Everyday stuff in our lives..............

Spring has arrived in Krakow..........and when the temperature rises, so does the climate of the culture. Poland is typically a cold climate culture, meaning that it's not the friendliest of places. But amazing things happen in the spring !!! People come out of the woodworks and engage in each other's lives. So we live our daily lives with an effort to be among the people and investing in the lives God has placed across our paths.

So, here is a snapshot of the randomness of our past week:

Celebrating the opening of a friend's 2nd cupcake shop:

Arin and Roksana being silly

yumminess with special friends

Enjoying a local fountain on a warm afternoon:

Krakow Tigers football game #6:

We won 32-16 !!! It was a crazy game, but a needed win! We are in position to make the playoffs if we keep this winning streak up !!!

We love the coach !!! Good luck hugs before the game.

The cheering section. Minutes after these photos, a storm rolled in which gave us a 2 hour game delay and a mudpit for a field, but we prevailed none the less !!!

The littlest cheering section entertained themselves by gathering all available slugs and snails following the rain storm............they formed a big family for them!

7-9 year old Sunday School class at Misja Laski:

Kirstin agreed to teach Kaleb's sunday school class at our Polish church on a monthly rotation schedule. It was one of her weaker moments, since she does not have enough Polish skills to be doing this effectively........yet, where I am weak, He hopefully shines through! It takes me a LONG time to get those lessons prepared, but these smiles makes it worth it:

Our class............minus a couple of kids.

Krakow Tigers cookout:
This past Sunday, we were able to meet the Tigers for a little fun cookout at another amazing park here in the center of our city! We grilled kielbasa, hiked the cliffs and canyons, and of course, the boys had to play a little touch football !!! It was a great day of bonding with these guys and several of their girlfriends as well.

Arin's school program for Mommy/Daddy's Day:

Her class presented "Snow White". Arin was one of the forest animal friends.....a butterfly. When I see the joy on this child's face as she sings her heart out in Polish, I must thank God again for the blessings of well-adjusted kids into a foreign culture. She was a joy to watch.........and she delivered her Polish lines "with a pure Polish accent" according to the other parents! Even they are amazed !!!

Here's our beautiful 'motyl' (butterfly):

Kaleb's school celebrated it's 5 year anniversary: (this was actually a couple of weeks ago)

This is Kaleb participating in the opening ceremony of the celebration.

Arin's school field trip:

This is the way school groups travel here.....no school buses in Krakow.

Getting everyone ready to leave. Arin, Zuzia, and Jasiu are buddies.

ESL class:

Every Monday night, Kirstin works with some fellow Canadian believers at their language school called Graceland. We get to practice conversational English with 8-9 Polish adults each week and discuss spiritual applications of the stories we study. It's been a great way to invest in the lives of these Poles!

Life is busy right now........but it is full of blessings !!! I hope this gives you an idea of how we live life and minister. Come join us sometime !!!

We have 3 mission teams coming to join us over the next month and a half, so stay tuned for ways that you can be supporting their work in prayer.

Next week, a team of football players and coaches from East Texas Baptist University will be investing in the Krakow Tigers. Pray that they can invest in them spiritually as much as they do athletically!

Kaleb is 8 !!!

May 23rd marked Kaleb's 8th birthday! I can't believe our baby boy could be that old already. But he is growing into a fine young man. We celebrated him all day long with all of his favorites: ate chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, took brownies to school to celebrate with friends, watched cartoons after school, ordered pizza for dinner while we did family movie night and played with all of his b-day presents! He thought it was "the best birthday ever" !!!

Here's a few shots of our big 8 year old:

opening a few gifts before school

reading his new "Superheroes Bible"

more fun stuff to play with.........

Kaleb, you are a treasure to us! It is a joy to celebrate you............your smile lights up our home! It is a privilege to call you ours...............on loan from our Father. May He find us faithful to daily set a foundation for you in Him alone. Happy Birthday, son!

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............