He's Home

We were in for the shock of our life when our Pastor's son called Kevin asking him to be the guest speaker for the Pasotr's Anniversary service. I quickly told him, "Say, yes!". He thought and prayed about it though overnight and gave the final answer soon after. There was nothing here pressing to where he couldn't make the trip and besides... I certainly needed things from America! :) LOL

All kidding aside, Kevin was honored to be the secret, special guest for our Pastor. The service was a success and I'm sure Kevin preached a wonderful message. (not that I'm biased or anything) Gotta stand behind my man! :) My mom was glad for him to be there and help ge the last of our stuff packed and airmailed to Croatia. I sent him and my mom to fulfill my list of wants and needs and... now he's HOME. Even though his visit was short and sweet, it was still enough time to love on some nieces and nephews for us. That's the only sad thing about us all not going.... missing out on seeing a new niece for the first time.

I know the a furlough will be not so long down the road. We have already been here 11 months! WOW!! Can't wait to celebrate our 1st full year here. We are currently planning ou Pastor and Gail's trip over to see us at the end of September.

Summer sure is flying by on our side of the world! On a side note~ we had a full church house last night!! We didn't even have to have food or anything special... they just showed up! (and I didn't have my camera do document it ) (: That's just a "God thing". What a way to encourage us to keep on serving Him even when it seems like we are not making a difference! Praise the Lord!!

fomny, Fomny, FOMNY!!

I absolutely LOVE watching TV while I'm getting my things done around the house! It seems to help the time pass by quickly and make my chores less painful. LOL Moving to Croatia kind of through a kink in my usual routine. We can get cable here with many of the same channels I loved. Maybe sometime in the future... right now we don't need it. However, I am hooked on Fomny TV! It allows me stream live TV from America. I love it... except for when there is something I want to watch that comes on in the evening in the US! That time difference thing is such a pain.
The only exception I made was to watch Revival that was streaming live with our favorite evangelist Randy Perry. Revival started @ 1am for me, 7pm in the US. Call me crazy, I just really needed to hear some good preaching and singing. The Lord really blessed and challenged me to draw closer to HIM. Technology is amazing! You can find Fomny HERE. Randy Perry Ministries can be found HERE

Rain..... AGAIN

Rain always makes Sundays interesting crazy! Gloomy days make our children irritable, they are lovers of sunshine and warmth! We needed it though as I'm sure much of America does also.

Despite the rain though we had an AWESOME attendance in church this morning. Praying for an awesome kids meeting!

Cherries~ Neighbors~ The Gospel

I can't belive that I our family has been living in Croatia for almost 9 months! It is so unreal to me that we have finally made it. We are enjoying our new normal and all the while still missing the old normal. Spring has sprung in our backyard orchard: 4 pear trees, 3 peach, 4 apple, 1plum, 1 HUGE cherry tree, and a local fruit here in Croatia. Our cherry tree is LOADED with bright red cherries. Needless to say... OUR house is the IT spot. Everyone wants to eat our cherries... about 10 neighborhood children and a handful of adults. Today our 60 year old neighbor Monica climbed the tree to reach cherries that we can't. LOL She is a pro at it... we are just learning. :)
Who would have thought that such a trivial thing as cherries would bring so many people into our backyard? I was on the balcony when I heard my husband witnessing to a man from down the street. Praise the Lord for every opportunity He gives us to speak of His GREAT love for them. :) I pray that our neighbors will see Christ in us and that we would do nothing to destroy our testimony for the Lord.
Missions for us is building a trusting relationship with those around us to prepare their precious hearts for the sweetness of the Gospel. They may have come for cherries, but hopefully one day they will leave with their hearts full of Jesus.

WARNING... prepare for cuteness

More of HIM and less of me Monday

I have a confession.... Coca~Cola slipped into our house this weekend. I know that is a BIG no no when trying to lose weight. Perhaps I would have lost more if it were not in the house. You see, sometimes I just can't say NO, I just have to drink it! Despite the few bad food choices this past week, I still lost. Maybe it was my faithfulness to keep up with my walking... i don't know.

Anyway, I am down 1.6 lbs. Praise the Lord for His goodness.
This week I am working on:
*more water (today almost 2 liters)
*less junk (candy, chips etc.)
*more veggies and protein
*less carbs

Spiritually speaking:
* more of Jesus~ I am struggling to keep up with my personal time with the Lord. I need to make time for God and His Word. I need to give Him my best and not make Him last. It is really hard on the field since we don't have Sunday School for us adults or Ladies Bible Study. Sometime I get lost when the message is being translated, sometimes I just stop listening altogether. I am realizing how important my quiet time with the Lord is needed in order for me to grow. Even I could benefit from a weekly deeper study in His Word.

Well, I think that I have my work cut out for me this week. I am praying that He will give me the strength to do it.

More of HIM & less of me Monday

Up until this past Wednesday I have been doing a 12 week Fitness Challenge on a blog from a fellow missionary wife in Spain. I didn't win or anything, but one thing I did learn was that exercise is important. I think I only lost 4 pounds, but that's okay because now I am walking 4 miles a day!! I never thought I could ever do that! LOL Getting healthy again takes time and sometimes baby steps. Now I see that I CAN walk that far. Next, I need to increase my water and cut out the grazing. (:

So I am changing my weigh in days to Mondays instead of Wednesdays. No weight loss or gain from the last 2 Wednesdays.

Goal for this week: 1 liter of water each day and no sweets (like I said... baby steps)

Check back next week to see less of me and more of HIM.

"Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31