Third Birthday Celebration in pictures

I just love celebrating this little guy!  I can't believe he's three.

We had so much fun preparing for and celebrating this special birthday.

Nathanael's Kindergarten celebrates birthdays, so we joined in on the fun and made party treats for all the kids: little robots!  (Thanks, Claire Miller, for this awesome idea!)

Nathanael helped me make and bake some delicious blueberry muffins to take as birthday treats.  They were a hit!

Nathanael picked out the decorations for his cake.  I'd never done this type of cake decorating before, so I was thrilled about how easy it was and how well it turned out.  (I was going for simple and easy!)

Nathanael loved the cake and enjoyed blowing out his three candles.  Apparently he was able to blow out candles on his muffin at Kindergarten as well!

We were excited to receive these two books from the Cioffis!  I'm not sure who's more excited to read these, Nathanael or us!

What better gift for a three-year-old, right?!  These were actually from Grandpa and Grandma at Christmas, but we held off on them since we'll only start this adventure in the next few weeks.

Friends from church found out we were looking to buy Nathanael a balance bike (Laufrad), so they loaned us one of theirs!  What a blessing!  He's thrilled about it, and he had a few semi-successful attempts today.  The first try did end up in tears of frustration (which we expected).  Doesn't he look so big walking to the church park to try it out?!

When we picked Nathanael up from Kindergarten this morning, he was wearing this cute hat -- a special privilege for the birthday boy!  He loved it!  We walked to our favorite Turkish restaurant for a special birthday lunch.

What a sweet day for a sweet boy!

Dear Nathanael (3 Years)

Our dearest Nathanael,

Happy third birthday!!!  Three years ago today, we found our lives forever changed by your presence in our family.  We celebrate the physical life God continues to give you, and we pray that you may soon know the abundant joy of life everlasting in fellowship with God.  Jesus took the punishment you deserve when He died on the cross, and three days later, he conquered death and rose to life again, that you may know this life with God through Him.  You ask about Jesus often, especially when the topics of death, life, suffering, and disobedience come up.  We pray God would turn this curiosity into faith in Him.  Keep asking questions, son.  And keep seeking Truth.

What a year we have had!  The day after your second birthday, we boarded a plane and moved to Vienna!  After four months of living in another family's home here in Vienna, we finally settled into our own home in August 2012, and it has been amazing to watch you settle and learn to call this place home.  You have also settled well into the lives of our church community here, loving Sunday mornings to sing together to Jesus and play and eat with friends.  We're so thankful for these dear people God has put in our lives!  And speaking of friends, you began Kindergarten (preschool) this year!  We had been praying for this opportunity for you for over a year, and the Kindergarten across the street called us with a sudden opening in February.  Though your adjustment was slow and took some time, you now love your 2.5 hours each morning to play with your new friends and teachers.  You frequently ask in the afternoons if you can go again, and you keep pleading with us to let you stay for lunch.  We're thrilled that you have this consistent and natural exposure to German and are already impressed with the random German words and sounds you've taken on in a few short months.

At three, you continue to exhibit a great enthusiasm for living life to the fullest, wanting to take advantage of every waking moment.  You are full of contagious laughter and constant teasing, and yet you continue to love and need time to simply observe and make your own decisions about people and things.  You thrive in routine but continue to amaze us with your ability to be flexible when needed.  You have your father's intense curiosity and desire for information and constant learning.  Thus you do much better in new situations if we can talk you through them a little in advance.

At some point in this last year, once we'd settled into our home and you were feeling comfortable, your English language simply exploded.  Now it seems that nothing is beyond your ability, once you hear it used properly a couple times.  You amaze us almost daily with your complex sentences and advanced grammar, but of course, you also struggle with the typical toddler things such as conjugating "do" properly or getting all the pronouns right.  It's an adorable combination.

We love that you've maintained a close connection to our family in the States.  You speak about your grandparents and uncles and aunts almost daily, tell stories about them, and ask to pray for them.  We're so thankful to be able to Skype with them regularly and even have them visit from time to time!  Last year brought visits from Grandpa and Grandma to help us move and settle and then again for Christmas along with Uncle Drew and Auntie Carrie, and you speak about those times together frequently.  We look forward to making more memories with family in the next few months as they come to see us and meet Evangeline!

What a huge change it will be for you to be a big brother!  You seem genuinely excited to meet "baby sibling" as you often call her, and you have taken on a fascination with baby dolls, often pretending that they are Evangeline, and you're helping us take care of her.  What a shock the real Evangeline will be to you!  We're excited about this new step for our family and trusting that God will knit the four of us together in a unique and special way, just as he has done with the three of us these last three years.

Cars remain a favorite for you, and it's amazing the creative things you can come up to do with them!  You love stories - reading them, retelling them, asking us to tell you more stories, making up your own.  You sing often, making up your own words to the "ABC" tune, or simply humming yourself to sleep at night, when you're not squealing or talking loudly to your animals.  Though you want your independence and often enjoy playing on your own now, your eyes light up when Dad or Mom (or others) join you in play.  You love people, and you love making others (people or stuffed animals!) feel included.  Outdoor play remains at the top of your favorite activities, especially slides and sand.  You still enjoy running and jumping and operate almost constantly at such an amazingly high level of energy.  Food continues to be a source of comfort, and you almost always want to try whatever Dad or Mom have.

Nathanael Alim, we love you more than we will ever be able to express!  You are such a delight to us.  We thank God daily for allowing us to be your parents.  Happy birthday!

Lovingly,
your daddy and mommy

Some birthday morning photos

What to say after over six months of silence

Gregory is out having drinks with a friend.  I should be going to bed; rather, I should be asleep right now.  But instead my heart and mind want to blog.  So here goes.  It's been over half a year.  So much has happened.  It is impossible to "catch up" this blog, but I can still share my heart.

The last time I posted here, we'd just moved into our apartment in Vienna, and life was looking as if it might settle a bit.  And about a month later, it did.  For about three weeks, before morning sickness hit hard. :)  God has indeed blessed us with a lasting pregnancy, and we are immensely thankful and hopeful in Him to bring this little girl into our arms in June.  October, November, and December of 2012 were some of my most difficult months, simply trying to make it through each day, exhausted and overwhelmed by all of the discomforts and difficulties of a trying first trimester while taking care of Nathanael and attempting to not lose all of the German I'd learned.  Still in the midst of that, God upheld us by His right hand, carried us faithfully through, and brought us into a new season.  We had a wonderful visit from family over the holidays which carried us through the last couple weeks of sickness.

January and February were months of intense growth for me as I dove into full-time German classes again.  I absolutely loved how much progress I was making, especially after three months of barely surviving, but it was difficult to see so many things at home falling by the wayside because I simply had no time nor energy to give outside of German class and homework.

And here we are at the beginning of March.  The sun has been shining now for a few days, the snow has melted, and I feel the awakening of Spring with all of the new life and growth it brings.  Nathanael and I went out yesterday afternoon and walked around aimlessly for a couple hours, stopping at three different playgrounds along the way.  It was wonderful.  I myself also feel freed by this new season, freed to simply enjoy being mom to my son, freed to take time to accomplish some necessary tasks at home, freed to pursue growth in German in some more personal areas of interest, and freed to allow my mind and heart to walk around aimlessly, to think and dream and be.  Evidence:  I'm actually writing a blog post.  That has to be a good sign.

I know that one more month of full-time German classes awaits me in April.  I know that the discomforts of pregnancy are going to only intensify in the next few months.  I know that having an infant and becoming a family of four are going to be more difficult than I can imagine.  But right now, I am choosing to savor these few days of thriving instead of simply surviving.  And I'm looking back on God's abundant faithfulness and provision through the storms with a heart full of gratitude and joy.

A New Home, A New Season

We've made it.  Finally, we are in our home.  I am tempted to detail for you all the incredible blessings God has poured out along the way, but the list is simply too long.  We are amazed at God's perfect provision, His abundant goodness, and His all-encompassing wisdom.  Only He knows our needs; only He sees and forms a bigger picture that ensures His ultimate glory.  We are so thankful for His sovereignty.  We are so thankful that we are finally in our new home in Vienna.  We trust He doing many great things in our being here, both in our lives and in others.

Tomorrow begins a new season for us.  I love beginnings.  And appropriately, our church here is beginning a week-long study of Genesis together.  I am beginning a new Bible reading plan through the ESV Study Bible.  We are beginning / returning-to full-time German studies.  And we are hopefully beginning to rest more as well.  The pace of our last two months of moving has not been sustainable, and we are ready to reclaim our well-being.

I love how God speaks about newness in our lives.  He says that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation.  The old has passed away; the new reconciled life has come.  (2 Cor 5:17) And His mercies in our lives are new every morning, according to His great faithfulness.  (Lam 3)  He speaks of doing a new thing, to refresh His people, in a way that only He can bring about, as making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  (Isa 43)

I am thrilled to be on this side of our move.  Oh that we would continue to honor God in our living here, just as we have sought to honor Him in our waiting to live here.  Only He can lead us in doing so.  Be glorified, Jesus.

(I promise to work on taking pictures and/or a video of our home to post soon!)

Choosing Contentment or Complaint?

The past month or so, at the recommendation of a like-hearted friend who recently moved with her family to Spain, I picked up Elisabeth Elliot's book, Keep a Quiet Heart.  What a blessing this has been to read and pray over in the mornings.  I feel as if I am sitting across the table from a wise and godly woman who is not afraid to say difficult things to me.  And I am so thankful for the mentor she is to me right now.

One key area that God has used her words to encourage me is in the area of contentment, as opposed to complaining.  God had been prompting me to choose to be content with our last few weeks in the home we're in, before moving into our apartment in August (which He abundantly showed us at the beginning of July!).  I began praying regularly towards this, and the Spirit has clearly checked my attitude and corrected me when I would begin to give in to discontentment and/or a poor perspective of this waiting time.

Mrs. Elliot brought my attention to a few verses to this end that have consistently been an encouragement in my life.  I am so grateful.

Verses like these from Psalm 73, "You hold me by my right hand... There is nothing on earth that I desire besides You... God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...  But for me, the nearness of God is my good..."  And these from Psalm 16, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup, You have made my lot secure... The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance... I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices... You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 

And then some that took on new meaning, like James 1:2 (Phillips' translation), "When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends."  And Matthew 16:25, "Whoever loses his life for Me will find it."

Speaking with both Gregory and a friend last week, I was telling them how God has been leading me to proactively resist the temptation to complain.  We're still in the honeymoon phase of culture shock.  The differences are fascinating and intriguing and even quaint.  Soon, I know, some of these differences will become sore, glaring, unwelcome reminders that, "I am a foreigner here," and I so deeply want to honor God in the midst of those feelings.  I want to choose to be content in what He has given, to rejoice in these trials and even thank Him for them, not to give in to complaint and discontentment.  I believe that our God is good, and that in Him, I have great grounds for rejoicing.  I long to choose to do just that.

At the inspiration of two others who have done this before, I accepted a challenge to 14 days of absolutely no complaining.  Though cracked and broken, I believe the Spirit is bringing about beautiful, everlasting fruit in this pot of clay.

June in Vienna

After over a year of praying for our residence permits, God responded clearly.  Here we are holding our 2012 permits.  We get to stay!!!

 

Nathanael has a hand and mouth full of snacks in that picture, the only way we could get him to look at the camera and hold his permit! :)

Nathanael and I love the mornings when we get to be with our friends.  Here are a few pictures from our outings.

Sunday morning fun at church

Our twice monthly Moms and Tots group at church just had our final meeting last week.  We went to the zoo!!!  Nathanael loved watching the tall giraffes eat from a hanging basket.

 I can't believe I caught this photo before they were off and running around some more.

We love to get away to parks, and that's quite easy to do in this city.  They're everywhere!  Here we are in Prater, one of our favorites, just after a rain.  Nathanael wanted to jump in every puddle.  We stripped him down in the middle of the park and changed his clothes before heading home. 

For a holiday, we took a day/morning trip just over an hour to the Vienna Woods, hills overlooking the city.  Here's a picture looking down on our new home, most notable here, the Danube and the tall buildings on the left around the UN.

I hosted my first afternoon coffee a couple weekends ago.  I made a special Austrian, orange-flavored cake, and it was magnificent!  (I ate way too much of it...)  We had a wonderful time with our friends, and they were so incredibly patient with us and our minimal German.

We're still looking for the right apartment.  One Saturday morning when we were walking around the neighborhood praying, we ran into a festival for our district, held in the square with the huge church in the area (picture below).  There were tons of Turkish cultural tables there, and it was fun to experience all the Turkish food, flags, music. and people right in the neighborhood where we'll live.

Austria is a grilling culture.  We love it.  We finally bought some coals and used our hosts' grill to indulge in some delicious Viennese wursts!  Oh my, they were good.  Nathanael ate two entire hot dogs and was asking for more!  And with the hot weather recently, it was nice to keep the cooking outdoors.

The news we've been waiting for

So much to share here!  Firstly, and probably most importantly, last week we received an invitation to pick up our 2012 Austrian Residence Permits!!!  We had a crazy couple weeks of ups and downs with our residence permits, but then on Wednesday morning, May 30th, Gregory received an email with a letter inviting us to come in on June 12th and pick up our residence permits!  We were and still are overjoyed!  It is amazing how God continues to make a way for us to serve Him here in Vienna.  He has indeed called us to this place, and we are loving watching and waiting as He puts all the pieces together in a way that brings great glory to His Name!

We have also found a great apartment that we're hoping to have.  In the midst of the residence permit drama, thinking we may be silly in even doing so, we visited this apartment and were quite impressed.  The location is better than we could have even asked for, both in terms of nearby amenities and situation in a strategic community.  The apartment is just the right size we were praying for, even right down to the room sizes and layout!  The cost is fair for the market and almost exactly what we have budgeted, slightly under even.  So now we wait to see if God has it for us.  We have no way of knowing who the neighbors are and how God is working in their hearts, so we're thankful that He knows if these are the people among whom He wants us to live and share life.  We hope to know something by the end of next week!

Language learning continues to progress.  Gregory and I are both quite encouraged by our understanding thus far.  We've come a long way in just a month!  But we are still at the very beginning stages of learning this language, and that means lots of misunderstandings and miscommunications and blank stares.  :)  And is typical in language learning, we are so limited in our ability to say much.  Fortunately, we've been through this before, so I think we're able to laugh at ourselves and be a little more patient in the process than before when we were learning Turkish.  I recently started reading my morning devotions in German (with the help of an English translation as well), and that's been such an encouraging source of both linguistic and spiritual growth.

I'm really excited to see how God moves us forward in the next month, in so many areas.  Have I mentioned before that I'm really ready to settle into our own place?  Well, August is looking to be an incredible month!  I hope!