hodgepodge

simplicity

I make things harder than they are. I honestly don't know why. I guess I analyze and deconstruct things until they are in laying in pieces before me and the process of putting them together again leaves me feeling incapable and overwhelmed. This characteristic of mine disturbs my spiritual walk most starkly leaving me feeling like I can't do it anymore. Tired. Frustrated. Empty. Friday night we gathered with our study group for our prayer night. We were a small group as everyone was sick or skiing or something, but it was relaxing and intimate. We went around the group each telling what was going on in his or her life and what needs he or she had requiring prayer. After each had spoken we stopped and all of us prayed to the Most Holy God, the One who hears. Woven within my husband's precious prayer, was the word simple. This word as related to the foundation of our faith...the simplicity that if we believe in Him we are saved.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

John 11:25

simple...not my strength, but His...not my works, but His...not my righteousness, but His..not my will, but His...

sorry...

out sick...see you tomorrow

daybook

january 25 

outside my window...well, last week I asked for snow and we got it in the form of a couple of blizzards. Now we have snow to spare...my car looks like a white iced cupcake. I am sure it is under there somewhere. I like the idea that I have to take a broom to my car before I can go anywhere.

I'm listening to... these auto-tuned wonders of genius over and over in my head. Can't. Get. Them. Out. Of. My. Head.

I'm wearing...black Audrey Hepburnesque pants with a berry fitted v-neck sweater and black ballet flats. Silver bangles and hoop earrings.



I'm pondering...
"O my child, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways." Proverbs 23:26
I have been in prayer recently about the war raging within me to continue on the luke warm path on which I have set myself, the wider path, the less vigorous path, the comfortable path, or to follow my Rabbi on His path. To leave behind what I thought was mine but never was, what I thought was good but wasn't, to listen intently (meaning: shut up), to take time to spend and time to learn.

I am reading..."Zombie Apocalypse", created by Stephen Jones but which boasts 20 authors as it is a compilation of fictitious emails, tweets, diary entries, proper government memos, autopsy reports etc. reporting the demise of our society and the rise of the zombies. It is a compelling and innovative read. I think I am in need of some uplifting books after this zombie streak I have been on.

http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/2010/10/zombie-apocalypse-stephen-jones.html

from the kitchen...spectacular chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips sandwiched together with Nutella. YUMMY!!!

I am creating...an atmosphere of gratitude and an attitude of joy. I have decided that it isn't too late to live each day to the fullest.


towards rhythm and beauty...the girls and I just started a daily devotional book that will last the entire year. Each morning we meet around the table to pray and recite our memory verse and read from the book.


I am hoping and praying...for wisdom and patience and flexibility and love. By this it will be clear to all men that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. John 13:35


around the house...a dirty floor. I was sick this weekend and was basically laying on the couch in my pyjamas. Now it is back to the grind and I work late the next few days and don't have time, energy or motivation to do a full sweep mop and vacuum of all the floors. So I am letting this one go....



one of my favourite things...drinking tea (Das Geshund Plus!) surrounded by candles, cuddled on the couch with my husband playing through Baldur's Gate again...I am the Level 10 Human Cleric with +4 Firestorm. We are eagerly awaiting the much rumored co-op RPG due this spring...it's been a long time. Also, Portal 2 is due out in April...the cake is a lie...


a few plans for the rest of the week...eating dinner as a family at Townshend tonight after working late, making dentist appointments (c'mon, Krista! Get on it already!!!),Prayer meeting on Friday, date with Danny on Thursday, and luxurious amounts of sleeping in on Saturday. Oh and I'll clean the floors. I promise.

hodgepodge

we're going to the zoo today, we're going to the zoo...

The girls received excellent marks this term on their report cards (all A's for the both of them) so as a treat we took them yesterday to the zoo. (I was sick and barely survived the outing as it was 3 below...). Our town has a small zoo walking distance from our house. It is quite nice and soon will be even better as they are this year finishing an African Exposition complete with tigers and the like. I hadn't been in a while and they have many new exhibits, including lemurs and other monkey-type products. We got to see the poor flamingoes all mushed into a glass enclosure as the lake they call home is frozen. We got to see mini tamarind monkeys behaving in a hostile manner towards us. A wolf howled. That was cool. And the zoo looks pretty under snow. Then we treated the girls to lunch at the zoo restaurant.
http://www.zoo-ohrada.cz

resolute

covered in the dust of the Rabbi

   Thunder in the desert!
   Prepare for God's arrival!
   Make the road smooth and straight!

 John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.

 When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.

 "I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, "I'm the one who needs to be baptized, not you!"

 But Jesus insisted. "Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." So John did it.

The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life." Matthew 3:4-17

A good disciple sits by her Rabbi's (Master, Teacher) feet and listens, and learns. A good disciple follows her Rabbi so closely on the path as to be covered in His dust. A good disciple knows her Rabbi so well that she can mimic His attidudes, responses, behaviour.
Maybe it is easier if your Rabbi is here with you in flesh and blood. To actually follow a person. To see his shadow fall and hear his footsteps.
But my Rabbi has gone to prepare a place for me. How can I learn from Him, how can I know Him better? I long to sit at His feet and feel the roughness of His robes. I long to hear His voice with my ears but I am contented that I can hear His voice with my heart. He has not left me alone, but walks with me in spirit. I needn't be lonely for Him for He has left me His word. I can sit at His feet and learn by opening His word to me. I can follow in His footsteps along the path He has laid out for me by following what He says in His word. I can trust that I am following the True Rabbi, the only Son of God, the Way, The Light, because I trust in My Rabbi's word. 

To follow someone you must know them and know the path they are on. I am exploring in depth who Jesus is and what He says about Himself and how He wants us to follow Him. My children and I as well as our Bible study group will journey on the path with our Rabbi this season...come with us... 
Matthew 1-3
Mark 1:9-11
Luke 1-3
John 1:1-34

a few of my favourite things

a trip to the gynecologist

The last time I went to the OB/GYN here in CZ it was like medieval dungeon mixed with voodoo magic. As a result, I haven't gone in a couple of years which is bad. My friend recommended her OB/GYN so I went yesterday. It was a long wait in the waiting room and the magazines were ALL from 2007-2008. I wonder if Obama wins the election?? And the thing he used really looked like the one in the cartoon above. YIKES!!! All told, it was a good experience, he was nice and not at all voodoo shaman like. Also, there was no Igor, the mad lab assistant or dungeon decor. He used a computer and not a typewriter and he didn't smoke or drink coffee while he examined me. He also didn't hum Bon Jovi while doing the breast exam. So I am happy.

daybook

january 18
 

outside my window...the heat wave is over(?). Everything is frozen solid. No snow, just a fine coating of ice.

I'm listening to...my dryer...fixed after three months. YAHOO!! (we still hang all of our clothes to dry, but this makes easy work of sheets and towels)

I'm wearing...a hot pink short-sleeved turtleneck fuzzy sweater, black pants a la Audry Hepburn and black ballet flats.

I'm pondering... Matthew 3: 3,11-12, 16-17

 

Thunder in the desert!
   Prepare for God's arrival!
   Make the road smooth and straight!

"I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

 

The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."

 

I am reading..."Hater", one of my many zombie-type books with which I was gifted for Christmas...it is fantastic...

http://www.djmoody.co.uk/Hater.htm

 

from the kitchen...beef, broccoli and cashew stir-fry served over rice with lashings of soy sauce. Danny is an excellent cook. He also made carrot cake. I came home late from work and was treated to this!!

 
I am creating...a curriculum for Dental Hygiene Month

towards rhythm and beauty...the girls and I just started a daily devotional book that will last the entire year. Each morning we meet around the table to pray and recite our memory verse and read from the book.

I am hoping and praying...for a miracle.

around the house...many uses for a large box. Roxie has turned it into a robot costume, eyeholes, nose and mouth openings, armholes. She has actually spent whole evenings wearing it (Where is my camera? Can't find it.) She will dance and spin...and then knock stuff down due to the constrictive nature of wearing cardboard boxes. It's pretty funny. Rebekah also tried it on and danced an Irish jig. Hilarious.

one of my favourite things...a few moments to myself.

a few plans for the rest of the week...yucky doctor's appointment, make dentist appointment (c'mon Krista, stop being soooo lazy!, Bible Study, sleeping in on the weekend...I am really tired. I always am this time of year. It is dark a lot of the day and cold. I feel like hibernating.

a picture thought...

Roxie and one of her best friends, Musau, in the cloakroom at school

hodgepodge

We are American. We generate a lot of garbage. A lot. It is sometimes embarrasing. We recycle everything we can (aluminum or tin cans are not recycled here) and we have a very small garbage can. Think kitchen-sized, to put out on the street. Consequently, we are continually putting out an overflowing can with additional bags nestled adjacent to the can on the street. Strike two for the Hluboká Hillbillies. (see this post
http://alifenarrated.blogspot.com/2011/01/oops.html?spref=bl) As I look out onto the street, everyone else's cans are closed and neatly lining the narrow stone sidewalk. Ours looks like it should come with its own "Deuling Banjoes" soundtrack. On this particular humiliating day, we remembered at the last possible minute that it was a state holiday. A state holiday falling on garbage day. This rarely happens for us and I couldn't remember the protocol. Do we put the can out? Is it collected the next day? Is it collected the next week? All of our neighbors' cans looked empty as if we had missed garbage day, as if they had known something we didn't. Maybe they picked up the garbage the day before the state holiday and we didn't know. I was superemely tempted to lift up our neighbours' lids to check if there was garbage underneath.  Fuzzily lurking in the back of my brain was some snippet of a memory recalling a time when this happened previously as well as another memory of sadness. From this obscure puzzle I knocked together the thought which produced the words, "They won't pick up the garbage until next week!". Our can was again full to overflowing with the ubiquitous extra bags strewn beside it. A testament to our excess. I couldn't imagine waiting another week to have our garbage picked up. What would we do with it all? So my brilliant idea was to haul all of our garbage to the corner at the end of our street where errant or oversized trash goes. I can only imagine what our neighbours were thinking as the entire Coyan clan set out armed with full to bursting garbage bags in each hand. Laying them on the corner like a gang of hillbillies and then heading home. It was only moments later that I saw our neighbour put a full bag into his can and realized that they would still pick up the garbage as normal, holiday notwithstanding. Then the dilemma was worse. Do we march back up the street and retrieve our bags in full view of the neighbours as if we had just dropped our garbage off on a play date with the recycling? Or do we just hide in our house for the rest of our natural lives? What would you have done?...write about it in a comment...




cartoon courtesy of:
http://www.nataliedee.com/

life in this republic

Czech doctors starting mass exodus in protest

Prague - A hired lawyer's office has started sending mass notices of Czech doctors from hospitals within their protest against low salaries, Czech Doctors' Union (LOK-SCL) chairman Martin Engel told CTK today.

So far, some 3800 doctors, mainly from crucial medical fields such as anaesthesiology and surgery, have been mentioned as having given their notices.
As a result, if they really leave the hospitals, some of them will have to stop performing surgeries on March 1 when the notices take effect.
"We will only publish the figures after all the notices are sent. We will not publish them partly," Engel said.
Health care may be threatened in 78 out of the 190 Czech hospitals.
Within the "Thank You, We Are Leaving" campaign of the Doctors' Trade Unions thousands of hospital doctors have announced that they are prepared to give a notice as of the end of the year if their salaries are not raised to 1.5 to three times the average pay in the country depending on their qualification.
A Czech doctor has an average monthly pay of some 50,000 crowns, including overtime. The unions call for a base pay of 70,000 crowns per month.
The average national monthly pay is about 23,600 crowns.
Engel said he would only ask the doctors to withdraw their notices if their pay demands were met in full.
Engel said concessions were no longer possible.
The drive was launched by the trade union in March. Organisers have visited Czech hospitals in a black and white ambulance car since mid-September.
Engel said during the whole time no politician had reacted to the doctors' demands.
The Health Ministry press department said no talks with the trade unions were scheduled for this week.
Health Minister Leos Heger (TOP 09) has called on the doctors to wait with the notices until the planned reform is launched. The reform is to send more money to the salaries.
He said he would wait till early January when he would learn the exact number of departing doctors.
Engel has dismissed Heger's criticism that the trade unions were exerting pressure.
He said the doctors had published their demands almost a year before they would start leaving the hospitals.
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz

spoken gratitude

1. mince pies

2. an hour to walk around the mall all by myself

3. Robot Chicken Star Wars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Chicken:_Star_Wars

4. being reminded by God to serve others

5. reading God's word and feeling it pierce me like a knife

6. orange sparkle nailpolish

7. God helping me to have a positive attitude and patience

8. apologizing to my family for sometimes setting a bad example

9. doing yoga with my students...so cute!

10. sitting on our bed with the girls while Danny reads a Berenstain Bears book to us in the funniest way possible

daybook

january 12

 

outside my window...while the rest of the known world is getting snowed on, jungles, deserts etc...the Czech Republic is having a weird heat wave. All of the snow has melted, leaving a brown mushy mud-like coating on everything. There is a constant damp drizzle and fog. I would rather have snow, please.

I'm listening to...my husband and his doppelganger, Roxie, snoring together in bed. She wormed her way in around 4 this morning due to a nightmare and I was summarily shoved off to one side, wedged between the mattress and the wall to continue my beauty sleep. Luckily, I get up at 5:30 anyway.

I'm wearing...black leggings, a long royal blue sweater with a black cinch belt ("just cinch it!"), black ankle boots and dangly black earrngs. The 80's are comin' back, baby!

I'm pondering...Isaiah 52:15
Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,
   kings shocked into silence when they see him.
For what was unheard of they'll see with their own eyes,
   what was unthinkable they'll have right before them.

I am reading..."Ancestor", one of my many zombie-type books with which I was gifted for Christmas

http://www.nerdist.com/2010/06/book-review-ancestor-by-scott-sigler/

from the kitchen...nothing. I work long hours during the week and when we get home at 6pm I am so tired I don't feel like cooking. We also eat a pretty spectacular lunch at school so a sandwich, orange and chips suffice for dinner.

I am creating...an atmosphere of gratitude and an attitude of joy. I have decided that it isn't too late to live each day to the fullest.

towards rhythm and beauty...the girls and I just started a daily devotional book that will last the entire year. Each morning we meet around the table to pray and recite our memory verse and read from the book.

I am hoping and praying...for a miracle.

around the house...a new garbage can. Dan spent hours researching them online and felt a little like a crazy old man for how excited he got over them. I have to admit the way it opens with a touch of your finger is pretty cool. But not exciting. Sorry, Dan. 

one of my favourite things...a few moments to myself.

a few plans for the rest of the week...report cards, make doctor and dentist appointments, go to the tailor (I lost some weight over Christmas), take the girls and their friends to the mall.

OOPS...

hillbilly life...

Czech Republic style

I have never felt more like a hillbilly than I do right now. Sorry for not blogging for a few days but our internet got turned off because we didn't pay the bill. Yep, that's right folks. OK, so we aren't that bad, since they never sent us an invoice for December and the warning for not paying was sent to us in the form of copies of 25 previous invoices which Danny thought was for tax purposes. After we lost internet, Danny looked up our account, saw that we hadn't paid, wrote them an email and sent payment and the first business day after (yesterday) they turned it back on. But all weekend  "Dueling Banjos" was playing in my mind as I imagined our life as overall wearing hillbillies with no electricity and a jug of moonshine resting on each knee.

resolute

covered in the dust of the Rabbi

I am reading in Amos. It is kind of  a hard book to read. The Isrealites have wandered far from God and He is angry. I think I assume that because God loves us He is always nice and conciliatory. Yet, He holds us accountable.  Even as I read through this book and see His anger, I see His grace, His mercy and His love. His mercy flows as He gives warnings. As creator of the universe He has all rights and we have none. But as a loving Father, He warns and warns and accepts us when we are stained with sin and cleans us up. We are prisoners and He wants to free us. Our smell and dirt do not turn Him away so long as our heart desires to be clean.

 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart
   you, God, will not despise.

Psalm 51:17

 Last night, I was in bed reading this passage from Amos 8

^4-6Listen to this, you who walk all over the weak,
   you who treat poor people as less than nothing,
Who say, "When's my next paycheck coming
   so I can go out and live it up?
How long till the weekend
   when I can go out and have a good time?"
Who give little and take much,
   and never do an honest day's work.
You exploit the poor, using them—
   and then, when they're used up, you discard them.

 ^7-8God swears against the arrogance of Jacob:
   "I'm keeping track of their every last sin."
God's oath will shake earth's foundations,
   dissolve the whole world into tears.
God's oath will sweep in like a river that rises,
   flooding houses and lands,
And then recedes,
   leaving behind a sea of mud.

 ^9-10"On Judgment Day, watch out!"
   These are the words of God, my Master.
"I'll turn off the sun at noon.
   In the middle of the day the earth will go black.
I'll turn your parties into funerals
   and make every song you sing a dirge.
Everyone will walk around in rags,
   with sunken eyes and bald heads.
Think of the worst that could happen
   —your only son, say, murdered.
That's a hint of Judgment Day
   —that and much more.

and I was thinking about how thankful I am that God has redeemed me and will clean my heart after so many times of disobedience, pride, sin, going my own way...I was thinking how much I want to please God and how I often choose the wrong way. Then I was struck by a thought, how often I spend time with God thinking only of myself, my redemption, my problems, my sorrows, my wants and needs, and how little time I pray for others or think about those who go to bed each night suffering, how many have no idea that God loves them. It hurt that I think so infrequently about others. My redemption, fine, but so many have yet to hear that there is hope. There is no need for loneliness. Our greatest problem, separation from God, has been solved. The gap has been bridged. And many don't know. The gift of salvation, freely given to all. With my eyes constantly on  myself, how can I show love to others? A love that will point them to the source of all love, all goodness and righteousness, God. We are all prisoners to sin, chained by our own doing and desiring freedom.

 Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. Hebrews 13:1-3

a few of my favourite things

irregular choice shoes

For Christmas this year Danny got me a few pairs of shoes...and lotions...and zombie books. The shoes are from my favourite shoe company, Irregular Choice. Their shoes are like mini pieces of art and often on Amazon.co.uk they are heavily discounted! HOORAY! I got the above pair using my Christmas money for almost half off. YIPPEE! I love shoes, and the more interesting the better. I wear heels every day and these are lined with yummy padding and velvet. SMOOOSHY!!!

http://www.irregularchoice.com/

daybook

january 4

outside my window...10 below zero, sunny quiet, glittery as the sun refelsts on the snow.

I'm listening to...the postlady's boots crunching in the snow. The metallic clanging of the mailbox flaps as she pushes the mail in.

I'm wearing...white jeans, a dusty blue and grey striped cowl neck short-sleeved sweater, low slung grey suede belt and grey suede wedges.

I'm pondering... Amos 5:7-9
"Raw Truth Is Never Popular"

 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
   and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
   and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
   and gives the land a drink.
   God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
   He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.

I am reading..."Fruits Basket Cat" fan manga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruits_Basket

from the kitchen...more gingerbread men. Today we will be rolling out a batch of them for the guests we will have for lunch tomorrow. See this post for an easy lunch buffet
http://alifenarrated.blogspot.com/2010/12/few-of-my-favourite-things_23.html

I am creating...an atmosphere of gratitude and an attitude of joy. I have decided that it isn't too late to live each day to the fullest.

towards rhythm and beauty...the girls and I just started a daily devotional book that will last the entire year. Each morning we meet around the table to pray and recite our memory verse and read from the book.

I am hoping and praying...for a miracle.

around the house...pine needles. Lots of them. Maybe it's time to put the tree outside.

one of my favourite things...hiking in the snowy cold forest with my husband. The crunching is so loud sometimes we can't hear each other. And often I am taken by surprise at how deep the snow is when I step in up to my calf on what had previously been flat hard snow.

a few plans for the rest of the week...start gearing up for work, go into the office and do a few things, pressure the girls to study for exams they have coming up after the break, put away all of the Christmas decorations, clean and organize the attic

picture thought...

a reminder to myself to walk so closely to my Lord as to be covered in His dust...

hodgepodge

off to prague

Nový Smíchov mall



Starbucks at paladium mall in Zličín



The Voyage of the Dawntreader

Running Sushi in Nový Smíchov mall

Today we are taking our winter holiday, which consists of one day of fun in Prague. We will see the new Narnia movie "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" (by far my favourite of the books), eat at Running Sushi, shop with our Christmas money at the Nový Smíchov mall, and go to Starbucks! I so want a peppermint mocha. I get one Starbucks coffee a year so I am really looking foward to it. Please, people, don't take your Starbucks for granted!

resolute

res·o·lute

   /ˈrɛzəˌlut/  [rez-uh-loot]  

–adjective

1.firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion.

2. characterized by firmness and determination, as the temper, spirit, actions, etc.

Last night we prayed and asked God to help us to trust Him and walk so closely with Him so as to wear the dust of the Rabbi (see yesterday's post). Asking Him to reveal to us what we might change or do differently we then wrote down our New Year's resolutions. I am sharing mine so that you will see what God is doing in my heart and mind...


1. to take better care of the friendships that I have...I must make more time for them.


2. to spend one-on-one time with each of my children...this I must schedule, like a date.


3. to act like this is my home...meaning, make doctor's appointments and dental appointments like I would in the States...we don't know when we are going back, so I can't put them off.


4. to wear the dust of the Rabbi, branding me a disciple.

new year, new hope

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

This is the verse we are memorizing right now. We need it. As doubt and worry creep in it is so good to have something tangible to replace it with. Something that you can say to dispel the gloom.
Today we broke the verse down to study it's meaning and relevance to our situation.
Trust in the LORD...easy to say, near impossible to do unless...
lean not on your own understanding...this one is the kicker. Trusting Him means not having to understand the situation. We are so keen on solving problems and we think we know what is best. We think we understand the situation well enough to choose the best path. But only God sees the full picture and only God knows what is truly best for us. Even if we think we see all angles and comprehend fully and know the best way, truly we don't even see or comprehend a small portion of what is going on. And since when do we really know what is best? I often think that I am a pretty smart and competent woman, but I must ask myself if I am willing to lean on God's understanding and not my own in order to trust Him...

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...

Ephesians 3:20

TRUST

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:11

in all your ways acknowledge Him...In Jesus' day, followers of a particular rabbi would walk closely behind their rabbi, close enough to hear every word he said. They would sit at his feet listening intently to his teachings. They didn't want to miss one pearl of wisdom that fell from his mouth. They didn't want to get left behind. They wanted to soak in everything so they could be like their rabbi. They walked so closely to him on the path that they were covered with his dust. It was a sign of a devoted disciple that they were wearing the dust of the rabbi. Am I walking closely enough to Jesus to be left with some imprint of Him? Am I sitting at His feet listening intently to what He has to say to me? Am I wearing the Master's dust? In every way am I acknowledging that He is my rabbi, and I his disciple?

and he will make your paths straight...God makes what is crooked straight. He makes sinners righteous. He heals the sick and loves the unloveable. What you think is impossible is not. Can we trust Him to do what we think is undoable? Can we trust Him to undo what we have done and make it right?

Romans 4:17 "...God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did".

happy new year

fireworks over St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Every one here in our household is moving slowly this morning, the first morning of 2011. We were up until 2am setting off fireworks in the snowy field behind our house. Fireworks which would be illegal in California. I am groggy and my ears are still ringing form the sound of mortars going off. You put them in the tube and light them and run away screaming, hoping to put some distance between you and the explosives. The thing is that the launcher falls over each time it sends up the mortar round. Will it fall over before it launches, after it launches or during the launch...that is the question. Dan remarked last night (or should I say, early this morning) as we were loading another round into the launcher, "This could be the one that sends any one of us to the hospital"...meaning: we are all targets.
Some of the explosives we had were hand held rockets that spouted fireworks ala wandwielding Dumbledore. This was amazingly awesome. Roxie and Dan shot their wands out into the field, up into the sky, at trees (TREES!!) and directly into the snow...my fave cuz they illuminated the snow with colours before fizzling. 
Earlier in the evening we were at our friends' house celebrating the coming new year. We arrived at Anna and Miloš' at about 9pm after watching "Kuky Se Vrací" (an incredible new czech film) at home. Anna served us a traditional New Year's Eve light supper consisting of boiled pork meat, dark bread, horseradish and mustard. We watched TV with them, Czech entertainment shows for New Year's, and "Československo má talent", the equivalent of "America's Got Talent". Hilarious. Miloš regaled me with stories of his mean boss who is making him feed the wild boar and deer in the forest today, a state holiday, and tomorrow, Sunday, when, as Miloš claims, the animals already have plenty of feed. Poor Miloš. Anna made sure that our drinks were refilled and that we had plenty of snacks to eat. We all sat around like couch potatoes. Then it was time. We counted down and Miloš opened the champagne (and kids' non-alcoholic stuff) just as we said "Happy New Year" ("Št'ástný Nový Rok!") We shook hands, kissed each other on the cheek and toasted each other. The kids were itching to set off fireworks, so we bade them goodbye and walked out into the cold to see snow softly coming down.
On the way to the field, fireworks in tow, Roxie asked me if I had any resolutiions for the new year. I said I did and she told me that she didn't think she had any. Today at our New Year's dinner (chicken, stuffing (thanks Opa), sweet potatoes, fresh bread and broccoli) we are going to thank God for his blessings in 2010 and ask Him, together as a family, what His will is for us in 2011.
Tomorrow I will write more about resolutions...stay tuned.