By His Wounds

The past several months have been filled with challenges, loneliness and feeling inept to do anything. I have been stretched spiritually in many ways. As I have going through this refinement, the assurance of Jesus' empathy and love for me has become very real to me.

The other day I found a song that perfectly expresses my heart and the reason why I can trust in Him who is worthy of my trust! There have been many wounds that have needed to be healed in my heart, and He has been faithful in the healing power that only He can offer due to His sacrifice! He is healing the losses in my life that I still grieve, the loneliness that is felt being single in a foreign country, the intense feelings of being stupid while being functionally illiterate in another language, the stresses of everyday life in Poland bring.

His armor has become a reality to me. To make sure I have it on everyday! To see how it protects and enables me to stand firm as the evil one tries to get me to run away.

By His wounds, I am healed and am able to stand firm in confidence of who God is! As I listen to this song and even the whole CD, I can feel healing and refreshment! Thank you Lord for Your Glory!

I highly recommend this CD!


CD: Revealed Glory

By His Wounds

(Isaiah 53:5)

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds
By His wounds we are healed (X2)

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved we are saved

He was pierced for our transgressions
And crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
By His wounds
By His wounds we are healed

By His wounds, by His wounds...

What can wash away my sin
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

The Best Birthday Present Ever!

It is my birthday next Saturday and I got a package a little early from my family.  In it contained the best present that I could every get.  Not the awesome book and movie or ever the incredible peanut butter m&ms. Thanks mom and dad.  But it is seeing my niece/nephew's moving heart for the first time!  My sister-in-law got a sonogram thingy and I got to see a 3-D view of my my "B-Rob"! It was wonderful to see him/her move around and yawn and to see his/her fingers and muscles still forming along with his/her nose.  I think B-Rob has my brother's nose. . . we will see!  What a treasure!

Our family welcomes B-Rob on or around June 18th.  I will be in Poland, but will see him/her at Christmas.  

Psalm 139 came to me as I watched this new little one.

13 For you created my inmost being; 
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.

 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
       your works are wonderful, 
       I know that full well.

 15 My frame was not hidden from you 
       when I was made in the secret place. 
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. 

God is So Good!  Praise Him name forever and ever. Amen!

Thank you for this wonderful gift!

Prague, Starbucks, Could there be a better weekend?

You have a church who likes being together. You have an Awesome historical city just 6 hours bus ride away and what do you get? Weekend Church Field Trip!

Yes, 65 of us went to Prague, Czech Republic for the weekend. It was a great time to deepen my relationships with old and new friends as well as see the sights (again)! The weather was pretty bad, but we toughed it out and did a "foot tour"; for two days. Our tour guide was hard for me to understand, so I slipped away to take photos and reminisce of the days I lived here in Czech.

Of course I had to check out the two Starbucks in town to make sure that the quality of coffee is still up to par. . . it is! We also had a birthday party for Justina (girl with blue scarf) there. She wanted to celebrate her birthday at Starbucks. What can I say, it is an addition! :)

God is good. I needed this break from Katowice and He gave it to me. I was able to connect with a few teenagers who went on the trip. I miss hanging with teens and just talking. My Polish is not good enough to do that yet, but I am getting better. They are learning English, so we get to fumble together. :)

The weekend was exhausting though with the intensive Polish and just being in the cold and rain for the weekend, but I would not trade it for anything! My friends and I spent quality time together and it is a memory that I will not soon forget.



Here are some more photos from our trip.

Moosk. . . .a way of life!

Saturday we had a GREAT youth meeting.  For those of you who have just tuned in, we do a city-wide youth group once a month.  This month was "Spring Fling!"  I like to call it "The Amazing Katowice Race!"

We had 5 teams with 50 things to do in 1 1/2 hours.  Here are two pictures.  One is the group having to spell "MOOSK" with their bodies and the second one is a picture with one of their grandparents. . . I don't think this woman knows any of them though.  :)  The third one is the classic "Phone booth" photo. 

One of the things that the students had to do was to find a young person on the street and invite them to join the game.  One of students invited 3 young women to join and it looks like they will be coming to our special weekend trip and then to our summer English/Sports camp!  What a wonderful example to all of us.  Then young woman does this all the time.  She has no fear in inviting people and the way she does it is inviting and respectful!  She is a great example to me and to the group!  

On Being Human . . .

Tonight we had our first pre-camp meeting. I am so excited to see so many interested in being involved and willing to lead! I LOVE camp time! It is what I get geared up for and tonight I felt that old "camp person" coming out of me! We have 3 different youth groups on our leadership team this year. It is a great way to get the whole city involved!

We will be doing a English/Volleyball camp. A Canadian youth group will come and help us run camp. Would you please pray for us during these next 3 months? Much needs to be done and the end of the school year is a very stressful time for Polish students!

Being Human . . . that is what God made man to be. A real human. A creation who totally depends on, and totally trusts his Creator. We want campers to see that we can truly be human and have a intimate relationship with our Creator, Father!

Hawk Nelson's "Friend Like That" is our camp theme song! Way cool! Or as they say in Polish, "Fullwypas!" :) Check it our on iTunes!