A Special Bath for Jesus

I love the way that Rosemary teaches Nate about Jesus. She tries to do it in a way that makes sense to him, and I think she's really good at it.

This past Sunday we had a baptism service in our church. Baptizing believers is absolutely one of my favorite things to do - it is so great to be part of someone taking that step and making an outward statement of their commitment to Christ and the new life they have received in him.

Before the baptism, during Sunday school, Rosemary taught Nate about John the Baptist and explained baptism. She told him: "When you love Jesus, you take a special bath to show everybody." I guess that's right - I'd just never thought about it in those terms!

Nate doesn't always like taking a bath, so when we went down in the baptismal for the baptisms, Nate started getting nervous and saying, 'Oh no! No bath!'
Then Rosemary told Nate: 'Look, daddy is like John the Baptist!' - which helped Nate to relax and eat some pretzels while watching the baptisms.
Immediately after I got out of the water Nate came up and gave me a high five and told me, 'Good job daddy!'

After the baptisms we had communion. Nate got excited when he saw all the little cups of juice, and wanted to go to the front to get one - but Rosemary stopped him, explaining, 'Nate, that is special juice for big people'. Nate obviously had a hard time accepting this, as he wanted a snack and couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him have any. He'll figure it out eventually :)

Here are some pictures from the baptism:

Pictures by Balázs Dániel

Felicia's Dedication

We spent last week in Vajta at the annual Foundations Conference for Calvary Chapel church leaders from Eastern Europe. We had a good time and good fellowship with many friends we don't get to meet with very often.
During the conference we had Felicia dedicated to the Lord by Pastor Brian Broderson. Pastor Brian married us, and he was Rosemary's pastor in Vista before she came out to Hungary as a missionary.
When we went up for the dedication, Pastor Brian asked me to tell the story of the miracle that the Lord did in saving Felicia, and then he prayed for her.
Felicia loves people, and she stole the show by acting cute through the whole thing. She was the star of the night and looked very cute in her 'princess dress'. The person who gave us the dress told us, 'after everything she's been through she needs a princess dress!'
We really are still so amazed by what God has done in Felicia's life. She is now 5 months old and doing so well. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for her and continue to pray for her that she would grow up knowing and walking with the Lord.
Here are some pictures of the dedication:

A múlt héten Vajtán voltunk az éves Alapok Konferencián, amelyet a kelet európai Golgota gyülekezetek vezetői számára szervezik. Nagyon jól éreztük magunkat, és jó közösségünk volt sok olyan barátunkkal akikkel csak ritkán találkozunk.
A konferencia egyik estén volt Felíciának a baba bemutatója, amelyet a Brian Broderson lelkipásztor csinálta. A Brian pásztor összeadott minket és ő volt Rosemary lelkipásztora Vistában, mielőtt ide költözött Magyarországra.
Amikor előre mentünk a bemutatóra, Brian arra kért, hogy mondjak egy pár szót arról, hogy mi történt Felíciával, és arról, hogy milyen csodát tett az Úr azzal, hogy őt megmentette és meggyógyította - és aztán Brian imádkozott érte és odaszántuk a kislányunkat az Urra.
Felícia nagyon szereti az embereket, és ő volt a sztár azon az estén. Nagyon cuki volt a 'hercegnő ruhájában'. Aki adta nekünk azt a ruhát, azt mondta, 'azután a sok minden után amin keresztül ment ez a kislány, kell neki egy hercegnő ruha!'
Még mindig nagyon annyira csodáljuk azt, hogy mit tett az Úr Felícia életében. Ő most már 5 hónapos, és nagyon szépen fejlődik. Köszönjük mindannyiatoknak, hogy imádkoztatok a gyógyulásáért és hogy továbbra is imádkoztok érte, hogy megismerje az Urat és járjon vele ahogyan fel nő.
Itt van egy pár fénykép a bemutatóról:

Photos by Németh Laci

New Car

With our growing family we've been feeling the need for a bigger car for some time now. When we first bought our Peugeot right after we got married, we felt like we had a really big car - but now cramming all 5 of us into it we feel like sardines - and like fried sardines when its 38°C (100°F) and the air conditioning isn't working.
I started out looking for used cars, until someone told me to check out the Dacia Logan MCV, a 7-seater that costs new only slightly more than the used cars we were looking at. We we a bit hesitant at first about buying a Dacia, but after reading consumer reports and talking to 'car guys' about them, we started to think more seriously about it. Dacia is assembled in Romania but owned by Renault, and they have Renault motors and parts. A friend of ours in Eger owns the 7-seater that we were interested in, and he let us borrow it for a day to try it out, and we really liked it.
We found the one we wanted in Székesfehérvár, and are picking it up on Monday on our way to Vajta for the Foundations Conference. We're really looking forward to it - and now we're trying to sell our Peugeot. Hopefully we can do that soon.

Here are some pictures of the car. This is the actual one we will get. It was in the showroom, so that's why there's no radio in it, but there will be by the time we get it.


Here's a diagram of how the seats can be moved around:

Homesick

Ahh, the US of A! Home sweet home!

A New Dawn

A new day has dawned in Hungary - a new era has begun today in Budapest.
The first Hungarian Starbucks opened today in the Westend mall, which has resulted in widespread joy and babies smiling all over the world.

Ok, maybe it's not quite that revolutionary that Hungary has now joined almost all of its neighbors in having Starbucks coffee in their country, but hey, at least there is one more thing to spend money on when I go to Budapest :)

June 15

Today is Balázs' birthday - he's 16!

We are taking Felicia back to the neurology department at the hospital in Budapest today for a check up. She hasn't been in a few months, and we are really curious what the doctors will say about how she is progressing. As far as we can tell, she is perfectly healthy - which we are so thankful for. However, last time we went the doctors said she wasn't doing as well as we thought she was, so we are really curious what they will say today.

After we finish at the hospital I am going to meet Balázs at Aquaworld Budapest, where he will already be with one of his friends.
That's one of the nice things about having kids - it gives you excuses to go to places like this, where you might not usually go on your own!

I realized I haven't posted many pictures of Felicia. Here is one I took a few weeks ago:

Dorothy Grace Update

Many people have asked me about little Dorothy Grace and how she is doing. I talked to Enikő the other day and she told me that Dorothy is now been released from the developmental neurology department at the Margit Hospital, and is now at a different hospital, where she continues to receive care.
Dorothy is making improvement, but only very slowly. The doctor in the neurology department did not give Enikő and Robert much hope regarding Dorothy's recovery, but they keep on hoping and believing that God can heal their little girl. She is certainly not a lost cause.
Dorothy is no longer hooked up to any machines or oxygen, she is conscious and she now cries - something she did not do for quite some time after birth. One concern they have had is that for a long time Dorothy was not able to swallow, and so she had to be fed through a tube being placed down her throat into her stomach. Recently Dorothy started swallowing milk on her own, which is a GREAT improvement, but she is still only able to take about 4 gulps and then stops.
In the new hospital, Dorothy is being treated with a massage therapy which should help her muscle and brain development.
Please continue to pray for Dorothy Grace. Her parents ask that you would also pray for them, that God would give them strength during this difficult time.

Sokan érdeklődtek, hogy a kis Dorothy Grace hogy van. Nem rég beszéltem Enikővel, és azt mondta, hogy Dorothyt kiengedték a Margit kórházi fejlődés neurológia osztályból, és most egy másik pesti kórházban van, ahol továbbra kezelik.
Dorothy javul, bár nagyon lassan. Az orvos a fejlődés neurológián nem igazán mondott bátorító szavakat a Dorothy felépülésével kapcsolatban, de annak ellenére Enikő és Robert még mindig reménykednek és biznak abban, hogy Isten meg tudja gyógyítani a kislányukat. Az biztos, hogy ő nem egy reménytelen eset.
Dorothy most már nincs hozzákötve semmilyen géphez vagy lélegeztetőhöz. Ő most már sokott sírni - ami nagyon jó, mert nem sírt egy jó ideig miután megszületett. Ami még gond, az, hogy nem tud lenyelni a tejet, és szondán keresztül kapja az ennivalót. Nem rég Dorothy kezdett lenyelni valamennyi tejet magától, ami egy NAGY javulást jelent, viszont kb csak 4 kortyot tud lenyelni és kész.
Abban a kórházban ahol ők most vannak, Dorothy kap egy gyógymaszázs kezelést ami segíti az izom-tónusát és az agyműködését.
Kérlek, imádkozzatok továbbra Dorothy Grace-ért. A kedves szűlői meg azt kértek, hogy imádkozzatok azért, hogy Isten adjon nekik erőt ebben a nehéz időszakban.

Things You'll Hear Said in Our Home

You will hear some interesting things said in our home. Here are some examples.

1. "NATHANIEL! Stop counting and go to sleep!"
   He lays in bed and takes a while to fall asleep-doing anything and everything but sleeping. He loves to count lately and he is getting very good at it with all this practice.
2. "Nick, will you vacuum Felicia's nose this time?"
   Yes, for those that remember the vacuum cleaner nose sucker-we are using it again. We have all had a cold, and there is no better way to clear her breathing passages. Check it out here: http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2008/11/baby-nose-vacuum.html
3. Sister is fat.
   Nate is not sure how to decide yet who or what animal is fat, so I thought I would help him out by showing him an example-his sister.
4. More Dani!
   Nate has a few friends, and he loves our neighbor and worship leader at church, Dani.
5. Red two here! (Pointing)
   Nate wants us to write numbers for him, and he dictates what color it should be, points to where it should be drawn, and wants it NOW!
6. When dad is driving the car, Nate pays attention from the back seat and says "Zoom, fast!"
7. Oh no wiener.
   He says Oh No about anything that is in trouble in his opinion. He uses this one when jumping on Nick.

~ Rosemary

Cikk a Gyülekezetről - Article about the church

Ma megjelent egy cikk a gyülekezetről egy egri hírlapban.
Jákus Ági írta, aki ide járt főiskolára, újságíró szakra. Ági most végzett a fősulin, de amíg itt volt Egerben ő vezette az egri MEKDSZ-t, és hozzánk járt gyülekezetbe amikor tudott.
Szerintem nagyon jó lett a cikk, és remélem, hogy rajta keresztül minél többen fognak tudni Egerben és a környéken arról a munkáról amit Isten végez köztünk a Golgotában.

Amúgy, a Google Chrome böngészőnek van egy olyan beépített funkciója, hogy fordítja a weblapokat akármelyik nyelvről akármelyik másik nyelvre. Ezt azért írom, mert van olyan, hogy csak angolul írunk bejegyzést - szóval ez egy lehetőség azoknak számára akik inkább magyar nyelven szeretnének olvasni a blog bejegyzéseket.

An article about our church came out today in a local newpaper.
It was written by Ági Jakus, who was a college student here in Eger, studying to be a journalist. Ági just finished her studies, but during the time she was here, she was the leader of the local chapter of IFES, and she attended our church when she could.
I think the article is great, and I hope that through it more people in Eger and the surrounding region will find out about the work that God is doing through Calvary Chapel here.

By the way, the Google Chrome browser has a build in feature that translates web pages from any language into any other language. This is an easy tool to help read websites in languages you don't speak.