Choir Retreat

Normally the drive down to Crikvenica is 2 hours, and I was in the car for 7. It is a long story, but lets just say there was a problem with a passport, one closed freeway, one major miscommunication, 3 border crossings (normally only 1), a great conversation with a really drunk guy, a free dinner, one passed breathalyzer test with the Croatian police, and tons of great memories with Kaja and Sara.

It was pretty much non-stop from the moment we arrived to when we left. I sat in on a couple of the practices and was really impressed with the progress and quality of the program. I loved the last 2 hours of the retreat when they ran through the whole program, and it got me really excited about the 6 concerts that are coming up next month. Katka did an amazing job leading and I don't know how she didn't loose her voice after 3 full days of leading the choir. I got to lead a few devotionals for the group during the weekend. Since it is a complete mix of people, it was a great chance to talk about the real reason for Christmas and the point of the songs that we are singing.

It was fun to be at the coast, but it wasn't the Croatian coast like we get during the summer. It was windy and cold the whole weekend.

Off To Crikvenica

This weekend we are heading down to croatia for a choir practice weekend. After having so much success with the outreach music camp this year, Katka decided to do a musical for the Christmas concert and combine the existing choir with the youth choir. This weekend is where the 2 worlds meet. The purpose is two fold, to have a intense weekend of learning the songs for the musical and for the two groups to to know each other.

Don't worry, I am not going to be singing. I am going to support my wife, build relationships with the high schoolers, leading some team building events, and leading the devotions each morning. I will post some pictures when we get back.

Busy, Busy, Busy

It has been over 2 weeks since the last blog entry, and I wish that had a better excuse other than being busy. So, like I did a few weeks ago, I am just going to post a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks or so, since I am so far behind. Enjoy...

Youth group a few weeks ago was a blast. We had a harvest party and had a great time celebrating. We had some hilarious games, pumpkin carving, and some delicious snacks including orange cider. We had a discussion about the similarities between humans and pumpkins (messy on the inside and need someone to clean them out and put their light inside of them). This is some of the group playing mafia towards the end of the night.

I had the chance to speak at church last week and I spoke about inviting Jesus into our messing lives and not trying to hide the mess. We had talked about having everyone over to our place after church, and as it turned out, it was a very symbolic decision. I talked about inviting Jesus into our mess and then right after church we invited everyone to our mess. Our place was really dirty and filled with boxes, but you can't see the mess because of all the people.

Our piano has needed tuning for several years, and recently we heard there was a guy in town who could do it cheap. He was in town from Serbia and had some time to come by our place to tune the piano. We left him alone to do his tuning, but eventually started talking with him as he was heading for the door. Katka was talking with him about what she does with music, concerts we have, and the different things we do. Katka mentioned that she had recorded a CD in Serbia with a friend of hers from a long time ago. As they kept talking they discovered that he also knew the same lady, and that actually he had played piano on the same CD that Katka sang on. Since they had recorded their parts at different times they had never been in the same room. It's a small world!

First snow! Terry and I were driving up to Maribor last week for a meeting, and we were surprised as the surroundings started getting whiter and whiter the further we drove. The snow didn't last, but it was great to see the hills covered.

We have had people working on the outside of our house for the last few weeks. While we are thankful for the work they are doing, it is a little weird when they are working outside our windows. There have been numerous times where Katka and I are sitting on the couch, or eating lunch, and we look up and make eye contact with a guy outside. It has given us plenty of laughs, and so I thought it would be good to show a picture so you can enjoy the awkwardness with us.

A Few Pictures

Last week when we were at Katka's parents house, we decided to try something fun. We ate like Americans. I can only compare what is normal for me and what is normal to Katka's family, so if this is different than you don't get upset. :)

We had cereal for breakfast (instead of the usual bread, meats and cheese), ate a smaller lunch at around 12:30 (instead of a big lunch at 2), and then Katka made us steaks, mashed potatoes, and a great salad for dinner (instead of a smaller snack for dinner). We had lots of laughs throughout the day, and when all was said and done, we agreed that the steak dinner made the day worth it.

Mateja had her birthday on Friday. We had a worship night at youth group, and then celebrated with a delicious cake from Tanja. I think we ended up singing happy birthday 3 different times throughout the night.

Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of Katka's parents working with Child Evangelism Fellowship. They had a big celebration yesterday highlighting the things that God has done in the past and what they are dreaming about in the years ahead. It was really encouraging to hear all the stories of all the lives changed. Another great cake from Tanja.

Johnny and Sarah ran the Ljubljana half-marathon today. I got there just in time to see them finish and it was a blast to see them in action. They both had smiles on their faces at the end of the race which is always a good sign. I couldn't believe how many people were out cheering and running in the race. It got me excited about possibly running next year...

Today we had a great family lunch. We went out to eat which isn't normal for Sunday lunch, but as usual, it was a blast to be together. Patrik is still the center of attention, and he spent the first part of the meal crawling on the table and chewing on different menus.

The Joys of Used Cars

This hasn't been the best week with our car. I guess it actually started this summer when we lost one set of car keys when we were on vacation. Last week our only remaining car key broke in half, making it almost impossible to unlock the car or to start it. I started carrying a pair of pliers around to help turn the key.

So we finally took it into the service shop to buy a replacement key. We ordered 2 keys (just the key, no fancy remotes or anything) and the bill came to 142 euros ($206). Ouch.

To make things worse the guy behind the counter asked us how many kilometers our car had. We answered around 145,000 km (90,000 miles). He said that was impossible. He said that according the serial number of the car, he had it at the service place 5 years earlier, and at that point it already had 206,000 km (128,000 miles) on it. Translation in case you aren't familiar with used cars in Europe: even though the odometer on our car says 145,000 km, we actually have around 300,000 km. Ouch again.

Missing Family

We got this picture from my brother a few days ago and just had to post it. For those who don't know, this is my nephew Ryder and niece Payton. It is incredible how fast they grow and when you are away from them at big chunks of time like Katka and I are, we love getting lots of pictures. We know you won't love the picture as much we do, but we hope you enjoy it anyway.

Working On My English

This last weekend had a mini English camp. A Catholic high school here in Ljubljana have asked us to lead 3 day English camps that are 'very religious' 2 times a year. Since we are good at English and love talking about Jesus, we thought it was a good fit.

There was around 35 of us total at the camp and we had a really great time. We had an all-star staff which made the weekend really fun and made my job a lot easier. Here are a few pictures:

Number 3

Katka and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary. I can't believe how fast things have gone. My parents treated us to a night away, a great dinner, and a much needed break. We used the time to reflect and talk about the last year, with all the goods and bads that came with it. It was a great connection time for us and it came at a perfect time.

Another part of our anniversary celebration was a private salsa lesson with my friend Jure. I knew going into the lesson that I was seriously lacking many of the necessary skills needed to dance. However, the other person in our marriage does not lack rhythm and coordination like I do and I knew she would love salsa dancing. It took about 2 minutes for my rhythm concerns to be validated, and it took the same amount of time for Katka to master the 5 basic salsa steps. If we measure the success of the night on my knowledge of the basic salsa steps, my hip movements and hand placement, then I think it was a failure. If it is measured on seeing my wife shine and enjoying doing something new and fun with me, then it was a complete success.

Church

Today Katka and I had the chance to go and visit one of the church plants that we partner with here in Slovenia. The church is in Kočevje, and it was actually our first time visiting the church since it began several years ago. I got to give the sermon and Katka led worship. We came home, ate a great lunch, and then headed back to our church for the evening service. Here is the only picture I could take during the service, not the best, but it works.

A Few Pictures

It has been a little while since we have updated the blog, mostly because we have been really busy around here with meetings and getting the year started. While most of the things in our week don't make for great blog updates, there were a few things over the last 10 days that were fun.
After church about 25 or 30 of us went back to the Jacksons to celebrate Brandon's birthday. Tanja, nice job on the cake!

Katka's parents invited Brandon over to eat lunch. I believe it was a 5 course meal...and it was really really good.

Landon Jenkins had his birthday party also. It was a blast to have the youngsters together to party.

Czech Conference

This last week we spent the week up in the Czech Republic for a youth leader conference. It was a challenging and fun week talking about passing the baton on to the next generation. It is always a really special week to gather with 200 people from all over Europe and to hear stories of people who are impacting their cities and churches. It was also really special because Katka was leading worship. She did an amazing job and she added so much to the conference. It was also great because of the great group of 18 people from Slovenia. On the way home we made the traditional stop at Starbucks to help break up the 8 hour drive. Here are a few pictures-

Katka leading worship

Girls after Starbucks

Boys after Starbucks

Music Camp

I put some pictures on our blog from Music Camp a few weeks ago, but I never posted anything from the concert. This is just a short film showing some of the different songs, drama, and dance that took place at the concert. I wish you could have seen the whole concert because it was really great, but if you couldn't, this will show you a little of what you missed. Enjoy...