A Glorious Mess

That's what my days feel like lately...a glorious mess. Now that I have cleaned up tiny rubber bands from Adela's bracelet loom that were scattered all over the floor by sweet Karina, oatmeal spilled on the floor, breakfast dishes and a pile of books, I decided to take a few minutes to blog. This is for my faithful friend, Andrea, who was happy to see I wrote a post finally! Karina is napping and my father graciously took Adela and Nora out for lunch. As you can see a review of 2013 probably won't happen, but maybe there will be a monthly post at least!

It's been a long week and it's only Wednesday. Karina and I came down with colds on Friday and that always feels like a set back. It's cold and dreary these days and trying to get my girls to settle down to do a little "schoolwork" seems impossible. I love the blessing of homeschooling and knowing that I am able to teach my children about living for Christ everyday, choose the curriculum that I feel is best for their education, train them to love each other and treat each other respectfully and giving them time to just enjoy being kids through play. That all sounds grand, doesn't it? Honestly, I am finding that applying what I have read and learned through Scripture to our daily lives is a real challenge. Why doesn't Scripture just burst from my heart and mouth when I am teaching the girls how to resolve a conflict?  My biggest prayer these days is, "Lord, please help me to be calm and not
respond in anger or frustration."

Steven Curtis Chapman's newest cd, The Glorious Unfolding, has been a huge encouragement to me these last few days. When I hold on and cling to the truth that God has a plan and purpose in my life exactly where I am now, I can get through the day to day "mess." I want to be His servant. When I show love to my girls, I am investing in their future. When I train them to love the Lord and each other, they will one day understand fully what it means to serve God and others. The devil tells me daily that I am a failure, but I am choosing to listen to my heavenly Father who promises to "pour out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5

Karina just woke up, so let the "glorious mess" continue! :)

It's been awhile...

Okay, I'll admit it. Having 3 young children has just a wee bit overwhelmed me. I am definitely outnumbered. So, that has meant taking a step back and letting go - of. a. lot. of. things. As you can see, blogging had to go. BUT, a new year is about to begin and Karina is slowly getting out of the "has to be watched every second" phase of her life, so I thought it's time to write again. So, stay tuned for our review of 2013!

Back in the Czech Republic

First night in Czech with cousin Ester and a dinner of "parky v rohliku" hot dogs and bread

Three little monkeys getting a bath!


The angel (Olga from Prague) my dad had prayed would come along to help us :)
She entertained Adela the whole flight, kept her from falling asleep at landing and then helped us get our luggage and to the arrival hall! What a blessing she was to us.

Nora's first flight

We have been in Czech Republic for a week now! Time is flying and everyday brings a new adventure. We spent our first four days in Lipová u Prostějova where Leo's mom and brother and family live. It was great to eat Babička's great cooking and spend time with everyone. We even got to see Ester at her preschool final dance program and a competition with firefighters and junior firefighters. It's something like Olympics for firefighters! Everyone from the villlage comes out and they have stands with cotton candy, hot dogs/sausages, slushies, etc. We arrived in Brno on Sunday and have been visiting with friends everyday! Tonight I took the girls downtown to meet a dear friend, Hana. She has an apartment directly downtown (I've always thought it would be neat to live downtown!) so we got to see that and had dinner at an outdoor restaurant. The girls couldn't sit still but we finally did get them to eat something! We had spent the whole afternoon with friends and visiting a nearby park, so the girls were pretty tuckered out by the time I got them to bed at 9:30! We are looking forward to Leo joining us on Sunday!

The biggest "Hav Hap" of the day was when the girls crawled under a new modern "monument" which was supposed to look like 3 lightbulbs (okay, so it wasn't a good idea and I wasn't thinking when they did this). Well, there was a something like a square glass light fixture in the cement under the monument and the girls were on top of this when it fell in! You can imagine the shock and reaction. Nora cried for a good 5 minutes "Boken, boken (broken)." It had just fallen in and had not broken the glass, which I was very thankful for. Now I've have to be a lot more careful and no more climbing on or under anything! :)

I added pictures in the slideshow to the right. I hope to add more pictures later.

Praise the Lord, Nora has a beautiful hip!

The best present I could receive on my birthday was to hear these words, "She has a beautiful hip!" We have prayed over Nora's hip nearly every night since her last visit to the pediatric orthopedic a year ago. God has answered our prayers and we give Him the glory! Nora happily cooperated to have her "picture taken" as her hip was x-rayed. Dr. Frino doesn't need to see her again until she is 5! What a huge burden lifted off our shoulders. God is faithful to answer our prayers and we are very thankful He chose to answer them this way. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for our precious Nora. Your prayers are much appreciated.

Nora's healthy hip. See the white line above the "ball" - that's what we've been waiting to see. It's finally looking normal with a slight curve.

The wonderful nurse that has seen us at every visit.

A happy girl in Daddy's arms

Christmas newsletter 2010

Dearest family and friends near and far,

This morning there is a beautiful thin layer of snow on the ground which will probably melt by noon, while in Leo’s home village of Lipová, Czech Republic there is at least a foot of snow which will remain until spring! Although I can honestly say that I do not miss all that snow, we are often homesick for Czech and miss our dear family and friends there more than we ever thought possible.

We have much to praise the Lord for this year. After 2 years of waiting, praying, writing and rewriting resumes, God has blessed Leo with a wonderful job as a manufacturing engineer at Charter Medical in Winston-Salem, NC. He started on July 12th and all is going well. He is responsible for validating manufacturing processes for a variety of plastic containers that are used to store and transport medical equipment, such as syringes, blood transfusion bags and various bio-technological materials. We give all the glory to God for His provision of this job and we are very thankful that Leo’s manager recognized Leo’s potential when he first met Leo 2 ½ years ago.

We continue to live at my parents’ home – thank you, Mom and Dad! I don’t think they ever anticipated having their grandchildren THIS close, but it has been a blessing to each of us. It’s a noisy, happy place all day long with a lot of girl drama! Nora at 22 months is quite the little homemaker. She loves loading the washer and playing in the soapy dishwater! The sweetest words we love to hear her say are our names.

Adéla turns 5 on February 3rd and is full of energy! She loves to draw, sing and make up her own dance routines. Come on over for a visit – we’re ALWAYS ready for a play date!

Adela drew this sketch of the choir singing at church

I also praise the Lord that I have been able to stay home with the girls. It is the most demanding job I’ve ever had but the most rewarding! I’ve had the privilege of being a part of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for the past 3 years. This year we are studying the book of Isaiah. Adéla also attends her own class and learns the same lessons. I am volunteering in her class as a children’s leader and love it. Studying God’s word daily has changed me and challenges me to seek Him more.

We are looking forward to 2011 and excited about God’s plan for our family. We would be very grateful if you would remember us in your prayers when you think of us! On February 23rd, Nora will have an exam and x-ray to determine if this past year of walking has moved the ball of the femur in her left leg far enough into the hip socket. If not, she will need surgery for hip dysplasia. We also hope to buy our first home sometime next year. We are asking the Lord to give us wisdom on the right home, location and school district! We trust that He will provide and give us clear direction in His time, just as He did for Leo’s job.

May this Christmas be a special time for each of you as you celebrate the Savior's birth. Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

The Great Trade-In

This past Saturday Nora FINALLY moved up in the world and got a new car seat. It was a little sad as we said goodbye to our very worn out stroller that we bought for about $50 from Wal-mart when Adela was about a year old. Some good friends personally brought it to us in Czech. It has seen many places including Brno, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Asheboro zoo.... :) and had a few rough plane rides. It even took a trip to Greece without us when some friends borrowed it for their vacation!



I left our forlorn looking stroller at Babies R Us and received 25% off the purchase of this car seat from Britax. The discount gave us about $50 off the total price of the carseat, so the stroller truly served us well! :)



As you can see Nora was so excited about her new ride. I think she really liked being able to see the backs of her heads instead of the back of the car!

God Sightings

At VBS this past July, we talked about "God Sightings." These are various ways that the Lord speaks to us or shows us Himself throughout the day. Well, today the Lord used a stranger to remind me to count my blessings instead of grumbling. A lovely lady was standing behind our family in line at Arby's. She commented on how sweet the girls were and we started talking. I discovered that she had never been able to have children. She had married at 31 years old and only 11 days after the wedding was in a near fatal car accident and she survived a terrible head injury. Unfortunately, her marriage did not survive this and her husband left after 2 years. I don't know how many years it has been since all this happened, but what truly amazed me was her attitude. She had no bitterness and praised the Lord that she was alive. She most likely has to choose joy over bitterness everyday. This impressed me to not take having children and a wonderful husband for granted. There will be trials and hardships, but I want to have the joy of the Lord as my strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)