Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Ram and Sally's apartment Thursday evening. There were about 35 people altogether and Sally says she now knows she has room for 50. Frank Underhill spoke briefly about the history of Thanksgiving day and how it became a national holiday during a very dark time in American history. He also drew from a verse in Philippians and presented the Gospel in one simple sentence. There were a handful on people who are not saved yet. It was very good.

Friday night it started to snow and it didn't stop all day Saturday, but did turn to rain during the night. We've had over a foot of snow and this weather isn't supposed to stop for another day or two. There isn't church this morning due to the weather, power outages, etc. Our power was out for about an hour last night. The convenient thing is I was able to set my groceries in boxes on the patio and didn't have to worry about anything getting too warm. The inconvenient thing is that if the power is off for too long we don't have heat in the house and are without a fire place.

Timothy and Ivana shoveled and cleaned cars and fruit trees yesterday. Clay found a little short handled scoop and helped clear the snow on the drive way. I made a snowman and tried to solicit his help, but b/c he couldn't get a sure footing he was having a miserable time. When Timothy started a snowball fight his mood picked up quite a bit. That was fun to throw snow at each other!

He also discovered that the dog across the street from us can catch snowballs with her mouth and will eat them. He stood there for the longest time throwing chunks of snow to her and laughing hysterically.

My neighbor Mateja was out shoveling. Her husband is still sick and the milk truck was expected early this morning. She also wanted to go to Baby Eva's grave because yesterday would have been her first birthday. I wanted to offer to go with her, but I chickened out. I did invite her and her husband to our couple's dinner next Friday night. I hope he's better and that they decide to come.

We had broccoli soup for supper last night. Thad was sitting on Timothy's lap and Timothy told Clay that Thadeus can't have any soup. "Oh no." That reply surprised us a little. There was no emotion with it, just a polite comment.

We slept really well last night and are just getting up and around. I woke Thad up this morning at 6 to feed him and change his diaper. He didn't want to go back to sleep right away. We just sat there in the dim morning light talking and smiling at each other. He is so sweet! He's like syrup.

Thankfulness

I chipped one of my new plates last night putting it into the dishwasher. Normally, something like that would really upset me. I'm anal. I know it. But this Thanksgiving I'm finding so much to be thankful for.

My teeth weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The tooth on the left that I thought had died was just an old amalgam filling. She drilled it out and put new fillings in that one and another. I have to get X-rays of the other one that looks and acts dead and then go back on 1 December.

Clay didn't appreciate having the door shut on him when I went in. He didn't complain, he just kept asking where I was. Since there were no other patients they left the door open and gave him a mask to wear. He was fascinated by it all and kept studying the book about kids going to the dentist. He didn't want to leave when we were finished! That's a good start. I really liked the dentist and thought she did a very good job.

Our friends, Matjaz and Magdalena, from the coast who have started a Teen Challenge Coffee House, were in Italy to attend some TC meetings. They had borrowed our friend Tatjana's car to go there. Driving in Italy is crazy. It's like the bad drivers in Nashville and the fast drivers in Atlanta have teamed up. They were in a pretty bad accident and both had to go to the hospital. Matjaz was released, but Magdalena has three broken ribs and had to stay a few days. They didn't have their daughters with them, they were with his mother and I believe are still there. It could have been so much worse and we're so grateful that it's nothing more than three ribs and a totaled car.

I was talking with our neighbor, Mateja, yesterday morning. The last few times I've seen her she's seemed so sad. Yesterday, before going over there I had determined I was going to tell her about Hope in Jesus. Mateja and her husband farm and have three children, Natalja, Anze and Eva. She said something about the two older not being the same since someone dying. "I'm sorry, who died?" "Eva." I had no idea! She was only 10 months old and it had happened back on October 12. She asked if I hadn't missed her. I said that I just assumed she was napping or being kept inside from the cold air. Mateja had put her down for a nap and she never woke up. It happened on a Wednesday afternoon so we would have been in town when the ambulance arrived and everything was going on.

An autopsy showed that she had some kind of virus in her heart and it just stopped beating. Mateja told me people have tried to comfort her with words like, "'God needed a little angel', but why mine?" I agreed with her. God isn't selfish and thoughts like that aren't really comforting. I'm assuming they're Catholic; she said she believes in God and Heaven. After a shock like that it wasn't very easy for me to say much of anything else to her.

Now she has to go back to work. Mothers get the first year off work for maternity leave. She hasn't worked since April of '03. I offered help with the kids or anything else they need. People say things like that a lot, but I told her I want her to inconvenience me. She laughed at that and looked a little surprised when I said we would pray for them. Her husband has pneumonia now too so he can't work for a week or so.

Yeah, a chipped plate isn't too much to worry about. I know God loves me and my family is healthy. I'm learning that that's all I need.

Conference Recap

The women’s' conference went really well on Saturday. The main speaker was good and only spoke in the morning which made it all feel a little less exhausting. This is the fourth year they've done this and everyone was saying how it was the best year ever.

The main speaker is a doctor from Murska Sobota. The subject she spoke on was love. It was encouraging. After her hour segment we had a break and I amazed my friends by drinking coffee instead of tea. Timothy and I are known for disliking coffee. Once I got enough milk and sugar in the cup it was okay! I was having a difficult time staying awake and needed a boost.

After the break my friend Barbara gave her testimony of how her marriage was dissolved and their home was a living hell right before becoming Christians. She ran the house, the daughter was manipulative and no one was happy. She said it was confirmed to her that her house had become a peaceful place when not too long ago an Indian couple (Ram and Sally) came over for lunch and fell asleep on their couch.

There were more testimonies and lots of praise and worship throughout the rest of the day. There is a fairly new missionary couple from California here near to us that I had heard about, but hadn't met yet. She, Michelle, was there and I sat beside her. She also gave her testimony of being healed of cancer in the afternoon. I met a couple other Americans during the day and got to sit with them at lunch, which was nice to know exactly what was being said for a change.

People are always asking me, while they carry on their conversation in Slovene, if I understand. I know some words and by being observant to what is going on around me I can usually figure out what they're talking about. It would be nice though to be able to study Slovene and actually understand.

While Michelle had been speaking a girl walked in dressed all in black and dyed black hair. She had blue streaks in her hair and a spike through her chin. Believe it or not, this didn't catch my eye right away. I just thought the Baptists were broadening their congregation. Later she went up for healing for something and our pastor's wife, Barbara Telzerow, went to her and started to tell her she can be free from her addictions. She said she used to take drugs, but not any more. Uh hu.

My bit came in the afternoon towards the end. The addict was really distracting. This is when I started to notice her. Her eyes were rolling back in her head and she started leaning forward like she was falling asleep. This is actually common here, but I hadn't seen it from this angle before. She was obviously demon possessed and it was very sad. My friend Lucija went to speak with her afterwards, but I haven't heard from Lucija how that went. Lucija is kind of like Pastor Sandy; she'll get ya.

I really felt the Lord impress on me not to take notes with me to the podium. I had known basically what I wanted to say, and I didn't hear the Holy Spirit change any of it, so I'm not sure why that was. I wasn't at all nervous, but all morning I had been wondering how I was going to end my presentation. Conclusions are always the hardest for me. Barbara Telzerow stopped me at the first break and suggested I pray when I'm finished. "Hey, that's a good idea. Thanks!"

Only one Slovene approached me afterward, and she knows me from church, but this doesn't really surprise me. If I had only one word to describe the Slovene's with it would be contrast. They are a warm and loving people, but they love their privacy and don't let you in easily.

However, the Americans and I were having some very exciting conversations after everything was over. One lady and her husband have started a publishing house to get more Christian material translated and printed into Slovene. Another lady is friends with Randy Alcorn. I became familiar with him when I wanted to get off the birth control pill, but had to prove that there was something wrong with it. Lori, the lady who is friends with him, said she would make him aware of what we're doing and see if his ministry will help print our book! AHHHHHHH! Please pray!

Lori and another American at the Baptist church work with university girls and weekly hear sad stories from girls who have had to have abortions. In case you're wondering at my choice of words, that is how society makes unwed mothers feel and there are no adoption agencies in Slovenia. Also, adoption is still a bit of a new concept here.

There were some older saints of God who would come up to me and hug me and say a bunch of stuff. I would just smile and nod: "Resumim malo. Hvala." (I understand little. Thank you.) They just kept on talking.
In other news... We had a snowfall last night, which triggered something within me and I immediately began singing Christmas songs whether I wanted to or not. Also, I have a dentist appointment today. YAY!!!

Prayer Request

This coming Saturday is a one-day women's conference and I am to present SaveOne publicly for the first time. I have fifteen to twenty minutes to introduce the ministry and our goals for the future. There will probably be 100 ladies at the Baptist church from all over Slovenia. Barbara Telzerow really had to fight to get me that much time. The Baptist minister's wife doesn't see this as being very relevant for ladies in the church and the Baptist church usually hosts these conferences.

Anyway, I'm nervous. I've never done a lot of public speaking. Also, this is it. Once we make this announcement there's no going back. I'm expecting a copy of the SaveOne brochure in Slovene arriving in my inbox any moment. The big prayer request is that we'll be ready. For the time being Ivana's cell phone number will be our contact reference. Slovene's are such a closed people we think it's important to keep everything as private as possible. So many times in the beginning of a ministry there are cracks for people to fall through. We really can't afford to lose a single person who comes to us for help.

Shout Out for Timothy

Before I sing the praises of my husband, let me just clarify for yesterday's blog, I do not spank Clay every time he says no. I've only spanked on two occasions when it's been out right rebellion. The other times I've talked to him about the use of the word no and then somehow, either physically or with words, gotten him to do the appropriate action or whatever the case was.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago Timothy found that one of the schools he handles accounts for had obtained R rated movies for their library. This particular school does not have a high school by the way. When Timothy called this into question he was told by one of the executives that it was not his job to question school directors buying decisions. Because this was a moral issue Timothy wouldn't let it go and today others on the executive staff have come to his side and the videos in question are being dealt with. Hooray for Timothy! ...troublemaker:)

Oh, And I Forgot to Mention...

Timothy is writing songs again. He co-wrote one with our friend Nana and has written two more. I wish there was a way you all could hear the last one he wrote, but I don't know how to do that sort of stuff on this contraption.

When our friends were here last Sunday evening we turned on the Cornerstone service to show them the church we went to in Nashville. They were amazed. Matjaz said, "I'm going to preach at that church someday."

Clay has hit the "no" phase. I really can't stand it. I've spanked him several times for it. There's been sometimes that it has been cute, like when he puts his index finger out and shakes it and says, "Hu-uh, no." Of course, I don't allow him to see that I think it's cute. Ivana has tried playing with it. When he tells her no she says yes and then they go back and forth. I asked her to stop. I don't think we should be treating this as a game.

I've asked a couple mothers here what they've done and it's been, "Oh nothing. It's just their first signs of rebellion." Oh, it's just rebellion.

I do want Clay to be independent and confident in everything, but I hate it when he acts like a brat. I don't think it should be tolerated, but on the other hand I'm not getting any good advice so far. Can anyone out there help me? What would Dr. Dobson say?

The Calm After The Storm

Our company stayed Monday night as well and then, since he's off work all week, they were at Ram and Sally's for our house group. I drove them out to an abandoned castle not too far from here to do a little vision casting. "Would this be big enough for a Teen Challenge center?"

The house is back to normal and quiet again and so I’ve started planning a worship night at our place for church members from this area. One lady was begging that we start a house group as well. I guess we’ll talk to Steve and Barbara about it. In some ways it would be much easier on us as a family b/c we wouldn’t have to go out.

I’m really growing in the area of hospitality. I’ve always been the type of person who likes company here, but has a problem with the mess it puts the house in. That’s wrong. I need to get over it.

After the worship night I’m going to have QSI ladies out for a movie night before Christmas.

Last night we went to the new Subway restaurant for dinner and enjoyed the same sandwiches we would have in the States. They had the cookies too. The best part is that they're open on Sunday's so if we have a busy weekend and want to grab something fast we have a better alternative than McDonalds. I do enjoy the new broccoli cheese nuggets at McD's though.

Thad is laughing and his smiles are coming even more frequent. I knew prayer was powerful, but this exceeds my expectations. I did so much praying over him while he was in the womb. My hormones were more than a little out of control while I was pregnant and I didn't want him to inherit a negative, complaining, insecure spirit. I'd say, so far, he's anything but those things.

Lots and Lots of Company

I was going to plan a birthday party for Clay and invite his friends from church and Caleb Gilson . This was going to take place yesterday. When I started talking about it Timothy took up the baton and ran, which is a habit I'm starting to get used to, and told everyone from the office that I was going to invite them as well.

Saturday evening we had a chili supper for QSI; 14 adults, 5 children including Caleb and Ivana's mother. It all went over very well. Sunday only one family with four sons could come for lunch. Their oldest son is 15 and Clay thinks the world of him. They took Clay upstairs and played in the family room all afternoon. We would go up there and peek every once in a while to see what was happening. At the end of the afternoon the room was completely picked up. It was amazing.

Our friends from the coast came up later with their two girls and spent the night. Thadeus is being touched and loved very much.

So far, the Saturday party was the only real party. He loved everyone was singing to him and was able to blow out one candle on his own. We've been practicing. Every present needed to be played with immediately and has been thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. Timothy and I forgot about some of the small things we bought for him so he can open them today on his real birthday.

A Post is a Post

There was something I really wanted to post on my blog, but now I can't remember what it was! Oh well.

The SaveOne book has been translated into Slovene and now we're waiting on money for printing, brochures, a conference in the spring and advertising.

The neighbor lady is walking through our yard. Maybe she's getting mushrooms. She can have them. Now she's talking to another neighbor... This is life in Ljubljana.

I've been furniture shopping. I need a filing cabinet. One small two drawer I looked at was $200, but then I found a nice wood, half bookshelf with one drawer lateral on the bottom for a little over $100. Decent mattresses start at $340 for a king sized bed. Oh wait, that was the cheap one that we wouldn't buy if our lives depended on it. Kids table and chairs were about $100... Are you seeing where we live? There's a big Ikea store in Graz, Austria. I think we'll go look there.

We had the young American missionaries over Monday night for chili soup and fellowship. The girls were teaching Clay "Whas uuup!" Saturday QSI people are coming over and Sunday church people are coming over. My first thought when I know I'm leaving a place (this house possibly) is to start cutting ties, not start making them. Having company and starting anything at this house is the last thing I want to do when we might not be living here very long. I think I need to have as much company as I can though. It's sort of like a stewardship thing for me.

I've written enough for now. Maybe I'll remember what I wanted to write about later.