Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night I made homemade eggnog and Mary Kay Chocolate Chip cookies in anticipation for our annual JV Thanksgiving Retreat. I look forward to celebrating this holiday with the family that God has given me here in Europe as I live away from my family in Oregon.

There are so many things to be thankful for this season and this year.  And for every good and perfect gift I have been given I give thanks to God.  My God and Savior, Sustainer and my Hope.

So as you are in countdown mode until the turkey is ready…I want to know, what are you MOST thankful for this season?

Happy Velvet Revolution Day!

 

Skype: the modern day missionary miracle!

I used to read missionary biographies about Brother Andrew, Mary Slessor and Jim Elliot.  I read stories about sea voyages, deadly hikes into the jungles, cars that were held together by duct tape and a prayer.  There was adventure, isolation, unknowns.

I know that I am a ‘modern day missionary.’  I can travel 13 hours door to door, my internet in Czech is faster than my parents in Oregon, I have an iPhone (that I bought for $18 brand new, thank you T-Mobile CZ!), my communication plan requires me to learn and master tweeting, facebooking, blogging, emails.  It’s a new world for missionaries.

I think I am most thankful for a wonderful modern-day line of communication, thanks to my friends in Estonia, SKYPE!

Days like today: Henry’s 3rd Birthday, is why I love modernity.  I love being able to see the awesome new car that Captain Coolest got him.

Or hear him say with his precious toddler accent, “I free Lo Lo!”

Or see Boo Boo showing me his eye patch in preparation for the pirate themed party happening later today.I love SKYPE! 

And yes, I will be an official paid spokesperson if they should so call me.  CALL ME!

My worlds are far apart. But this little piece of technology makes me feel next door.

And I know that if the Estonians never invented skype I would survive. It’s a luxury, I know that.

And I am thankful for this luxury.  It makes this missionary’s day when she gets to feel part of both worlds at once.

What is your favorite ‘luxury’ as a missionary?

spiritual darkness or just smog?

I was recently told by a Czech friend that the area I live in Czech is known as one of the most polluted in all of Europe!  Where one in three kiddos struggle with asthma and other lung problems.  Seriously?!

I knew that the buildings in Cesky Tesin are black due to the coal smoke and train emissions and that the factories in Ostrava are always pumping out smoke, and that the other factory town of Trinec is only 10 min down the road in the other direction…basically I live in the VALLEY OF DEATH.  And yet somehow I was always distracted by other things to think about the constant pollution I’m living in.Until now…one of my JV colleagues recently posted this British video documentary about the pollution here in this region of Czech.

I think I’m going to get some of those cute white masks that the Asians have made massively popular in recent years.  And keep on keeping on.  It’s always a good reminder of the spiritual darkness that covers the hearts of young people here.

So today as I sit at my desk completely disgusted by this documentary, I respond and say, Thank you Lord for your visual reminder of the darkness.  The battle is constantly present and reality of eternal separation from you is looming.  Let me live with urgency and pray with fervor for your light to disperse the darkness, for blue skies to shine and deep breaths of clean fresh air. Thank you Lord.

Crashing a honeymoon was never on my bucket list!

But I did it anyway.  It was kind of forced on me (in my futile defense.)

This glorious thing happened September 10, 2011.
And then Mr & Mrs Burns immediately left on their honeymoon to here…
Dubrovnik, Croatia.  And the crazy kids got the idea to hop on a plane and fly here…
Prague, Czech Republic.

So I didn’t want to be rude and decided to invite them over for a crazy weekend in Cesky Tesin.

And thus the honeymoon crashing began…with a phone call back to the baby sister in Portland so she could be jealous that it was I that was crashing their honeymoon and not her.  Ah, such is life!
And that is how you do it.  Honeymoon crashing 101.

Fall is Here!

It’s always been this way.  I’ve tried to find other options, but I always come back to this one.

Fall is my favorite season!! And here in Cesky Tesin it’s gorgeous!

Football games under the lights with hot cocoa or apple cider keeping you warm.  Pumpkin patch and corn mazes with a crazy group of friends.  Special drinks from starbucks.  Gorgeous colors on trees and leaves.  Weaving across a sidewalk to find the one crunchy leaf that will make that satisfying sound when you step on it.  Seeing your breath on a brisk evening.  Smelling firewood and smoke from chimneys.  Wearing your favorite hat or scarf while on a long walk in the sunshine of fall.  All of the anticipation for some of the best holidays of the year.

Ahh, if you could see me now at my desk, I’m smiling like an idiot with all the romanticized notions in my head of why I love the fall.

Yesterday I had a typical fall day.  Harvesting pumpkin to make puree to last me through the year, making cookies, cleaning

and have a great time working on thank you notes, newsletters and baby registry with some friends.

Ahh! I’ve fallen hard for the fall

(yeah, this is getting cheesy)

All-nighters should be left in our college years

And yet here I am, it’s 1:46 and I don’t think that I will have my head hit any pillow before the sun comes up.  I have had too many cups of coffee, not enough water, I just ate a spoonful of peanut butter to try to help the energy levels, and now my eyes are going light and darker in the room.

I think at some level I just want to throw in the towel and yield to the fact that I am no longer in college.  I’m not wearing a cute coed shirt with our universities team colors on it, I don’t have any crazy headed roommates that want to stay up all night – just to keep me company, I can no longer stomach a diet strictly of caffeine because my joints are starting to ache…c’mon people I’m in my 30′s!

In a few short hours I am going to shower and pretend that the blackness underneath my eyes is something chic that I will call ‘smokey eyes’ to anyone that gets too close.  I will try to dress professional so as to throw off the scent of anyone that realizes I just spent the past 24 hours in sweats.
The stillness of the night used to be my best thinking hours.  I would write papers, create presentations, get brilliant ideas, bake amazing cookies.  The silence of the nights was my muse…now it’s my lullaby.

So if you are reading this now and think that this desperate woman seems like she could use some prayer – bring it on! And bless you for that