ICSB Supports Dozens of Ministries in Budapest...read about ONE of them!

In December, Trisha participated in a Christmas program put on by KEGy, a local Hungarian church here in Budapest. KEGy is the city church plant that our Budapest City team with Reachglobal of the EFCA leads. Within our mission organization there are technically three teams here in Budapest. There is the City Church Plant Team, the International Christian School of Budapest team, and our EFCA Reachglobal Europe Headquarters team.

God is doing amazing things through their church plant, and it was a real honor for Trisha to be part of the community choir that particpated in their special Christmas program. The goal of this choir was to bring people together in the community who love music, and enjoy singing. Praise God that through this choir, God is working in the hearts of some of the particpants and drawing them closer to Himself. There is once couple in particular that is really seeking answers to their personal spiritual questions, and God is using Mark and Jodi, the choir directors and our EFCA Reachglobal teammates to pursue answers to their spiritual questions. Praise God! The choir was a small part of the overal program that the church plant put together for Christmas. I was so excited to see that Mark, one of our Budapest City teammates posted this video of the Christmas program.

Seeing work like this keeps Bjorn and I on fire about our ministry at the International Christian School of Budapest. Mark and Jodi's kids attend ICSB, and it is a blessing for us to hear of the work that God has called them too. Their kids started in the Hungarian school system, but for personal reasons had to move their kids to ICSB this semester. Praise God that ICSB is in existence and allowing so many families to stay on the mission field and remain committed to the work that God has called them to.

Check out this video of the Christmas concert!

January 2011

We love bundling the girls up and taking walks as a family!

Uncle Bruce Olsen came to Budapest while he was leading his Bethel University students on their International Business trip. It was so fun to get to see him and hang out for a couple days!

Little miss personality, AKA Alyssa Noelle makes us laugh all day long! She is crusing along in her development walking everywhere, talking, feeding herself with a spoon...wow..I mean...wow!She is now 14 months, and we are so thankful for her! It is hard to believe that this little munchkin is going to be a BIG SISTER! Yep, in July Baby Olsen #3 is due! :)

Lianna Joy, our champ. She is making HUGE gains in her development..and we are soooo grateful. Lianna just turned 4 years old a couple weeks ago, and it's perfect because 4 is her favorite number. Wherever she sees the number 4, on clocks, house numbers, anywhere..she makes sure to tell us that she sees the number 4. She is doing great identifying letters, and trying to talk more each day..and actually using new words that we've never heard her say before. PRAISE GOD!

Bjorn LOVES his girls..and of course so does Mommy. It has been so fun to see Lianna and Alyssa starting to play with each other more. Alyssa loves to chase Lianna and tickle her...it is soo funny. Lianna loves to bring Alyssa puppets for her to play with her. It will be fun to see how they both react to being big sisters in July.

More December...

Daddy opening Christmas gifts with Alyssa and Lianna.

Christmas Eve dinner at our friend's house. Lianna loved getting to sit by Oma!

December

Here is Papa enjoying some cuddle time with his grand girls! :)

Here the girls are having a pajama day playing with their buses. Alyssa started the race and then Lianna joined in. It has been so fun to see the girls loving to play with one another.

We have had a lot of snow here in Hungary this winter. This was the FIRST TIME that Lianna was strong enough in her walking to be able to walk in boots in the snow without assistance!!! PRAISE GOD!

On December 2, 2010, Alyssa Noelle turned 1 year old!!! Happy Birthday Alyssa! :)

Here is a picture of one of our students teaching English in a local Hungarian public school in Budapest. This was a great outreach that our students did here in Hungary!

Gramma and Grampa Olsen Visit..and the Youngs

Mr. Richard and Kim Young came to visit with Gramma and Grampa.

Lianna loved cuddling with Gramma and Grampa while they were here.

We had a GREAT time when they came to visit! The girls loved getting to play with Gramma and Grampa!

Lianna and Alyssa loved playing with the doll house with Gramma.

Of course they loved it when Grampa and Gramma would read to them too!

We even got to celebrate an early Christmas with presents that they brought in their suitcase!

Wow..God always meets us in our struggles...ALWAYS!

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" Matt. 5:4

So, in my last post, I talked about struggling with feeling alone and I feel a short explanation might be needed. When we left Chicago, we left an amazing Young Marrieds group that really encouraged us in our marriage and walk with the Lord. We had small groups and well...a lot of other friend and family support. God has blessed us with a great Christian community to be part of here in Hungary, but we still miss some of those friendships when we could walk life together on a daily basis. We had a few couples that mentored us (Bjorn and I), and we miss them and their encouragment and guidance too.

Having kids here, and not having that same support is challenging at times. God has been faithful though, and is bringing other couples to us and for that we are incredibly thankful.

A big struggle lately has been sweet Lianna's speech. Sadly, she is struggling greatly with getting the words out and expressing what she wants/needs. In the last week, she has started biting herself in frustration. She bites her wrists and leaves deep teeth marks. She also has started hitting herself in the face.

I write this to you and ask that you would please pray for her. Please pray specifically for her speech and to give her frustration to Jesus and not hurt herself. Please pray that when Bjorn and I can't understand her, that God would give us insight on what she is trying to communicate. Pray that even though I am not a speech therapist and have all this great ideas up my sleeve to pull out to help Lianna, that God would meet me and teach me...lead me...and that I would put it in his BIG hands.

A couple of days ago we were sitting in the kitchen and Lianna kept saying the same thing over and over again. In her sweet mind, it made perfectly good sense...but Bjorn and I sturggled to understand what she was trying to communicate. Lianna started screaming and whining and Bjorn and I watched out sweet little girl with her head buried in her arms on the table. These are moments that the enemy loves to stir up dissention between Bjorn and me too...because we are so overwhelmed with how to help her. Please pray that as a family we would ALWAYS stop in these exact moments and give them to Jesus, so that the enemy does not get a foothold.

Bjorn and I decided that we really need to cry out to the Lord with this struggle.

I do have to tell you an amazing story though of how God has met us in this struggle this week. This past week I called a friend in the states to wish her kids a happy birthday. She answered and said, "Trisha, I am so glad that you are calling, because I have something to tell you and I didn't want to forget. Last night, all night long I kept waking up. In my dreams and when I was awake, I kept praying for Lianna. I kept praying specifically for her speech."

There I sat holding the phone with tears in my eyes, and have them even now as I write. How amazing is our God? Here is my friend that lives on the other side of the world and has NO IDEA of this struggle that we've been having specifically this week, let alone the day before at the kitchen table. I stand amazed at the body of Christ. She felt compelled to pray for our family due to the prompting of the Holy Spirit!

Thank you Jesus, for hearing our hearts' cry. We beeseech you Lord to meet us in the midst of our struggle and give us peace. Amen

Cup of Tea and Jesus

I have been reading through the book of Job. Each day I've been trying to read one chapter in Job, and then the corresponding pages for each chapter (usually about 8-10 pages) from the book The Gospel According to Job by Mike Mason. I have found that during the girls' nap time in the afternoon is the perfect time for a "cup of tea and Jesus."

Mike Mason really does an amazing job at taking a deeper look into the book of Job and the dialogues between Job and his buddies, if you can really even call them that. Everyday, after reading...I feel like there was so much meat that I need to digest in what was written...that I need more time to mull it apart in my mind. However, at the same time I can't wait to keep reading.

This personal book study is definitely going to have to be a repeat...there is just so much to learn from Job..Have you ever read Mason's book? If not...put it on your must read list, and don't forget to read the book of Job with it!

Lately, I've been challenged emotionally...feeling stuck. Then two days ago, I came to reading Job 29 and Mason's chapter entitiled, "Uselessness."

Chew on these words from Mason...

"Suffering puts us out of commision (at least from our perspective), so that we can no longer work, no longer contribute, no longer do much of value."

"Perhaps it is even true that the very soul of suffering is not so much pain itself, in all its forms, as it is the simple humiliation of having all our plans brought to a standstill, the indignity of being made to stop and wait."

"When the Lord appreared to Moses, and later to Joshua, to each of them He said the same thing;"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Ex.3:5, Josh 5:15) Why should you take off your shoes in the Lord's presence? Because without shoes you are not going anywhere. You might try to walk, but you will not get very far, especially in the hot sand and shorp rocks of the wilderness...Barefootedness means immobilization, and so it is a symbol of submission."

"Being immoblie (in other words, having nothing better to do) is a prerequisite for worship, and worship is the prerequisite for all activity, all service."

"We need to learn how to kick off our shoes and discover that the place where we are standing is holy."

"If today we find our soul (pun intended) wearing out, it may be because we are running around doing a lot of things that the Lord has not told us to do. We want to be fruitful. We want to work for our chruch and contribute to our society. We want to do something, not simply believe."

Lastly, he encourages the reader with the following words from Catherine Doherty: "If you want to see what a 'contribution' really is, look at the Man on the cross. That's a contribution. When you are hanging on a cross you cannot do anything becuase you are crucified."

Oh to keep my eyes on Christ and the cross...sometimes it is easy to go a day without thinking about what Christ did for us on the cross. It often seems much easier to be self absorbed with my eyes looking inward...on how all that is going on in this world is affecting me. That my friends is called selfishness. That is sin.

The last couple days, I have been encouraged to think of how my moments of lonliness, restlessness and feeling useless...are moments that God has a bigger plan than I have for myself. Sometimes God puts our personal plans at a standstill because they are not from Him. Wouldn't we rather enjoy what God has in store for us? Sometimes God has us alone so that He alone can be the author and perfector of our faith. It is amazing to think of how I continue to fall in love with Jesus more and more each day...and for that I am so thankful.

I have to remember that Satan is full of lies and wants me to feel useless and wants to distract us from what God has called us to do. Sometimes that is simply loving Jesus and being loved by Him.