Our Garden in Progress

We are amateur gardeners at best, but we are attempting to have a better growing garden this year than last. We are surrounded by amazing gardens, due to the Slovenes favorite past time. If we allowed our competitive nature to show up in our garden pursuits we would face only defeat. Thankfully we are enjoying the learning curve and hopefully in due time we will reap the blessings of a bountiful harvest.  Stay tuned for the "AFTER" pictures in July/August.

BEFORE

THEN, came a trip up the hill 4x to get horse manure to turn into our hard soil from our horse ranch friend, Darinka.

THEN, a lot of work with my cute helpers

THEN, Mikaela's garden is birthed

AND, Tahlia's soil is ready for her garden

And then..... you will have to wait and see just like us. Stay tuned for the pictures that show the fruits from our labor.

Bible Study and Pizza

Every other Tuesday we have a youth Bible study in our home and there is on average 3 young boys that attend. Chris has been teaching through the 7 Signs in John and these boys are engaged and asking questions. Well this last Tuesday we invited them over to make homemade pizzas, which Rok (pictured) has never done. We made some "scrumpty" personal size pizzas with the "works" and then showed the video "Purpose" which I linked HERE . Chris had great follow up conversations and we are praying for seeds to take root in these young boys' lives.

A Sense of Accomplishment

My girls were commenting the other day about their desire to someday ride their bikes to school. We live 4.8 km which isn't so far but the challenge is that 1.5 km of the path is uphill. So later that day the girls and I went on a bike ride around our house as we often do, but this time I challenged them to prove to themselves that they could conquer this bike ride to school. So we set off towards their school, Tahlia on her 8 speed bike that she hadn't yet learned how to use and Mikaela on her "cruiser" without gears. My girls "ROCK". They both made it up the hill without stopping and continued to the school and then back up our own neighbor hill to our house like champs. Upon our return they both knew proper hand signals for turning, Tahlia was better equipped in using her gears, Mikaela's legs were stronger than all of ours put together, and they both were beaming with joy from their success. By Slovenian standards they won't be allowed to go alone on the city streets until they pass a bike riding test in 5th grade to get their license. However, I see a few earlier rises in the near future, for the three of us girls to ride to school together.

I couldn't help but reminisce of the days when I was Tahlia's age and my mom would bike with my brother and myself six miles across town to school. Unfortunately for my girls, they don't get to stop at their best friends house on the way home to jump in their pool to cool off like we did.

10 years ago

I was paying bills this morning on my computer when I finally noticed the date April 4th. Now for most this isn't a momentous date, but for me I will always think back to the craziness that was LAPD police academy. I have always been one to love a challenge and ten years ago this was the challenge I was preparing for. I was to wake up at 2:30 am on April 5th, drive an hour away and stand in the dark for an hour waiting for my instructors to come and size me up with a bunch of yelling. This was to last for the next 7 months. My recruit class was 4-04 and this was an experience that would shape me in ways unexpected. As I reflect from Slovenia I am amazed at how God used policing to grow me in unique ways, but I am also amazed at how far away I now am from policing. God's leading is crazy to me, but I am thankful for His perfect plan. April 4th, 2004 was the day I shaved my head for academy and 10 years later it looks almost the same, maybe 2mm higher :) Lastly, as I reflect I pray for the police officers who protect and serve. I realize it is a job that is thankless and in many areas of the world the professionals are despised. However, they see things unimaginable to most and work hard at restraining evil in communities. Most officers are fine individuals and most can't make sense of the sin they encounter daily. Join me in praying for salvation to come to all the men and women in blue - for in salvation alone will they understand the reason for the things they see and give the only true hope that can bring healing to individuals and communities.

Here are a few old photos from graduation just to prove I made it :)