Keeping your eye on Christ

The other day Seth brought Naomi to a graduation party. While they were there Naomi was playing with a another little girl. They were having a great time when Naomi all of a sudden started to cry. She tried to get comfort from her little friend but she was not interested in helping Naomi. However Naomi was trying and trying to hug her and be held but instead she was just pushed away. What Naomi didn't realize was that Seth was sitting near by ready and waiting to comfort her.

I can be very similar at times in my relationship with God. I get so focused on what I am doing that I can loose sight of Him. I will trust myself and make my own plans without going to my father for guidance or not being willing to wait for his timing. I will worry or get anxious about things that He can and will take care of. I get caught up in the tasks or the relationships and forget to spend time talking to God to really see where He is working and how I can join Him. And then when something goes wrong I will turn to other things or other people to help and comfort me. However the world will always let me down. But my heavenly father is just standing there, the whole time, waiting for me to come to Him so that He can hold me in his arms.

I need to regularly remind myself...He has a perfect plan and perfect timing (It can be so easy to loose sight of that) We are called to lean on Him, to cast our anxieties on Him, and to let our requests be made known to Him. He's got this, why try to take His job?

Patience

At the moment, I am not very fond of that word. Not that I am ever excited to be patient or to wait, but now as we await the arrival of our second child, I like it even less. With our sinful nature, patience does not come naturally (although some do struggle more with it than others). It says over and over again in the bible to have patience and to wait on the Lord (Romans 12:12, Psalm 37:7-9, Romans 8:25...). There are countless verses and if you want an example in an adorable 15 month old, come and spend the day with my daughter. There is no question about it, patience is something that we need to learn. However, it is not easy to learn.

Being a mom (and the waiting process up until that point) has definitely challenged me to be more patient. My due date is still a week away but I have been impatient for the last two weeks already. As the discomfort grows (as with my belly) it has been easy for me to rationalize my impatience. That it is understandable and I get a free pass when it comes to pregnancy. And the thing is, pretty much everyone that I talk with about it, are ok with it. I realize that some situations are more difficult or challenging than others (waiting for delivery not being very high on the list). However in my impatience, I have not been putting my trust in Christ. I have not really been believing that He has the best plan for me. I have been attempting to take control of the situation, at times even being frustrated with God. To put it plainly, I have been sinning. I don't want to rationalize my behavior. I need to be giving this over to God, no matter how I might feel in the moment. I don't know why, but we as Christians will pretend as if certain sins are acceptable but that is definitely not the truth. And I for one do not want to be living in sin, allowing the enemy to convince me that I am doing nothing wrong. I have and will continue to give this over to God, if the baby comes tonight, or if the baby doesn't come for three weeks yet. It isn't always easy but I know it is well worth it and will be way better in the long run.

Obedience

Naomi is growing and changing so much, it seems like every day she has learned something new. As she began to be more active it was natural to begin to give her instruction: helping put away toys and books, showing her the safe way to get up and down the stairs, not to play with plug ins, and how to hold a sippy cup, among many other things. Most of these things, I try to teach her for her safety. I know what can happen if she tries to stand while she walks up the stairs, she will fall (at least until she is bigger). Her legs simply can not reach to the next step, she needs to get down and crawl. Not only do I not want her to fail and get frustrated, I can see the cement floor at the bottom of the stairs and know that if she tried to go alone and I was not there to catch her, she would get seriously hurt. There are so many aspects that she can not yet process and understand.

Just recently she learned to say the word no. She has yet to say it in response when being told something to do (however I know that time is coming). She will walk around pointing at things that I had told her no to in the past, saying no repeatedly. This is most obvious when she comes into the bathroom as I am getting ready. She will walk in, go up to the trash can, point and say "no" then comes the toilet, "no" followed by the bathroom tissue and shower. A lot of the times once she has made her rounds, she will continue saying no as she goes back to the toilet paper and starts to unroll it. Trying to get as much on the floor as possible before mommy notices.

It is amazing to me how much this can remind me of my relationship with God. There have been many times in my life that I have struggled to trust God's leading. Where I haven't understood or been able to see the big picture. Sometimes it didn't make sense so I would fight against obedience and when I would finally give in, I was able to see more of what God had in mind and where He was working. Sometimes it would be difficult and I would want to give up and my loving Father would be there to encourage me down the narrow path. There have also been times where it has been so easy to focus on the "no". Where I dwell on the law, the rules, all the things that as a believer I am called not to be a part of. I would get so focused that I would completely loose sight of the freedom that I had in Christ. I would loose sight of the love that God poured out as He gave instruction, because He could see the big picture. He knew the consequences that would follow and didn't want that for me. he wanted me to prosper and grow. He didn't sit there making a list of rules to ruin our fun. He made rules because He loves us. Even though I am far from the perfect parent, I definitely identify with God in this area more since becoming a mom. He is not an absent father that only comes to make rules. He is a loving Father that wants to be there spending all the time He can with me. He wants to make me laugh and smile and be there for me when I cry. What a beautiful thing.

Transitions

In life, change is a given. In our life it seems like change and transitions are something that we can regularly count on. From the time that Seth and I got married (actually even before) we have been busy with transitioning to new jobs, new towns, new homes (or apartments), new country, new language, and a new baby (soon to add in another). We both have a strength of adaptability and if you look at our four years of marriage, God definitely had our future in mind. It seems like right when we have finally found a good routine something changes and we need to start over from scratch once again. Many people might get frustrated in this sort of situation however I enjoy the challenge of finding a new way to make it work. I have come to learn what a blessing it is to be able to handle the transition process well now that I have become a mom. Every week Naomi is doing something new and I am needing to change how I do something. Recently we are still working on finding a new routine since last week because Seth has been working, we are both in an online class and Naomi has successfully switched to one nap a day (while still keeping up on all of our other tasks). This will definitely not be the last transition. Change will continue to happen and I am encouraged that no matter what the situation, I can lean on God, the one thing that will never change. 

Us at the Christmas Program at the Matousek family gathering. Seth was a shepherd, I was an angel and Naomi was a lamb. For some reason we had three shepherds but only one lamb :) We need to get some more kids in the family!

Remembering

It blows my mind sometimes, how quickly things can change and how just that quickly, I forget how things used to be. Naomi has been sleeping through the night for a while now. However it really wasn't that long ago that she was still waking up multiple times in the night. (I have definitely gotten spoiled and will definitely have a new norm as soon as our next baby comes.) Over the past couple months I have really enjoyed the sleep. Then all of a sudden, last night I woke up at 1 am to the sound of Naomi crying. It actually took me quite a while to figure out what was going on, I had gotten so used getting the peaceful sleep.

For me this definitely isn't a one time occurrence. I forget about a lot of things in the past and focus more on the present. For example I have a hard time recalling movies that I have seen. Even if it was just a couple weeks ago that I watched them. In situations like that, I forget because it is just not very important to me. In situations like the first story, I forget because I like how things are now and don't want to dwell on the past when I was constantly waking up. However, I can also forget good things, ways God has worked in my life, fun experiences with my family as well as some of my German. For me with a lot of things, if I don't think about them regularly then I loose sight of them.

I see this happening at times the longer we are here in the states with Austria and the ministry there. Yes, we are here sharing with people on a regular basis how God has been using us there but it is still easy for to talk about the facts and not as much about my heart. I tend to notice though, the more I skype with people that are still there, the more I hear about the various ministries (both praises and prayer requests) and the more I spend time working on my German, the more my heart grows for the people there. The more I invest in the people, no matter how far away they are, the deeper they are etched into my heart.

Realizing these things has also convicted me of how quickly that can happen too with spending time with God. When it happens less often and the busier I get, the easier it is to forget and not make that time be a priority. In times like these I realize how important lists and schedules are for me to remember everything. As well as how important it is for me to encourage and remind (in a loving way) my husband of these things as well.

In remembering, I am going to share a few pictures from the past year that remind me of all the ways God has blessed and used us.

Mentor relationships

Those that we connected with through German Class

Naomi!

Giving Thanks

It is crazy to me how clear God can make it when He is trying to get a point across to me. I hear it from so many different directions all at the same time. Recently it has been how blessed I really am and how I need to turn around and give the credit and give thanks back to God. I am currently still discipling/mentoring three youth girls over skype. I shared a little bit about my relationship with Caro in the last post and how I was challenged to go on a walk with God and just give Him praise and thank Him for...everything. I learned a lot about myself including how selfish I can be during this time but I have been amazed how this conversation has come out in all of the 3 mentoring relationships that I have. It has come up through different passages of the Bible that we have been reading, different thoughts that they have and how they are being challenged. (Not to mention it was the week of Thanksgiving) It is clear that I have some growing to do and more thanks to give. Through this past week, God has really just amazed me: How well He can communicate with us, how much he provides, and how I am blessed way beyond anything that I deserve. However it is not because of my righteousness but because of His great mercy.

I find that now during this season of life for us with support raising that we go through ups and downs. That there are times where multiple people are deciding to partner with our ministry or at a higher level then they were every day and then there are some days where we are faithful and working hard and it seems like nothing is changing. It is easy for me to then wrap up my emotions and attitudes into how well support raising is going at the moment. A lot of this just happens naturally however this is not how God has called us to live. We should not be swayed by the changing of times but instead keep our focus on Him and find our stability and encouragement in him. I was reminded of this today as I met with Caro, a youth girl that i continue to meet with weekly over skype as we are here in the states. Sure our situation now is that of support raising but we can have this tendency no matter where we are in life and what we are doing. But really our joy is to come from Him and it doesn't matter what is going on in our life, we can always receive that joy from Him. She has been having a particularly difficult and challenging time in her life as she has been sick, responsibilities at school, an internship to prepare for, a driving test to accomplish, family obligations, and the list goes on. Sure, her life looks very different then mine but it would also be easy for her to let these things control how she is feeling and living her life. However this week we decided to go out alone and go on a walk with God and just spend time thanking Him for all that He has done for us. Praising Him for who He is. She made the time even though she did not think she would have enough time or energy to do it however she came back reenergized praising our Father in heaven, drawing her joy from Him. She has been such an encouragement for me to be seeking my joy and energy from Him no matter what. This has caused me to share some of the praises, thanks, and God sightings that I have from the last couple weeks.

- The fact that we live across the street from our nieces and nephews and are blessed to have them come over and visit frequently throughout the week (including now as Titus is playing with our Monopoly game)
- Being able to get together this last weekend with my whole family to celebrate Thanksgiving
- All the love and support that we receive from so many people that are regularly praying for us and the ministry in Innsbruck.
- The support of the organization that we are a part of.
- About a month ago we had an ultrasound and my placenta was very low and they had said if it doesn't move I would have to have a c-section so they would need to monitor it so we went in for another ultrasound a couple weeks ago. Right away the doctor mentioned that the placenta had moved a little bit but not enough so I would have to come in again in another month. She was encouraging and then went on checking different things in the ultrasound she was about ready to wrap up when she asked to take some more pictures of the baby's heart, it was just such a good angle. I said she could and right away when she went to zoom in on the heart she paused and said that the placenta moved, a long ways away from the bottom. She said that I must have been having a contraction earlier and that is way the placenta was so low at the time but now because she took her time she saw it go back to normal. She said I would not have to come back to have it checked on again. I however give the credit to God and am curious who it was that was praying for me and our baby at that exact moment.
- I was reminded by getting together with a friend how blessed I am that we have had one healthy baby and are pregnant with a second. Before Seth and I were married my doctor had told me that she didn't think it would be easy for me to ever get pregnant, if I would ever be able to. It had weighed on me for a long time and took a while to give that over to God and trust that He would bless us with children in His timing however He wants to. We however have been so blessed!

I could go on for a very long time, however I will stop so it doesn't get too long! God sure does bless us in so many different ways!

On the Road

We have now been in the states for a little over two months and we have not been in the same place for more than a week since English Camp at the start of July. We have been to Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Oregon and are now currently in Washington. In the next few weeks we are planned to go to Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Minnesota. The plan is for things to calm down and us to settle down more in Seward starting after our training in Minnesota which is the first week of November.

Honestly at this point I am a bit exhausted. We really have all been doing well traveling especially Naomi however the her car seat is definitely not her favorite place. Even though traveling has been going very well so far you can see it in all of us that we are just getting tired and are ready to be back in Seward for a while. It has been awesome to see though as we have spent time with friends, family and supporters we have been encouraged and energized. So far I have really enjoyed the time that we have had connecting back with people here even though it can seem like a lot at times. But please be in prayer for us as we will road trip back to Nebraska, have a friend visit us from Austria and head off to our training (which we are unsure at this point if both of us are going to the training so you can be praying for that as well).

In the last week I have been amazed by God. I had the privilege to see newborn twins in the hospital. They were born at 29 weeks. The one was 2 lbs and the other was 2 lbs 11 oz. This was my first time being in the NICU and it was unlike anything I had experience before. I had always heard of babies that were very small and premature being born but it is so different seeing these two little boys in person. Seeing and touching them brought me back to all the things I read during my pregnancy with Naomi about how she was developing. God is so creative in how he creates us and it amazed me even more to see Jonathan and David hooked up to tubes but still moving, crying, and making dirty diapers. It is nothing less than a miracle that these boys were alive and progressing well and it was a privilege for me to get to see them at this fragile part of their life. God is so good.

It has also been great to see so many different parts of this country. There are so  many differences and yet beauty no matter where you go. It has also been awesome to be able to come in contact with believers everywhere we go. We have been so blessed and encouraged. We have received such overwhelming hospitality and support. I am very excited how God will continue to use all of these people in our lives and us in theirs.

Thank you all for your prayers! Please let us know if we have not yet been able to connect with you since we have been back and you are wanting to do so soon! Here are some random photos from the last couple weeks. Hope you all enjoy!

Fun at the park!

Bath Time!

Us at the Badlands in South Dakota, although you can't see it very well

Naomi in the lake, she had so much fun! although the life vest was a bit difficult.

Updates!

Thank you for all of your prayers! We are still in the thick of the busy season. So I want to give you an update on all of the previous prayer requests and then give you a few more :)

Updates:
- It went very well having Viki stay with us for a week. It was definitely a new experience for us, seeing as we were practically parents of a teenager for a week. It was a difficult situation knowing that her parents normally have almost no rules for her and for the most part don't even know what she is up to. However we weren't going to have it be like that while she was staying with us which she responded to it very well and was very respectful to the decisions that we made. We were able to have really good discussions with her and challenge her to think more about what I life honoring of God should look like.
- We skyped with our new candidate coach and got moved along to the application process. There is quite an extensive list of things that we need to get done all before July 15th which is in the middle of English Camp so our goal is to be done before that. We are probably close to half way done although we still have the Theological questionnaire yet to be finished so please be praying for guidance and motivation to get everything finished.
- Allie (our summer intern) did arrive well and has been working on adjusting to life here. The language barrier has proven to be a bigger barrier to overcome for her than for some so please be in prayer for her. Pray that she will be able to really connect with a few of the girls during the next few weeks before English Camp and that God will show her where He is already working so that she can come and work alongside Him.
- Pfiju came and went and it was a great time had by all. Seth really got to know some of the youth that came with our group better as well as many other believers from around Austria. It was also a really good challenging time for many of our youth. Be praying that they will continue to grow and be challenged in their faith.
- Seth's cousin will now be visiting us at the end of July after English camp which makes me a lot more excited for it considering we will have more room to breath then.
- Still the same prayer for the other girl that will come and stay with us for a week starting on the 25th and then will be leaving the same day that we will be for English Camp on July 2nd!
- The big updated prayer is that we will be heading back to the states in August sometime during the first couple weeks and are looking at setting a date sometime in the next couple days so please be praying for that. God has really been providing with everything. Providing someone to move into our apartment and take all of our stuff, a car for us in the states, a potential place to live, a potential apartment for when we come back as well as many many more things. There are still many things to plan and get working out but I am very excited to see how God is going to use us in the coming months!

I think that updates you with the main things that are going on right now in our life. Please especially be praying for the whole transition process for us. It is very common to experience culture shock again as coming back to your own culture after being away. Pray also for the plane ride and things as we will have Naomi with us and just the we will be very motivated to get things done that we need to. Thanks again for all your prayers! I hope you all had a great Father's day as well :)

Prayer Requests

The time coming up before summer (which here in Austria starts in July) is the busiest time for our team here, which leads to many different ways that you guys could be supporting us through prayer.
- This week there is a youth girl that is staying with us whose family has moved away from Innsbruck but she is here visiting. Please pray for the time that we have with her.
- We will be having a skype call this week with our new candidate coach through the EFCA to switch to long term, be in prayer that everything will go smoothly.
- Next Wednesday Allie, from the states will be joining us for a couple months as she does an internship with us. She will be helping with English Camp as well as many other things. Pray that she adapts well and that we can as a team help as much as possible.
- Next weekend is Pfiju which is an Austria wide weekend youth retreat/conference. This year it is in Vienna and most all of our youth will be attending plus some that we haven't seen in a while. Please be in prayer for the relationships that will be built that weekend and that our youth will experience God in new ways.
- Seth's cousin will be visiting us either here in June or in August, pray that they have a safe trip and that we will be able to show them a little bit of Austria in their time with us.
- At the end of June we will have another youth girl come and stay with us for a week, it is he sister of the one that is currently here. We do not have as deep of a relationship with her as her sister so please be praying for her in her time here. She has made some big changes in her life over the past year so pray that she doesn't fall back into old rhythms as she is here visiting old friends.
- July 2nd, our American staff shows up for English Camp! Prayer for the continued prep, for training that we will be running, open hearts for the kids. Especially for the camp that we run, we have a very large number of nonbelievers.
- We are also looking to head back to the states shortly after camp is finished, there are still a lot of loose ends, like our apartment here and phone

There are also a some praises as well!
- This last Sunday we had a special outdoor church service. All of the churches in Innsbruck (excluding Catholic and Lutheran) got together and put on one service in a big park in the middle of the city. It was crazy to see as there were at least 600 gathered together, not counting the hundreds that walked by throughout the day. Afterwards there was food and games and then a concert. Seth and I talked to so many different people that we don't see very often as there were parents of friends there, English camp kids with their parents, and even another couple from our organization was visiting. Seth was thriving, enjoying talking to so many people but it didn't take longer before I was wanting a little break. We left the park after about 6 hours, feeling exhausted and sunburnt. However we were also very encouraged to see how God is working in Innsbruck.

- Also on Saturday of this week we were able to go fishing with our team leader and his kids. It wasn't the same as in the states considering we had to pay for the fish and the ponds were stocked but at least it was a beautiful day to spend outside and to have a break from being in the city all the time. It made me also realize how much fun it will be when Naomi has siblings one day.

- Also I am very thankful as I am going through the book Experiencing God with one of the youth girls from our church. It is so exciting to see her continually growing desire to serve God and grow in her faith. It has also been challenging for me as well.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Alyssa

Emotions

I am happy to say that a decision has been made. We are going to pursue coming back to Austria long term. This definitely has not been an easy decision to make but is something that we believe that God is calling us to. When I think about the decision that we have made, many emotions go through me: excitement to continue living life here in a job that we love and with people that we care about, sadness for the family and friends that we will be apart from and only see every couple years, happiness that Naomi will grow up bilingual, bummed that we will be living in an apartment for the duration of our time in Austria, nervous for how we will adjust back to life in the states while we are there for a minimum of six months, curious how God will provide housing and a vehicle to use during our time there, not looking forward to support raising again but excited to see how God will provide. Overall I am happy about the decision that we have made and am excited and curious to see how God will use us in the future. We would definitely appreciate any and all prayers while we are going through this transition process. We are needing to go through a new application process, bring a lot of things to a close, and prepare for things in the states. In the mean time we will also be preparing for English Camp. Please also be praying that we will find someone that will be interested in our furniture and things here considering we will not be able to store very much. Please also be praying for our relationships with those here, as we will be away for a while. A big prayer request is for the youth group here. We will not be here in Austria next semester already since we are leaving in August and two of the other leaders will be quitting in the fall as well. Which just leaves one so please be praying that God will provide those to take our place, preferably Austrians :) I thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Decision Making

Seth and I have never been very good at decision making, from what do you want to do with your life down to what do you want for dinner. We are indecisive to the core, which is something that God is continually growing and developing in us. However, I would be surprised if we ever got to the point where either of us said that we enjoy making decisions. These past few months and especially these past few weeks, we have really been focusing on making a decision: do we want to pursue coming back to Austria long term or not. This has not been an easy process as we weigh many pros and many cons. There have been a couple times for me that as I think about the cons so much, that I get down right homesick. If God does lead us to come back long term, I am sure that my desire to be with friends and family in the states and eat Chipotle will weigh on me now and again. However, in the past year and a half that we have been here, that hasn't happened very often. For the most part we have been excited about what we are doing here. The amazing thing is, as we have been working on making this decision while we have experienced some lows, we have also experience in these past few weeks, encouragement unlike we have seen since living here. We have received affirmation and encouragement from parents of youth, we have been invested in more by people in our church, we have been taught and coached more intently by our boss, and we have been pleaded by many youth to stay. In the past few months especially, I can see how much we have grown and gotten more comfortable in our job here. One thing is for sure, no matter what our decision is, God has used us here in Austria in ways we didn't even think were possible. I for one am excited to see how God will continue to guide us and how He will use us in the future.

There have been some exciting things going on in this past month, I will share with you a few of them. At the start of April we helped run the youth program at a conference in Croatia. It was a conference for a different missions organization that is all over Europe so English was the main language that was spoken. This was something that Seth and Dave spent a lot of time the previous couple of months preparing. It was new territory for Seth as he was making plans from scratch. He even gave two of the messages. In the past Seth has a little bit of experience speaking in public but really most of it was for support raising. So throughout the last few months our team leader, Dave, was coaching Seth. Looking over his notes before we left for Croatia I thought it all sounded very good but when I heard him speak at the conference I was blown away. I was challenged by his message, a couple of the kids shared that they enjoyed it and Dave was very excited to see him doing more in the future. I don't necessarily think that Seth will end up becoming a pastor and giving sermons each week but I do see this as a skill that God will continue to develop and will use to some extent in our future which is very exciting to me. We really enjoyed our time in Croatia although Naomi didn't very much which was hard on me at times but I was also able to be apart of some of the activities and was even able to meet one-on-one with one of the girls which was very good and I pray that God will continue to use me in her life in the future.

After the conference we were able to get together with some of our friends that we had met from our German class. They are refugees from Iran and attend the Catholic church semi-regularly. We have had multiple discussions, especially with the husband about God, he even attended our bible study for a while. We have had a lot of contact with their family as well since one of their boys comes to the Lighthouse for the tutoring program each day and will most likely come to English camp as well. This time when we were at their house they invited a few other people over as well and we got the chance to share about what we do and what we believe with the group. It was interesting because everything was being translated since not everyone could speak German or English but it was a really great opportunity. One of the women's family was baptized a few weeks ago through one of the non-Catholic churches here in town and she is now interested in sending her kids to the tutoring program at the Lighthouse as well as to English Camp so be praying that God will continue to be using our relationship with them!

Lastly this Easter Sunday I played the flute in the church for the first time. It was the first time I played for people since I was in High school and I enjoyed it a lot and am excited to doing it more often in the future :)

We appreciate all your prayers!

Alyssa

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!

The End of the Year

As the end of the year is drawing closer and closer, I can't help but reflect back on this previous year and our time here in Austria. (It also helps that we do a yearly report). There have been many highs and lows throughout the year but overall I have really enjoyed it. It is exciting to think of how much we have learned in this past year. However this evening I have been thinking been thinking much more about what our next year will look like. As relationships have developed in this past year, I have begun meeting more and more with various youth girls. I have had the privilege this week to meet one-on-one with 3 different wonderful girls from the youth group. After every meeting I have come away thinking about a few different things. 1. How blessed I was growing up having Christian friends not only at my church but at my school as well that were able to build me up and support me. Just about every youth I know here, is unaware of any other believers that goes to their school. Just today I was meeting with a youth girl and she was talking about how lonely she feels at school. That she is exhausted always standing up for what she believes and constantly experiencing teachers and "friends" that are trying to tear her down or make fun of what she believes. Sure that is something that I experienced going through High school, but only a couple times, definitely not something that would often happen. I often forget what a blessing that was. 2. How doing things with your hands, pretty much always will get girls talking. Baking cookies, making supper, doing a puzzle, making crafts...it doesn't really matter what. It is awesome how God can use such simple things to bring up conversations about Him. 3. That these girls long to be heard. They want someone to listen to the things that are going on in their life. Not someone that will give advice right away or scold or praise them for their behavior but someone that will simply listen. 4. These girls long to better understand God and the Bible. This is exciting for me to see and hear. They do not settle for reading something and completely misunderstanding. They search for the truth and ways to better explain what they believe or what the Bible says to their friends. 5. I love my job. I absolutely love that it is work to bake cookies and talk about Jesus, that it is work to read through a Bible passage and discuss it, it is work to be there and support these wonderful girls that I care about so much. In essence, my job is to be me. :) In this coming year, I am so excited to see how God will continue to use me in this area. I know lots of things will change with us adding a member into our family but it doesn't change the fact that God will continue to use me, especially in the lives of the youth here in Austria.

Holidays

This last Thursday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving along with all of the rest of you. :) We were able to get together with a group of Americans and their spouses that are currently living in the Innsbruck area. Even though it was not the same as spending the holiday with family, we still had a great time. Seth got to play in a Thanksgiving skit for the kids as a little pilgram boy...don't let the apron confuse you, they ran out of costumes. We were able to enjoy all the traditional Thanksgiving foods although apparently the Turkey was hard to come by but they managed.

After Thanksgiving (and a little before) our holiday focus began to switch to Christmas. This being potential our only Christmas in Austria we didn't want to spend much money getting all the decorations so we decided to make most everything (although we didn't try making a tree). This last weekend I also did a Christmas crafting in the afternoon with 8 youth girls at our house! It was so much fun to share about what our families normally do for Christmas. It is surprising to hear how different some of their traditions are...like putting up the Christmas Tree on the 24th. They also don't have the tradition of stockings here so as they saw me making our stockings, it took the girls a while to understand but then they all wanted to make one. :) They enjoyed it so much that they asked me to bring all the supplies to the Lighthouse this Friday so that they could make more things. It was a very exciting and enjoyable time for me :)It's beautiful to walk around the city now, the whole old city is decorated with Christmas Lights, Christmas Markets, and the biggest real life Christmas Tree I have ever seen. I'll have to take some pictures and post them later.

Also this week I started the women's connection group through our organization. They pair you up with a woman that has a lot of experience with being in ministry oversees. The plan is to skype once a month and have it be kind of a mentoring relationship. A time for me to talk about whatever is going on in life, ask advice (or not), and then be prayed over. Even though we have only met once, it was a great experience and I am very excited for this relationship to continue and develop. 

Please be praying for the coming weeks as we have no idea when this little one will be deciding to join us. We are wanting to continue being busy up until the baby comes to help us not get impatient but it is difficult to commit to things and then have a back up plan just in case the baby comes and we are not able to follow through. So far though I am really glad that we have been keeping busy, it helps the days pass by a lot quicker. Also be praying for Seth as he has a cold right now, that he will be all healed up for when the baby comes. We appreciate all your love and support!

Alyssa

Feeling Encouraged :)

This week as flown by! Being gone for half of last week in Vienna meant we had things to catch up with when we got back and had packed days until our day off on Monday. This week has been days full of meeting with people, catching up on our Ministering in a Muslim context class (still are), youth group, graduation ceremony, a surprise baby shower through skype (which was awesome!), skyping with the family for their early Thanksgiving celebration, doctor's appointment, hospital tour, reports, as well as other things. I have genuinely enjoyed this week and am currently very excited for the various ministries we are a part of and people that we are getting to know. I went through a time of being homesick and even though I still don't like being so far away from family, I have not been struggling with homesickness. What a blessing! It is amazing the support groups that we have both in the states and here :)

We still have a little more than four weeks until our due date, but at our doctor's appointment this week, she said there were signs that a lot of time mean the baby will be coming early. Honestly I think this is just what we needed to hear so that we would kick planning and preparing into high gear. God knows so much better than we do. We'll see though if this little one comes early. I wouldn't mind being able to snuggle together as a family for Christmas. Overall with preparations for the baby things have been going very well and we have been very blessed. We are not overly nervous which could only be from God. Today though we took a tour of the hospital that is our back up plan if it doesn't work out with the birthing center. It was a great tour and was nice to see the place so we know what it will at least look like. However, it made us a little nervous with our German. Granted it was a large group taking the tour which is the hardest setting for us (we do much better with one-on-one). It would be amazing though if you all would be in prayer for the language barrier and that wherever we are at when we have the baby, we are able to effectively communicate and are willing and bold to ask questions when we don't completely understand or are uncomfortable with something.

Praises

These past two weeks have been days full of praises. It has been a time of being able to connect back with some people that we haven't seen in a while as well as a time of new learning and developing. A few of these blessing consist of being able to spend time with some of those from our German classes again, starting to plan our baby shower, making some set rules for the lernhilfe (after school tutoring program) so that it is consistent throughout the week with all of the different leaders, and starting our Ministering in a Muslim context online class (which has been awesome for the small things as well as the big things for all of those that we know that come from a Muslim culture).

Another big blessing was going to kind of like a flea market for only kids items but it is organized by a church or school. You can bring things to sell or just buy. We decided a while ago to go with cloth diapers for our child and since they are rather expensive so we decided to go to this flea market to see if they had any. We were able to find a box of barely used cloth diapers, some were even new for 30 Euros when normally they would cost altogether over 200 Euros. God really blessed us. We still only have about half of what we need but we are trusting that God will provide!

The last few days we took half a week of vacation and took a little trip to Vienna. It was our first time going and we were able to see some friends while we were there. It was really nice to have a little break and just be able to be tourists and enjoy our time together. It really is a beautiful city!

We went to the zoo with our friend Adam. In this room there were bats flying all around us. Really cool, kind of scary considering they would run into us frequently...however in this picture you can't see any bats. Unfortunate.

Also a few things to pray for is the situation with Seth's friend that is in prison. We are learning more things and realizing that Seth is able to help a little bit. Be praying for the situation, it is planned to have a court case in early December but we are hoping that it doesn't come to that. Also today I am meeting with the other female leaders of the youth group to discuss what we want to do with the girls small group considering the 20 girls that are coming is not small. Please give us wisdom on how to split things up. Thank you all for your prayers!