Happy 33rd Birthday to Justin!

Justin's birthday was November 29 and we had a pretty low key evening since both he and William still weren't feeling well. (Justin has a cold.) Justin had a pretty full day with school and then Bible study. So we just had a nice dinner and then he and William took naps! :) I had made Justin a special cake on Saturday. (We were hoping to have friends over, but decided to cancel since the guys weren't feeling well.)

After their naps, we enjoyed this chocolate cake! If you know Justin, he's always on the computer! :)

(I got the idea from the Internet, but those cakes represent an actual computer keyboard and mouse. I didn't have the patience to figure out all the keys. So, I call this a "cartoon computer" cake. )

Thanksgiving and Now Snow

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. ICSB did not have school on November 25 and 26 for Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday with three other families and had quite a yummy feast! Hungarians do eat a lot of turkey, but you can't find a whole turkey in the stores. You have to special order it from a butcher. We had a huge, delicious turkey made by our friend and co-worker, Becca. She did an amazing job and it looked beautiful. Justin got the honor of carving it! :) It was nice to have a relaxing dinner and share praises and prayers with each other. Sadly, William was not feeling well and was fussy much of the time, but he did ok. He fell asleep as soon as we got home around 6 pm! He woke up the next two nights with fever and was really clingy. Thankfully, that has passed and he is a much happier kid now. :)

It snowed for the first time this season that weekend! It was so nice to see fresh snow! It is currently snowing now and just looks beautiful! William is interested in it, but it's so cold out that we only spend about 5 seconds outside! I think we need to buy a sled though, because we have a great backyard full of snow! :)

On Sunday, November 28th, Michelle's english class came over to experience a small Thanksgiving meal. Seven came and we had a great time talking about this holiday and what it means. I had already put up Christmas decorations, so they also had questions about that holiday and we discussed the differences between our cultures about Christmas. Here, and in other European countries, St. Nicklaus comes on a differnt day than Dec 25. In Hungary, Saint Mikulas comes on December 6 to deliver candies and little gifts to good children. He puts it in their boots the night before. (If they are bad, they get coal or a switch.) On the night of December 24th, the baby Jesus comes to deliver gifts and bring a decorated tree! Traditionally, Hungarians put up the tree the night of December 24 and keep it up until Feb. 6th. It's very special for kids to wake up on Christmas morning to a beautiful tree with gifts underneath! (Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of this time!)

Over the weekend, we also got to see a friend, Lorn, whose family used to live here. A while back, we had asked for prayer for them. Last year, his wife.Libby, passed away from ovarian cancer. It was hard to hear of this news and that especially that his kids, Micah and Eliza, will grow up without their mom! It was really great to see him and to see his kids again and for him to meet William!

Time flies

But you already know that.

Justin and ICSB are in their 3rd week of school already. It's going well and Justin is enjoying his classes. He has started meeting with a few sophomore boys for Bible study. First meeting was a pizza party here at our house and somehow ended with a few shaving their heads before leaving. Not sure why, but I won't even try to understand what teenage boys do sometimes....or even my husband.

We have both started taking a class: the Gospel of John. A staff member of Crusade is offering it 1. because everyone on staff with Crusade is now required to take Bible classes 2. Justin can use it towards ACSI certification and 3. I could get graduate credit!

Sadly, I missed our first meeting with the 8th grade girls because both William and I have colds. :( This year we will be reading and discussing a book called "Lies Young Women Believe". Your prayers are coveted while we discuss some pretty important topics.

I am continuing to teach english to Hungarians and we've met once so far. I think that it went well! More about that later...

And we are expecting Baby Custer #2 in April! We found out while in TX and it was fun sharing it with family. :)

And now for some pics:

We are expecting Baby #2 in April!

William at Bush airport in Houston before returning to Hungary.

William exhausted after a fun summer in TX!

The boys and their haircuts.

Summer 2010 Update

We are currently in Dallas, TX, staying with family and enjoying our time. William is swimming everyday, playing with a big black lab named Carly, and scooting everywhere. :) It's been such a blessing to spend a lot of time with family and for William to get to know them!

We've met with a few people about our ministry and are thankful for those opportunities. This coming Sunday (Aug. 15) we will be speaking at an adult Sunday School class about what we do at the International Christian School of Budapest. We appreciate your prayers!

It's been hard to balance family time and working. Because we've lost financial support over the past years, we really need to find new financial supporters to help us stay in Hungary. So this is another facet of our ministry. It's almost like a second job! We have to talk on the phone a lot and try to make as many appointments with people as possible. I have to be honest about not being the most motivated about it. I just want to spend time with family and friends while we're here!

And it's funny about not being motivated, because we LOVE what we do at ICSB! And we've gotten such encouraging words from so many people. The Lord just needs to continually work on me (Michelle) as far as trusting Him to provide, despite my weaknesses. I could go on about this, but I won't now. Just please pray for me!

"She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

A beautiful tapestry

This morning we were able to attend New Beginnings Church. It was wonderful to hear from our pastor Jerry Reeves. He just returned from a teaching trip to Malawi, Africa. He reminded us of the body of believers everywhere. As we took communion, I thought of how people around the world were connected by Jesus. We look, speak, and act differently, but with Christ we are one!

One day, I look foward to meeting all of my sisters and brothers in Heaven. :)

Back in Texas

We are back in Texas for the summer. We'll be in the Houston and Dallas areas while here and we'll head back to Budapest on August 23rd. We are back to see family, but also to raise additional funds for our ministry at the International Christian School of Budapest. If anyone in these areas would like to hear more about what we do, please leave a comment! :)


The flight here was really good. William got a bassinet that we placed at our feet and he took two naps! There were two sweet little girls sitting next to us and William loved watching and "talking" with them. Jet lag wasn't too bad. William slept 11 hours last night and we slept well too!


It is great to be back with family. We are currently at Justin's parents' house in Magnolia. They have three horses and William has already ridden one! :) Oma and Opa were right there holding him on Dandee as she walked a little ways. William was fine, not too excited, but not crying either! He was actually quite interested in the loud tractor in the next pasture.

June 13 was William's first birthday and we were able to have it at the neighborhood's swimming pool. It was a fun time and we enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, and ice cream cake with friends and family.



William loves swimming!



William riding Dandee
Putting together his wagon
Swimming with Uncle Patrick
Enjoying ice cream cake!

Here are some pics from our first week. Enjoy!

Boasting in the Lord

"Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31

I am not one who boasts about things, but there is something I need to boast about now! The Lord is amazing! He has reminded me of what He is accomplishing through me and it is wonderful. Not easy, but wonderful!

He is helping me develop closer relationships with Hungarians. (Friendship in the Hungarian culture is highly valued and important. Hungarians may have a lot of people they know, but only a few that they would call "friends".)

Last night at ELI, one of my students arrived first and unlike me, I was early. :) He started to ask me about my summer. This is quite a shock because he is very shy and doesn't really say a lot. I then asked him about his summer, and he told me what him and his family do every summer IN DETAIL! There was even a word he couldn't remember in english but he was able to describe it and I told him the word! His english is improving so much and so is his confidence in it! This made me quite happy, but I didn't realize how amazing this whole event was until this morning. Praise the Lord for my student!

Another student I have invited over for dinner next week. He is quite talkative and I enjoy hearing about his finishing school and the excitement he has for his future job. He certainly isn't a pessimist. (Many hungarians are.) Well, his family won't be able to make it, but he can! Pray that we have great conversation with him and just a good time overall.

These two students of mine have come to both of my "english hours". Please pray for them. I don't know where they are with the Lord.

Also, kind of a fun thing. Mary, another student, recommended her hair dresser after I asked her if she got a haircut. She said that the lady is very good, but doesn't speak english. Mary said she would be happy to help with translation. (And a bonus is that this lady can come to my house and cut my hair! So, I wouldn't need a babysitter if I wanted her to come during the week!)

This is truly the Lord's doing. I wouldn't have met any of these people without being involved in the english classes. Continue to work through me, Lord!

Spring At Our House

 

 

 

 

Physical and Spiritual Health

On Saturday, April 10th, I invited the students from our Wednesday night english classes to my house. It was to give them another time to practice english. (I had learned from my class that Wednesday night was really the only time they spoke english. So obviously, they didn't need to , they WANTED to learn english!)

I had seen an news article about a World Health Organization report about Hungary being one of the most unhealthy nations. So, this was our topic to talk about. And I was pleased that four students showed up pretty much at 4 pm. Jeff, one of the other Wednesday night teachers, also came and had brought one of his students that he was tutoring in english. I was happy to meet Balazs. They were sweet to bring food with them for us to snack on, even though I said they didn't need to do that. One even brought palinka to share, that his father had made.

The conversation was started by me asking what they thought might be the reasons that WHO report found this nation unhealthy. And it came to no surprise that they agreed it was poor diet, poor exercise, smoking, and alcoholism. One student had lived in Denmark and so he was able to share about that culture. Then I asked, "Could the poor physical health of Hungary be related to poor spiritual health?" From the conversation I got the impression that those with a faith in something or someone were happier than those that didn't. Many Hungarians are poor and the students talked about how it seems that having things like money, cars, nice house, were desired to increase happiness. But those that believed in God, or were close to family, or enjoyed recreational things, were happier than those that didn't have those things. The man who had lived in Denmark, said that the people are financially wealthy but that they rarely spent time with each other and that they were lazy. It was good to hear that from him, because another man said that if he could leave Hungary, he would. He doesn't like it here.

I thought this was a good time and it seemed the students enjoyed it too. Please pray for me as I'm planning two more times like this before June. Also pray that the Lord would use this to bring others to Him and to bring Him glory!

Dancing on Easter in Budapest

A former student shared on facebook about a dance that happened on Heroe Square here in Budapest to celebrate Christ's Resurrection.

Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyXVjDyFtAk

Spring Break and Easter 2010

Justin's mom, Nancy, and his cousin, Lindsay, visited us during our Spring Break and Easter holidays. We has SO much fun with them and REALLY enjoyed having them here. Justin's mom has visited us before, but this was Lindsay's first time across the Atlantic. We also got to tak them to Prague! And I have to say the William has LOVED seeing them everyday! He gives them the biggest smiles! :)

Here is our time together in pictures:

Mom and Lindsay at Hero Square in Budapest.
William's first train ride! He did great!
The fam at Prague's Spring Market.

Justin and Lindsay in Prague.

Ok, I've got way too many pics to show, so here's a link to my google photos.

We also had a wonderful Easter at our friends' house, the Yaikos. There were two other families there and great food and conversation. The older kids had an egg hunt outside. :) Unfortunately, I forgot our camera, so there aren't any pics for ya. Happy Easter to everyone! Christ is Risen!!!

Working on a Nice Day

Justin grading papers on his day off! :O


A house in Diosd



A street in Diosd




William loves to get his picture taken. :)


As I said in the previous post, today (March 15) is a Hungarian holiday. It was a really nice relaxing day. Since Justin had a lot of papers to grade, William and I went on a walk. The day was really nice, but chilly because of the wind. (William's nose is a bit pink.) So, I took some pics of our walk in Diosd and our day.

March 15th Hungarian Holiday

Monday, March 15 is the nation of Hungary's holiday remembering the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It's a big day with events in every city and town where they celebrate with speeches, poetry, and music. Also, no shops are open. Hungarians do not work on this day, unless it has something to do with the events.

ICSB is also closed on this day, so we get a day off too! Justin really looks forward to these days because he gets to spend more time with William during the week. Justin normally leaves for work right as William is waking up then returns just a fews hours before William's bed time. So a whole day to spend together as a family is great.

If you think of us, please remember to pray for the people of Hungary to become a nation that seeks to be led by God!

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determine the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:26-27

ICSB Basketball Tournament

February 18-20 was the International Christian School of Budapest's annual basketball tournament. It is THE biggest event of the year. Everyone looks forward to it: 1) because it's basketball 2) we get a day off of school 3) several schools compete.

We had four schools compete with us: International Academy of St. Petersburg (Russia), Kiev Christian Academy (Ukraine), American International School of Budapest, and Fehervar (Budapest). Thursday night started us off with wins for both our boys' and girls' teams!
The girls went on to win 3rd place and the BOYS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP! This was the first time in over 6 years that our boys won 1st place! Way to go bulldogs!

Here are the photos and video that Michelle took of the games she was able to go to with William. Justin, as in years past, helped out by being the medic. Fortunately, there were no big injuries during these games, however, our girls' team lost two key players right at the start of the tournament! :(

St. Pete vs. AISB

ICSB vs. KCA

Teaching, William and SEW

Sorry it took so long for an update!

Michelle is teaching 8th grade Life Science again. Please pray for Becky Ham, who is the teacher that is replacing Michelle. She is still raising financial support to come here. Since she isn't here, each middle school science class has a sub. (Michelle would love to do them all AND take care of William, but that's just not possible for her.) Please give thanks for the other two teachers filling in: Sharon for 6th grade and Becky for 7th.

The first question my 8th graders asked was "Are we going to have science fair?" :) To most of the students (and parents), it was good news that we are not.

William is growing by leaps and bounds. He can sit up with support now and is eating mushy solids while in a high chair! He likes to squeal occasionally and laugh at Mom and Dad! He'll be 8 months old on Feb. 13th.

This week (Feb 1-5) at ICSB is called Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). It's a week that the students go to chapel everyday (in place of one of their classes) and hear from a guest speaker. Please pray that the students would have ears that hear God and His Truth!