.  A few of them are located in my hometown in Croatia! Bonus!!  I'm thankful for being able to cross paths with Rosilind, who is serving the Lord with her husband Zlatko.  She is doing a great job heading up Dobro Jutro Djevojke!!

We are doing a new study for fall, Ljubiti kao Isus and I can't wait.  If you want to follow the Bible study in English click HERE.

A Lovely Song

Lovely words and harmony about how the Lord hears the cries of His children when we are in need.  Also, He hears the cry of one who realizes their need of salvation.  I may not always stay in touch with friends, but it is good to know that God is there the second I speak His name!

I don't know all the words to this song or the exact meaning, but from the parts that I do know it is a blessing to my soul.