Need a laugh?

We came across this and thought it was just absolutely hilarious!!!! I believe it's a Bulgarian "Music Idol". I can't make this up people.

Prayer, please & Thanks...

First, thank you for praying for David, my brother-in-law. He made it thru the surgery just fine and is already feeling better. They removed his gall bladder and from what we hear it's no wonder he was in pain! Do continue to pray for his recovery.

We heard about another family in our church that is in need of prayer. The son-in-law of a family that we know was in a jet ski accident and had to have part of his leg amputated. They're a very young couple with a young child. Please pray for them as this will be quite the change and that God will be glorified thru all of this.

Since I'm on a prayer needed mindset.... Danny was asked to take part in a "Sprache Cafe" ( I think that's what they're calling it) and it's a Conversation Cafe setting. He will be the English table. Pray for him as this could be a great start in helping him 'get out' more (not that I want him out of the house..hahaha! He works very hard as it is) and meeting people. We're always looking for new ways to meet people and have opportunities to share Christ.

Also, our family, well--Danny & I have the flu. The boys aren't really sick yet... hopefully, they are dodging it. But Danny & I have been coughing up all sorts of things and feel achy, etc. This is when I really miss my mommy. I miss the days when I could just lay in bed while I'm sick and watch t.v or read a book and have soup brought to me. Parenthood definitely has its' setbacks ;) hahaha.

Ok, I think I've given enough sad news.... We do thank God for the blessings we receive each day though and we're thankful for all of you who keep in touch and pray for us!!

-Krista-

Prayer, please

Today Danny & I have heavy hearts. Since we've been away our home church has been thru a lot. Many families move on, some have kids, some have kids that grow up, and some lose a family member. Our home church has been thru a lot the last few years. Today there was a funeral for a friend who left behind a family. We can't be there to help serve this family or grieve with this family. Being in Austria is difficult at times just because we can't see our parents, siblings (we each have a sibling that is having a baby this summer), or enjoy fellowship with our church family, old friends, and just be a part of their lives.

Danny's brother, David went to the hospital on Sunday with severe abdominal pain and last night they think they've figured it out. Morphine wasn't working so he was put on even stronger pain meds. He should be coming out of gall bladder surgery very soon if not already. We're awaiting the phone call to say he's ok and that they fixed the problem. Be in prayer for David & Britney it will take some time for David to heal.

All-in-all this is where God wants us to be. We're happy here. Ministry is happening--slowly, but surely. Just pray for us as we are away from family and friends who are hurting.


-Krista-

Nathan's birthday part 2

Nathan's school celebrates birthday with the parents bringing cupcakes and lunch for the class (there's a helpful list). So I baked cupcakes till they came out of my ears (also for the party from the weekend-see post below)! Then hotdogs and some bread and fresh, cool, crunchy veges. All the kids loved it! I was invited to spend the rest of the morning with them. It was great for me to see what he does during the day. So on a birthday morning...

When class began he got to pick out a 'friend' for the day. Of course, the charmer that Nate is, he picked a girl ;) He was then given a crown and a little trinket. They all sang a special song to him and then played different games as they sat in a circle. More songs and games. I was chosen a few times to take part when my name was called for a game similar to "Red Rover, Red Rover". Then it was snack time. Nate sat at a table set for 4 and picked 3 friends to join him. In a room full of 3/4-6 yr. olds this took some time. After eating it was time to go play, but since it was such a rainy, dreary day, they couldn't go outside. Luckily, the school has 2 indoor 'mini' gyms. So dodge ball, some type of musical chairs-without the chairs, and just some run around the room till the music stops games were played. We went back to the classroom and played in 'stations'. Nate and I worked on a puzzle and played some card games with a few kids at a table... it was so fun seeing him interact with the other kids who only speak German.

Danny & I have always liked the teachers and have been impressed with the school and really like the closeness (around a 2-3 min. drive) and now I really like it even more after spending time with the group and chatting with the teachers. I was approached by a mom later in the week about how her daughter talks about Nathan and thinks he's a nice boy. I found out she teaches some English to the kids there. We talked about getting together over the summer to help Nate keep his German fresh and for her daughter to hear English from native speakers ( no jokes, please PIPS family-haha!). Slowly but surely I'm meeting parents and hoping to warm up to them so when Nate starts wanting to play with the kids I have a little to work with in talking to the parents. haha!

I think I'm caught up on the 'important' news around here. Our Bible study that we are helping lead for the Baptist Church is soon coming to an end. We have a handful of people that are not involved with the church who are interested in meeting and have a Bible study group. Please pray for these people especially. We've been busy trying to find everyone and see how schedules are going to work. Lots going on.... though we try to make sure we take a day in the week if Saturdays don't work out for just a family day. Nathan seems to notice those days and I love it when he comments on how we're 'all together like a family".

-Krista-

Nate's 4th Birthday!

Nathan's birthday was on May 20th. He wanted to celebrate with some of his close friends. We had just gone out and got a great deal on a table and chairs for the backyard and we were starting to bring food out when the rain came! So the group had to run into the house.... it was getting crowded when the grilled hotdogs were finished and then... the rain stopped!!! Woo-hoo! Everyone went to the backyard and the fun really started. The kids had a great time eating and playing. The big thing this year was Nate's bike. He's been wanting one and Danny & I had been searching for a good deal. Bikes here are ridiculously expensive. This one will 'grow' with him very well. The last picture is of Nathan and his 2 best friends. Maddison and Emily are adorable and the sweetest little girls.

Nathan is a joy to our family. He's full of questions, full of life, a great big brother to Micah, he's my helper wherever we go, he makes us laugh and likes your reaction when he's making you laugh. He is learning German faster than we can keep up. His teacher said he's doing so well. The first 2 months were rough. He was not understanding those around him and so he was using physical force when he couldn't get his point across. Now that's all gone and he has a room full of friends. There's not a day that goes by that Nathan doesn't ask, "What does this mean in German? How do you say this or that in German?" It's great to see his mind working.

Lord, thank you so much for the gift of children and for placing Nate in our family.

-Krista-

Nice weather we've been having...

Here are a few pictures from our family picnic a few weekends ago. Nathan specifically asked for watermelon and to sit under our cherry tree. We had such a great time. I love our family times.

Micah, ahh, Micah... is his own person. I caught him blaring the radio and dancing to a German pop music station from his cd player the other day. As you can see he used his laundry basket and I'd like to say he picked it all up afterwards, but.... we're working on some things. haha!

I'll post pics and write a blog about Nathan's 4th Birthday next time. I'm on my way to bed!

-Krista-

10,000 Hits

Within the past few days we reached the 10,000 hit mark for this blog. I don't know who it is that finds us that interesting (or maybe weird is a better description) to continue to visit this site, but we want to say thanks for reading. Most of our posts would definitely not be considered profound or life-changing. In fact the great majority of what we post is just the ordinary, daily grind of our lives. I have often considered starting a weekly post dealing specifically with spiritual things (as you might expect from the blog of a minister) such as a Bible study or devotion (and I may still do it), but I believe that it is just as beneficial to see God's hand in the normal and mundane happenings of our regular routine. For it is our faith in Him that shapes the decisions we make and the steps we take. In essence each post that you read on this site has to do with Spiritual things, since we strive to walk with God constantly and continually. I write all of this to simply say, thank you for joining us on our journey and in many cases for allowing us to be a part of your journey as well.

Danny

Mother's Day

My mom is one of my heroes. She was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and had a 'normal' life. After college, she married my dad and they began preparing to move to the Philippines as missionaries. I was born during this time and the month before I turned 2 yrs. old they moved. My dad had visited the Philippines a few times during the summer and had done internships there, but my mom had never left the States. She said 'bye' to the only life she knew and her family.

When they arrived in the Philippines she started feeling sick and amidst the homesickness and adjustments, she figured it was just all the changes and well, if you've never been--the smell on a hot, humid day can make you gag. But nope, she was expecting my brother, Matt. Anyway, Matt and a couple of years later, Zach were both born in Makati Medical Center, Metro Manila, Philippines. So she didn't have much time to adjust to a 3rd world country before she had to give birth there. I was a little worried when I delivered Micah in Austria, but only because of the language barrier. It was 2006 and not a 3rd world country. The Philippines was another story back in 1981.

My parents have lived in a handful of cities within the Philippines Islands. Some were not as 'modern' as others. One place I remember having to go to the telephone company to place a call and wait for the longest time for it to go thru just to speak a few minutes to our grandparents. I believe it took 7 years to get a phone in our house. We had threats on our family (though I didn't know about most of it till I was out of the house), weird animals in our yard (remember the ant-eater, Mom?!?!), having stitches in a mobile-shack-looking thing... and of course, I believe Dad was out of town for that... he seemed to be out of town when some of the grossest things happened (Matt had 28 stitches once, but we were State-side for that, thankfully!). How about finding snakes/cobras in our yard and mom choppin' it to pieces with a bolo--just to make sure it was dead! Scorpions in the garage, lizards the size of a small toddler climbing the outside walls and then smaller ones on the inside (me & the boys believed we could talk to them- "tuu-ko" was the sound they made).

Having 2 sons was enough to make any mom go crazy sometimes ( I am currently experiencing this stage). Matt & Zach found some of the most interesting and unbelievable ways to entertain themselves. I recall an incident where Matt talked Zach into standing on one side of the yard so he could see how close he could throw a knife and how close he could get it to Zach's foot. Needless to say that he got close ;) Hmmm... help us all! She had to go thru long talks with me about why it wasn't exactly a good idea for me to blend in and get lice, just like all my other friends (I can't believe I'm admitting this), then picking out the bugs from the flour, sugar, etc. before using it and eventually coming to the conclusion that they will die in the bake, cook everything from scratch--this I'm so thankful for because it's come in handy!

Mom was also our school teacher for awhile too. She taught us how to read, write and to give respect to the flags--of both the countries we called 'home'. She let me talk them into praying about a boarding school I really wanted to attend the last 2 years of high school. Depending on weather (mud-slides, road close, construction) and traffic I could be 8-14 hrs. away at times. But they trusted that the things they had taught me and my relationship with God would pull me thru. I was never so homesick, but those were also some of the best years of my life. Matt & Zach also went to Faith Academy.

While this may sound off the wall to some of you... this was life for us. We loved it. Now that I'm a mom and in another land (though not even close to what I grew up with) I can relate to the homesickness, missing family and friends, and a home church, and missing out on certain events. She missed her siblings weddings, nieces/nephew births, funerals, etc. But no matter, mom and I would rather be in God's will and on the other side of the world than next door to each other and out of His will.

So, here's to a great Mom who has made any place we've ever lived feel like home, taught us in school, life and how to be a spouse to our also great Dad.

I love you, Mom!


Here's Nate, Mom, and me at Danny's ordination (Nate was 3 weeks old and we left the next month for Austria)


Mom and me (I'm prego w/ Micah)

Grammy & Nate

Grammy & Micah

Mom and Me

Brothers

I have 2 brothers and I love them dearly. They are the best of friends and I loved watching them grow up together. I used to be jealous that I didn't have a sister, but you know... Matt & Zach married wonderful women who are now my sisters. Danny has a large family and guess what?!? ...sisters. I am blessed.

I am so thankful that God saw fit to bless our family with 2 boys. They know how to anger each other and no one else can make the other laugh harder.

-Krista-

A night out

One night this past week we were invited to listen to a friend of ours play in a benefits concert. I was a bit worried because it was on a weeknight and I had no clue who I was going to find to babysit the boys. It was going to be a late night. We had already canceled or said 'another time' to these friends for a few couples night out before due to the babysitting situation. I was really wanting to go and hear Andreas' band. This couple has become fast and dear friends to us. (We're praying for the difference Christ can make in their lives!) When it occurred to me that the Brinlee's live just 45 minutes away! So I called them up and of course they said that was no problem and to top it off Amanda suggested we just let the boys stay the night. I was quite worried that Micah wouldn't stand for it and well, Nate would be happy if we showed up next week! Nate thinks Hayden and Logan hung the moon in the world of boys to play around with. So I packed them as if they were staying the night, but would call in case we needed to come and get them. Aside from staying a night or two at a grandparents home over the course of the last few years they've not been away from us. I checked in at 9:30 pm and there's no better message to a mom that's far away than to hear that BOTH boys were in bed with no problems. Ahhh.... so Danny and I had a great time with our friends and went to bed knowing it would be a nice, peaceful night's rest. But do you know what it's like to go to bed in one country while your VERY young kids are in bed in a neighboring country? It's weird.

So "Thank you, Brinlee's!" The boys had a great time and we are thankful for you.


-Krista-

Andreas (left) and another band member



Angela and me

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

During a hail-storm earlier this week Nathan was inspired to sing (no, I did not prep him or ask him to sing... that's what makes this much more sweet to me).

Britney

Happy Birthday and Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Britney. Yesterday was her birthday and this Friday she'll be graduating from nursing school as an RN. We are so proud of her and love her very much!

Sunday

Here are a couple of pics from our Sunday Bible study. We're having a great time! We are growing and have had visitors to the group. This week we met in the home of a family attending the group. The difference in our homes (in regards to kids) they have more toys! haha!

Reminder...

It's Labor Day in Austria so nothing was open. Last year we had friends over and the kids went swimming. This year it was a nice day, but much different from last year. It was a "Baguio" day as I like to call it (if you're not familiar with the Philippines it's the city in which I spent the majority of my life growing up. Baguio is up in the mountains and one of the only places you find use for a sweatshirt in the evenings during rainy season). Anyway today was rainy and cool with an occasional break thru of sunshine. I had a friend over as we usually do something with friends on May 1st every year. As I was getting ready to make dinner I noticed thru Nate's windows a bit of a rainbow.... as we opened the curtains more it was one of the most beautiful rainbows I have ever seen. It was so bright and colorful and seemed like you could reach out and touch it. What a great reminder of God's promise to never flood the WHOLE earth again. Last weekend we studied Noah and the ark-- it was so great to talk to Nate about it again and have a real object lesson for him.

Enjoy!

-Krista-