Christmas pictures

Go here to see some fun Christmas pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79084&l=83f50&id=700689739

Friendship!

Ok, this is a true friend...one who takes off work to leave at 3:30 in the morning to take me to the airport 1 1/2 hours away to fly to the U.S. for Christmas.....then that same friend, on her day OFF, drives to pick me up at the airport 1 1/2 hours away, meeting a VERY tired person, drives me home and lets me just go inside and go to sleep! God bless my dear, faithful friend!

Pictures and posts tomorrow.......too tired tonight! Oh, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

BLESSINGS IN ABUNDANCE TO OVERFLOWING IN 2009!!!

All good things must come to an end....

It's been a very special visit to the U.S. this Christmas time. Lots of fun, lots of laughter, lots of reflection time, some good conversations, some challenging ones as well, tons of great food, lots of sunshine the last two days, and memories made!

Aren't these the things we should remember about the holidays? Spending them with loved ones?

Back on an airplane tomorrow returning home to Hungary! Can't wait to leave 70 degree F. weather for 27 degree F. JUST KIDDING!!! I am excited to see my boys!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2009 bring ALL that God has for each one of us, His perfect will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, and may we be ready to receive His amazing love, grace and peace which is beyond human understanding!

Laughter!!!!!!!!!!

If you have ever played the game "spoons", you know how fun, wild and filled with laughter it can be! Throw in some good ole intensity and competitiveness and you can really have a great time! Only one person suffered from a split lip as my nephew grabbed the spoon and then flung his arm upward, meeting my brother's lip!

This is the first time all 4 siblings in my family have been together in probably 5 years...my parents are thrilled, and we are laughing like crazy! What a blessing!

We've been laughing hard for the entire afternoon and evening practically, and I am so very, very thankful for the laughter! I realize I don't laugh enough...and I need to more.

Building precious memories....sorry no pix, but I'm not on my computer.

Merry Christmas!

Greetings from sunny Arizona, where my father says, "it's cold here" and I am breathing in a sigh as I take off my large winter coat and enjoy the 50 degree F. weather! I'll take 50 over the bitingly cold temps we had in Kansas City!

It's Christmas morning here, I woke up before my alarm, having travelled yet one more time zone west-ward, and am enjoying the quiet of the morning before one of my brothers and his family come over to open gifts and fill the house with the laughter, joy, enthusiasm and fun of Christmas! The tree was all decorated when I arrived yesterday and a plethora of gifts littered the floor beneath it.

On Friday, our entire family will be together for the first time in I don't know how many years! We only get about 24 hours together, but hey, I'll take 24 hours over nothing!

My parents are thrilled to have us all here, and I look forward to seeing all that God has in store!

Wishing you and all of yours the most blessed Christmas ever...FILLED with the overflowing, abundant grace and LOVE of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is THE reason for the season!

Ice storm.........hee hee hee

Well, my flight is at 6 something in the morning. I had planned to leave about 3:30 a.m.....but now that the ice is coming..is here...I'm thinking 2:30 a.m. might be a better departure time, so I can inch my way along to the airport. :-) Oh the joys of midwestern winters. Should be interesting travelling tomorrow! Hope I make it to my folks for Christmas!

They have a great bookstore here at IHOP...I'm so tempted to buy lots of things...but knowing what I know about the future, that would be silly......so, I'll restrain myself.

No major insights these days...well, yes I have, but I'm not in the mood yet to blog them. Just in learning mode, and listening mode, and being mode. It's GOOD!

Have a BLESSED Christmas everyone...not sure when I'll blog again....am starting to snap some pix, so stay tuned if I can get logged on in Arizona!

Go read this COOL verse: 2 Thessalonnians 3:5.

Still COLD!

Are you bored with hearing about the weather here? I would be...it's still cold. I misplaced my gloves, so now I'm even colder. Oh well...hopefully they will bless someone who really needs them! :-)

Sitting in the Higher Grounds coffee shop here at IHOP. You can go to www.ihop.org to check out this place if you are interested!

Being blessed beyond words...our God is a good God, isn't He?

It's COOOOLLLLLDDDDD here!

Ok, you know the kind of cold that if you sniff your nose-hairs freeze? Yea, that's how cold it is here in Kansas City! I stepped out of the house this morning, hatless, and wished I'd brought my cool hat from Hungary because I know I lost a lot of body heat in the first 3 seconds of the arctic blast of air that swept over me as I headed to my rental car to go to church! You know it's bad when you are still seeing your breath inside the car after the heater has been on for 10 minutes! YIKES!

Had a great worship service this morning with amazing worship...and a fantastic message by Bob Sorge. This afternoon, I met an OLD (not in age) friend with whom I taught in Hungary in 1992! Marcie and I went out to lunch and got the run-down on each others' lives since '92! No small feat since we've both had tons of experiences since then!

Now off to see some Christmas lights...in the COLD....they are expecting tonight to be one of the coldest nights on record in HISTORY, that is, here in Kansas City. Can't wait to hit some sunshine in Arizona in a couple of days!

Sorry, no pictures yet.....

Yes, luggage arrived

All luggage arrived intact! Yippee, choice in clothing! However, it was kinda nice not to have so many choices. You wear what you have...which wasn't much...but made life simple.

Hmmmm, simplifying life.........is there any truth in that thought?

Thoughts on jet-lag

I turned over...1:45 a.m. Oh my....Lord please help me go back to sleep!

I turned over....4:30 a.m. Lord, please, I want to sleep til 8! No luck...tossing and turning til 6:00. So, I decided to get up and go for a brisk walk in the brisk winter morning darkness here in Kansas City! BRRRRR.....thankfully, I remembered to bring my cool hat and some gloves and had a scarf. I walked quickly on the street to avoid the icy sidewalks...yep, it's icy here! COLD too.....winter.....ah, love wearing sweaters! Sit-ups then push-ups then stretching, then coffee and juice, banana, eggs.....time alone reading.....listening to a teaching CD....now ready to go into the prayer room here.

LOTS going on.......

Made it to U.S.

Hi there to the 3 people who read my blog! Hee hee hee!!! I made it to the U.S. and am in Kansas City, sitting in a coffee shop here at the International House of Prayer! Had to RUN to make all my connecting flights, and my luggage made it all the way to Dallas....I saw it and rechecked it.....and then RAN to catch my flight to Kansas City! I made it but the luggage didn't. It's being delivered to me today! Yippee!

So, stay tuned for more updates! I'm pretty tired, but pressing through to get on this time zone! Off to buy some groceries!

Packing and my boys

Simon eating and Toby intrigued by the camera!

Toby!

My boy, Simon, is not very happy this evening. He sees the pieces of luggage and he knows what they mean. Mom's leavin'. He has two typical responses...he either sits near me, follows me around the house and wants to be as close to me as possible, or he goes to the neighbor's house and completely ignores me, punishing me for leaving him.

Toby, on the other hand is fast asleep in the loft, seemingly oblivious to the packing happenings. However, tomorrow at 3 a.m., he will be vocal, expressing his frustration at my leaving.

Two cats. Two different responses. Two hearts that really DO feel absence, despite what many may say about felines. Simon will sit in the doorway until I turn around and say goodbye, and then he will turn his back to me and remain that way until I am out of sight.

They don't get it. I can't explain it to them. Oh how much like some people they are...some people just don't get it. It doesn't matter how much to try to explain 'whatever' to them...they interpret what you do or say as rejection, or maybe abandonment, or being mean. Of course my heart hurts when I leave my boys...they've been my faithful companions for over 10 years now, but Lord willing, I'm coming back in a couple of weeks and we'll have a sweet reunion. They will forgive me for leaving, Toby much more quickly than Simon, and we'll go back to life as we know it.

Wouldn't it be great if people could do the same...

Orphanage visit

Andy Cheesman introducing himself to the little ones!

We sang songs!

And taught them "head, shoulders, knees and toes"!

Here are a few pictures from our visit to the orphanage! Sweet little babies!

19th annual English Dept. Christmas party!

Chatting and eating!

Jennifer won the prize for opening the most gifts!

Hi everyone!

I think this is the first time we have ever taken a group picture! :-)

Yummy turkey! :-)

We had a GREAT time on Saturday night at the annual Christmas party I host for English teachers at Deak, where I teach! I surprised everyone by cooking a HUGE turkey....10 kilos...that's over 20 pounds! :-) It turned out well and everyone brought other foods and drinks! We laughed, had our gift 'stealing' party....so much fun every year, and played a fun game! Lots of talking and relaxing!

Orphanage visit

15 of us got to visit the orphanage in Szeged today where the newborns to five year old kids live. It was precious to see these kids, many of whom are handicapped in some way. We were not permitted to take pictures...I took some before they told us we could not, but my home computer is not working so I cannot post them right now. I will try to later if my internet is repaired.

These precious little ones sang songs for us, then we sang some for and with them. They REALLY loved receiving the coloring books and crayons and fresh fruit and chocolates.

The orphanage is beautiful and very well kept. Of course I wanted to take about 5 of the kids home with me, but I restrained myself. Precious time..........

More pictures from last ICF for 2008

Time to worship!

Andy, Erik, Sara and Samm!

Zsuzsi and Timi.

Toby and Bunmi.

Here are some more fun pictures from our last ICF meeting for 2008!

ICF - Friday at 7 - last meeting for 2008

Larisa, Csilla and Eszter fellowshipping!

Judit, Bela, Kimberley and Sanyi.

Jozsef, Franci and Klari.

Erik leading worship.

Some of the coloring books and crayons we will take to the little ones at the orphanage on Monday.

God truly blessed our last ICF meeting for 2008 with Jesus-centered worship, Bible-centered teaching, and Holy Spirit led prayers! Fellowship was sweet, as always, and as people from 8 different nations came together to worship the living God and encourage one another, we all know God is doing great things!

This coming Monday, we are going to an orphanage here in Szeged to bring coloring books, crayons, markers and fruit to the little ones there. We will be allowed to hang out with and play with the 3-5 year olds, and I am hoping we can at least see the 0-2 year olds!

Blessings on all of you who pray for us and ICF! We look forward to what God has in store for 2009!

ICF and going to the orphanage

Sara and Erik from Sweden, enjoying fellowship time last week at ICF!

Timi and Bela! Bela and his family provide fruit every Friday evening!

Some of us will be going to an orphanage this coming Monday and pouring love into 3-5 year olds!

We're blessed each week with new faces, and old! God is so very good!

Regina donning her Santa hat! Last Friday was Mikulas day....Santa Claus day...Santa brings small gifts and chocolates to children, who have cleaned their boots inside and out the previous evening and put them in the window. Santa fills them! Then on December 24th, the baby Jesus brings the gifts! I love that they separate Santa and Jesus here in Hungary!

This post is a week 'late'...sorry. These pix are from last Friday evening. Got busy and distracted, but here you go!

We are excited to go to the orphanage this coming Monday afternoon! There are 13 little boys and girls ages 3-5 and we'll be bringing coloring books, crayons, and fruit to them, plus we hope to love on them through games and songs and just being with them. We hope to see the little babies as well...newborns to age 2....but Hungarian law won't allow us to go in and hold the babies.

My heart is being increasingly turned toward orphans....literal and spiritual! I have some new friends who are adopting 3 handicapped boys from an orphanage in Ukraine right now and taking them back to the U.S. to be immersed in the love of God in their family and at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

Spiritual orphans are just as prevalent...many followers of Jesus still live as orphans, with wounds from the past keeping them from living in the fullness of God's love, forgiveness and freedom.

Only God can meet both types of orphans, in His perfect ways! May we be open to being His hands and feet, allowing Him to show us how to pour out His love into people's lives!

Cat tricks

VERY funny and short video!

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:32e30398-c6d8-4fcc-9383-813c54aed95f&showPlaylist=&from=IV2_en-us_v11HP&fg=gtlv2

Clouds and Sunsets

Sweet sunset!

Sunset!

I see an angel...and you?

Santa's hat stretched out to the left and his small nose and face looking right.....maybe????

I really enjoy driving! Sometimes the Lord surprises me with His signatures in the sky. Driving from Godollo to Debrecen last Saturday, I spied this 'cloud', which at first looked like a Santa head looking sideways; then later, it seemed to be an angel.

Then, driving home to Szeged from Debrecen, these clouds at sunset were just a love-letter from God to me....He's so good all the time!

Christmas

Downtown Debrecen at night with all the Christmas lights! Beautiful!

A lit up tree!

Yes, it says "Happy Christmas"! My dear friends Edith Bond and MaryJill Callery!

Godollo, Hungary!

Arden, Lea, Joanna and Donna...God has called ALL of us from Charlottesville, VA to Hungary! WOW!

I finally downloaded some pix from my very busy last weekend! I drove to Budapest, then Godollo, then Debrecen then home...not all in one day, mind you. Got to hang out with good friends, drink hot-spiced wine, eat yummy kurtoskalacs, enjoy the sights and sounds of european Christmas, and laugh a lot! It's this time of year that reminds me that God has blessed me so much...and encourages me to be a blessing to others.

BUSY!!!! But it's all good!

This is always a busy time of year....but it's all good.

Next Monday, ICF will be going to an orphanage here in Szeged....the little ones orphanage....to take some small gifts, play with the 3-5 year olds (13 of them), bring them fruit (thanks Bela!) and just love on them!

This Saturday I'm hosting the 19th annual English dept. Christmas party at my flat! Cleaning, cooking, organizing....whew! But it's ALWAYS a highlight of everyone's year!

In the midst of all of that, I'm preparing to go to the U.S. for Christmas to visit family!

Needless to say, thoughtful blogging is not happening today.....sorry.

But it's all good!

Has your candle gone out......

....or has it never been lit. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world...let your light so shine before people that they may see....and glorify your Father in heaven."

I just got an email from a friend who told me about a friend who, about every 2 months, "tries" something new in the realm of spiritual exploration. What this friend's friend has yet to discover is that the only One who holds the flame that can bring the True Spiritual Light into her life is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Reflections

This is the time of year when we begin to reflect on the past year. World events have been nothing less that quite tumultuous! For some of us, personal events have been life-changing...some have experienced tremendous loss, grief and tragedy...others have welcomed life, love, joy and happiness. Every journey is significant and unique. It's who we look TO in the journey that makes the difference!

These reflections in puddles can remind us that sometimes things are clear, sometimes hazy; sometimes things need to be left in the past for good, and sometimes we need to continue pressing in and believing God for His restoration. Only He can give us the wisdom as we spend time reflecting on the past year...Seek first the Kingdom of God....

Moving onward, upward and forward

The picture above was captured at the Christmas market in Dom square in Szeged, Hungary. I only noticed it when I looked up. Then it stopped me in my tracks and made me consider many things. First, if I'm always looking down at the ground in front of me, I'm going to miss out on things in front of me. If I'm looking at the things around me, I'm going to miss out on those beautiful things that are 'above' me.

We need, in our lives, to have a constant flow of looking up, side to side, forward, and even down (so we don't trip over something)...and not get hung up on only one view because ALL these views flow together in a tapestry. The only place we shouldn't look is behind...it's in the past, there's nothing to be done about it now, and moving forward into all that God has for us is vital to life growth! His desire is that we come up to where He is...and HE will give us His perspective!

Christmas market pictures!

This man is wearing traditional gear for those who work with horses...I think. :-)

The market near the city hall!

Timi, enjoying a break from walking around!

Ah, nothing like the hot spiced wine!

Jenny Jack and Arden at the market!

Here are more pix from the market....see blog below for more detailed explanation.

Christmas is in the air!

Mary Jill Callery checking out the candles!

Check out this elderly woman in traditional Hungarian garb, but if you click on the picture, you will see she is holding a mobile phone. :-) I love it...the past intersecting with the present!

I love these huge skillets of yummy food!

Edith Bond, Mary Jill Callery and Jenny Jack making their way through a hay maze at the Dom square market! Great fun for kids and adults who remain kids at heart!

Mary Jill Callery and Jenny Jack....great pose!

One of my favorite things here in Szeged is the Christmas markets at both the Dom square and the downtown square near the city hall. Vendors come and sell their wares, and there is always good food, hot spiced wine, music and a time to slow down and enjoy! These are some pictures from a couple of weekends ago when a bunch of us met at the market and enjoyed!

My 600th post

Ok, I have a friend who has been blogging fewer years than I have and he has many more posts than I do...this is NOT a competition. :-) But I'm pretty excited to be posting my 600th post.

So what is my topic for this 600th post? Hmmmm, I usually have one before I log on and start blogging, but today, this is quite spontaneous.

Maybe I should talk about my two cats, Toby and Simon (see Toby above in his favorite position)...but I've already spent way too many posts on them.

I could talk about the goodness of God...how in the last 2 weeks He's done so much and revealed His grace and love in such tangible ways that I've been almost overwhelmed by Him!

Or I could talk about the fact that it's getting dark by 4 p.m. here now, and I'm usually ready to go to bed by about 7 p.m. cuz of the dark. But that's pretty superficial.

I could blog about how much I'm loving getting connected on facebook with SO many friends, former classmates from high school and some from university, former students, current friends around the globe and how I now have over 200 friends on facebook and am looking forward to adding more!

Then there is always the topic of Christmas....but that's still weeks away.

So, I guess for my 600th, I'll end with this quote from Charles Dickens, English major that I was:

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." (A Tale of Two Cities).

Why? 2008 has most definitely been both the best of times and the worst of times for me thus far in my life. The worst has been tremendous loss and grief. The best has been developing an intimacy with Father God like I've never known in my life...which continues to grow. Thus, the best FAR outshines the worst, and like Paul, I will forget what is behind and strive toward what lies ahead!

Right now, that is blog number 601. ha ha ha!!!

Life through the thorns

As I took the pictures above, I didn't really think about spiritual truths that could be attached to them. Then I listened to a great sermon by Bill Johnson out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA about "Transformation through Loyalty", and it got me thinking about how we view life, relationships, love, friendship, and even our work.

So often, like the picture above, the thorns of life are what are in focus, and the life behind the thorns, as depicted by the ducks, is either out of focus or not even noticed. It's very easy to get focused on the thorns because that is what is right in front of us; the thorns hurt, and often, there's nothing we can do about the thorns. We often cannot cut through them or walk around them; sometimes we have to stay IN the thorns and yet we are called to see the LIFE beyond the thorns! This takes discernment, faith, hope, and, from today's sermon, loyalty.

Every relationship in our lives will be fraught with thorns at one point or another; the easy thing to do is to turn around and walk away; however, that may be the most destructive action for both the one who turns away and the life of those on the other side of the thorns.

There was once a man who bore a crown of thorns which were not simply placed gently on his head, but rather forced into his skull. Then, the men who put this crown of thorns on his head beat him about the head, driving the thorns deeper. This man could have SO easily, in a flash, walked away from the thorns and the pain they inflicted, but he chose to endure the thorns because he saw the LIFE that lay on the other side of those thorns, and the life He would provide as a result of being loyal to His Father and loving every single person on the planet! Enduring the thorns brought us the ultimate freedom!