The Search

Tomorrow we are all going to Prague to look at an apartment, then we will spend the weekend looking around the city before the girls and I head back home. Philip will stay in Prague for an OT survey course ALL week. Thankfully, we are blessed with excellent colleagues here who are willing to keep the girls some next week so I can get in some language lessons. Quick update, but wanted to let you all know a few prayer requests before tomorrow...

1. that the apt. will fit our needs - ministry and family

2. for our time speaking with the realtor

3. that all would go smoothly on my train ride home alone with the girls

4. for Philip as he studies/learns/takes tests next week

Thank you for praying with us!!!

Life...

This time in our lives is full of unknowns, new and interesting challenges and basically just learning to be flexible! I won't go into a everything, but wanted to share a few events from today (in order)...

While on the phone trying to set up an appointment with a realty (reality in CZ) company to look at apartments in Prague this weekend, I was informed that e-mail was really the best way to contact their company...I did that yesterday...they still haven't responded :)

In the short time we have between Philip arriving home for Czech lessons and me leaving, poor Philip accidentally broke a window while trying to open it! So, we had to clean up all the broken glass from the living room carpet...thankfully, the girls were in the kitchen eating lunch when it happened AND it is a double pane window and only the inside glass broke :)

And a fun praise - we downloaded an English/Czech dictionary to my cell phone today!!! Philip got it on his phone last week and thinks it is about the best thing since sliced bread...oh wait, he prefers unsliced, Czech bread these days...oh well, just saying he REALLY enjoys it :)

Lastly, I was able to enjoy another fun night of volleyball at the gym and meet another new girl who is studying at the university in town. A huge praise is that I exchanged phone numbers with a girl last week after the games who wants to meet next week sometime. Please pray that the timing will work out for us to get together!

Update

We are beginning another full week of language. God has been faithful to provide some new contacts that need follow up this week. Please pray that SMS will be effective and plans will be upheld as we seek to meet with and speak to new people.

The May update will arrive this week!

Wow - a whole month!

We can't believe it has already been a month since our last post! A lot has gone on during these last few weeks, within our ministry and our family. We have been learning about this half of the country, called Moravia, through a couple of visits to nearby towns, each about 40 minutes away by train. We toured palaces, ate lunch at local restaurants and just walked around seeing how people live life. We have also enjoyed getting to talk with some of our neighbors more and work on developing those relationships. 

I, Lisa, had the wonderful opportunity to attend a ladies' retreat in Krakow 2 weekends ago. It was such an incredible time of being fed spiritually without the distractions of normal life here, being pampered with American treats, and meeting fellow workers in Central Europe! I am so grateful to my sweet husband for being willing to watch both girls by himself for 4 days. They had a great time being hauled all over town and playing with their daddy!

Ella is 10 months old already! Again, I can't believe how quickly time is passing by. She is such a joy and has the sweetest smile. One of my favorites is when she flashes a big, toothy grin then bats those long eyelashes while turning her head away, pretending to be bashful.

Grace is picking up Czech words and short phrases and loves using them whenever possible - it's so amazing to watch her! She greets our neighbors and is enjoying the interaction she gets at preschool a couple of hours a week. Grace also still loves to read her books - sometimes we read, sometimes she "reads" to us, and other times she wants to read one book while we read another (out loud, of course!). She truly enjoys life, which makes up for all the strong-willed moments we deal with regularly :)