Life moves along!

Greetings this damp, cool November evening.

These past few weeks have been splendidly full of watching this culture unfold before us.

The picture above shows Martin's A Cappella Choir, which has has sung before such impressive audiences as Netherlands' Queen Beatriix, presenting a fantastic program right here in our own Lutheran Church, a structure with acoustics to showcase music by Mozart, Handel, and yes, even a contemporary composer or two! They were fabulous! I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. (The seats were very narrow to sit on the edge of, I might add, but the pews are ever so close so all was well!)

This past week we were invited to a birthday party

for little Timotheus (age 3!), the son of A Natalia.

Somehow we didn't get the email that it was also a costume party,

so we showed up as--Americans!

But as you can see, these folks take costumes seriously!I

I loved watching the parents "dance" with their little ones.

But I confess that the 3-layered birthday cake with whipped cream/rum filling competed for my attention as well! I'm not sure which won!

Thanksgiving is my favorite of all the holidays in part because it is a "coming home" holiday. Because we did not have nearby relatives to gather for Thanksgiving as our kids were growing up, we chose to find others in our community who likewise were "orphans" to sit around our table each year. Here we are now in a similar situation, with family far, far away. To fill the empty spots in our hearts and around our table, we have once more invited "orphans" to join us for our Thanksgiving celebration. Eight others will join Larry and me to enjoy the traditional turkey/dressing and pumpkin pie (thanks to two care packages from home) as well as non-traditional dishes that our guests from Norway and possibly Slovakia will bring. The turkey will arrive at our door next Friday (not under his own power and not in costume--the nearby farmer will see to that!), and we will celebrate our country's long-ago founding and faith.

Our routines are settling in as we watch our days fill with teaching and listening opportunities. It has amazed me (Brenda) to see the specific similarities between the work I've done for the last 13 years as an educational consultant and the work (joy!) in which I am now engaging--even down to working individually with women who need help (in this case) not only with language acquisition but in personal growth as well.

These past few weeks have been times of watching and listening to and stepping into this culture slowly, carefully, and gratefully. Our ears are slowly accustoming themselves to vowel-less syllables and words, our leg muscles are thankfully accustoming themselves to walking EVERYWHERE, and our hearts are gratefully watching God open doors to His work here. For example, Larry had 3 additional language classes added to his schedule at the University of Zilina this week. These classes are faculty and staff members at the university who want more opportunity to speak with an American English speaker. Another class is likely to be added this coming week. One of these classes consists of folks who have no English experience, so I will likely join Larry in Zilina to assist with this particular class. Already these new students are asking, "Why are these people doing this? They aren't being paid. Why would they want to come here for nothing?" Only God!!!!!!

Continue to pray that our visas will clear the final hurdles with the Slovak Foreign Police so that we are indeed "good to go" for these next two years.