Daily CZECH-Up-Preparing our Hearts

We hope you had a good weekend. We had a great and busy weekend filled with family and friends!
Friday Night, my Mom came and stayed with us. We had a great time with her.
Saturday morning, we talked and talked and talked. You know, the older I get – the more I appreciate the Mother I have.
My sister brought our niece and nephew over. They are such great kids and such a joy to be around.

Saturday afternoon, Danielle and I had the privilege of watching our friends’ children. As mentioned below, our friend Jeff graduated from Pharmacy School Saturday.
We watched his one-year-old and Jeff’s nephew who is also just over a year old. We had a good time playing with them outside in between the frequent rain.
On Saturday evening, Danielle and I hosted Jeff’s mother-in-law. What a treat!
We stayed up late talking to her. I love hearing testimonies of God’s faithfulness. She has a great testimony and continues to let God refine her. She reminded me about our “great provider” and how he is always working on our behalf. Linda is so honest and so genuine. What a blessing to have her in our lives.

Sunday morning, we stayed home from church since we had company. Danielle spent several hours making cupcakes and a cake for Jeff’s graduation party. I am so proud of my wife and how she is really using her baking skills for Christ. She is always looking for ways to bless people with her baking, including me! What a great gift God has blessed her with. Sunday afternoon, we had the graduation party for Jeff. This was a great celebration of family and friends. His wife Katherine, was very intentional about giving God the praise for his accomplishments.
We’re thankful for them both and how they have stayed true to the Lord through years of a grueling schedule. We are looking forward to seeing what God does in their lives in the coming months and years.

Sunday night, Danielle and I got home and relaxed for the remainder of the weekend.
Throughout the weekend, Danielle and I brainstormed about our future and about what God is doing.
One thing that kept coming up is how we often limit what God is doing in our lives.
Something Danielle and I are really working on is submitting our fears and concerns to Christ and letting him truly control our lives!
We both like to be in control of things which makes it hard surrendering that control to God.
I am amazed at how few people in the Czech Republic claim Christ. As Danielle and I were talking, we kept coming back to the idea of what it would be like if we as believers got out of the way and let God move through us and reach our world for Christ. It’s possible! We want to be vessels for Christ. We want people to see Christ in us.
This is one way we are preparing for our two weeks in country and then several years here at home.
We aren’t looking at this trip as an adventure that will have a beginning and an ending. We are viewing it as a trip that has a beginning and we hope it will stir things up in our hearts that will last a lifetime.

There’s a lot I don’t know about our future, but one thing I do know is that we are a work in progress. I am excited to see what God is going to do in the coming weeks, months and years.

-Ryan