Finding Our New Normal...For Now

Dobry Den! Good Day!

Well, 5 weeks here and the fact that Prague is now our home has sunk in with all of us! What we considered normal is gone...at least for a while. Very few things come with ease right now. Leaving our apartment takes 3 keys, an elevator a gate and 2 doors. Traveling anywhere takes walking several blocks, catching a tram and/or subway, and many times it involves catching a tram, catching a subway and then switching lines on the subway which means catching a second subway, and then walking to our final destination. Asking for directions, or even asking simple questions often times involves several people, finding one that speaks enough English to understand what we're needing, or finding someone that is patient enough to listen to our limited Czech vocabulary. Eating out is just exhausting and often times not worth it. Pizzerias are the easiest places to get food, but even I'm getting tired of pizza (those who know me well can't believe that just fell out of my mouth!). We've ended up with some strange pizzas, very unintentionally! We ordered a pepperoni pizza, thrilled that we finally found a place that served them, only to be served a pizza with hot peppers on it...."pepperonis". We ordered a cheese pizza for the kids and came home to find a ham and bacon pizza with an egg in the middle. Shopping is quite an ordeal. Once a month I go to the local Tesco (kind of like Wal-Mart) and stock up on 1 month worth of toiletries and staples. But because we have no vehicle and can't carry it all home, we have to have it delivered, which is fine, but I'm the only person in the store with a full cart...sometimes two full carts, so many strange looks come my way. People here don't "stock-up". However, after the scene I've caused on a couple of different occasions now, I'm beginning to form a relationship with the young girl that prepares our purchases for delivery. She laughs when she sees me coming, but also enjoys answering my questions and helping me with my language as I attempt to talk to the cashier. She stopped me in the isle the other day when I was in for a smaller purchase and talked for a few minutes. She is the most enjoyable part of Tesco! Every couple of days I head out to buy meat, fruits and veggies down the block, but can only buy what I can carry home.

We've had to learn to laugh at ourselves many times. Some I choose not to share, I do have my dignity, you know! : ) But one story that still makes me laugh is what happened at the kids' school. I've heard so many different languages here, Prague brings many tourists and Europeans with work, that all of the accents and languages are beginning to run together. I can't pick out what's what anymore. I picked Hunter up from school one afternoon and a boy in his afternoon class met me at the door and said "hello!", I greeted him back and he said "Hunter is my friend", I complimented him on his English and he giggled and said "I'm from England!". Unfortunately, he moved back to England just last week, leaving Hunter feeling "friendless".

Allie has had a hard time adjusting to school. It's so hard for her to set in school and not understand a word that is being said. She has cried over having to go and not being able to stay home with me. After 4 weeks of school, she's beginning to do some better and the tears are becoming less and less, but now Hunter is beginning to struggle with the adjustment. He doesn't mind school too much, but is missing his back yard and being able to play outside whenever he wishes. He is feeling very closed in and is struggling with finding an outlet for all of his energy and need to "explore". There are some local parks, but again, we have to walk several blocks and we rarely find kids their age playing there. We're making efforts to explore different parks and find one they like. We're all missing green open spaces and quiet surroundings.

Adjusting to new circumstances and so many changes all at once is difficult. But God is teaching us that our joy is not found in our circumstances, our joy is found in Him and only Him. Good times will come and hard times will come, but through it all He is still God and He is always here to walk us through whatever His plan holds for us.

FAITH...are we, as a family, willing to trust God's plan even though it's uncomfortable for us in the moment? Are we willing to trust God's plan even though we don't know what His plan holds for us? ABSOLUTELY! God laid a verse on my heart a couple of years ago and through out our journey to the mission field it has become one of my favorite verses. God has used it to walk me through the last few days as I have felt discouraged and craved familiarity:

"FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, DECLARES THE LORD, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE!"

JEREMIAH 29:11

Thank you God for holding us in the palm of your hand and never letting go! Thank you for being willing to use us, in spite of our flesh, to further your Kingdom! Thank you for loving us and using us to love the lost souls around the world! Thank you for drawing us closer to you during difficult times, growing us up in you and maturing us!

HOW CAN YOU PRAY?

Please pray for Hunter and Allie. Pray for their spiritual growth and their faith during this difficult adjustment. Pray that God will reveal himself to them during difficult times and soften their hearts to His plan for them and to the lost world around them. Pray for their long days at school and that they pick up the language quickly. They can already out-talk Clem and I in Czech! : ) Pray that God brings them a special Czech friend at school.

Please pray for Clem and I in language learning. It's not been easy and some days are overwhelming. Please pray that God give us a miraculous understanding and memory for what we're learning and hearing, and that he give us the ability to speak this difficult language with relative ease. Sharing the Gospel with Czechs means sharing it in their language...learning language well is a must, and it is our desire to share in their heart language!

Please continue to pray for Alena and Andi. We continue to visit with them and build relationships while visiting their shops. We ran into Alena the other day on the street and her warm greeting was such a blessing to us. I pray that a special friendship forms between she and I...one that will lead to her willingness and desire to hear the Gospel proclaimed boldly and fully without shutting it down. Our relationship with Andi is much slower in growing. She's not as open to our friendship as Alena is, however, enjoys laughing at our language goofs and correcting us. We're perfectly comfortable being her "entertainment" if it means it will open the door to sharing the Gospel with her in God's timing!

Praise! We've been invited to the home of Honza and Milada. They are a couple that we were introduced to in the states through a mutual friend that lived in Prague for many years. We are so excited that we've been invited into their home and look forward to forming a friendship with them. It is not common to be invited into a Czech home prior to becoming trusted friends, but God has opened the door and we pray that He use this open door to bring them closer to a personal relationship with Him. Please pray for this precious family as we begin to form a friendship with them.

Please pray for God to move within the hearts of those we encounter. We feel so useless right now as we struggle to learn our way around, and struggle to communicate. But that doesn't mean God can't and won't use us each and every day. We praise God that in our weakness He is made strong! He works in ways that we cannot comprehend, and we trust He will use us even when we feel useless.

Please pray for our family unity and for our marriage. Please pray that God will continue to strengthen us and draw us close to each other. With exhaustion and stress come short fuses and a bad case of the grumpies. Please pray that we have patience and act in love towards each other.

Finally, please pray that we find our new "normal" quickly. Pray that Prague begins to feel like home and like a place that we enjoy being. Pray that what seems so difficult and exhausting in our daily routine becomes easier and less tiring.

With Love,

Clem, Carrie, Hunter and Allie