Family letter by Debra

February 13, 2013

Dear ladies,

Last week, I saw the most amazing sight outside our kitchen window ? water droplets forming on our tree by the pond. Being in the middle of winter one might expect ice crystals, but these were water, not ice. It had been raining most of the day, but it was not until sheets of rain began to fall that the brightest winter sun started to shine, resulting in a magnificent sparkle from our tree. The view of the crystallized tree captivated my attention and brought to mind the scripture the Lord uses to describe the beauty He has prepared for those who love Him.

I Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

The sun is not the only thing that has brought about a glow. Memorizing scripture and quoting it during Sunday school has brought a glow to the faces of the young and old alike. The children have done a wonderful job at memorizing scripture and now the adults have joined the fun. We have finished memorizing the Books of the New Testament and we will be working on the Old Testament this week.

We have found an office space to rent for our Czech services. The area in Brno and the building are both very pleasing. It is clean with good interior lighting and several windows for sunlight. Last week, we worked though many of the smaller details, arranging the space to meet our needs. We are renting one large office space that is divided into two smaller rooms and a bathroom. One of the rooms is used for our Sunday school class followed by Czech services and the other room is used for Children?s church and our fellowship time. The landlord provided a storage cabinet for our song books and most of our other supplies we use during services.

All is quite from Colorado. Recently, we have not heard much of anything from the girls. Their families keep them busy. We are looking forward to seeing our beautiful granddaughters this summer. There is something very special about the hugs from daughters, but the hugs from peanut-butter-and-jelly-faced granddaughters are even more of a blessing. Our granddaughters are so full of energy and their smiles radiate warmth that touches deep into our hearts.

The boys and school are both fine. We are near half way through the third quarter. We are scheduled to finish the last week of May, at which time we will leave to be three months in the United States. This winter has been very disappointing for the boys. This winter has brought the most snow we have had in a long time, but it has also been one of our warmest. Today, we have 4 inches of snow on the ground and it is still snowing, but earlier today the temperatures rose above freezing, making it very difficult to do any snow-based activities.

I am so excited! The boys and I have been given the opportunity to speak to the English class at the middle school here in Modrice. I tutor their English teacher and she asked if we would be willing to speak to her class. This is an answer to prayer, as we seek ways to reach the citizens of our village. As we continue to reach farther into our community and Brno, we have been stirring up Satan more than ever. Please be in prayer for the Czech people and our family.

I will end with these words that I recently received on a bookmark--

"I often think of you and hope sunshine is shining upon you".

Love and prayers,

Debra