FAMILY

A teraz przedstawiam Wam ludzi, o ktorych prawie codziennie myślę, a którzy niedawno stali się dla nas prawdziwą rodziną:
Są to:

Alexis, Travis, Emma:) i cała reszta cudownych ludzi, których poznaliśmy w Stanach i którzy umożliwili nam pobyt tam

THANK YOU

Oraz nasza cudowna polsko- amerykańska rodzina:)

THANK YOU 

wreszcie mamy ciocię w Ameryce:)

life happens...

Dawno o nas nie słyszeliście...przepraszamy.Niestety ostatnio dokuczał nam permanentrny brak czasu (moim zdaniem doba na pewno się skróciła).Poza tym ostatnie tygodnie były niezbyt udane. Nie będę dokładnie pisać co, gdzie i jak, ale powiem tylko, że tyle sytuacji stresowych i raniących ile nas spotkało w ciągu 2 tygodni, nie spotkało nas chyba przez kilka miesięcy. Moje serce próbuje pytać "po co to wszystko" i mam nadzieję że dostanę odpowiedź. Na dzień dzisiejszy uczę się dystansu do świata- life happens! Prosze też Boga o więcej pokoju w sercu. potrzebny w tym zwariowanym świecie!
A z dobrych wieści - Kris zdał edzamin z językoznawstwa i 6.12 ma obronę pracy doktorskiej!!!
No i za nami cudowny ślub naszychh przyjaciół Sabinki i Chrisa:)

mess, bees, and pink backpack

Wczorajszy dzień miał swoją nową nazwę- dzień bałaganu:) Próbowaliśmy zrobić male przemeblowanie przedpokoju, a ponieważ dzieci i reszta okoliczności nie bardzo chciała z nami współpracować- tak więc do późnych godzin wieczornych moim jedynym zajęciem było sprzątanie;) Ale  udało się:)
Yesterday earned itself a new name - a mess day:) We tried to rearrange the hallway a little bit, but as the kids and circumstances were not very cooperative, I ended up cleaning till cows come home: But we made it:)

I oto nasz nowy mebelek (z użytkowniczkami oczywiście)
Here's our new piece of furniture (with its users of course)

Pozatym próbowałam zrobić tysiąc innych rzeczy naraz- jak to zwykle bywa kiedy nie idę do pracy. Moje myśłi też były niemałym bałaganem ( Alexis dobrze wie o czym mówię- bees in my head;). Praca, kaszlące dzieciaki, kulawy mąż i ja próbująca to wszystko poukładać i do tego upiec chleb bananowy ...Stwiedzam tylko , że nie da się bez Boga...

Apart from that, I tried to do a million things at the same time - as is my routine on a off day. My thoughts were one big chaotic hive (Alexis knows very well what I'm talking about - bees in my head;) Prep-work, coughing kids, limping husband and I trying to put everything together and bake banana bread on top of that... My concession - you can't pull it off without God...

Reasumując w ciągu weekendu zrobiliśmy przemeblowanie, upiekłam chleb bananowy, scones, ciasto cytrynowe, (oczywiście obiad też był), pobawiłam się trochę w edytowanie z Picnikiem;). Teraz czekam na nowy tydzień- mam nadzieję, że będzie spokojniejszy i te małe kreaturki w głowie przestaną mi brzęczeć:)

Summing up, throughout the weekend we rearranged our apartment, I baked banana bread, scones, a lemon pie, a regular series of meals for the family, and I enjoyed editing with Picknik;). Now I'm waiting for a new week - my hope is that it'll be a tad more peaceful and those little creatures in my head will stop buzzing:)

Aha, napisałam pink backpack:)

otóż przedstawiam Wam mój różowy plecak do pracy- jakieś 80% ludzi się z niego śmieje:) i to mnie cieszy:) Pasuje do moich słuchawek z Rossa:) 

Oh, I wrote pink backpack, and here it is - the work backpack, which makes around 80% people laugh:) and it gives me joy:) It goes well with the headphones I bought at Ross:)

Aha i jeszcze Larry- narysowała go Esti

Oh, and Larry drawn by Esti

Have a good week!!!!!!!!

Miłego tygodnia!!!!!!!

TO i TAMTO ( this & that)...

Photos from our trip to Rabka:)

...a little bit of highlander music : http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=CfbQ5UTNs1s

...and BYE BYE  to a tough week:)

Sprained Ankle = Bettered Vision

A long time ago, when I (Chris) was around 10, I remember reading a collection of Chinese fairy tales. One of them presented a story of a farmer who had been battling a splitting headache for weeks. Finally, led by desperation, he cut his toe off with an ax (the book did not explain what his motivation was) with the outcome that the pain resulting from the severed toe clouded over farmer's headache so effectively that it eventually disappeared. After a few days the wound healed and the farmer returned to his activities. Apparently that's how acupuncture was born (I'm glad that axes are not put to use in the offices of those performing such healing practices).
Now, why is there sprained ankle in the subject? Well, because I did sprain it again. It was a year ago and 5 days that I did that the last time, while playing basketball. Now the circumstances were identical and once more, just like 12 months ago, I was unable to commence a new academic year with my students. What is the link with eyesight then? Hmm, the explanation digs into something I am not too proud of. My debilitating condition makes it impossible for me to be an effective helper around the house, which means that my usual chunk of chores and baby sitting suddenly landed on Weronika's back. As she is already overwhelmed by work, it takes little deduction to assume that the new responsibilities might have been ill-timed and kind of last straws. I was glad that Weronika is not a camel and her back did not burst but I could see how stretched she was. Instead of trying to seek peace in God, I started getting upset with myself that I'd sprained the ankle, that I was not able to help my wife, etc. Now that the fuses where planted into the bombs all it took was a spark, and a spark appeared. We left some hot water sitting on the counter-top in the kitchen but had to go to other rooms. Our little, inquisitive daughter sneaked behind our back and we only heard a cry. Weronika rushed into the kitchen and I followed, limping. As you might have guessed by now, Tamara spilled the hot water scalding herself. Weronika insisted that the water was hot but not boiling, but I was fuming that she had left it somewhere within Tamarka's reach. What is worse, we could locate a special cooling and pain-killing spray and Weronika had to put Tammy under running water to cool down her chest. The floor got splattered with water Tammy slipped on it I just lost it... I started shouting, banged my crutches against the floor and on entering the living room tried to hit the couch with my crutch, scaring Esterka and making Weronika take shelter in the kids' room with Esterka and Tamarka to save little ones from witnessing immature behavior. And thus ended the process of sharpening my vision. Suddenly it dawned on me that the whole event could have looked totally different had I behaved more maturely. In essence I asked myself if in that situation I was a person that could be defined as Christian by an objective onlooker. The answer is obvious. The list of the fruit of the holy spirit that is listed in the epistle to Galatians 5: 22-23 was probably an alien concept to my heart and my emotions right there and then. Where did I go wrong? First, I let myself be sucked in by guilt. Secondly, I yielded my heart to irritation that I was not able to be of help to Weronika. Thirdly, I did not spend any time with the Lord in the morning. The broth was ready, the ingredients were added and the whole concoction eventually boiled over. It is amazing how some situations strip you to the truth about your personality and maturity but how they also shed light onto how to fix the problem. That's how a sprained ankle led to a better vision.
PS. Tamarka is OK. The water was not hot enough to actually burn her skin but only reddened it. I do remember about God's grace and accept my own imperfections :) Have a good day everybody.

our walk in Zakopane

                                                        Zakopane- Esterka & daddy

                                                                            Giewont mountain

The Idea of Church Through the Easthill Prism

Our stay over our dear friends' (Travis, Alexis and Emma Mielonen - http://www.reachpolska.info/) was possible because a number of factors, but Easthill's Church (http://www.easthill.org/) involvement was undeniably critical. For a number of years I (Chris) embraced the subconscious idea that a very healthy and active church, such as Easthill, may meet all the needs of a Christian hungry of God and seeking His/Her place among the body of believers. We were very positively impressed by basically all ministries, be it worship, pastoral ministry, Bible school or missions. Some of the events, such as Church on the Lawn simply blew us away. And yet, in the thick molasses of people devoted to God and ready to reach out to visitors and newcomers, it dawned on me that nothing can emulate your own relationship with God. I do not make a revolutionary discovery, writing these words, but it is a truth that won my heart in the most convincing and peaceful way. Church is hardware for us as software. We can't do much without it, but it won't do anything without either.
We want to use this opportunity to say "thank you" to all Easthill people who were somehow behind making it possible for us to come. Easthill YOU ROCK!

A Few Thoughts On Blog's Profile

Having decided that we'd be nurturing a thought pool/event update called blog meant that we would need to establish something of our blog personality. It does not mean that our goal was to put on a mask and conceal certain aspects of who we are, but rather decide on what our focus will be. Even though we have devoted some time and thought to that goal, we must admit that we finally decided that our blog will be a natural conduit for sharing something that is important here and now, without putting some kind of theme perimeter. If it is to be our journey, then we need to "log" good and bad weather, immense landscapes as well as minute details, metaphorically speaking.

The Very First Post

Hello everybody. For those of you whom we know any kind of introduction is by understandably unnecessary. However, we do hope to encounter new people in the future and that's why a perfunctory description of who we are might be helpful. Ours is a family of four: Tamara (the younger daughter), Estera (the older daughter), Weronika (Veronique) and Krzysztof (Christopher). Currently we live in the south of Poland, in a town called Nowy Targ (literally New Market), just 90 minutes south of Krakow (Cracow). There are a number detailed characteristics as far as our family, but hopefully they'll be revealed step by step with some thoughts and facts we'll be posting. The crucial aspect which defines us is that we are a family which strives for as much God in their life as possible. This statement may sound arrogant and the fruit of this desire might not be abundant, yet it is true to what we treasure in our hearts. 

We'd like this blog to be an opportunity for you to leave comments and prayer requests (!), but also ask questions and simply fellowship with us.

God bless you all and talk to you soon <><