Little Visitors

Part of the team from our church in Charlotte included Ian and Ally Macurda, who stayed with us (along with their mommy and daddy) last week. They just left this morning, and we already miss them! Ian and Lucy have a very special relationship and spent much of the week holding hands and being sweet on each other. I almost had to have a talk with Ian about his "intentions" with my daughter!Lucy and Ally could be sisters.And all the kids had dinner together last night after church.Thanks for coming to Prague!

Music Fest

Friday's concert was great fun. Apart from the hand-slicing incident (see below), it went off without a hitch and we raised almost $1000 for Lucy's school. There weren't a lot of new people whom we didn't already know, but there were over 150 people - mostly students, parents, and teachers.

The first band was made up of high school students, the 2nd featured a teacher from the primary school on drums, and our friend Shane from Charlotte was 3rd. They all had a different sound, but it made for a diverse musical evening. And it was a good chance to promote our new church!

Another year, another E.R. visit

Our concert on Friday night was a great success - we'll post more info and pictures later. But it started off a little rough for me (Phil). As I picked up a speaker to move into the theater, I cut my hand pretty badly on some metal poking out of it. Fortunately, the lady working behind the cafe counter had some first-aid bandages for me and I was still able to emcee the event.

The next day I went to the hospital where I got 2 stitches and a tetanus shot. Combined with my first ER visit a year-and-a-half ago, that makes 7 stitches in 2 years. Have I become clumsier since I've lived here? Perhaps, but I've determined that Saturday is the best day to pay a visit to the hospital. Both times I've been the only person there, the doctor has spoken English, and I've been home in less than an hour. I had to pay out of pocket (again) and it was a "whopping" $60 (again).

One Week, Two Visiting Teams

This is a BIG week for us for a couple of reasons. We have lots of visitors here, representing 2 teams. One is a group from our church in Charlotte, Uptown Church. They're here to encourage us and help us with the new church. The second team is a group traveling with World Harvest Mission - they're visiting a few teams in Europe to see if they'd like to join any of them.

It's been great to see our church friends, as well as get to know these potential teammates. For our Tuesday night Bible study, we had a big pizza party for everyone, along with our Prague friends. 18 pizzas was just about enough!

And tomorrow (Friday) night we're sponsoring a big concert in conjunction with Lucy's school. Some of our church friends are performing, along with 2 other bands - the concert is at the facility where we have church, and we're hoping that we can use the event to invite lots of new people to Faith Community Church. We're praying for a sell-out!

Bye, Me!

Clark FINALLY said good-bye to his last pacifier (or "Me," as he affectionately refers to them - as in, "Give it to ME"). I'm not positive, but I imagine it felt like sending your first child off to college. So far, he's only asked for it a couple of times in bed, but he's been sleeping about the same.

His new addiction? Chewing gum...

New Best Friend

Lucy and Clark love to play with Dot's dog, Maysea. She is truly the sweetest dog ever, and she's had quite an impact here in Prague already! Prague is such a dog-centered society, it's been a great way for Dot to meet people. Sadly, Clark is somewhat allergic to dogs (at least their tongues), so he has to keep his distance from his buddy Maysea!

Wassup

Click To Play

Bend it like Davis

This morning was the first soccer (or "football," rather) practice at Lucy's school. We only signed up Lucy, but Clark jumped into the action almost immediately. The coach did a great job managing about 25 kids, running some drills, and even letting them play a "match," a word which I am using very loosely. Both Lucy and Clark had a great time today, and we celebrated with Subway for lunch.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 94th Birthday Mimi!

(picture from Christmas 2005)
Sunday was Mimi's 94th birthday! She is Phil's grandmother and Clark and Lucy's great-grandmother. She was married to grandpa Loyal (whom Clark is named after) for over 50 years. She has three children, 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. At 94 she is a woman who makes us laugh by her cleverness and outlook on life. She is giving and kind and has an amazing heart. She is truly loved by all. We are so privileged to call her family. We love you Mimi!

The Birth of a Church

I've only witnessed 2 births until today. Today makes 3. They never go exactly how you think they will, there's a lot of nervous energy surrounding the event, and the end result is a little messy at first - but then you look at it and think, "Yes, this is exactly what it should look like. And it's beautiful."

That's how today went. The first service of Faith Community Church started at about 4:30 pm, after some time to practice worship and set up the cafe like we wanted. It is a cafe, you know, so it turned out there were other people there - talking - as we started. That was unexpected, but you just roll with it and keep going.

We had a great time of worship, let by Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Ondra - "Here I am to Worship," "Arise, My Soul," and "God of Wonders." Dorothy was rockin' on the egg shaker, and Ondra - well, his instrumental during the offering was the most worship-ful part of the service and something I won't forget.

My first sermon in over 2 years was on, what else, the church. Peter's profession of Christ in Matthew 16 - I felt like it was the best place to start with a church called Faith Community. After it was over, one more song and the benediction. It felt very... comfortable, and we were introduced to this new baby, this new body of Christ, full of hopes and dreams and anxieties.

Back home we had a team celebration dinner, complete with Snickers pie. Cigars? No. But it was a very joyous occasion and a time to thank God for bringing us to this point in Prague, and our lives. Thanks for your prayers. Hopefully more pictures will be added soon!

tough guy!

Clark's new name is tough guy based on this picture - he has not one, but two fat lips (caused by two separate instances), a few scratches caused by running at light speed into a bush, various other unexplainable scars not to mention the rest of his body...and he just keeps on going!

haircuts and wine?

Monday night I hosted a girls' night at my house - this wasn't just any ol' girls' night, it was a haircutting party! My friend Alta owned a shop in South Africa for years and she moved here with her husband (and is expecting a baby very soon). We got to talking with some other girls and decided we had some business for her, so she set up shop in my kitchen and she did about 5 cuts, the first one being Lucy. All the ladies looked fabulous!

we miss you red

Miss Red we miss you already!

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear My Missionary Child Say

"Daddy, look at that big beer!"

As we were driving, we were simultaneously shocked that (a) there were 2 large beers flanking the bridge we drive over every day and (b) that our 4-year-old pointed them out to us. They're covering 2 large statues that are apparently undergoing some restoration work. The sponsor? Staropramen Beer. I'm wondering if people even realized there were statues to begin with.

Red-dy, Set, See Ya

One of our favorite people in Prague has left. Miss Red (also known by her real name Jessica) left to return to America today. We had a killer party for her last week - you can tell we did a little planning in advance. We even played a game, led by Sunny, where we acted out scenes from Red's life in Prague this past year, without words, and she had to guess what they were. It was a hoot! But we miss her already!

Don't be a stranger, Red! We love you, even if you did splatter wine on our walls your last day here...

Family Time

The ladies look dazzling with their earrings, and the boys are mighty handsome (not "beautiful," as Clark says).

The Prague Team

Happy Easter from the Prague Team!

Easter Team Time

We went over to Chris and Laura's (and Owen's) for church time and brunch. We had a wonderful time of singing some hymns, and Lucy and Phil shared the Easter story together. Then it was time for an awesome brunch, topped off with another egg hunt for the kids (in the living room).

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny does in fact come to Prague. He left lots of chocolate and hid lots of eggs around the house. Lucy and Clark, using their strong sense of chocolate smell, were able to find all the eggs in record time. The sugar rush is sure to last several hours, probably into our team fellowship and brunch later this morning. Should be interesting...

Bye, Bill (We really mean it this time)

(With apologies to Ben Folds Five)
Everyone gather round now
sing us a song
just in case by tomorrow
it happens he's gone

For two weeks and seven days
our fair foreign friend
I have this feeling
we might never see Steven (Bill) again
But We thought he was gone
Yet he's come back again
last week it was funny
now the joke's wearing thin
cuz everyone knows now
that every night now
will be Steven's (Bill's) last night in town

Bill, we will truly miss you this time. America is not worthy to have you back!

Time-oriented?

I found a nifty little countdown timer for our first church service - April 15th at 4:30 pm! Now you know exactly how much time is left until we launch, right over there on the right. Yay!

The sidewalks are no longer safe

We got a new bike for Lucy yesterday. She is EXCITED!!! I have been doing a lot of chasing, making sure she doesn't wipe out or hit anybody or anything. That started in the sporting goods store where we bought it, as she did several laps around, testing it out. We went straight from there to a huge park, complete with boulders and creeks - lots of treacherous places for a new bike-rider to fall. More chasing by me.After much needed naps, we all went to our neighborhood park to ride some more. Clark brought his version of a big-boy bike too. These guys are ready to start a gang.

curled up

Easter Bunny

The Yaya Easter Bunny came early this year... she sent us a package all the way from America! It included yummy treats and fun things to do! Lucy and Clark had a blast with the fun foam clay, we have been reading the great books and tonight we used sprinkles to decorate Easter cupcakes. Thanks Yaya. We love you!

As you can tell in Lucy's world her motto is

"you can always add more sprinkles... there are never enough!"

Dot's Birthday

Last week was Dot's birthday and some ladies went out to an authentic Italian restaurant for dinner. We had lots of fun talking, laughing and celebrating Dot! We love you Aunt Dot!!!

Oliver

I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for my good friend Emily also known as Anna Lee's mommy. She is due with her second a little boy in a few weeks. We had a great time of celebrating, chatting and eating! We can not wait for Oliver's arrival!