Graduations

Last week we had two graduations in our family: Nate graduated from Kindergarten and Balazs graduated in High School.

We are very proud of both of them, but especially of Balázs because of how far he has come sine he first came to live with us. High school wasn't easy, especially since he had to study in a foreign language, but he did it, and he finished well. His last semester was probably his best in all his years of schooling so far.

One week from today Balázs will start his new job at LEI companies in Denver, in an electrician apprenticeship program.

Here is a video of Nate's kindergarten graduation and some pictures of Balázs' high school graduation.

 

Receiving an acknowledgement for his community service:

 

Big Day for Nate

Yesterday was a day Nate has been waiting for, for a long time. About 2 years ago I took Nate skiing for the first time, to Bánkút in Hungary. At the time I went snowboarding, and Nate really wanted to snowboard, but I told him he had to wait until he was 6. He never forgot those words - and yesterday I took my 6 year old to Eldora for an all-day snowboarding lesson.

He did really quite well; I think part of it was that he was motivated. He told me his goal is to get good enough to go riding with me :) I look forward to that day!

Here's a video of him learning to ride:

Exactly 1 hour after his snowboarding lesson ended, his Tae Kwon Do class started back here in Longmont. A few weeks ago Nate tested for a yellow belt; we weren't sure if he would get it since he didn't know some of the forms perfectly, but his teacher awarded it to him because net never gave up during the test. Some of the other kids he tested with didn't get a belt - so we were impressed with Nate's perseverance and determination. It's little wins like this which motivate you to keep going and work harder.

Here's the video of Nate receiving his yellow belt:

 

Merry Christmas - Boldog Karácsonyt!

We had a great Christmas this year. The Christmas Eve service at White Fields was packed, we ate töltött káposzta forint dinner, which is a Hungarian tradition for Szenteste. Ocean cooked the stuffed cabbage for us, and it turned out great; one of the best we've all had, even compared to in Hungary. The nice thing about Hungarian food is that it is designed to be made from scratch, so you can theoretically make it anywhere.

On Christmas Day my parents came over and we had a big meal, opened presents and played and assembled things together. After they left some friends came over to play a board game to close the night. All around a great Christmas. Hope yours was great too!

 

Trabant in Longmont

I saw this Trabant driving down Hover street in Longmont the other day.

Never expected to see one of these on the road all the way over here!

Thanksgiving Video Update

This is a video we made for our friends and supporters over at Calvary Vista. They showed it as part of their Thanksgiving Eve service.

It was pretty cold outside when we made it - I thought I wouldn't need a jacket. I was shivering!

Calvary Vista supported us while we were in Hungary and they have continued to love us and support us since we've come to Colorado. We are thankful for them!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! What are you thankful for this year? How have you experienced God's grace and provision?

The Longmont Pastor

I recently started another blog, which is titled: The Longmont Pastor and can be found here: http://longmontpastor.wordpress.com/

I will continue to update this blog, so please do keep checking in. This has always been more of a personal blog, detailing the lives of our family and ministry for those who know us personally and want to keep up on our lives. The Longmont Pastor is going to be very focused on issues relating directly to the Longmont from a pastor's perspective. I have written articles on there about marijuana legalization and other local issues.

If you have a Wordpress account, make sure to follow me on there, and if you don't, be sure to click the "Subscribe by Email" button at the bottom of the page.

 

 

Autumn Hike

Colorado is a beautiful place in every season, but autumn is maybe the most picturesque as aspen leaves change from green to yellow, then orange to red, and while the peaks are getting their first dustings of new snow.

Here in Longmont we are cut off from the nearby mountains because of the floods. We can't get to Lyons, Estes Park or Nederland, all places that were quick trips into the mountains previously. This past Monday we went down to Golden Gate Canyon, the closest access to the mountains to where we live - about a 50 min drive south of us. Here are some pictures:

Grays and Torreys Peaks - both about 14,000 ft.

Longs Peak and Mount Meeker

 

Colorado Floods: How You Can Help

(Mirrored here from the White Fields Community Church blog)
In the last few days we experienced a historic and destructive flood, and so many people have been asking how they can help.
Here are some ways that we as the Body of Christ can shine light in the community:

Pray!

Pray for those affected by the floods, that not only would their needs be met and their hearts comforted, but that as a result of this time of crisis, they would remember how fragile life is and how temporary and fleeting possessions and the things of this world are, that they would turn to the Lord and find hope in the Gospel that goes beyond the circumstances and material things of this life.

Serve!

Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16). We encourage you to serve people in our community in the name of the Lord. There are many ways to do that, starting with helping those in our congregation whose homes were affected, to helping neighbors or friends who were affected.As a church, we are working closely with Longmont EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and Convoy of Hope Christian disaster relief ministry to help in recovery efforts, which will begin in the next few days and continue probably for the next few months. We will be looking to put together work teams to be able to go in and help with repairs and clean up. If anyone has special skills, please let us know, so we can help you meet those specific needs. For a list of current volunteer opportunities click here.

Give!

We have started a fund, called "Colorado Relief". You can give to that fund online here. In speaking with the EOC, they are going to help direct us to use these funds to help particular families meet important and specific needs. This is a good option if you would like to help people in our community and aren't sure how, as this will go directly to helping flood victims in our area, without any of it going to overhead.As of now, there are no particular material needs that we or the EOC or the Red Cross have, so we encourage you to give to the relief fund and we use those monies for hurting families as they come to our attention through these organizations we are partnering with.

Baby Raccoon in our backyard

Another project I had for myself while Rosemary and the little ends were away was to get the garage reorganized, so we could fit both our cars in at the same time. We moved into the house over a year ago, and our garage was our main staging area, so for over 12 months one of our cars has always been parked outside - in the rain, snow and sin, which are all taking their toll on our aging Acura.

Balázs and I worked hard for a few hours and successfully moved things around enough to make room for both cars.

As we were taking some things to our shed in the backyard, I almost stepped on a ball of fur - which I soon realized was alive. At first I thought it was a mole, but as I looked closer I realized it was a baby raccoon, sleeping in the middle of the yard.

We figured out that he was probably only a few days old, since his eyes were not yet open and he was just learning to walk.

However cute he was, it was a bit concerning that he was out in the open like this, unprotected. I called animal control, and they said to wait overnight, to see if the mom came back for it. When morning came, the little guy was still sleeping in the same place in the yard, so I had animal control come out and get him. They said the mother either abandoned him or died, and that's why he was alone.

He was certainly cute, but I'm not interested in seeing any grown raccoons around, although according to animal control, there are a ton in our area.

 

Video Roundup

No trip to California is complete without 50 trip to In n Out Burger. They now have locations in Utah and Texas, hopefully they will think of coming to Colorado in the near future. Considering how many people have moved to Colorado from California, an In n Out in Denver would have lines around the block 24/7. I know I would wait in line for it as long as I had to!

The closest In n Out to us is in St George, Utah - roughly 10 hrs away. Needless to say, we ate our fair share to hold us over until the next time we return. And during our trip we came to realize that Felicia can't pronounce 'hamburger'

This next video is from the Button Rock dam in the mountains above Lyons, which is the main source of water for the city of Longmont.

This time of year they are releasing water from the lake into the St Vrain river to fill up the reservoirs around Longmont. The force of the water coming out of the dam was incredible. Check it out:

 

Heading Home

Today was my last day in Eger. As excited as I was to be in Eger this past week, I was totally ready to go home this morning. I miss my wife and kids, and I realize that God has bound my heart up with Longmont and the ministry of White Fields, and entrusted the ministry here to others.

I went to Tesco and OBI, I needed to mail a few things and buy a few gifts, but the main goal was to find a way to take Túró Rudi back home to America. I picked up some Kinder Tojás and Kinder Szelet and then went over to OBI to get a hűtő táska.

Afterwards I met Dani in town for a coffee and then went up to say goodbye to Tünde and Julcsi. Jani came up to Budapest with me, along with Ilona and Judit. When we left Eger the weather was cold but fine, and about half way to Budapest it started snowing, and got worse and worse. I think it might be still snowing outside.

Here in Budapest I'm staying with Laci Németh, pastor of Golgota Dél-Pest, and Kyle Eckhart from Golgota Szeged came up to say hi and catch up. Great guys doing great ministries that The Lord is blessing. It was good to hang out and catch up. Laci lives near the airport, so he will drive me in the morning. My plane leaves at 6am, so we will leave early.

It's been a good trip. I'm so glad that I got to come and support Jani and Tünde and the church in Eger. Please continue to pray for the Hernádi family, for the city of Eger and for the work of God in Hungary, especially through the Golgota churches.

 

Plotlines

Sometime, once I have finished teaching through Genesis on Sundays at White Fields I would like to do a sermon series on the plot lines that run throughout the entirety of the Bible.

For example, I taught a sermon a few weeks ago titled "A Tale of Three Trees", about how really the Bible, the Gospel, is a story of three trees: the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of Calvary. We started in a garden with 2 trees, but we were separated from the tree of life when we sinned at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but because of what God did for us through Jesus on the tree of Calvary we can get back to the tree of life in the New Jerusalem, as seem in the final chapter of Revelation, where it says hat no longer will anything be accursed and the leaves of that tree will be for the healing of the nations. So there it is: the Gospel - we were created for perfection, created to live forever, cursed to death and corruption because of sin, but the message of the cross is the hope of redemption and restoration available exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ.

I didn't even get to talk about a few other important trees in the Bible, such as the tree that was thrown into the bitter water of Meribah (Numbers 20) which made it sweet - another foreshadowing of the Cross! Not to mention the tree planted by the water in Psalm 1 - which ties into another amazing plot line: The River!

There was a river that flowed through the garden of Eden, there will be a river that flows from the throne of God in the New Jerusalem, where the tree of life will be. Ezekiel prophesied about a temple that would be in Jerusalem, which is yet to be built... Zechariah said that when the Messiah comes he will put his feet down on Jerusalem and it will split in half and a river will flow out of it. This river, according to Ezekiel will give life wherever it flows, and it will split and part of it will flow into the Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea will come to life with fish and other living creatures, i.e. the Dead Sea will resurrect from the dead! And actually, this was probably what Jesus was alluding to in John 7, when on the last day of the festival as they poured the pitcher of water out on the dry ground, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" He said this standing in Jerusalem, in the place where Ezekiel had prophesied that a river would flow giving life to everything it touched! How amazing is that?

There are other plot lines of the Bible: the story of the Lamb that runs throughout the Bible, the picture of the Rock which is both a foundation, a refuge and even is struck and water flows out giving life to the people. Aother is the picture of bread found over and over in the Bible, and there are more.

Are there any plot lines of the Bible that your personal favorites? Any I didn't mention here?

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The View

This is the view I have taking Nate to and from school everyday. The first one is of the Indian Peaks, and the second is on Longmont's namesake: Longs Peak. I got to climb Longs Peak (14,259 ft / 4346 m) this past summer and I hope to do it again this year. The view of the Rockies from Longmont is one of the best on the Front Range.

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Recycling and Theology

We live in Boulder county, which means that most people here don't go to church, but everyone recycles!

We love recycling, especially since we watched a documentary about the huge island of trash swirling around in the Pacific, with plastics decomposing and being eaten by fish which then go into our food supply...

Many Christians make the case for not being concerned about stewardship of the planet because if Jesus is coming back soon, and the Earth will be destroyed, then what are we protecting it for?

However, I really like having clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, and not having garbage strewn all over the Rocky Mountains, and I'm happy to do my part. I certainly appreciate the fruits of the conservation movement in Colorado with large parts of God's majestic creation being preserved for people to enjoy, and repopulating wild animal populations. I believe that as we see in the beginning of Genesis, God created the world as a garden for man, for his use and enjoyment, and for his stewardship for as long as it was entrusted to his care.

Here's what Mark Driscoll has to say about recycling - kinda sums it up:

"We believe in recycling. We’re all for it. But you’ll die and go to hell with a green garbage can filled with newspapers if you don’t love Jesus."

 

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Check out White Fields On YouTube

A few weeks ago Balázs started uploading videos of the sermons at White Fields Community Church to YouTube. You can check out White Fields' channel here: http://youtube.com/user/WhiteFieldsChurch

 

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What a Year...

2012 was a big year for the Cady family...

About this time last year we were getting ready to make the big announcement that after 10+ years serving in Hungary, we had been called to serve The Lord somewhere else.

It was in January that we handed over the churches in Eger and Heves, and by March we loaded up everything we owned into a container to be shipped across the sea. By April I was leading White Fields and by May we had bought a house and moved to Longmont.

After a year characterized by transition into this new place of ministry, I'm ready to be settled in and focus on forward progress and Gospel impact here in No. Colorado. We have some ideas...

Please pray for a great harvest of souls here in Longmont and a deep work of God in 2013.

 

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Moved to Longmont

We have been in Colorado for 2 months now, and on Tuesday we closed on our new house. It's really a crazy feeling for me to own a house. I feel very blessed to be able to buy a house where my wife and kids can feel at home.

We are really enjoying Longmont and the ministry at the church. And it is so nice to actually be living in Longmont now, and not have to drive up and down I-25 every day. If I never see I-25 again it will be too soon...

We are over half-way done moving our stuff in and unpacking, thanks to a lot of help from my parents and some kind people from church. It's beginning to feel like home. The kids were super excited to get all their toys back.

God is good. We feel very blessed.