Hail No!
Almost 2 weeks ago, we planned to start our Horvath Home Gathering (House Church) on Weds 3/24. The food was made, we had a few people coming. Then about half an hour before it was to start, we had a crazy hail storm. For about 2 to 5 minutes there was baseball-sized hail. The back window of the minivan was blown out, it looked like someone shot it out with a shotgun. (as I wrote this Brett just returned from the insurance claim center with a $2800 check to get the repairs fixed.) Our minivan and the suburban we're using had plenty of gnarly hail dents too. It hit the city around rush hour so the highways were stopped for awhile. You should see how bad the cars look at the dealerships around here. Also, tons of cars had broken windows, houses need new roofs. The girls were confused..."what is it? is it snow? snow balls?" Needless to say, due to the storm our guests didn't come for house church that night, so we continued on with just our family. It was still great to read the Bible with the girls (Josh was asleep).
Kid Stuff
Kiddos are great! Ava is doing well at school, got her first report card which only graded her on her first 2 weeks at school. here grades were 4 out of 4 in most attitude and behavior related items, and 3 out of 4 with a few 2's in English and Math. This was not surprising since her school here is so far ahead of her Glenwood school. The standards for what is basic (just meeting, not exceeding) or 2 here appear to be the same as a 3 or 4 (exceeding or consistently exceeding). She is reading well, and I can already see the difference in being at such a great school. She snapped out of her latest sassy phase, and is very happy again. : ) Lily is still enjoying our at home time without Ava. She enjoys playing with Barbies (even though Josh tries to eat the Barbie shoes), playing dress up, High School Musical 3 (she's been wearing red and white most days to support the East High Wildcats from HSM), and coloring. She is counting the days when she can go to Preschool (next Sept) and talking alot about going to the beach (great idea!). She is set on marrying Daddy one day, but when Lily asked if Ava wanted to marry Daddy, Ava said "No, I'll marry a much cuter, younger boy." Josh is busy, happy, large. My back hurts at the end of the day from carrying that hoss up & down the stairs. He can go up and down the stairs solo, we're just watching him and going with him until he is very good at it and comfortable. He's talking tons. We'll ask him a question? "Where's Ava?" and he'll say something like "She's my sister." He talks real fast, but sometimes you can totally make out the words. With all the toys we have, his favorite things are our toothbrushes (we have to hide them) and kitchen gadgets (not the sharp ones). Everyone is still loving the back yard, and we're out there every day for at least an hour or two. Emmett is slim and trim, flea-less, and about to need another shave.
Brett's family visits
Last weekend Brett's mom and dad came (from Denver) Thurs to Sunday, and his brother came in from Dallas Sat to Sunday. We shopped, introduced them to some our favorite restaurants (Schlotzsky's, Chuy's, Rudy's, Amy's, La Madeline), showed them the Arboretum pond/park, Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful weekend (70's and 80's). We had a great time catching up, enjoying the back yard, sharing our new life with them. Of course the kids adored seeing their Grammy and Papa too! They left snow and came back to Denver with a blizzard. I know they were happy to escape from the snow and cold for the weekend. They left happy to see us and physically sore from carrying around Josh the Bruiser.
Coaching, Ministry, Bible Study
Amazing things are happening. First, Our Bible Study starts tonight (Beth Moore's Esther) at my friend Shannon's house. Thirteen people are coming, most from Shannon's gym. The cool thing is that most of these gals haven't done this type of study, don't regularly attend church, and/or aren't Christ followers. I am so excited to see how God works in this time and through the in-depth study of the Bible. Second, Brett attended a week long Coaching Certification which licenses him to train coaching classes. He is seeing alot of recognition and success as he continues with coaching. I'm bragging about him...many of his trainers and peers are saying he is extremely gifted at coaching. He is coaching 5 people right now, and loving it! Very cool. Finally, we have had several encounters with either friends we already know or those we just met. I saw at friend at a burger joint that we love and really wanted to get back in touch with. Right before (seconds before), I saw her, I was praying that God would put people in my path that I needed to talk to. We've invited her to house church and are praying she'll come. Brett met a guy at the BMX park, Joe, that he talked to Christ. Brett explained to him about why we moved to Texas, about our thoughts on Christ, community, about how it is about a relationship not religion. Joe said "I could really get behind that." There is an "old man" night (also called "The Dirty Thirties") at the BMX park on Weds, so we may switch our House Church to another night. I can't help but think there may be a BMX church at the park one of these days...we'll see. We met a really cool couple that have a non-traditional church (meets in a music venue/club, has extensive community outreach) here in town. They seem to share many of our values about community, possessions, ministry, etc. We are excited to get to know them better.
God's Grammar and Lazarus
Lazarus has come up alot lately, in my Mary Martha book and a movie we just watched The Lazarus Project (with Paul Walker, we liked it. I won't tell you about it, it'll give too much away.) Did you know Jesus waited four days after hearing until he went to see Lazarus? He was dead and buried for four days. Mary and Martha were Lazarus' sisters. I can't begin to know what they were thinking, but I bet they questioned why Jesus didn't come back sooner and help their brother. I read and loved this. "God always has a plan. But it may not follow human logic. In fact, it may often seem to go directly against what we believe about God." The last few days I've been reading a part called God's Grammar specifically Never put a period where God puts a comma. So often when I don't hear from Him about something, I think the answer is "no". It is hard to trust His schedule. I'll admit it, I don't often enjoy or like His delays. I want to know now! However, I do know those times when He doesn't answer right away, He has used to change me or strengthen my faith in Him.
That is all I can think of right now. Here are some prayer requests.
- Gals in Esther Bible Study, Tues nights 7 pm: for those that don't know Christ to accept Him, for all of us to commit to completing the homework daily (45 min), that God would change all of us through the Study.
- Horvath Home Gathering: That God would bring those that He wants to be here.
- Coaching, Ministry Funding: We sent out a fundraising letter for our ministry (non-profit AdvanceHim). That God would bless Brett's coaching. Also, that Christ would speak to those who He wants to partner with us as we strive to live our whole lives for Christ
We love you and miss you! Thanks for your prayers. Love, Tiff (and Brett, Ava, Lily, Josh, and Emmett)
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