Simon and miracles

Um, yes, he loves to have run of the house! :-)

Who couldn't love this face?

Chillin!

Right after Toby's death, Simon was pretty cuddly...and he continues to be to this day. :-)


I received a phone call today. It was Simon's vet. Yesterday, I took Simon to the vet to have his yearly vaccinations, and because he is now 13 years old, they ran "geriatric blood tests" on him. These would determine many things including organ functions.

Back tracking: When I moved to Hungary in 2000 with both Simon and Toby, Simon became very ill very quickly. Within days of my move I was at the Hungarian vet's office with my friend Mari and Simon, who was, well, not well at all. The vet determined rather quickly that he had been poisoned somehow (probably licking paint in my previous home in the U.S. before we left), and that they would have to do daily treatments on him, pumping him with medicines through IVs. The daily trek to the vet was not fun, especially since the vet would not give me any signs of encouragement or comfort, but would say, day after day, "We'll see how he responds."

During the course of these treatments, which lasted nearly two weeks, the vet began to explain that the poison was causing his kidneys to shut down and if that happened completely, then he would not make it. Of course I and many others prayed for Simon's healing. Finally, he began to show signs of bouncing back, and then, on the last day of Simon's treatments, the doctor gave him the release that he did not have to come back.

It was on that day that he explained to me, through the interpreter, that he was amazed that Simon lived. The reason he never gave me any encouragement during the two-week ordeal was because he really didn't think he would live. His kidneys were already shutting down and he thought Simon was a goner due to the poison coursing through his body. At the end of all the treatments, he told me that blood tests showed that Simon had completely "lost" one kidney and that the other kidney was only partially functioning...maybe 1/2 of the kidney was still working. This concerned me, but he said that he could definitely live a long life with just 1/2 a kidney. Mind you, kidneys do not regenerate themselves, unlike skin or some other organs, so once they are "dead", they're dead.

I remember praising God for sparing Simon's life back in 2000, and praying that God would heal his kidneys. I'd forgotten about that prayer...til today....

Simon's new vet here in KC called today and left a message. In it he said that Simon's blood work came back with "outstanding" numbers. In fact, both of his kidneys are fully functional, which surprised him, given the situation I told him about in Hungary. He is an extremely healthy cat, especially for being age 13!

Yes, God is in the miracle business, even with creatures besides humans! I praise God tonight for the miracle He did in Simon's body, healing his kidneys!

The Senders

Feedback has been good regarding The Senders, my newest book. Missionaries, you will want to get copies of this to give to your partners/supporters as the stories of those who SEND you to the nations will encourage them!

Click on the title of this blog to get your copy online, or write to me to get copies at a greatly reduced price. :-)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Arden+Campbell+Czaszewicz&x=15&y=22

The Power of Words

Having been an English teacher for over 20 years, I know the power of words. However, I've never known that power to such deep levels as I am learning day by day through the medium of marriage.

A word spoken in a timely way can bring life, health and healing to a mate which is unmatched by any other word spoken by any other person. In the same way, a word with-held, left unspoken, that could bring life if it were simply spoken, is akin to a dagger in the heart.

I don't need to spend any time talking about words that hurt because that's a no-brainer. It's the pain of the unspoken word from the one to whom you have given your heart that is mind-blowing, and can leave someone reeling.

That simple, "You look beautiful," or "I can't wait to see you this evening," or I'm so excited to spend time with you," or "I love how you desire to provide for us," or "I am so proud of you," or "thank you for loving me so well," or just "thank you" that is left unspoken can become a flaming dart of the enemy. However, those same simple words, if spoken, can bring RIVERS of life-giving water to the recipient.

As I grow in my marriage, I am learning how to lean into Papa God and ask Him for the words to speak to my husband; and he is doing the same with me. My one word of advice after my whopping 3 1/2 months of marriage is speak those words of life, every day, and never assume your spouse has heard them enough or doesn't need to hear them. Life will abound with hopeful, life-giving words.

This is simply a reflection of God Himself: In the beginning was the WORD...that's how important speaking words of life are, especially in marriage! I am so thankful for my precious husband who seeks to speak life over me every day!

Chicago party

Papa Chaz preparing the legs of lamb!

Chillin' under the tent in the Chaz backyard!

Arden with my two new sisters and my one new brother...and of course my wonderful husband!

Papa Chaz doesn't like to have his picture taken!

The lambs and chickens on the spit! YUMMY!

Humbled. That's the only word appropriate for how I feel right now after an amazing weekend in Chicago with friends and family who couldn't make it to our wedding in May.

While the weekend flew by, Paul and I experienced tremendous joy and blessing from everyone who came from near and far to the lamb roast/chicken roast open-house party on Chicago's east side! Food galore, laughter, fun, and great times together made for memories!

We were unexpectedly surprised (at least I was) by generous wedding gifts as well...thank you to ALL who came and loved us so well! We love you and look forward to the next time we can be together again.

Garden and lightning

Hats off to Alex Cataldo who house-sat for us while we were on our honeymoon and watered like crazy during the 90-105 degree heat wave! Our garden not only survived but thrived! Thanks Alex!


Do you know how challenging it is to capture lightning with a regular ole' digital camera? I think I took 200 shots and maybe 5 of them turned out!


As I was checking for cucumbers and zucchini in our garden this evening, I heard a high-pitched "MEOW" emerging from the jungle of plants you can see in the above picture. "Come here, Simon!" I called out to my little pumpkin kitty! Suddenly, he emerged from amongst the broccoli plants! He sat diligently watching me pick zucchini and cucumbers and tomatoes!

Last night, we came home and watched an AMAZING lightning show...no rain, just a fabulous display of lightning in the clouds.

Precious family

What fun to be with precious friends, Anita and Zoli and their three children, Tamas, Denes, and Petra!

Pics from European Honeymoon

This is Paul and me with the owner of the winery in Croatia where we stayed our second night. We literally stumbled upon this place where they have rooms as well. Bless this man as he treated us to wine and cheese and bacon and bread to help us celebrate our honeymoon! Gotta love local wine-makers!

Here we are with Paul's relatives...his mother's cousin...whom we found in a small village a stone's throw from the Slovenian border! This was a highlight of our trip to find relatives!

Our last night in Budapest...we walked across the Chain Bridge after enjoying a dinner cruise. A glorious end to an incredible trip!

Here we are in Szeged at the party friends organized! This precious friend, Bori, now has three little ones in tow, and we had a blast with them!

A visit to Hungary would not be complete without laughing and talking deeply with my friends Larisa and Barb! If only we all lived on the same continent! :-)

More fun in europe

Sunday afternoon with some of the folks from Sion Church in Szeged.


We enjoyed a fabulous Sunday lunch at Eszter's mom's house in Szeged!

My Szeged buds organized a party for Paul and me on Friday evening where about 40 people came to help us celebrate our wedding! These are the last few who stayed til the end of the evening!

We spent some time with my former neighbor, Kati, who filled us in on the "happenings" in the neighborhood! :-)

Paul and I with my precious friend and former hairdresser, Bori, and her three children! What a blessing for Paul to meet her and all those we were able to meet during our very short visit to Szeged, Hungary!


Paul and I are still having a blast! This past week was FULL of meetings with my friends in Szeged, including parties, an evening at the open air festival, and fun at the new water park which boasts the tallest slide in eastern europe! :-)

Honeymoon trip

Meeting Paul's relatives in a tiny village in Croatia! What an adventure!


Paul and I at the top of a hill overlooking Dubrovnik, Croatia!

Our special evening out in Dubrovnik, Croatia!

The view from our balcony in Dubrovnik!

Paul and I were blessed by many, many friends and family who have made it possible for us to enjoy a fabulous European honeymoon in Croatia and Hungary! We have seen much, driven many kilometers, met many people and Paul has met a number of my Hungarian friends! Food in abundance has been the norm, especially here in Hungary, where the typical term we hear is "egyetek! (EAT!)

It's so much fun and such an incredible blessing for my friends to meet Paul and visa versa since Hungary was my home for 11 years! However, the time here is FAR, far too short...and everyone has said we must come back for a much longer visit next time!

Blessings include parties thrown by friends for us to celebrate our recent wedding, worshiping with Hungarian believers at Sion Church here in Szeged, praying for leaders in the Baptist Church's youth group, biking through the city, receiving tickets to the Szeged Open Air Festival where we enjoyed watching the operetta "The Merry Widow" with 4000 other people, speaking Hungarian :-), and discovering that God is moving in this city through His people....hallelujah!

Get your copy of THE SENDERS

Here it is...The Senders....and you can get your copy by clicking on the title of this blog, or by going to Amazon.com at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Arden+Campbell+Czaszewicz&x=15&y=22

This book is a compilation of responses to six questions from those who SEND Christian missionaries to the nations. Their stories are just as important as those whom they send!

Preparedness

It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to figure out that things are happening on this planet that are shall we say not good? Weather patterns are simply nutty, economic forecasts are gloomy at best, and the Lord only knows what is in the hearts of those who want to live in the realms of destruction.

All this to say, while I'm not fearful because my hope is in the Lord and His great sovereignty, I am preparing. I began the preparedness journey a couple of months ago and promptly felt overwhelmed! However, I had a good friend trying to help me through it all, and I have some things ready. But the stress of thinking about trying to "hunt and gather" so many things was causing stress and even provoking that imp (fear)...and so I decided no more. Not no more preparing, but just no more stress and no more wondering, "So now what do I do with this 25 pound bag of pinto beans?"

A friend of mine introduced me to Shelf Reliance and Thrive Foods. From the get go, I was pretty much sold...the food is EXTREMELY tasty, and because of the process they use for dehydrating it, the vitamins are still in it when you rehydrate it. In addition, they have done their homework when it comes to other things like emergency kits, etc. So, now I am a consultant because first, I refuse to prepare out of fear; second, I want to prepare in order to be an asset to others rather than a liability; third, I want MORE time to spend on the things that are important to me, like people!

So, if you are interested in visiting my store online, just click on the title to this blog or on the link below and you can check it all out. I'm happy to answer any questions...I'm new at all of this so be patient with me...but I am excited to get prepared, and be at peace in the process!

http://www.shelfreliance.com/ArdenCz3

Blessings on you!

Preview of my newest book!

Click on the title of this blog, or on the link below, to reach the link where you can preview my newest book, The Senders.

This book has been over two years in the writing/compiling, largely due to my own procrastination, but finally, within just a couple of weeks, it will be in print and ready for reading consumption.

My previous book, Walking Forward - Discoveries in Freedom and Forgiveness was published through Xulon Press. I chose to publish The Senders through Amazon.com and their online publishing site called Create Space.

Have a look: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1083761

More thoughts on married life....

While I knew that being married and all that entails is nothing like you see in the movies, it's interesting how 'normal' and easily we have moved into being a married couple. Yes, we are newly weds, but even that term can be fraught with some glorious expectations and innuendos when in reality, life plugs along for us just like every other person on the planet. We take out the trash, we garden, we pull weeds, we cook meals, we entertain friends for dinner, we clean bathrooms and do laundry, we wash dishes, and feed our cat, Simon. Normal stuff...I don't quite know why I'm writing this or if somehow I expected life to become sort-of dream-like in the everyday reality.

Of course there are the moments of wedded bliss and snippets of precious stolen moments, like sitting on our front porch last night with the light off and looking at the stars...sometimes talking but just holding hands and enjoying the beauty. Or waking up in the middle of the night to a raging storm and turning over to hold one another and enjoy the thunder and lightening and rain pounding down on the roof. Or taking long walks in the afternoon through our neighborhood, talking about the day, visioning and dreaming about the future.

But it struck me yesterday that really, married life is nothing like the movies, and a small part of me felt a bit of anger toward the film-making industry...not for me, but for all the young people out there who are bombarded every day with images of marriage and wedded bliss that simply are not even close to reality. The fantasy that Hollywood and other film industries present in abundance today are fueling an already sexually charged and idealistically deluded young population, which could lead them into unrealistic expectations about life, love and happiness.

I have never been happier than I am now as a married woman; I have more joy in me and peace than ever before; but it's not solely as a result of being married to a wonderful man. Primarily, it's because I'm married to a man who loves Jesus first and as we both put Him in the center of it all, the love, joy, happiness, peace, fun, adventure, purpose and calling all fall into place. There is even great fun in the mundane when the spouse the Lord has given you is by your side! But it's nothing like the emotionally charged blissful picture so many movies try to plant in our imaginations. I'm not sure I'm explaining myself very well, nor am I sure why I'm even blogging about this except that maybe some young (or even old) person out there needs to read this and bring that false picture into line with the Word of God and His reality, which is more joyful, wonderful and fulfilling than the movies portray.

Ads on my blog.....

If you are a regular blog reader of mine, then you have noticed that I decided to allow blogger to put ads at the bottom of my blogs. The reason I am doing this is to generate a bit of income for Christian missions. The drawback is that I don't believe I can 'control' what ads appear there. So, I am praying about whether to continue having ads on my blog...

But for everyone's information, I DO NOT endorse the Mormons, Scientology or any other cults/sects or religions that are not centered on Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the ONLY way, truth and life! I am actually hoping that the ad people on blogger will read this blog and refrain from placing any of those false religion ads on my blog. I will certainly have to rethink having ads if they continue to put these kind on my blog.

So, blogger ad placers, please reserve this blog for truly Christian ads only! Thank you!

So much going on!

I live such a blessed life! The Lord continues to pour out in abundance on my life, especially now as a married woman! From morning prayer at The Hartley Institute to friends near and far constantly blessing our lives to opportunities to minister at the drop of a hat, I can safely say life is not boring!

Paul and I hosted a reception/open house party yesterday for all of our friends here in KC...we were blessed with a constant flow of folks til nearly 9 p.m. Can't wait to celebrate with friends in Hungary and in Chicago!

Growing Spiritual Hunger in Hungary

Even though God called me to leave Hungary two years ago, God continues to do His mighty work there...ha...like He needs me there...ha ha ha....that sounds funny; He certainly doesn't need us, but in His great design of redemption and restoration, He chooses to use people.

A few days ago, I came across this magazine article which gives an update on what is happening in Hungary, and needless to say, I am rejoicing in all that God is doing! Please continue to pray that the Lord will fan into flame His Truth in that nation! Click on the title to this blog to get to the article, or cut and paste the link below into your browser.

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/31205-a-growing-spiritual-hunger-in-hungary#.TfENs-usCwB;blogger

Rock House Church

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers...and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people." (Acts 2:42,46,47)

When I first came to Kansas City from Hungary, I was encouraged to do an internship here through the International House of Prayer because that way, I would meet people and find a smaller group of friends in this very large community called IHOP. Having come from a fairly small community of believers in Hungary, I welcomed this admonition, as otherwise, navigating the waters in a community of over 2,000 people would be challenging. Indeed, I connected with a smaller number of people on deeper levels, and I adore the friendships that I continue to build with them.

However, I sorely missed the sweet, intimate community...quite literally a house church...that I shared weekly in Hungary with my precious sisters, Anita, Eszter and Gabi. We called it "Bible study", but it was really 'doing life together' on very significant levels, for 9 years. It took the Holy Spirit, hard work, commitment, sacrifice, laughter, tears and devotion to the Lord for this community to function over the long haul, but the blessings were and continue to be immense. Yes, an ocean separates us now, and communication is much less frequent, but when I receive emails from these precious sisters, it's as though not one minute of time has passed and the depth and width of our friendship remains intact. I know we will be life-long in the Holy Spirit heart friends forever!

So it was that kind of community my heart was reaching for here in Kansas City...house church. Believers meeting in homes, as they did in the early church recorded in Acts, in smaller groups, breaking bread together, fellowshipping, praying, worshiping the Lord and visioning together as to how the Lord would lead us to serve and love one another, the community and the world.

The Rock is the church where I landed. Mind you, if you come on a Sunday morning, this church is a bit similar to other gatherings around the city on a Sunday morning...well, the freedom in the Spirit might be a bit more pronounced than some. But The Rock is primarily house churches, smaller groups of 10-20 people who meet during the week in peoples' homes. It's here that 'life-on-life' begins to unfold, where vulnerability and heart-connections take place, where commitment to the Lord and to one another in the Holy Spirit is practiced and lived out. It's not perfect, and a lot more 'junk' rises to the surface because of the covenant relationships we have formed with each other. But it's worth it. I experienced it in Hungary, and I'm beginning to experience it here at The Rock with my wonderful husband, who has been a part of The Rock for nearly 8 years now.

There are many in the body of Christ who are saying that house churches is where the church is headed for a number of reasons: economic necessity, personal desire for community, and coming persecution. Truly, the house church model makes sense: needs for intimate community are met, iron sharpens iron, which advances the sanctification process, life-giving love, as well as so many other blessings including freedom in the Spirit to move with Him in what He wants to do.

The above picture is of our house church and our two adopted missionaries, who are heading to Bulgaria in just over two months. They too are part of the family, the spiritual family, and have captured our hearts. Who knows what doors the Lord is going to open for the rest of us to go and serve in Bulgaria with them, possibly, or even in other parts of the world?

As I get to know my spiritual family here in KC better, my fondness and love for my spiritual families in other locations grows more intense. I suppose it's like a mom's love...she has a child and loves it intensely to the point where she cannot imagine loving a second child as much. Yet, the second child comes along and her heart expands and there is more than enough love for that one and ALL the subsequent children. Indeed, I miss my spiritual family in Hungary and in Virginia as well, but the love we have forged for one another in the Holy Spirit binds our hearts one to another for eternity. Now, as I covenant with this part of the body of Christ, for however long the Lord has us here in KC, may Holy Spirit knit all of our hearts in love for Him, for each other, and for the world out there who is crying out for what they may not know is the touch of the Father in heaven, whose sole desire is to bring them home into His family!

Garden and Simon

Simon, chillin'!




We're excited for all the veggies to come!


Paul and I have green thumbs! We've been enjoying fresh lettuce, spinach, red chard and cilantro from our garden for a couple of weeks now! Yummy! There are two zuccinis on the vine and lots of snap peas!

Simon is surviving the heat. He has his own room now and seems to have forgotten Toby. Paul usually feeds him every morning when he gets up...I love my husband!

Gardening fun

I think Paul and I could be pretty good farmers...ha ha ha! We have planted our garden plots and have realized we need more space! This morning, Paul asked if I'm ready to have a tomato business because we are over-run with tomato plants.

Things I love about gardening: the progress one can see from one day to the next; harvesting things we can eat and that taste fabulous that once were very tiny seeds; the anticipation of what may actually burst forth into its fruit and what may not; working alongside my husband. ;-)

As my dear friend reminded me just yesterday, everything is spiritual and can be worship to God...even gardening! :-)

Video highlights from our wedding!

Click on the title of this blog to see our wedding highlights video! Thank you, David Harder, for your excellent work on this!