Made It to Colorado

Balázs and I made it to Colorado. We left California on Wednesday after lunch and drove to Las Vegas, where we stayed with my friends Chris and Jeremy. We went down to the strip to show Balázs around...needless to say, he was amazed. We went on the roller coaster at New York New York twice - it was the first time Balázs had ever been on one, and my first time on a roller coaster in over 10 years! We had a blast.

Thursday morning we left Vegas after breakfast and drove straight through to Denver. Everything was really great - no problems with the car, no tickets, no problems. The Lord was gracious to us!

Rosemary and the kids fly in to Denver in a few hours. Our first few weeks here are going to be busy. We need to find a place to live, schools for the kids, immigration stuff for Balázs. Please pray for us!

I Bought a Mac

I bought a new laptop last week. Balázs will be doing the rest of this semester of school online, so he needed a computer, so I gave him my PC laptop and I got a MacBook Pro.

I kind of felt like a lemming buying a Mac, but I really do like it a lot.

I like the operating system, I love all the touch pad fast gestures, how the email program integrates with the calendar and how I am able to sync everything together.

I also love that my battery lasts 6 hrs on one charge.

I'll say this - a few months ago I got to the point where I hated using my laptop, and rather used my tablet as much as I could, only turning on the laptop when absolutely necessary, about once or twice a week. Using this Mac has made me enjoy using a laptop again.

Disneyland

A few months ago we promised our kids we would take them to Disneyland when we were in California. Thanks to the generosity of some friends and Christian brothers and sisters we were able to make it happen, and we all had a great day.

Here is a video of some pictures from our day there:

Philistines for Friends

This past weekend we went to visit family friends in Los Angeles and had a really nice time, as we always do. They are more family than friends, and we make sure to see them whenever we are in So. California.

Probably as a result of living in Hungary and being aware that different people speak different languages, Nate often asks me what language different people speak in - including Darth Vader and R2D2.

Here's the conversation we had this morning:
Nate: "What language does Auntie Lola speak?"
Me: "She speaks English and Tagalog."
Nate: "What's Tagalog?"
Me: "It's the language of the Philippines."
Nate - with big eyes: "The PHILISTINES?"

Nate has taken in his fair share of Vegitales videos and Bible stories, so as he said this, it was as if I could see exactly what was going through his mind: "Auntie Lola and her family are Philistines?! The Philistines are the ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD!!!"

So I quickly tried to explain to him that they are not Philistines, they are from the Philippines - but since he doesn't know what the Philippines are, I'm not sure it helped much.

Later on Nate was talking to cousin Jack -
Nate: "Who is that on your shirt?
Jack: "It's Darth Vader"
Nate: "Wow! I have Darth Mal on my underwear! Look!" (starts taking off pants...)
Us: "Nate! Don't take off your pants in public!"

Maybe having such exciting underwear isn't such a good idea... It's hard to have Darth Mal on your underpants and not be able so show anyone!

Our First Week Back in the States

We've been back in the US for over one week now. Before we head on to Colorado and get into ministry there, we are spending some time in San Diego with family and people who have supported us over the years in Hungary.

Our flight back to the US went really well. The kids were really well behaved on the long flight from Frankfurt to London, and took good naps. When the kids are well behaved, it makes the whole experience better.
We had a 5 and 1/2 hour layover in San Francisco, which was very long - but it turns out we needed the time, because we accidentally lost Balázs' passport… We got it back, but it took a long time to find out exactly who had it, because it had been passed around from the airport employees to the police, to United…

On Saturday we went with Rosemary's brother Tony to see the USS Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego, and on the way our car started to overheat. Long story short - the radiator cracked and needs to be replaced. In all actuality, it couldn't have happened at a better time or in a better place. We have friends here in the car business who are going to get the car taken care of for free - not to mention how much worse it could have been if the radiator had gone out later this month in the middle of the desert or in the mountains while driving out to Colorado.

But while I took the car back to Vista, the kids and Rosemary and Tony all went down to San Diego and checked out the aircraft carrier.

On Sunday we were at Calvary Chapel in Vista, where Pastor Rob prayed for us at both services and we got to connect with people from the church. After church we had some people over who have been supporters of ours for years, and Rosemary made Hungarian food for them and we talked and hung out.
We really are thankful for all the support we have gotten from Calvary Vista over the years. This is a church that is really missions minded, both internationally and locally, not to mention a very loving body of people.

This past weekend we went to LA. We went to church at Reality LA and on our way back were able to make a short but blessed visit to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, where we joined the missions prayer meeting, a great group of people committed to praying for missionaries week in and week out. They have prayed for our needs and requests for many years, and we are so thankful for their support and impressed with their hearts for the mission of God and for prayer.

On Wednesday Balázs and I will be driving out to Colorado, with Rosemary and the kids coming by plane on Friday. Please pray for our travel and our transition to Longmont!

Slavery to Our Tools

Check out this presentation about the hold that technology can have on us.

There is a lot to take note of in what she has to say - lest we become slaves to our tools.

My favorite quote: "we used to share what we think, now we think so that we can share."

Check it out:

Only In Hollywood

Nate's latest interest is Star Wars, ever since he saw Darth Vader sword fighting with some Jedi masters at Disneyland. So he was excited to take meet Darth Vader on Hollywood Blvd.

Nate saw Elmo from the car window and shouted hello to him - so Elmo came over to say hi.
There is perhaps nothing more disenchanting than seeing Elmo standing on the side of the road counting his wad of cash!

Simply Christian

I am currently studying the Reformation in my seminary studies, and the other day I read this quote from Martin Luther:

"I ask that men make no reference to my name; let them call themselves Christians, not Lutherans. What is Luther? After all the teaching is not mine [John 7: 16]. Neither was I crucified for anyone [1 Corinthians 1: 13]. St Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, would not allow the Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine, but Christian. How then should I – poor stinking maggot-fodder that I am – come to have men call the children of Christ by my wretched name? Not so, my dear friends; let us abolish all party names and call ourselves Christians, after him whose teaching we hold." (LW 45: 70–1)

Amen to that Dr. Luther.

Golgota Eger Video

The church in Eger made this video for us, and played it after church our last Sunday in Eger. It is made up of pictures from the almost 7 years that we lived in Eger. Check it out:

Az egri gyüli készítette ezt a videót, és lejátszották gyüli után az Istentisztelet után amikor elbúcsúztunk tőlük. Fényképekből áll, amik az elmúlt 7 év alatt készültek.

Golgota Eger from Nick Cady on Vimeo.

Ending Where We Started

Monday night as we packed our bags to fly out early Tuesday mornin and leave our beloved Eger, we ate dinner with the Poczok family - a family who attend our church and live very close to where we did.

It was a very fitting way to end our time in Eger, because it was at there house that we started out when we first started coming to Eger.

Before we moved to Eger, for about a year or so, we took te train up from Debrecen to meet with some people and hold Bible studies. But since we weren't yet married at the time, Rosemary and I had to find separate places to sleep. I always used to sleep at the house of a family from the Baptist church and Rosemary would stay with the Poczok family.

Their daughter Judit was the first person in the church in Eger, and we spent a lot of time with their family over the years. Kati néni was always ready to help us no matter what we needed. She cooked for us, she watched our kids and played with them, and generally just loved us, and we loved her.

Sitting in their house 8 years after we first started coming to Eger, on our last night in Hungary was surreal, but a very fitting end to a very blessed era of our lives.

Búcsú Üzenet

Üdv Amerikából!

Hétfőn, mielőtt elindultunk, lehetőségem volt az áhítatot tartani az Irányjelző (határontúl: Pestindex) című műsorban a Golgota Rádión.

A Németh Laci arra kért, hogy egy búcsú üzenetet mondjam a magyar keresztényeknek mint egy leköszönő misszionárius és lelkipásztor aki 10 évig szolgált Magyarországon.

Ez az az üzenet:

Theological Statements by Nate

Looking up at the sky the other night, Nate tells me:

"The moon is in the sky. That means that all the people in heaven are sleeping."

"God is so big, so he always has to sleep outside."

For Sale: Dobó István Laktanya

Do you happen to be in the market for a used Hungarian army base? Because there is one for sale in Eger.

Eger used to have a pretty large military community. When we moved to Eger in 2005 the army base was functioning and full of soldiers, and since we lived near to it, we often got to watch the army marching band march and play on our street right in front of our house. We loved it so much. Even a member of our church here was a soldier stationed at this base.

But times change. Hungary has no need for a large army, which is a good thing, and the military has been cut back in the national budget.

But seeing a military base with a for sale sign on it is a strange sight nonetheless.

Moving Day

Today was moving day!

Early this morning we started the day with packing up some of the kids toys which they didn't want to be put into the container, then I took Nate to óvoda, and by the time I got back home the movers were here.

The truck in front of our house in Eger - ours is the top floor.

Isaac was a big help today. While we ran around and packed he played "dolly house" for hours with Felicia :)

Nate had a great time with the movers. He followed them around talking to them in Hungarian, trying to help them as much as he could. It was cute. He loves tools and big projects.
He is sad about leaving and doesn't like saying farewell, but he is excited about going to Colorado.

We still have a few days left here in Eger, but without any furniture or dishes we are having fun camping out in our empty apartment.

Packing Our Bags

Tomorrow is moving day!

We weighed our options and decided to go with an international relocation service that some friends of ours used when they moved back to the States from Debrecen. It's not cheap, but since we don't plan on moving continents again for a long while, we decided that it is worth it. The kids get to keep all of their toys and even their furniture, which we trust will make the transition easier on them and give them a sense of continuity in their lives.
And one of the biggest benefits is that we don't have to pack ANYTHING except what we take with us on the plane - in fact, we are not even ALLOWED to pack anything because the customs require details lists, and the company told us we are not allowed to pack any of our own stuff - we have to let them do it all. We can watch. We are totally ok with that :)
People keep asking us how the packing is going, and the truth is that it is not - we have just been living life as usual except for selling a few things. It has taken a huge stress off of the move and made it possible for us to just focus on our family and the church here.

Today we told the kids to pack their carry on luggage for the plane. Here are some pictures and a video: