Phillipians 4:4-7

ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We can rejoice because 

The Lord is here.

         We can make our requests known to God.

His peace protects not just our hearts, but our minds as well

                                    

God knows!

After the previous post, I opened up ksbj.org (an awesome radio station in Houston) to find that one of its pages is dedicated to JOY!  :)

I also found this on the site:

Waiting and Joy

Waiting on God. 

Psalm 118:14 says "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."  Of course, there are many more verses about waiting.

We have been in Texas since June 8, 2014.  It is December 6, 2015.  It has been one year and six months since we left Hungary. We will return when we have the finances in place to return.  But this post isn't about money.  It's about waiting.

The reason for waiting varies.  Sometimes you know how long you have to wait. Most of the time you don't.   In all cases, it's HARD! 

But the Lord is with us on the journey.  We say that His timing is perfect.  But we certainly don't like His timing when we are in the midst of waiting. 

I have been told by a friend that she is praying for us to find JOY during this time.  And I have been wondering how I do that when I am longing to be somewhere else.  I pray and ask God to give me joy.  But many days I don't FEEL it. 

I know what I am truly asking for: I want my circumstances to bring me joy.  And that, as you know, will not always happen.  

And just this morning at church, the focus was on joy.  And the Holy Spirit has prompted me to repeat Psalm 118:24.  It is a well-known verse.  "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

For the simple fact that the day was made by the Lord is a cause for rejoicing! 

So, the Holy Spirit has finally gotten through to me.  I need to CHOOSE joy, no matter what.  Jesus is the foundation of my joy, not where I am at, who I know, or how much money I have. 

I have God, who is joyfully worth waiting for!

Seeking New Life

It is heartbreaking to see all of the displaced people flooding Hungary.  It's heartbreaking that the government wasn't going to give them help.  It's heartbreaking that we are in Texas and can't be hands and feet of Jesus right now!

Here are some links about the situation:
Viktor Orban's Views
Former President Gyurcsany's views

Many are helping!

Keleti Train Station

If you want to help financially, here is a gofundme campaign for Refugees in Budapest. 

Above all, pray to the Lord of all that many would now learn of Christ's love for them! 

Link to Newsletters

I will try to post our newsletters here. Let's see if this works!
Please check out the last one.

Special Edition by Michelle

Love Notes from God

Last week, I got to have lunch with my best friend.  I don't get to see her much when we are in Texas, but when we are in Hungary, I chat with her a few times a week.  The time difference actually helps us connect.  Honestly, I miss her and she misses me.  We "hang out" more when we are an ocean apart.  It's interesting how God has ministered to us this way and how our relationship has grown despite the physical difference.  Ah, God's ways are higher than our ways. :)

Well, my friend has this saying: "it's a love note from God".  When she feels blessed or is reminded of His love, she says it's a way that the Lord speaks to her heart. It's a love note.

After lunch, I had the privilege of praying with her.  She will be getting married soon and is very busy and overwhelmed at times.  She is also grieving.  When she first told me about her engagement and finding the money to pay for everything, I knew that her friends would give generously.  First, I heard about her calligraphied (is that a word?) wedding invitations made by a very talented friend.  (They are beautiful!)  And her friend gave them to her as a wedding gift!  Then I learned of them having a "honeyfund".  Since I cannot go to her wedding due to it being in a different country, I was thrilled to help purchase several coconut drinks, two cabana nights, and more for her and her fiance for their honeymoon!

So getting back to my prayer for her: I prayed that she would just say thank you for these love notes from her friends and to not be burdened by how much they cost.  And that the Lord would shower her with more love notes.

Today she told me the wedding flowers will be given to her as a gift.  But that's not all.  She is also getting the cake as a gift.  All of you who are married know that these things are quite expensive.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for these love notes to my friend.  You are a generous God!

I received two love notes today: two appointments to share more about our ministry in Hungary!  Thankful.

  

Unexpected

We came back to Texas in June. We discovered two things:  William's passport will expire in July.  And we have a lot of money to raise in order to return to Budapest. 

Hmmm, that was unexpected. 

It is mid-August and we still do not have the document we need to renew William's passport.  Apparently, there is a glitch in the State Department's system that is causing delays.   Unexpected.

The amount of money we need to raise for our ministry seems enormous to us.  But I suppose after having three boys, expenses rise.  It shouldn't have been, but it WAS unexpected.   Just gotta be honest.

Isaiah 55
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are still in Texas.  God has a purpose for us here.  He has a purpose for us to NOT be in Hungary right now.  Probably part of that purpose is for us to make our trust in Him stronger.  Do we trust Him to provide for us?  Yes!  He's provided for us all of our lives and He will continue to.  Maybe not in the ways we think.  He will provide for us in unexpected ways, sometimes through unexpected people.

There are many things He's provided for us this summer and I am thankful!

1. a loving family who provides homes for us and food
2. the relationship building that is taking place between our sons and their grandparents
3. the experiences we get to have with our family and friends, such as going to the beach!
4. a way to serve our families when they need us
5. reconnecting with friends and meeting their kids! 
6. sharing our ministry in Hungary with LOTS of people 

Be watchful for how the Lord provides for you in unexpected ways.  I will be.

Colossians 4:2 
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

It's about time!

Well, I made a comment on someone's blog and I remembered that I had a blog. :)

So here I am adding a post.

The last post was at the beginning of 2012.  Seriously.  Oops.  I guess having three little ones running around the house will do that.  :)

So since 2012, we've had another little boy.  He's adorable and is just beginning to take steps.  His brothers love him and are great with him.  They make him laugh a lot.   He makes us laugh a lot.

Summer of 2012 was a good time filled with family and the hot Texas sun.   First experiences for #1 and #2:  playing at the beach, Dallas World Aquarium, a ride on a paddlewheel boat, root beer.  I'm sure I've forgotten many others.

We decided to stay in Hungary for the summer of 2013.  It was also a good summer, filled with really nice weather, Oma and Opa visiting, LOTS of grilling because Oma and Opa bought us an awesome grill, and the perfect gift from our landlord, Zoltan:  a large inflatable swimming pool!  The boys loved it.

I will not hesitate to say we are blessed.  Not because of these things I've mentioned, which is a natural inclination of thought.  It's because we know the Lord Jesus and his UNBELIEVABLE Love.  We don't need things or experiences.  We need a relationship with HIM!  Many in the world don't have the things we do, but they know Jesus and they are BLESSED!  They know His Love and that's all that matters.

We've been studying the book of Hebrews with other families.  It is RICH with reminders of Jesus is.  But the words that stuck out the most for me were in this verse:

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin. 

He knows our struggles.  He experienced temptations like us.  He experienced pain and KNEW it was coming!  HE went to the cross willingly.  We always sin and He never sinned, so He saved us by doing something weird: He died for us.   And He knew the heart of man and what people would think of Him.  

What do many people think of Him?  He's imaginary, he's just a prophet or teacher.  Crazy. Liar. Good for you but not for me. He's uncomfortable to talk about. He's only good to you if you are good.  

Yet there are many who believe that He is who He says He is.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He's resurrected and is in Heaven. Death conqueror. Savior. Advocate. Perfect High Priest. King. Lord. God. Messiah. Love.

Tomorrow there are four high school girls that will accompany me and another teacher to talk with people at random about Jesus.  I guess we'll find out what they think of Jesus. 

I hope they fall in LOVE with Him. 

Hot Chocolate Outreach and Valentine "Kidnapping"

On February 11, 2012, my Bible study girls got "kidnapped" by me! I brought them over to our house and gave them an early Valentine's Day breakfast. I made mini quiche and a heart-shaped coffeecake. My friend Andrea brought fresh fruit. It was fun and the girls appreciated it, I think...after they woke up a bit. (I got them out of bed, so they were still in their pjs.) We discussed love languages: how they show love, how they feel loved, and how God show us His love.

On January 30, 2012, the girls gave out hot cocoa at a nearby bus stop. Along with the cocoa we passed out booklets about how to know Jesus. Many were thankful for it! It was very cold that evening. The girls enjoyed it so much that they want to do it again! So, on February 20th we'll be at the bus stop again. :)

Post from Justin

We're well into the new semester now; as of Wednesday, it will already be 1/4th done. This Saturday was the Senior Auction at ICSB. This is a big event that helps the senior class raise money for the trip that they will take in May. Justin has a big role with the auction as he maintains a database the students use during the event. Unfortunately, he has a cold. He went to work to teach on Thursday though he really shouldn't have, took off Friday to recover, then worked most of Saturday during the auction. Today, Sunday, true to the idea of the Sabbath, is a day of rest.

Next weekend is the annual ICSB basketball tournament. Justin is also really involved in this as it is now the Junior class' turn for a fundraiser with which he is also involved. Please pray for our family during this crazy and hectic time.

To lighten the mood of this post, here's a picture:

Oh, we also got 5 inches of snow this weekend (and counting).

Goings on at ICSB

This past week at the International Christian School of Budapest was Spiritual Emphasis Week. Students of all grade levels had chapels everyday to refocus on the One who deserves our attention: Jesus. I do not know who the speakers were for the middle and elementary grades. But the high school students heard and hopefully learned more about what sin is and what our responses should be to it. We'd appreciate all of your prayers for our students.

My bible study girls are planning a hot chocolate outreach on January 30. We will be serving hot chocolate at a bus stop for those who would like it. With the hot chocolate, we'll provide a tract in Hungarian about how they can have a relationship with Jesus. Please pray that this would bless our community of Diosd, Hungary!!!

Also, the upcoming weeks will be full of preparations for two major school events: Senior Auction (Feb 4) and the annual basketball tournament (Feb 9-11).

Justin will be especially busy helping the juniors organize all of the concessions during the basketball tournament, a three-day event! The money they make on this food will go towards their senior trip. Please pray specifically for

• Justin to be wise and patient in decision-making
• for parents to step up and really be involved
• for the juniors to really take ownership of this job and realize that their part in pricing serving the food is important

Christmas 2011

For those that are interested in seeing photos of our Christmas, here is a link to our picasa web album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/102590199588958038674/Christmas2011Pictures

Enjoy!

A New Year Resolution!

I (Michelle) never make new year's resolutions, but here I go: I will focus on updating our blog on a regular basis. I know there are some people who read them and have been disappointed with me not posting! Sorry! I've had the wrong thinking: I need to have photos! Those are nice, but not really needed to update people.

Family wise: We are doing well, had a great Christmas here in little Diosd, Hungary. For Christmas Eve we spent dinner with friends who have kids the same age as William and Joshua. It was a very nice evening and I think Kim got a great photo of us all. The kids are even looking at the camera I think! The Rickards had a visitor who was leaving on Christmas day, so it was nice to meet Melanie.

Christmas day we went to church. It was wonderful to be around our Christian family and worship the Lord. There were four 10-minute sermons and I appreciated them all, but the first one stood out to me. Jesus was (and is) and unimaginable gift! God's plan was to humble Himself to wear human skin, in the form of a baby, to allow him to grow up and die for us so that we can have a relationship with Him. Wow. No, I wouldn't have thought to send the Savior of the world to do that!!! Wow.

After church, we had a light lunch and sent the kids to bed for naps. When they woke up, we skyped with grandparents and opened gifts while they watched. (The kids are young enough that we didn't have to open the gifts in the morning.) It was so much fun watching William (2 1/2) open gifts and play with each one. It was the year of the train for him. He got THREE different types of trains: Thomas and Friends, IKEA extra track, and a complete Dinosaur Train.

He was a happy boy and really didn't leave the floor for three days! :)

And Justin's break is two and a half weeks long! It's been so nice to have him home all day! I love hearing him play with the kids, wrestling and making them laugh.

Upon ending 2011, I am really thankful that recently I've been able to chat almost every night with a friend in Texas! I love her and am overjoyed that the Lord has brought us closer despite our distance. We have decided to read the Bible in 90 days. I am already a week behind, but that's not discouraging me. I am listening and reading every night on biblegateway. The amount of time doesnt' matter to me, but the reading does. I have never read the entire Bible and I look forward to hearing and reading about God's plan for us.

Happy New Year!

More photos with Oma and Opa

Just realized we don't have many actually with Oma and Opa. :(

Joshua loved his swing!
The boys enjoying some PBS cartoons.
William about to go swimming with Dad.

Summer 2011- Oma and Opa

Here is our time with Justin's parents, "Oma" and "Opa". ")

William helping Opa replace batteries.

Opa had a knack for helping Joshua get to sleep.

William enjoyed taking pictures of his own.
Dad and the boys
Sweet sleep.

Summer 2011- Pop Pop and Grandmom West

We traveled back to Texas for the summer to raise additional financial support for our ministry. Of course, the bonus of this part of our job is getting to spend lots of time with family! Here are some photos of the month of June with Michelle's parents.

We celebrated William's 2nd birthday. I made a balloon cake.

William with some of his gifts.

Grandmom and Joshua

William loved "painting" with PopPop

William LOVED getting on PopPop's "tractor"

We're back and will hopefully be more consistent with our blogging

Hi Readers,

We've not blogged in a LONG while. Sorry. It hasn't been a priority of ours. We'll try to do better now.

And we have a new addition! From April, we welcomed Joshua into our lives. :) He has been such a happy guy most of the time and his smile will melt your heart. At the moment he is really into tasting his toes and trying to gnaw on everything! Drool is everywhere. His naps and nighttime sleep are getting more on a schedule. He always smiles at William. He loves to watch what his big brother is doing. William is a SWEET big brother and occasionally gives kisses and hugs to Joshua. He also likes to share his blanket, his toys, and the occasional goldfish cracker with him. (I'm sure Joshua will love the crackers when he can have them!)

So, here are some photos of our growing family. We praise the Lord everyday for these precious boys!

Mommy meets Joshua!

2 or 3 days old

almost 2 months old!

Oma and Opa celebrate Easter with us!

Area Staff Conference: Eastern Europe and Russia

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted among the earth."

Wow. That's what I (Michelle) have to say to the Campus Crusade conference we went to a few weeks ago. There were about 20 Eastern European nations and Russia that were represented in the over-1000 Campus Crusade staff at this conference. I was blown away to be able to worship with them and learn more about the ministries in their countries. Pray for this area of the world! God is doing amazing things! Twenty years ago the Iron Curtain fell and slowly these countries realized what had been kept from them: God. They weren't allowed to to talk about God. Many had never heard of Jesus. Anyone who was openly Christian were given menial jobs and not treated well (I know this is an understatement!) Again, wow. Freedom in Christ has a different meaning for them since they've known what it's like to not have freedom. I say this as an American who has always known freedom, especially of religion.

There were several times when we sung, that it was in one of the languages represented. It was beautiful to hear! I can only imagine this is what heaven will be like.

And like us, we didn't take many pictures. But we did take a few, so here are a few. The conference was in Portoroz, Slovenia, right on the Adriatic Sea. We saw a lot of nice sunsets!

This beautiful conference center hosted over 1000 missionaries!

This was a nightly view from our room.

Some of the conference attendees.

Standing on the edge of the Adriatic near Piran, Slovenia.

Beautiful!

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!