Tuesday, June 30, 2009

You DO NOT Know Intense Until you Have Been to a Conference with 100 Spanish Women


I (Amber) had the opportunity to travel to El Espinar, Spain to be part of the Salem Church's annual womens weekend.... and what a weekend it was. The Spanish are a passionate, loud, intense, life-loving people and I love them for it! As this was not my first time working with the Salem church, there were many familiar faces and lots of catching up to do. All this talking and laughing was done over wonderful food at unfamiliar times. Breakfast was at 9am, followed by lunch at 2pm and the evening wound up with dinner at around 9:30pm - our days were long, but enjoyable. I am also amazed with the Spanish womens ability to NOT SLEEP. They were laughing, talking, crying, praying and singing into the wee hours of the morning (approximately 2:15am). They would then all arrive early to the morning devotional at 8:30am looking rested and wonderful... I don't know how they do it!

Aside from building relationships, I was asked to speak in one of the general sessions. I talked about the importance of mentoring (having a mentor and being a mentor) and the need for awareness regarding the people you surround yourself with. The process of putting my thoughts together was revelatory as it made me examine my own life and relationships. I have been blessed with SO MANY incredible women in my life (my Mom, all of my Aunts, great teachers and amazing friends to name a few). I am so grateful for each of these unique relationships - they have helped mold the person I am and the person I am becoming.

The weekend was also unique in that I was traveling without Matthew - a first! While I fared well, I missed him very much and it was nice to return home again!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Vinegar Day

A proof-reader is a great thing to have here. While making father's day cards for the dads that attend Mozaika, Matthew, thinking he was following grammatical rules that we will not even attempt to explain, changed the word "father" into "vinegar". Fortunately, the mistake was caught before the cards went to print.

We trust you have a happy vinegar's day!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Our 2 Year Anniversary

Today we celebrate 2 years of marriage and look forward to many more.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Time with the Tribe

Within 48 hours of our return from the Czech Republic, Matthew's sister and mother joined us here in Slovakia. 4 days later Matthew's father arrived from Ukraine where he had been on a missions trip. It was great to have family here. It makes it so much easier to share stories over the phone when there has been shared experiences. Proximity is not a luxury that we have, so time together is always of great value to us.

Not only was it good for us, but Chuck (Matthew's dad) was able to speak at our church plant and teach at an afternoon seminar on the Holy Spirit. It was a great time and people are still saying very encouraging things about it.

So overall, time with family = a good thing.