On October 22, Sunday morning I got a very unexpected phone call from my mom telling me that my Grandma had died. The night before I had just written her a newsy note about the kids and Luke and even about dear memories of holidays in her home. I didn't get to mail it. But I'm so glad that I got to write those things to her before she left. And I'm so glad that now she's with the Father and it all makes sense.
Amazingly, the Lord had already orchestrated that I would have a plane ticket headed to Portland Oregon and would be landing the day before the funeral will be happening. We were already headed home by the generosity of our dear friend Claudia Fahrner in order that we might join them at their son Matt's wedding. He was our former student in Heidelberg Germany and now has grown to be a man, a friend and soon a husband. We'd decided we would add on a bit so that we could visit 3 days in Portland, then 3 days to Denver for Josh's mom and dad to meet Luke and then top it off with joining them to celebrate at the wedding in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
I feel God is sending me to be with my family at this time. And I'm so grateful. Grateful to cry together as we remember her and all her dear ways. Grateful that we had already arranged for my dad to be here with the other kids while we travel. And grateful that the Lord's ways are higher than mine. That He knows that after the sorrow of a funeral and the feelings of loss; a wedding will be the reminder that one day He is coming for all of us and taking us to His home to live with Him!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Vienna with the Bible study girls
Right before school started up again Luke and I jumped in the car with "my girls" and headed out on a road trip to Vienna. I say "my girls" because I have been meeting with these girls for 4 years now. Neja, Maja and Barbara first approached me and asked me to be their english teacher when they were middle schoolers. I didn't know at the time that they would become dear friends. And that is just what they are! When they ring the door bell each week my kids actually call them "my english girls". Which is funny since they are all Slovenes and I'm an American. Not an Englishman among us! We decided to regroup this year and turned our english class/ book club into a real bible study. I love talking about the bible and how God is impacting their lives with these girls. And do they know how to memorize scripture! Watch out! They often memorize the verse we've chosen in both english and slovene! Well, while in Vienna we went shopping for school supplies, stopped at Starbucks(the closest Starbucks is 4 hours away!) for a coffee experience and a little lunch at the local TGIFridays! We invited Anna and Luke to join us and had a memorable excursion!
Luke and his lady friend
Luke and Mom with Abigail Woodard and Miss Amy.
I love the way he has his hand on her shoulder! He's such a reassuring guy to all his friends! In this photo Luke is about three months and Abigail is two months. It's fun that they have each other...and that Miss Amy and I have each other. "Is she sleeping through the night yet? "
Life with Luka
Luka is the Slovene version of Luke so we use that as a nickname for him. We are having so much fun with this "bringer of light"!
Rebecca and Luke
Reading Billy Graham's book on leadership with Dad
. You really have to concentrate!
Luke in his new shades with Miss Lori. These shades are a babe magnet!Luke and Rebecca together on our camping trip when he was one month old. We bundled him up and headed to a farmer's woods that we love to go and be all rustic!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
See our dog
Scout is a dear member of our family and Blake is keeping a posting of our dog Scout on dogster.com. If you want to check out some of his photos and read his diary then click on our beloved four legged friend.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Luke Steven Patty
Luke Steven Patty was born June 30 at 6:14am! And just like his brother and sisters before him; he gave us quite a story to tell!
You know from the start when we discovered that we were actually going to add number four to our happy home we’ve marveled (read shaken our heads!) at the timing! For starters his due date was smack in the center of camp season. And having a 10 year old, almost 9 year old and 6 year old preparing to start 1st grade this fall I thought we were moving to the next phase. Although I must say that Josh has been nothing but thrilled from the get go!
In June, teams started arriving to be involved in the 7 different camps we are hosting around Slovenia this summer. Right now we are just finishing up camp number five and we are so thrilled with the work God is doing and the prayer, commitment and demonstrative love we have seen from those who have worked alongside the Lord in the past few weeks.
Josh has had one hand involved in camps while the other hand has been holding his mobile telephone waiting for his very pregnant wife to call and say it was finally time! At 2:00am my water broke but with no painful contractions. This particular week Josh had been to Austria and back twice, cleaned up the basement that flooded after a rainstorm, spoke for one of the English camps, taken the children swimming (while I lay on the couch under the fan), and participated in another English camp’s version of the Great Race.
Because all of our teammates were out at camps ministering we called a lady from our church to come and stay with the children. She was wonderful and drove over right away despite the hour!
The nurses at the hospital were delightful and took us to their hearts almost immediately. And I was thrilled that for the most part my Slovene was intact. I had expected to be unable to translate for myself but there were only a few times when Josh had to help me understand what they wanted from me.
At 4am Josh and I were in the pregnancy ward. They told us that 11 other women were having babies on that night. I was glad we were on number 4 because the room we were in doubled as a store room!
After an hour of real labor we were once again overwhelmed by the feeling that even after nine months of preparations we were experiencing the rush of emotion at seeing our little boy and falling in love with him! He weighed 8350 grams (8.5 pounds) and was 53cms (21 inches)long.
Here in Slovenia if you have no complications you are allowed to go home from the hospital on the fourth day. My mom was on her way from the US so I was anxious to get home. We had hoped she would be here when I went into labor but instead Josh and the kids picked her up from the airport and then picked up Luke and I from the hospital! An hour or so after we arrived home students began arriving for the camp reunion that was scheduled to take place at our home! We welcomed Luke to missionary family life immediately along with the 60 students who gathered here that night!
Already in these early days he just blends so well into our family and has a contented nature. He’s easily comforted and doesn’t fuss at all the little hands that want to hold the baby. Luke means bringer of light and we love the strong sound of it. Steven means crowned one. We pray that he will not only bring The Light to others but will also know who he is in the Lord as one who is crowned as a son of The King.
Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us during this adventure and we count on your prayers for us as we parent this boy who will one day grow to a man!
You know from the start when we discovered that we were actually going to add number four to our happy home we’ve marveled (read shaken our heads!) at the timing! For starters his due date was smack in the center of camp season. And having a 10 year old, almost 9 year old and 6 year old preparing to start 1st grade this fall I thought we were moving to the next phase. Although I must say that Josh has been nothing but thrilled from the get go!
In June, teams started arriving to be involved in the 7 different camps we are hosting around Slovenia this summer. Right now we are just finishing up camp number five and we are so thrilled with the work God is doing and the prayer, commitment and demonstrative love we have seen from those who have worked alongside the Lord in the past few weeks.
Josh has had one hand involved in camps while the other hand has been holding his mobile telephone waiting for his very pregnant wife to call and say it was finally time! At 2:00am my water broke but with no painful contractions. This particular week Josh had been to Austria and back twice, cleaned up the basement that flooded after a rainstorm, spoke for one of the English camps, taken the children swimming (while I lay on the couch under the fan), and participated in another English camp’s version of the Great Race.
Because all of our teammates were out at camps ministering we called a lady from our church to come and stay with the children. She was wonderful and drove over right away despite the hour!
The nurses at the hospital were delightful and took us to their hearts almost immediately. And I was thrilled that for the most part my Slovene was intact. I had expected to be unable to translate for myself but there were only a few times when Josh had to help me understand what they wanted from me.
At 4am Josh and I were in the pregnancy ward. They told us that 11 other women were having babies on that night. I was glad we were on number 4 because the room we were in doubled as a store room!
After an hour of real labor we were once again overwhelmed by the feeling that even after nine months of preparations we were experiencing the rush of emotion at seeing our little boy and falling in love with him! He weighed 8350 grams (8.5 pounds) and was 53cms (21 inches)long.
Here in Slovenia if you have no complications you are allowed to go home from the hospital on the fourth day. My mom was on her way from the US so I was anxious to get home. We had hoped she would be here when I went into labor but instead Josh and the kids picked her up from the airport and then picked up Luke and I from the hospital! An hour or so after we arrived home students began arriving for the camp reunion that was scheduled to take place at our home! We welcomed Luke to missionary family life immediately along with the 60 students who gathered here that night!
Already in these early days he just blends so well into our family and has a contented nature. He’s easily comforted and doesn’t fuss at all the little hands that want to hold the baby. Luke means bringer of light and we love the strong sound of it. Steven means crowned one. We pray that he will not only bring The Light to others but will also know who he is in the Lord as one who is crowned as a son of The King.
Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us during this adventure and we count on your prayers for us as we parent this boy who will one day grow to a man!
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