Simple Moments and Thoughts

I have taken this wonderful idea from my mom, who found this list on http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/. It's very inspiring and helps with doing weekly posts. I have found myself in a rut of writing... what with all the business at school and with the extra activities I have. I feel as though my blog has been a little neglected. But not anymore! Hopefully this list will help.

Thoughts and Moments of the Day

Outside my window...darkness. It's 6:55 in the morning! I love winter, but I do not like waking up in the dark. :D

I am thinking...about our youth group's weekend retreat that starts today. I hope it goes really well and that I will have the energy to be really involved in it.

I am thankful...for our beautiful house that we got to decorate for Christmas last evening. It looks beautiful!

From the kitchen...all the lights are off, except for the little Christmas ones by the window, and a lit up church. Charming! :)

I am wearing...my pajamas and a warm blanket... I'm a little cold in the mornings!

I am reading...just finished Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. Very interesting book and I am still pondering all the meanings of things.

I am hoping...that Tyler arrives safely and happy in only ten days to Czech!

I am going...to the last day of school for this week. At least today's a pretty easy day!

I am creating...a picture with oil pastels of a window. It's still in its first stages, but I think it could be cool when it's done!

I am hearing...just my little noisemaker (that makes whitenoise) next to my bed. It feels so eery in my room without it! :D

I am praying... for my classmates. I know that some of them are really searching for Jesus!

Around the house... mom is starting to get up, but otherwise its totally quiet. Christmas tree is lit in the corner of the living room. :) Ah, I love Christmas.

One of my favorite things...waking up in the morning when it's dark and going downstairs to see the Christmas tree. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...my youth group retreat is this weekend. Then I have two tests on Monday and Tuesday in school. And then I need to get some Christmas shopping done! :)

A picture I am sharing... our Christmas tree at night. Ah, how beautiful and cheery it is! :)

Thanksgiving

This year, I got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice! :)

On Thursday, as usual, we celebrated Thanksgiving with our Josiah Venture family. JV Thanksgiving conference is always one of the highlights of my year... what with all that food (the best food I've ever tasted!), lovely people, hangout time, and the annual talent show! Talent shows are so much fun, because (mainly) JV Kids are so talented! I love watching everyone show what they can do, and how God has gifted them.

My second celebration of Thanksgiving happened today! Our youth group organized an evening and brought all the food, and Caleb and I hosted the party at our house. I loved hosting it! It was fun being in an environment where I was really comfortable, and where I could help out. We had a great time chatting and enjoying each others company. :) Those are the bonding moments I love!

I am thankful for SO many things! First of all, I am thankful that I get to have a relationship with Christ, that he loves me, and that He gave His life for me! That's the greatest blessing of all! God has given me so many other blessings too-- My family, friends, my home, my food, a comfy bed, a fireplace with a crackling fire. :) I'm also thankful for prayer, love, peace, the Bible in my own language, a church and a community of Christians around me.

And those are only a few of the things that God has blessed me with! THANK you, Jesus... for EVERYTHING you've given me, and for who YOU are!!!
*The table of food at JV Thanksgiving :)

15th Birthday

The celebration of my 15th birthday this year was very sweet and enjoyable. Since we were flying to the States the day after, it was a more low-key birthday, which I really enjoyed!

The highlights:
* Started off my day with a beautiful sunrise! I took that as God's birthday present to me :)

* Went to school and got a surprise birthday song and birthday cake baked by one of my friends. It was awesome!

* Went for tea and then took pictures with Hayley

* Yummy black bean soup (Mom made it in the crock pot, and I could smell it all day - it was so tantalizing!

* A "Caleb-friendly" German chocolate cake that my mom made...it was absolutely amazing!

* Lots of birthday wishes throughout the day on Facebook :)

* Went to Frydek Mistek to find a special piece of jewelry

I thank God for all of these 15 years that I have had! I hope this year I can glorify His name even more, and that I can learn more about Him.

Windswept

My newest artwork (which I actually did over the Summer, but forgot about it until now!) It's done with Copic markers and a drawing pen. Is that what you call them? Or are they black liners? Hmmm... not exactly sure.


Tyler helped me a bit and taught me how to use Copic markers, so thank you Tyler! It was really fun! We made an "art day" out of it. We both had pictures we wanted to do, so we sat outside, put on some music and drew! I loved it! A perfect Summer afternoon spent with my brother. Those are the kind of memories that I like to look back on. I will definitely have to do another one of those art days with Tyler some day! :)

A quick reminder...

Here's something that I've been reminded of today!

Trust God in everything because, you know what? HE PROVIDES and GIVES HELP to his Children! I know, amazing, huh? I sure think so! He really has shown me in the past couple of months how much he gives to me and people around me. I have just seen blessing after blessing come from God! And he never disappoints! EVER! How Awesome is that?!

In Church today, we talked about God being the perfect father... he is close to us, he communicates, he cares, protects, he is all-knowing, mighty, everlasting, loving, he listens, and helps, he's kindhearted, merciful and just! And there are so many other amazing words that God is! The list goes on and on and on. But what comforts me, is that I get to have the privilege of being God's child and having him as my Father in heaven... because he's the best I could get!

So today was just a good reminder (in a lot of ways!) how great our God is!
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" -1 John 3:1

My Summer

It's not an understatement, when I say that I had an eventful August. Here are just a few highlights of what I did!
- Vacation: Of course, vacationing in Hvar, Croatia is one of the pinnacles of my year. It is a time of relaxation, swimming, spending time with three awesome families, yummy dinners (yes, even while camping we have excellent food! The moms do a good job!), movie nights, and great talks with friends!
-Tyler leaving for college: wow...weird. I can't believe he already left and is already there, at Moody. It was a sweet good bye and very memorable as we went by boat to Split and then he flew out of there! He is missed greatly, but I am really happy that he is doing well there and that he's adjusting well. :) Miss you though, Tyler!
-JVK Camp: Awesome. I love it. I had some great talks with my counselor (Emily Hughes) and with Laurel during "application time"- where we applied the "Stories of God" (the theme of the teachings) to our life. Emily did a great job just knowing what us girls- me and laurel's needs were and she really invested in us. Which I really appreciated! It was very encouraging! Thank you, Emily!! ;)


Now it's September, and I've already got new highlights!
- The Elements Bible study material is being used in our youth group right now as a discipling material and we're doing this course for the new Christians where we go through all the lessons. We had our first youth group a little bit ago and it makes me excited for the next one! I love seeing how God works in our youth group and seeing the fruit of his work in the lives of those new Christians is totally a reward for everyone who worked hard not only at English Camp, but at follow-ups and in the lives of the Czechs. It's a reward for me too!!

-BMA- I love it! It's a great change from my old school and I am so excited for the next four years there! Our class is really good, and I've made many friends already. The teachers there are pretty good too... and the ones that aren't well, it's fun, because it brings the school together as we share experiences about each of the teachers and give advice on how to get through the classes. :) So in the end, it's fun. But really, there aren't any teachers that are outright MEAN, or horrible, so it's good. :)

-"Adaptak"- it's a two day trip up to Malenovice, to KAM hotel for a weekend with our new class. It's a bonding time, time to get to know each other. We played games, had a campfire, a movie night, discussion time about what we believed in and what our faith is. We had so much fun together! I actually enjoyed (for once) being with my class! :) Yay!

Things to come:
-My 15th birthday is on October 8th! :)

-On Friday I have a Bible study like thing/party with the Christian girls from BMA, Frydlant, and a couple of other random places. :) And it's gonna be a time for us (who give our time and energy to others) to get re energized and replenished spiritually and emotionally. So I'm excited for that!

-A trip to the States in October for our home church's (Grace church of DuPage) 25th anniversary. They're bringing back their missionaries for the celebration. We'll be gone for a little less than 2 weeks, so it's not a long trip!

I'm sure there is a lot more to come in these next couple of weeks, but those are just a few of the biggies! :)

English Camp

This year, for the first time, I went to English Camp! I was so glad that I went! It was a great experience seeing God's work being done in those kids' lives and how His presence was always felt there.

The theme of the evening programs was "Stories". Stories of God and His work from the Bible were told every night, and afterward we had discussion groups. The kids had some great questions and some of them were really interested in what was being told. I loved hearing their comments and answers to the questions that were being asked during those discussions.

My favorite night was the last night-- the night we shared the Gospel. It was amazing. The story of Jesus dying on the cross and being raised again was told just how it is in the Bible. Then after that, everything started. People were crying, praying, having discussions with people the rest of the evening in the main room.

I went over and sat by my roommate, Eliska, who was sitting off to the side crying, so I went to comfort her. I then asked if she believed the story that was just told and she said "yes". We sat for another half an hour, at least, and in that time, she trusted Christ! We prayed together and she was so happy! I could really see God opened up her heart and let her hear His call.

I wasn't the only one that night that witnessed God's work in the kids' lives. Altogether, eight people trusted Christ. Some that night, some earlier during camp. It was so cool!

I just couldn't get over the happy feeling I got every time I heard someone had trusted Christ. I am rejoicing for those people and praying that they continue now in their walk with the Lord and make Him a part of their lives!

I am so happy I got to be a part of God's work at these English Camps! I am definitely going back next year! :)


P.S. This was my English Class. They were awesome!

Last day of the last grade!

Today was the last day of ninth grade! Wow! And what a weird feeling it is to not be called a student at that school anymore. I have "graduated" from Zakladni skola (Basic school) with two 2's (B's) and the rest 1's (A's). I am really happy about that!

As I was walking around the school one last time before I left, memories came flooding into my mind of all the things that have happened there. That place is so familiar to me right now, I know every single hall way and stair case as if it were in my own home! And now I have to leave it and I will probably soon forget all of those places... sad.

I have been going to that school since second grade. I have memories from when I moved to that school on my birthday in second grade, how my friends changed through the years, when all three of us Americans (Lucy, Nicholas and me) got put into the same class in sixth grade. I remember learning about Greek history, how to count percentages, the differences between longitudes and latitudes, what the periodical table of elements is and so much more!

But through the years, I have not only learned facts and information. I have also learned how to be a better friend, how to respect my authorities, how to work as a team, my tricks to studying, how to not worry - or at least mostly (that was a big one). But the most important way I have grown in the past nine years of my schooling life is in my faith in God. I have learned so many things about Him, about the Bible and how I should live to glorify His name. For that, I am thankful! The challenges that I have faced through the years of school have made me question the kind of life I want to lead and the kind of friends I choose. It's these kinds of challenges that have made me the person I am. Without those trials and tests, I might not be prepared for the next leg of life in high school!

School has been one of the many places of learning in my life, not the only one. I have learned so many things and am grateful for the time I have gotten to spend in that school!

But, alas, that time doesn't last forever. So I am a little sad to say that that time is over... and the next chapter begins. Goodbye Zakladni Skola Komenskeho (My school)! And thank you for all you have taught me!!

Dad's home and sick days...

Yay, my dad's home! And he came home right on Father's Day, so it was fun to celebrate two things: dad coming home after two weeks, and what a great dad he is!

For Father's Day we had a nice evening with the family. My present to dad was a drawing of a picture I took a couple of months ago. Here's how it turned out!
On another note, I have been sick for the past two and a half weeks! I went to the doctor and she said that I am sick with some kind bronchial infection (English translation= a bad cough). It's my last weeks of ninth grade, so really I'm not missing much... except for time with my class, which I have sadly missed now with only one week of school left.

Not that I am extremely attached to my class, but I've been with some of them since second grade and others sine sixth. And next year we all go our separate ways!

It is sad in one way that after all these years, we split up, but it's also a good thing. As much as I love my class, there are some kids who I know only because we go to class together, and some that I never even talk to! So, in that sense, I am glad that I get to start afresh next year and go to a new school, have new classmates, new teachers, a whole new school life!

The conclusion: I am sad I am missing time with my old classmates, but am eagerly awaiting time I will have with new ones next year at BMA!

Even through my sickness, I know that God has had this time all planned out, so maybe this is just what my spirit (and body!) needed before Summer! Who knows? (Well, besides God) :D

That is the reason why I am not depressed or in a bad mood about being sick..'cause what good would being that way be?! I am accepting this as part of God's Will, and while at it, am enjoying calm, quiet days at home.

Art

Here's some recent drawings and doodles that I've done!Sunset sort of thing :D

(Above)Portrait. Link to photo I used:
http://sophie0305.deviantart.com/art/smile-89719484

(Above) Here's the real picture of Taylor Swift
Random doodle that has all the things I love in it! It makes me happy every time I look at it. Reminds me of all the great things in life that I love!

Baking day with Czech grandma :)

As long as I have lived in Czech, I have never learned how to make the traditional ginger bread ("perniky") that every Czech can make! It is the Czech tradition to bake gingerbread cookies for Christmas. Czechs can spend hours, even days baking and decorating these cookies! I have always wanted to learn how to make perniky, but I didn't know anyone who could teach me.

One day I was at my tutor's house not long after Easter, and he offered us some of his Easter perniky that his mom had baked him. I took a bite, and right then, I knew that these were the best gingerbread cookies I had ever had! I had to have the recipe!

I then asked my tutor, if I could have the recipe of his mom's cookies. A few weeks later, he gave me the recipe. The only problem was that all the measurements were in grams, kilograms and milliliters. And also, I had no idea in what order to put the ingredients in! So just the recipe alone wasn't enough to teach me how to make these amazing perniky.

That's when I got the idea that I could learn from the master, my tutor's mom! I then organized a baking day along with Lucy (who also wanted to learn... we both came up with the idea), where my tutor's mom would teach us how to make her famous gingerbread!

On the day we had planned, we went over to my tutor's house and spent the day measuring ingredients, kneading dough, rolling, cutting shapes, baking and decorating gingerbread cookies!

We also got to spend the day talking to Mrs. Bartkova (tutor's mom), listening to stories about her growing up during communism, how she remembered when communism fell and so on! It was so cool hearing real life stories of the time after WW2!

We came home that day with trays full of perniky, great stories from Mrs. Bartkova, and the knowledge of how to make perniky!

Some of my favorite Bible verses

I started doing my devotions daily at the beginning of this fall, and have been loving it! I will share some verses that really like and what I have learned from them. (The translation of Bible: NLT)

1 Peter 1:3
"All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again." - God is so merciful! I am so blessed to be his child.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
"16Always be joyful. 17 Keep on praying. 18No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." -These are great things that I need to live out. I should be always joyful, always praying, and always thankful. Aren't those great things to be?!

Ephesians 3:12
"Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome." - It's great to know that I don't have to be afraid that God will reject me...he will always welcome me with great joy! It's awesome!

Isaiah 58: 11
"The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too." - I can go to God for replenishment and he will fill me up.

Psalm 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." - God is my refuge, my place to go in times of trouble.

God has taught me a lot through his Word. I am so happy that I have the Bible as my guide in life!

Easter celebrations

This year, my Easter celebrations were great! It contained some firsts, and lasts and memories that will always stay in my heart.

Ok, so the thing that was a first for me. This Spring, as I posted before, I got baptized (an amazing experience). This was the first Easter after I have been baptized. I know it's just a symbol, but it almost feels like Easter now is more special to me, now that I am baptized. I rejoiced in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for ME! To forgive MY sins! So that I could live an eternal life with Him, in heaven! It makes me so thankful to know that I don't have to pay for my sins, that He pays for them with His own blood. So praise God for sending His Son for that purpose!

Every year, since I can remember, we have celebrated Easter with the Pitchers (and then with the Tills when they came, and the Bozonovi later too), and every year, as a tradition, we have done an Easter egg hunt. Sadly, this year was the last egg hunt we were doing. What with the Pitchers moving, and all of us kids getting pretty old, we thought it was time to end that tradition. It was a little sad (and kinda cool too though) to think that the next time we do an egg hunt here, at this house, will probably be when we come back with our own children. How weird is that! We enjoyed the pleasure of hunting for candy filled eggs for many years of past, but now, we must go on in life, and find new traditions for our Easter celebrations. :)

Something that I will remember from this Easter, is that feeling I had on Sunday, when I read the passages in the Gospel talking about how He rose from the dead. I got a tingly feeling inside that made me so happy, and I could imagine just how Mary, the disciples, and all the people who loved Jesus, must have felt when they discovered Jesus was alive! It must have been glorious. Just imagine...Mary walked to the tomb, saw an angel who told her Jesus was alive and then got to see Him herself! That's just awesome!

I am so thankful to God that He sent His one and only son, so that I could believe in Him and have everlasting life! Amen!

The picture is of all of us kids participating in the Easter celebrations at the Patty house.

My favorite things!

Here's a list of some of my favorite things right now, the little simple pleasures of my life. :) Since it's the 15th, I will post 15 favorites.

1. I love drinking hot tea in the morning...ahhh!
2. A new box of colorful crayons is definitely one of my favorite things. I love all the colors!
3. The Spring sunshine. It's so nice!
4. The Bio City Cafe: a cafe in our town that serves only bio/organic things and it's the cutest thing ever! I go there all the time for lunches and tea.
5. My devotions book I got from my Auntie Kristi (thank you auntie Kristi!). I really love them and they are really helping me as I grow in my faith and love for God.
6. Traveling! I love traveling to new places and old ones alike, especially with my family and friends!
7. The yellow Crocuses blooming in our little garden! The first signs of spring!
8. Taking pictures: I love capturing the beauty around us in still photographs...I think that is so cool!
9. The Narnia books: I am re-reading some of them and I just love them so much! They are so much fun to read! One of my favorite Narnia books is The Horse And His Boy.
10. My "fuzzy Crocs". They are Crocs with a lining of fuzzy cloth on the inside. I wear them all the time because my feet stay warm when I wear them! :)
11. Playing songs on the piano that I can finally play fluidly. I always feel so accomplished after I finish playing a song! :D
12. The birds singing in the morning- "Chirp, Chirp!"
13. 'Lavender and mint tea'. It's so-o-o-o-o-o good!
14. Having flowers in a vase on our dining room table. It brightens the whole room up!
15. Spending time with people I love!

My Baptism!

Last Sunday I got baptized and it was amazing!

I had been thinking about getting baptized for a while, but just now felt it was time. I got baptized at our church in Frydlant by my pastor, Ken Pitcher, and my dad, which made the experience even more special!

It was so cool the moment I came out of the water. It was such an amazing feeling going under that water and then coming back up, knowing that I am now baptized with Christ. And I love that it was a symbol that I am dead to sin (Romans 6 I think) and alive in Christ! I was buried with Christ ( going under the water) and then rose (coming out of the water) and I had new life!! Its great to be a child of God!

I am so happy that I can know God, that He cares about me, and that I can trust Him with everything and anything!

If you want to read more about that day, you can go to my mom's blog at livingbylysa.blogspot.com.

Early morning frost!

I woke up this morning and peered out my window and it looked like time had frozen! No branches were moving, no grass was being blown one way to another and everything was just FROZEN (literally). Take a look at some pictures I took of this beautiful moment.

A merry Christmas and a happy New Year

This Christmas was an especially good one for me. Great time spent with friends and family, yummy food, fun presents, and celebrating Christ's birth were definitely highlights!

I woke up on Christmas morning to a fresh blanket of white snow, and ran downstairs to start off the day by opening up my stocking (a Christmas tradition. We always get to open our stockings before mom and dad get up). My family spent the rest of the morning reading the Christmas story, eating cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast, and opening presents!

Later that day, we had Mark, Jonny and Lisa over for a yummy Christmas dinner and fun games.


On New Years Eve we had the Ellenwoods. It was really fun spending time together, exchanging highlights of the year, and watching spectacular fireworks erupt all over town.

2008 has been a great year, and I welcome the year of 2009, hoping that it is filled with joyous moments, and surprises as good as, if not better than the ones last year! HAPPY 2009!!!