Bible Study

This week we had our German speaking bible study at our home. The couple whose home we normally meet in had family visiting so they were unable to attend. Most of the people that we talked to said that they weren't able to come this week. Hence, ten minutes before it was supposed to start we were sitting there only knowing of one person that was coming, thinking we would just do a game night instead. To our surprise three others came as well. The group seemed very different than normal, us being the oldest people that were attending. This week Seth was leading all in German. He had lead one time in German before for a youth boys small group but not for this group before. Now for the last 3 months, I haven't heard Seth's German so much with having lots of family visiting. Hearing him during this bible study, I was blown away. My husband was expressing his thoughts and feelings, discussing theological topics, and asking thought provoking questions all in German. I don't mean to share this to brag, I was just so amazed! It is crazy how much God has used us and developed us in this past year of living here in Innsbruck and a big thing is through the language learning. I don't know if God is calling us to stay here in Innsbruck for long term. However, it is very clear to me that God used us and is continuing to use us in the time that we have been here and I am loving the ways I am seeing my husband grow and develop. I wanted to thank all of you for prayers for our language learning process (please keep praying, there is still so much to learn). I do also believe that wherever God leads us in life, learning German will be something of value to us later.

Sickness

So as I was getting ready to type this update, I realized we have all been sick the entire time since the last update..humphf. We just have colds but it has not been fun and has made it difficult for Naomi to sleep and eat. So needless to say our home has been running on very low energy. However God has continued to use us regardless of our physical state. I have been able to meet with two girls one-on-one this week. With one we are going through the book of Daniel together which has been a lot of fun to study it with someone that is reading many of these stories for the first time. I will also be meeting with two more girls before the week is over so please be praying for that as well. The last couple of weeks in youth group we have been talking about mentoring and it is my goal to at least discuss the idea with these girls, not necessarily about me mentoring them but about how God can use that and encourage them to think of someone that they would want to be their mentor.

Spring has definitely landed in Innsbruck. It has been in the 60s and 70s just about everyday for a few weeks now. It has been a lot of fun to see Seth getting out more in the parks again doing more sports outreach!

Believe it or not but the summer if fast upon us. We are continually preparing for English Camp this summer. Please pray with us for the theme development for the English lessons and especially for male staff. We have almost all the staff that we need except for men. We are in need of 6 more guys to come over from America to be cabin leaders (at least 18 years of age). Please let us know if you or anyone you know is interested to come for 3 weeks to Austria this July!

Sorry for the long pause in updates! It is crazy home many things change when you have a baby, especially when you live overseas and family comes and visits for 2 and a half months :)

I believe you all know already but we were blessed with Naomi Brooke who joined us just a day after Christmas. We had a rather long labor and delivery that resulted in me loosing a lot of blood and needing to be in the hospital for 3 days after Naomi was born and about a week of not being able to walk anywhere without Seth at my side, a week and a half before I went on a short walk outside and two weeks before I could stand and carry my daughter. But it's crazy I can look at her now (sucking on her fingers) and not only say that it all was worth it but also that I don't really remember it...(too bad I wrote it all down, although I don't think Seth will forget :))

Anyways about 2 and a half weeks after our beautiful 4 kg daughter joined us, our families began to visit, starting with my mom and brother for 2 and a half weeks followed by about 10 days alone then Seth's parents and sister came to a visit for 10 days and Eva than stayed longer and we just took her to the airport yesterday. It was absolutely wonderful having family here, especially since it had been a year since we had seen any of them. It got a little cramped at times considering we have a one bedroom apartment but it was definitely worth it! It was a lot of fun being able to share with our families more of what we do here and have those here get to meet some of our family. It is almost unreal now thinking of all the things that we did with them and then that they are now all gone once again and it will be about 9 more months until we will see them again. You could definitely be praying for our hearts during this time being away from family once again. It was a blessing seeing the family that we did but it definitely made me bummed that we won't see the rest of the family, especially our nieces and nephews until we get back. (most likely)

So I mentioned at the starts that many things have changed for us. Honestly I would be a little concerned if things didn't change after having a baby. However we are still getting a hang of things and probably will be for the rest of our lives but there are a few things that we could use prayer for. First off that we would make sure that we are making time for God. It has been easy for us at times to put the needs of Naomi first and then our family and then time with each other and push our time with God to the side so please be praying that we are able to get some kind of routine. Another thing to be praying about is that Seth and I have quality time together. It is easy to just want to get things taken care of whenever Naomi sleeps but we need to take the time for each other. Lastly we are working on figuring out what ministry will look like for me now that we have a baby. I am going to need to have this decided by the end of the month so please be praying for wisdom.

A couple more prayer requests for us are for Seth as he along with 2 others are planning and preparing the youth program for another mission organizations conference that will be at the start of April. So far it has been a good learning experience for Seth, just pray all the planning goes well and it comes together. Also Naomi and I are currently planning on going with to this conference since it is a week long although it is in Croatia and we are not sure yet if Naomi would need her passport to go there which we have ordered but it will most likely not come in time. So please be in prayer for how it all will work out.

This was a long post since it has been so long but I do plan on starting back up with posting on here once a week. Here are also a few pictures of the last couple months. If you would like to see more check out Facebook :)


Alyssa

Just minutes after Naomi was born!

One of the first family photos! 

My mom and brother and us at the top of the mountain

Seth's sister Eva is an amazing photographer so we have some good ones! This is of us with Seth's parents

This was exciting because it was from back when Naomi wasn't smiling very often yet :) 

However she is very good at making her sad faces

This is just a week ago. Now she smiles a lot. Crazy how fast things change :)

We went to Italy with Eva!

First time on Daddy's shoulders...she looks a little small :)

When we were in Italy we stayed with our German teacher!