We're on our way

Last time we were in the US as a family we looked like this. We are on our way for an extended visit again and now we look like this:

If you have some time this summer and would like to see our transformation (baby included...dog sadly not available!) we would love to hear from you!
Our plan right now is to be in the Denver, Colorado area June 16-23. Portland, Oregon June 24 -July 27 and Kennewick, Washington July 28- August17. I'm planning our schedule these days and we'd love any excuse to visit Taco Bell or Starbucks and hear all about you and yours!

Crikvenica

Every year our church goes on a retreat to the coast of Croatia in the town of Crikvenica. The ocean is literally across the street! Our first year there was about 4 or 5 years ago. And every year it is one of my favorite things we do! These people just become more and more dear. And I love the non-stop time we all spend together. Plus it's great practice for me in Slovene!
We left Friday afternoon and that was quite the turn around since I'd just flown in on Wednesday morning. But that meant I didn't have to try and be super mom. I just unloaded the peanut butter and oreos and loaded up supplies for the family and we hit the road!

This year Josh and I got to share on Saturday morning. He spoke with the men and I spoke with the women. The theme was challenging times this weekend. So he addressed what it means to be courageous men and I talked about remaining soft and not giving way to fear. Later we had discussion groups where they talked about application. It's always exciting to hear how the Lord can tailor his word to our own individual situations!

The pictures I'm posting are from Sunday morning. As a sunday school teacher I took a turn leading the children's program. Our dear friend Miso helped me. He dressed up as Peter and we "ran" into him on the beach cooking some fish just like Jesus had done in the last chapter of John. He told the kids how he was just remembering how Jesus had challenged him to feed his sheep. And when Peter asked "What about John", Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow me." Then we talked some about how it doesn't matter what our friends are doing or not doing. It's important that we focus on what has Jesus asked us to do. Then we ate fish (stuff Josh had smoked earlier) and bread and threw rocks in the water.

The ocean and the great outdoors was a bit distracting. But some of the conversations which followed showed that kids were listening! and that's always a thrill for me! Thanks Miso! I mean Peter!

Women's Retreat

I spent this weekend with an amazing group of women! Last week I flew in to my parent's place and had a few days to get over jet lag. We laughed a lot and wondered when was the last time it was just the three of us.

Then on Friday morning my mom and I jumped in the car with Lynda Neidlinger, my mom's best friend and a woman who has been like a second mother to me. We drove to Spokane and met up with my cousin Stacia and her oldest daughter and then made our way to the retreat.

That first night I got a taste of what fun this was going to be! The women of Columbia Christian were so open and inviting and the Lord had set us up for a sweet time of growing and learning together.

I talked about four main roles the Holy Spirit has in our lives and how our old sinful nature (a.k.a. Sarx in Greek) as well as satan the accuser, hold us back from listening and following. I loved telling stories about how our family has been applying these truths and I had spent good time with two of my favorite teachers before hand, Andrea Pitcher and Dave Patty. So I was fully loaded with ideas, applications and quotes! I even quoted Blaker! Hey, when you've got something good to say it doesn't matter if you're 11 going on 12; it's still worth quoting!


Saturday for a real visual, we did a skit Andrea had told me about. I invited my mother to be the Holy Spirit and my cousin Stac to be Sarx. Poor Stac got teased quite a bit and they thought it was pretty funny that my mother was the Holy Spirit!

Later in the afternoon Dana Mohr had made this "No Sarx" symbol! It cracked me up and I loved her creative way of expressing that! It was so exciting to see the Holy Spirit gently work in very specific ways in these dear ladies lives!