Green School

Polish schools have a yearly tradition called "Green School" = "Zielona Szkola". This is an extended field trip............OVERNIGHT!!! They take the children outside of the city where they can breath the clean mountain/country air. Well, today, our firstborn, Kaleb, got on a bus and left for his first zielona szkola !!! He will be gone for 2 nights from home. I'm sure he had a great first day today......they were scheduled to see an indian village, some castle ruins, and a damn. He was not certain he really wanted to go on this trip............but his reasons really amaze me: He didn't want to eat only Polish food for 3 days, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be away from family that long. If I were going on a 3 day trip with Poles, my first concern would be the language barrier.............but tonight I sit in my strangely quiet house NOT concerned about Kaleb's ability to communicate on this trip. He has come so far in 2 short years...............I am still amazed daily by his incredible ability to communicate well in this difficult language! We have a BIG GOD.........and I witness this so often!

Here are some shots of his departure this morning:

at the meeting point with Ella and Szymon

lined up in pairs.........ready to go !!!

walking to the bus

off they GO...............

So please pray for our sweet boy............and his anxious Mommy.........if the Lord brings us to mind. Pray that He will shine Jesus in his actions and words, eat enough, and sleep well in a strange bed.

Thank you for 'holding the line' for us............even on simple, yet profoundly new days like this!

Photo Montages

We recently had Nana and PawPaw come visit us in Krakow !!! Althought Smilebox and I have gone round and round, I finally have some pictures put together to post here. It was a short visit, but we squeezed in all the fun we could stand !!

Enjoy the sampling of our family time:

While the grandparents were here, Al and I decided that it might be a good opportunity to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! The grandparents were willing to keep their grandkids in a foreign country, where they don't know the language for 4 days.............and they did a great job!! They took them to school by bus, and trammed all over the city going to parks and to the movies to spend time together !!!

And Al and I went to Venice, Italy !!!

It was a great time together, and below is another Smilebox slideshow of some of the sights if you have time............

A tough week......

It is not often that I really long for home...........in America, but this week was a tough one to be here in Poland. We got word last week that my cousin, Curtis, was killed suddenly. My family gathered this week to say goodbye to him and comfort each other amidst all the unknowns surrounding his death.............without me.

I certainly wished I could have hopped on a plane to be there. But God reminded me in a new way how vital prayer is in this family of God. Although my finite mind was certain that it would have been ideal to physically be with my family this week, He reminded me that the support and comfort that He could provide through my support of them in prayer is MORE effective than anything I could physically offer. Prayer IS powerful.............I believe this.

And although my family has had to return to their respective homes this weekend, I pray that His divine comfort will continue to flood the hearts of my aunt and uncle. Although lives around them will seem to return back to 'normal', their lives will never be the same 'normal' again without their son, Curtis. So, I continue to support them with the unmatchable power of prayer.............even from miles away. His ways are always better than mine.

Anniversary and Dancin'..........

This past week, our family celebrated 2 years of living on Polish soil !!! We kept our tradition of eating at the same restaurant where we were first introduced to Polish cuisine !!! And a couple of our Malaysian friends met us there again this year...............just like 2 years ago !! We had a good time remembering the trials and frustrations of adjusting to a new culture, and had lots of time to thank God for the countless blessings that have flooded our lives in these past 2 years! We are thankful to be here at this time!

We had game 2 of the Krakow Tigers season this past weekend! Here's a few shots of the orange and black celebrations:

(we enjoyed Cheetos during one of the rain showers)

(we start the fan club young around here)

We did have a dance competition this past weekend as well.............as I mentioned in an earlier post. And Arin was a dancing star !!! She knew every step to her Jive, Paso Doble, and Waltz.........all in Polish! Her cute little partner was not as "into" the dancing as Arin was, but it was not problem..................she did not hesitate to take the lead !!! HaHa !

We are all prettied up............and practiced up.......thanks to big brother:

Arin and Ignacy take the floor.........couple # 98:

(The Paso Doble) -- the bull fight

After the awards ceremony

Let The Games Begin!

Our family is not short on activity. We've attempted to jump into this culture with both feet. So we keep busy with the kids' school activities, as well as extra curricular activities. We simply attempt to live life with intentionality.............so we look for lives where God is working as we embrace life in Poland. Arin participates in a gymnastics club twice a week, so Mommy and Daddy get 2 hours of investment into the lives of the other parents who sit with us to watch our angels "stretch their wings". Two of the relationships that have been mentioned here on our blog have originated through this extra curricular activity!

Two weekends ago, Arin had her first gymnastics competition !!! Her coaches judged them as they performed their routines one at a time on the "big floor". Arin was so nervous beforehand:

But she did her routine the best I had ever seen her perform..........

(Sorry about the fuzzy pics.................I was trying to videotape and snap pictures at the same time. Not recommended.)

The official awards ceremony was that Saturday.

Arin was awarded a third place bronze medal !!! And she got to stand on the podium !!!

It was a big day for our little girl !!! Here she is with a couple of her buddies:

And a proud brother!!!!

Here a shot from today's class.............from the balcony where the parents watch. They began learning back bends today.

This coming weekend, Arin has a dance competition with her preschool. We are on the search for an appropriate outfit for a pairs' dance competition...............with very little information given to us parents about the details of this fun event (not a new thing over here !!!) We'll keep you posted !!!

This past weekend marked the opening of the 2011 Krakow Tigers American Football Season !!!

Our first game was on home turf, so we got all decked out in our Tiger garb to cheer on our favorite Polish athletes !!!

Kaleb joins the captains for the coin toss:

A proud Daddy moment:

Our guys did not end up with the winning score, but Coach Al was pleased with the way our guys played.............especially with the recent sporadic practice attendance. The playing field would have been much more evened out had it not been for the 4 imported, paid, native-American football players on the other team. But we are learning that the ol' "do what you can to get the advantage" tactics have infiltrated even the Polish American-Football League. We had a great first day of the season with the sun shining bright here in Krakow, Poland !!!

Here's a couple more shots from the day, including our resident cheerleaders:

Blessings overflow......

I got blessed this past week. It was a tough week.................I felt like I was stripped down to nothing, and then, my Savior stepped in.

Arin and I went to the market for some fresh fruits and veggies. She asked if we could get some flowers (like normal), and I gladly agreed! We found a beautiful flower stand with an array of beautiful tulips. I asked the price, and the lady said they were priced by the stem. Arin and I discussed (in English) what we wanted and I told Arin that we could get 3 -- this would be just enough to brighten our dinner table! Arin decided that she couldn't resist the pink tulips (surprise, surprise), so I asked the seller if we could buy just 3 of them. She said that they were normally sold by the bundle............so I asked how much the bundle was. She looked at Arin and I, then put the whole bundle in my hand and responded "nic" --- nothing. I tried my best to convince her in Polish that I wanted to pay her for the beautiful flowers, but she was determined to not take a single złoty from me. I was dumbfounded !!! I didn't even know how to receive this generous gift in such a non-generous culture. I felt that this was a huge sacrifice for her because there were about 15 tulips in the bundle !!! As we walked away in sincerest gratitude, Arin and I prayed a blessing over this woman.

All the way home, I was telling God how humbled I was that He would use the very people that I came to minister to.......to minister to me. When we got home, we carefully unbundled our tulips to prep them for display, and I found that I could only fit about 8 of my blessings into my one and only vase......................and then I lost it.

I didn't even have enough room to contain all of my blessings!

I heard the sweet voice of my Savior saying to my heart, " this is just like Me............I give you more blessings in life than you could possibly contain. You gotta search for some extra 'display containers' for my level of blessings."

I've been chewing on the many levels of this reminder about the character of my Lord this week as I've watched those blessings bloom:

my extra display container -- the Coke cup!

He has been my blessing this past week !! How about you?

Football Camp

This past week, we had a coach come from the States to help with a pre-season football camp with the Krakow Tigers. They met each evening for practice, then mid day on Saturday and Sunday. Here are a few shots from the daytime practices:

We were able to invite 2 other football programs to join in on the weekend camp days, which gave our guys a chance to scrimmage as well. This coach from the States, Don, was able to meet with some of the Krakow Tigers one-on-one outside of practices. He was able to share his testimony with one player, and helped lead Al's weekly Bible study with the guys in his hotel room. Although the weather was very uncooperative, Al and Don had a great quantity of hours to spend with these Polish men throughout the week.

During this time, we also had some other things going on. Kirstin and the kids went to Radosc, Poland over the weekend to attend a training seminar on a new tool for leading Poles through the Old Testament. It was a great time to dig into the Word, spend time with colleagues, and play with lots of English-speaking friends.
We also had some celebrations this past week !!! Kaleb had 2 separate Polish tests at school when he returned from winter break. One was on vocabulary, and the other was on grammar. He did really great on both tests..............so we celebrated by taking him out to see a movie.......in Polish, of course !! Ha Ha ! There's no rest for the weary brain from Polish.

Albert and Kirstin also celebrated 10 YEARS of marriage !!! We had alot going on that day, so it was a real surprise when Albert secretly arranged an anniversary date !! He had the other coaches cover football camp for the evening, and arranged for a babysitter! It was such a sweet time to spend together and look back over the blessings of these past 10 years! We look forward to the next 10 ahead of us !! I wonder where we will be...........