No Longer a Dream

God has granted Mikaela the desire of her heart!! Psalm 37:4. She was accepted into the Glasbena Sola (music school) of Radovljica.  We are so thrilled for her and we're praying that she will have many opportunities to serve the Lord with her giftedness.

A 5 Year Dream

Mikaela has desired to play the guitar since she was 3 years old. We were advised to wait until her hands grew a bit bigger before we entertained the thought of guitar lessons. Well the time came and went when we believed she was ready but at that point we couldn't find a guitar teacher affordable or at all. Mikaela is now 8 years old and is awaiting a reply from the Glasbena Šola (music school in Radovljica) of whether or not she has been accepted into their school.  We are hopeful, but not guaranteed, for the opportunity to learn guitar at this school. 

We were so proud of her confidence in auditioning at all, let alone in her second language Slovene.

 "Mama, I am fine either way. If I get in - I get in, if I don't - I don't." I am thankful for how she displayed the characteristic of contentedness on this occasion and I pray she will blossom even more in contentedness as she faces joys and disappointments in her life.

To be continued . . . when we get the results.

Four Pieces of Candy

These four pieces of candy represent a lot to me. How you ask? Thanks for asking. These four pieces of candy remind me firstly of the sweet (no pun intended) older clerk at Lidl, our local grocer. She hands me the exact amount of candy for my kids each Monday morning when I shop there, whether my kids are with me or not. I purpose to get in her line, not so I can get the candy (though my kids would like that) but because ever since I shocked her by asking, "Kako ste pa vi danes?" (how are you today?) she has not been the robotic-like employee that I once saw in her. It is a joy and my hope to bless her each time with the love of Christ.

Secondly, because of the minimal conversation I can have with this sweet clerk at Lidl,  these four pieces of candy also represent the Slovene language. They serve as a reminder of my desperate need and deep desire to be more fluent in my understanding and speaking of this complex language.

And of course lastly, these four pieces of candy represent the four precious children that gladly receive them AND whom bring so much joy (sweetness :~) to my life.

All Creatures Great and Small

A day off of school for us meant a day at the Ljubljana Zoo. After trying to coordinate with a Slovene family to join us, it worked out that we enjoyed the zoo alone, BUT wow did we ever enjoy it! The animals were in very close range, and surprisingly, they were all very lively. 

 I was so thankful for this special outing to connect as a family.

"All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all."

20 years for Josiah Venture

We are blessed to serve along side of amazing people spread out across 12 different Central and Eastern European countries. We gathered as a JV family in the spring to learn from God's Word, enjoy fellowship, celebrate Josiah Venture's 20th anniversary and then we departed with great encouragement to press on in God's work of making disciples who make disciples.

This group pictured below of the 2nd and 3rd culture JV members (mostly Americans) is quite a bit smaller than the entire JV family, as the 1st culture group adds over 100 more members.

The third culture kids are pictured here....over 90 of them. This is a very unique and special week for the JV Kids. They relate to these kids unlike any other.

We celebrated the 20th anniversary with an amazing firework display which Noah Ellenwood captured so well in this photo.