SHOWTIME!!

Root beer floats for a euro at our junior class event.

Thomas hosted the game "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

We cooked chili and cornbread for the event and it was good!

Here is the singing game and the four staff members... they had such fun and we loved it when the music cut off and they had to finish the lines a cappella :)

Thomas singing his heart out... he did win the event overall and of course we laughed!

Our Junior class even called "Showtime!" was a hit with the school and provided a unique time of fun with staff and students. One of our students, Marson, led the games as the Host and did a fantastic job!

You had to vote for your favorite staff member to play in the singing game knows as "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" Thomas did get enough votes and participated...

Here are our 5th graders from VCS playing the game "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

And we had a cake walk to get others to participate in the cake raffle. Several people went home with a lovely dessert!

After these commercials.... we'll be right back!

Well, it's been one interesting journey these past two weeks. We've had some real emotional moments along our journey this month and we have been humbled and reminded of God's unfailing love. Recently, we lost a dear friend of ours and his death has been sobering and a reminder that the days we have are short. He will be missed but we will remember him as we strive to encourage our young people here to open their lives to others and reach out to their friends.

This past week included Thomas traveling to Budapest for soccer games and then returning home to find his wife a little sick. I ended up in the hospital for dehydration and to receive an IV. I'm feeling much better now, just slow to recover!

But even with all the emotional events we've had good ones too! This past Saturday night we hosted our Junior class event "Showtime!" at the school. It was a great time of fellowship and team building moments for our class as we prepared for the fun. We had game shows such as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?". Plus, we ended the evening with "Don't Forget the Lyrics" in which Thomas participated with 3 other staff members and eventually won. Let me mention that he did win by singing "Bye, Bye, Bye" NSync style.

AND
We have Spiritual Emphasis week beginning tomorrow at school. We're so excited to have some good ole southern folks here with us for this special time. Please pray with us as we take this week to challenge some in their faith and answer some questions from those students who are new to VCS or who have never understood this God thing. It will be amazing to see what God will do and how he will use the team. Thomas is working with them as Chaplain and he's really looking forward to how this will affect and impact our student body.

That's all for now.........we'll post pics soon to give some color to these black and white words!

Fellowship

It's so important to fellowship with your Church. I'm talking about the Church that walks by you during the day and the Church that goes with you to get lunch. Christ's church is not just where we meet on Sundays is it? It's right here in my home and with you at work. WE are the Church and WE need to fellowship! I love having people over for dinner during the week and hanging out with friends on the weekends and going out with moms during the mornings of the week. Those times are powerful and beautiful times of fellowship. We need the Christ in others.... We need to see Him at work in their lives and be sharpened by it. We need to be vulnerable, honest, gracious and attentive when fellowshipping with the Church. Life can be messy, good, tough and so much more.... Be who you are in Christ....let others inside to see the Light in you. And you will be changed by their Light and motivated to come again :)

We had the Staff Retreat this past weekend in a beautiful city outside Vienna. During the weekend, we fellowshipped! It was beautiful to see the Church, a living organism, interacting and laughing and so much more! Please continue to pray for our staff as we live and minister in Vienna.

Here comes the COLD

Okay, do you just want to cuddle him or what? Let's just say it's a little cold around here! Fall seems to have brought on some winter weather that we weren't quite ready for. I thought this picture was so cute because it shows Ian all wrapped up in the morning after he woke up.

I want everyone to know that this is Thomas' old coat. That's right! Thad wore it and now Ian's wearing it and it's hard to imagine Thomas ever being that small!

Speaking of.... he turned 28 this month and we had a little celebration at a favorite restaurant of his with friends!

ODE to Summer

Well, it has been lovely spending the rest of our summer in nice sunny weather without humidity! We bought sunflowers the other day and I love them because they are such a bright flower and truly make me smile in the morning. And the boys loved to play with them as well....

I put the sunflowers in a watering can which made the look so refreshingly country....:) but then I realized it made for some real fun for the little guys. You see, one can put their mouth on the spout and blow bubbles in the can! But sometimes.... the water spit back out the spout into their face! It was hilarious!

Goodbye summer and we wish you well until next year.....

Puffed Up Painting

Thad and I had so much fun making this paint! It puffs up when you microwave it and he loved watching the process!
All you need to do is:

Mix 4 TB of Self Rising flour
4 TB of Salt
Add water slowly until it forms a drippy paste
Separate into bowls and add food coloring

Paint and then microwave drawings for 30 seconds or a little more

We used Q-tips for painting

Here are two paintings that puffed up a little bit!

YAY for another day of fun! And many thanks to Tricia for finding the idea for us!!

I finished the painting

Here's the finished painting
Scroll down and look at the post where Thad and Ian are helping paint the background for me. I just fixed it a little and gave us a sunny sunshine for our kitchen table.

I'm hoping the bright sunshine painting will remind us to smile and enjoy the new day. God's mercies are new every morning....isn't that a great reason to smile?

Confessions of a really tired Chaplain...

Let's just say that the first two weeks of school have taken a bit out of me. I love what I do, but life has reached another level of busy...and that's even with teaching one less block than last year.

A Rundown of Things So Far This Year:

Classes: My classes are great so far, especially 9th Grade Bible. I have redesigned the curriculum of the class and things are going great. We have been studying the life of Daniel as our model of what it is to live a discerning life and the kids have really enjoyed the study. If you haven't read Daniel in awhile, you should go through it. What a great dude and what an interesting life.

Soccer: Soccer is going well, but is taking up a crazy amount of time. I can't believe it but I have actually contemplated giving up coaching (I realize that some of you may have just spit coffee or some other beverage on your computer, feel free to clean it up before continuing to read). I love being around the boys, but getting home between 6:30 and 7:00 every night takes it toll after awhile. The team looks OK so far. We are not going to have as much depth as my first two seasons and we are also really young. These are the major factors that are going into me classifying this as a rebuilding year. I've told the boys that the goal for the year is to learn to play good soccer and results are secondary.

Chapel: Let me start by saying that I do enjoy being the Chaplain. Let me follow up by saying that there is a ton of stuff that comes along with being the Chaplain that are not what I would call my "gifts." I was supposed to have a secretary help me keep things organized and what not, but she ended up leaving this year. This has left me with a bunch of administrative things that go along with chapel that I don't get that excited about. But, I guess with more responsibility comes more meetings, emails, and various other forms of organizational things.

So far things have gone well for both High/Middle School Chapels. I do find that I'm so focused on making sure the schedule is full and time is used wisely that I don't have as much time to prep for teaching the day of (my usual habit). This has been good because it has forced me to really prepare ahead of time, but it's hard to teach and old dog new tricks and so I still don't know how comfortable I am teaching something that I've prepped pretty far in advance.

Chapel #1: Was our first chapel and so I was glad I didn't teach. I just wanted fill the time while getting used to the whole thing. We had a great time with a game where the kids had to choose the real band from lists of various fake names. It was great. Ken, our director then spoke about being "True Faced." We ended with the kids looking at some lists of words and writing down what was one their hearts, as well as what they were seeking in life. I was shocked at how honest the kids were. Many admitted to feeling guilt, sorrow, loss, and other painful emotions.

Chapel #2: Building on what the kids shared, I decided to do a 2 part series on guilt. Yesterday I told the story of David and Bathesheba. We discussed the confrontation of the prophet Nathan and then spent most of our time studying Psalm 51, where David's guilt causes him to cry out to God. It was such a great transition into sharing the Gospel, especially when David says, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." It was great to share with the kids that sometimes guilt is a good thing because God uses it to show us that things are not right in our lives. 2 Corinthians 7:10 was also great: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." I initially didn't think that I made much sense, but several kids told me they appreciated it and so I trust the Lord used His Word in the lives of His kids.

So that's pretty much the insanity. Oh yeah, I'm going to a World Cup Qualifier tonight between Austria and France, and tomorrow we're loading up the fam to go to Eggenburg for the Middle Ages Fest and last night we had a class party for our Juniors. No rest for the weary I guess.

Elephants and Peacocks

My friends and I found 3 little animals at the zoo. Here's their backsides as they crawl up a panda bear. Hopefully they won't catch me taking pictures of them.

I'm hoping the creatures won't discover I've been following and observing them in their natural habitat.

This one seems to like me and you can see my arm and the attempt I made to touch it.

Among the 3 little ones, we found the beautiful turquoise colored peacock. Talk about painting! God used incredible colors on this one.

Then we encountered the majestic elephant....

When we arrived home, Thad promptly got out drinking straws and stuck them out of his mouth claiming that these were his tusks. It was rather cute!

So that's a day in the life of the zoo animals....
Sometimes I think I'm the keeper of the zoo. Hmmm....

Painting??

Aren't they cute?! They're about to paint and I think I'm crazy for letting them. But it was fun and they created a background for a painting I'm going to finish.

Well, I couldn't expect the paint to stay on the canvas could I? Oh well, with some scrubbing and a little elbow grease it all came off. Now I have a lovely green background to give me inspiration!

Playdough

Here's our latest craft:
Playdough!!
Thad picked the color green for our first batch...we'll be making more later!

This is so easy to do and I highly recommend making it with your toddler!
here's the recipe:

2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup salt
1 TB oil
1 cup water
** add any food coloring to water before pouring it in!

Mix all of it to form smooth paste...not many lumps and then put in saucepan. Cook slowly on low until dough comes away from sides of pan and begins to form ball (7-10 min)
Take it out of pan and let cool for about 2 min. Then knead the dough for 2-3 min. Put pan to soak immediately!
Ready to play with in no time at all!

Enjoy!

First Day of School

Well, I sent Thomas off for his first day of school this semester! :) Please pray that he will be enabled by God to be a witness of Christ's love to the students. We're excited to start seeing the students again and fellowship with them. This is going to be a great year!


.....that's all

Wasser Spielplatz ( Water playground)

We had an amazing time today at this sand and water park right next to the Donau (Danube). It's free and fresh water! I haven't had this much fun with the boys in Vienna since.....well I can't remember. I'm so excited to have found this place and my goal is to come back at least 4 more times before cold weather sets in. Woo Hoo! for free parks :)

There is a ton more interactive stuff but I couldn't carry the camera everywhere :) They have these metal stepping stools you can jump on and water flies out of them! Also, they have lots of handles to crank and pump water out of onto the sand. Very fun for little kids who like to get dirty and experience a little beach action. Thanks God for another fun day in Wien!

Tom Cruise, Joseph Smith, & Jesus

Now I realize that those three do not really belong in the same sentence, but hear me out.

So my buddy Jeff and I love Tom Cruise. We love finding clips of TC on YouTube and sending them back and forth to one another. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about Top Gun, Risky Business, or Jerry McGuire Tom Cruise. I'm talking about crazy yell at Matt Lauer, jump on Oprah's couch, intensely passionate Scientology Tom Cruise. That's a guy you can get excited about.

I mention TC, because he has this crazy aura about him. It's an aura of weirdness, but it's kind of like a train wreck that you don't want to look at, but can't seem to turn away from. There's something about the guy that draws attention. Other than Matt Lauer, most people seem to like him...and he keeps starring in movies. So there must be something to him.

We all know that TC is into Scientology...he's kind of their poster boy/messiah. While Mollie and I were in L.A., we happened to pass the Scientology Celebrity Centre (notice 'Center' is spelled 'CentRE' just to make it a bit more classy and exclusive.) This is a place where the upper echelons of Scientology can come to get away from the rest of the world and its evil engrams while simultaneously avoiding all of those little Joe Shmoe non-celebrity scientologists.
Interestingly, as Mollie and I were going through San Diego, we happened upon another bastion of equality and brotherhood within a 'religion', a Mormon Temple.

Honestly, words failed the first time I saw a picture of this thing. Then some things came to mind: Wizards, Unicorns, Ice Queens, Magic Spells, Rainbow Bright, as well as others I probably shouldn't mention.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Mormonism, but the gist of the whole temple thing is basically that this is where most of the rituals take place that prepare a person for eventual godhood. The most famous of these is the marriage ceremony. For Mormons to get to the level of having their own planet, they have to be married in one of these temples.

So now you're probably saying to yourself, "I'm glad I'm not a Scientologist, because chances are I wouldn't be able to get into the Celebrity CentRE." But, your also thinking, "Wow, I wish my church looked like Gandalf's palace." Well, those are legitimate points, but let me bring this whole post together with some thoughts on the Church.

I have spent a pretty good amount of time this summer reading about the Church. We have also had the joy of really experiencing the catholic church (and by catholic I mean world wide, not Roman Catholic). Whether it's in Vienna, Jackson, Lawton, Idyllwild, San Diego, D.C., or anywhere, we have experienced tremendous love and encouragement and have shared fellowship with so many people from so many backgrounds. It's so amazing to me that God designed the most all-inclusive group that functions to encourage, counsel, exhort, rebuke, love, share, and experience life the way it was meant to be...TOGETHER.

Jesus doesn't exclude anyone. You don't have to have cleared OT3, or have performed multiple rituals in Isengard. And that's the difference between the Church that Jesus is building, and the stuff L. Ron Hubbard & Joseph Smith were peddling.

Jesus even models how this thing He's setting up is going to be radically different than everything else. In John 13, He (Jesus, God in Human flesh by the way) does the most mind boggling thing that I can think of...He washes the feet of His disciples. This is God...He created these dudes, and He deserves nothing less than them bowing before Him, and yet, He serves them. While there may be a perception that there are higher ups and an elite in Christianity today, in reality, there are no upper echelons of the Church that Jesus is building. The people that would be exalted in God's sight are humble people who love their neighbors as themselves, and model a servant life, just as the One they follow did.

I want to be more loving like my God. I want to be more humble like my Savior. I want to be more of a servant like my friend, Jesus.

I can't see L. Ron or Jo Smith bowing down and serving their followers. And that's the difference.

Bread Baking

Thad and I made bread today and we had a blast. Here's our product and the proud eaters afterwards :)

I got some little loaf pans for Thad and he loves making his own loaf. He gets to help me take it out of the oven and then dump it on the rack. Not to mention the stirring, kneading and forming that he does beforehand. Quite impressive huh?

A little bit of summer

We had a wonderful time in the water this summer! From pools to sprinklers to the Pacific ocean, we enjoyed our families and friends. Here's a little taste of our lazy (sometimes hectic) summer!

Thomas & me at the Pacific

And we're back

NO MORE PLANES!!! At least for awhile. You would have thought that as much as the Gardner family hates to fly we would have chosen a profession other than "overseas" missionaries. We had a great time in D.C./Virginia seeing friends and family for a few days. Mollie and the boys did a little shopping while I got to visit the Library of Congress. On display was a Gutenberg Bible, as well as what is left of Thomas Jefferson's personal library that he sold to the U.S. government. I was proud to say that I had read excerpts from several of TJ's books which made me feel smart.

On Tuesday, we loaded up our six huge bags, two kids, a stroller, a backpack, Mollie's crazy huge purse, a laptop (in its case), Thad's backpack, "Blanky", "Crabby", & "Buster" (Thad's monkey), and headed for the D.C. Metro. (without the help of wonderful Aunt B, the Gardner's never would've made it to the airport) .

Let's just say that I can relate to W's experience in this pic. On top of babies, I felt really sick for the first few hours and so Mollie was a soldier in dealing with things. She held Ian for almost the entire flight, and I think she even managed a few minutes of sleep.
We landed on time and were back at the apartment by 10:00. Thad and I went grocery shopping and Mollie finally got to sleep. After I fed Thad lunch he went to sleep on the couch. I finally decided I should get some sleep and of course that was right when Ian woke up. I fed him and then shut us both in his room while Mollie and Thad slept. That was around 2:00 or so. There is a mystery 3 hours of time where no one knows exactly what Ian did. Mollie was asleep as was I. I know he was confined in the room with me, but I have no idea what he was doing. The only evidence of mischief was the 30 baby wipes we found of the floor.

Things are getting better, but we are all jet lagging pretty badly. Please pray for our adjustment to the time here. I'm going to be giving the tour of Vienna to the new staff today, and I'll be preparing orientation stuff this weekend and next week. Pray that God will give me wisdom about what to say. My topic is the integration of world view instruction into the classroom. Yeah, good luck making that exciting right?

I'm going to be blogging a bit more this year because I've found it helps me think through stuff better, so get ready. To quote scripture, you better "Gird up your loins like a man."