Beach, Health, Marriage, Kids

Hi loved ones. Here's the latest from the Horvath home.

Going to the Beach!
Our beach trip happens (God willing) this week. We'll be leaving for Port Aransas on Friday and returning Wednesday. Brett's parents have rented a condo (sleeps 8, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, looks nice) 100 yards from the beach. This week will be a flurry of activity as we plan and pack for our extended family of 7. I should take a picture of our weighted down minivan (I'm picturing the intro to "The Beverly Hillbillies") with strollers, umbrellas, beach toys, coolers, suitcases. The kids are thrilled....we all are. I'm sure I'll have many entertaining stories for you with the next installment. Pray for safety, good weather, healthy & happy Horvaths if you think of it.

Getting Healthy
As you know, we always have some new (freaky, hippie-sounding, Austin) thing we are doing. So here goes...I've become a Greenling. What is that you ask? A person that gets a weekly food delivery from Greenling.com. They specialize in local organic produce & other perishables. You go on the website (only for Austin and San Antonio at this time) and pick out your items, pay, schedule your delivery. They then bring your items to your doorstep once a week. It's like Christmas around here for me on Fridays when my bins come...I LOVE IT! THE FOOD COSTS LESS THAN AT THE GROCERY STORE!!! So naturally we are going to the grocery store WAY LESS. We are also experiencing new things like kale, fennel, green garlic, swiss chard, leeks as well as things we love (carrots, onions, goat cheese, squash, herbs, etc, etc). The greenling deliveries also fit in great with the new program we're doing from the book Spent by Frank Lipman M.D. Here's what the cover says "Spent is a gold mine of life-enhancing, energy-restoring health wisdom--all presented in easy-to-follow bite-sized pieces that go down easily. Following the instructions in this book will change your life!" I totally agree! We honestly have never felt better, and I love how the book has daily chapters that help you learn and be a little healthier--a little at a time. I could go on and on. End of Greenling and Spent Commercial. : )

Friends & Family Health Concerns
As I write (type), I think of loved ones who are sick. Lee Price, Heidi Kimmel, and my Dad (Randy) are struggling with health issues. Sometimes it is hard to rejoice when people you love so much are hurting. Our family hurts so much for them and their families. Lee is at the Mayo clinic in MN. Teams of doctors are trying to find out what is wrong with him as his body is more and more affected by the mystery illness that he contracted in Thailand 6 years ago. As of typing this his health is continuing to deteriorate, his weight is down, his muscles are crackling, joints are painful, muscles twitching, lack of sleep; and now it seems to be moving into his stomach and diaphragm. He has 2 children under 9, please pray for the entire Price family. Heidi has been dealing with throat issues and now dizziness for a few years. She is seeing doctor after doctor as well. She is weary and just wants to know what is wrong with her! My Dad has cancer in his prostate and a hernia. He is having surgery for both in early June (exact date TBA). My family has been through so much over the past year with my Dad's health. He has remained faithful and reliant on Christ. It is so hard to know what to say. I struggle with that issue with God. I know God can heal them. I believe that He can. I know it. But will He? When talking with them, we want to give an answer, to solve it but we can't. We listen, we pray with them. It's heartbreaking. Please pray for the healing and for God to get glory through these situations.

Marriage Thoughts
We've had lots of conversations about marriage this week. Seems like marriages of many around us are under attack. Marriage is hard, you know? We've been married 11 1/2 years. Through that time we’ve had many seasons of things being great. Sometimes it’s challenging, frustrating, exciting and excruciating. Often I feel all of those things in one week (or one day!) One of the coolest experiences in our Glenwood Springs Community is that we had many in our group that would talk freely about how things were really going at home. I've been in lots of church groups and THAT IS RARE. Seldom do we admit that there is a problem in our marriage. I can speak from experience that God blesses us when we are honest about our struggles (of course, we should share because we feel that the Holy Spirit is leading us, we speak the truth in love, etc). This week my mom shared an excellent email about marriage from Rick Warren. He says:

You and your spouse were both created to become like Christ. God uses your spouse to build his values, attitudes, morals, and character within you. God uses your spouse, and your relationship with each other, to form you into an image of Jesus.

Once you understand this, a lot of what happens within your marriage will begin to make more sense. When you start to ask, "Why is this happening to me?" The answer is—to make you more like Jesus!

If God's purpose for each of our lives is to make us look more like Jesus, what better tool could he use than the marriage relationship? Who better for God to use to chisel you than the person you live with seven days a week? God is using each of you to shape the other person more and more into the image of Jesus.

God's work within your marriage is designed to produce "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control" within you and your spouse (Galatians 5:22-23 TEV).

I love that. Puts a new perspective on the challenges of marriages. I pray your marriage is strengthened and protected. I also pray that we all have the courage to share our struggles and seek help because when the challenges are in the open, God’s people can know how to help and heal.

Kid Thoughts
Let's see...what is going on with the Horvath kids. Josh is teething right now. He's got that runny nose, red-rimmed eyes, won't eat much, fevering. Even while teething he's such a good boy (thank you God), he's still trying to be happy. He's getting bigger, saying more words, climbing up even more on stuff. A few days ago, I was doing dishes and hadn't seen him in a minute or so, it was too quiet. So I went into the bathroom and there he was, sitting Indian-style in the sink! Wow! Lily, sweet Lily, she is the most excited of all of us about the beach. She had her 4th birthday a few weeks ago. It was a red and white themed High School Musicial party at House Church. She fills her days with coloring, Barbies, dress-up. She's gotten great at dressing herself (she matches most of the time). Her hair is very curly in this humidity. Most nights at dinner she prays "God let my hair stay curly." Too cute. Ava has a boyfriend, Ron, in her class. It has started!!!!!! The love notes, questions ("Will I marry Ron when I'm older)?", explanations ("Mama? Daddy said something about Ron and a shot gun???). It isn't too serious as Ron also is the boyfriend of Ava's 2 best friends also. I explained that when she is older, she won't been too keen on sharing a boyfriend. I'm amazed (still) at what she's learning at school. We're watching TV and she says "that is an Orca Whale." I won't be able to help with her with her homework for much longer. Ha! Emmett is happy & healthy, going to the kennel this week while we are at the beach.

House Church Flourishes
Thanks for praying and supporting. It is working! House Church is off and running. Mike (that replaced our windshield) has been coming each time. His "woman" : ) (Casey) has not come yet. He brought his business partner Kelly who is going to bring his wife next time. We have two redhead gals named Sarah coming (what are the odds?). One is a beloved friend from our Denver days. The other is now my Esther Bible Study. She is in her early 20s, her husband is a soldier in Iraq (Travis). They were only married 2 weeks before he was deployed. Please pray for both of them as this time is extremely difficult. Listening to her struggles (and her explain his near-death experiences) sure makes me think my trials are alot less of a big deal. Shannon and her kids are still coming too. Peter (i hate to label him, but he is an agnostic) has not been in a few weeks due to work but says he'll be back. We've also got probably 3 more couples that say they are coming next time. Our times reading the discussing the Bible (Matthew 6 last week) have been amazing. I hesitate to use that word, but they really have been amazing, Spirit-filled, great conversations. We are so blessed to be doing this, and the coolest thing is we are seeing Christ change lives!

Parting Thoughts
The garden is doing great. I'm trying all sorts of tactics to keep the birds from eating the lettuce. Groups of morning doves congregate in the garden. They think it is their own personal salad bar! : ) Things we've got growing: zucchini, yellow squash, cantaloupe, all kinds of hot peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, radishes, spinach, lettuce, herbs, carrots, onions, cucumbers, green beans, edamame. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Our extra bedroom is getting booked up quick! : ) Come visit us. Austin is great, just hot and humid (we're still loving the weather but we know hotter weather is coming...) We're finding lots of cheap (or free) things to do. We love it here! Brett's been consistently running for exercise. The pool is ready and being enjoyed regularly. Brett's been coaching and training others to coach. We've been watching movies (liked Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire, Bedtime Stories).

Please write and let us know how you are doing. We miss you! Love, Tiff (& the rest of the clan.)