Birthday Girls

Laurel turned 14 on Oct 2. (I'm a bit behind). This year has been a great year for Laurel. Her health has improved significantly which allows her to enjoy school, music and youth group more. She is making great choices in her relationships at school and being a blessing to our family with her joy and love. Laurel has an incredible gift with Children and Animals. It is almost as if she has a magical touch. Animal just melt around her, even animals that others can't do anything with. Children seek her out to spend time with her, which she loves. She has been working hard at "catching up" on her violin lessons. She missed a lot while being sick, which in the schools standards puts her "behind". We are just so proud of her for having kept up her school work, life and practicing as much as she could while she was ill. If you were to ask her, she would tell you that she learned a lot through those 2 years of illness.

Currently Laurel is thinking through where to attend High School. Here in Slovenia, it is more similar to college in the states, where you choose what you want to learn and attend that school. It is a difficult decision because this affects what the classroom environment will be like, what your studies will major on and even how much time and what times of the day you will be at school. Not an easy decision.
Kiley turns 12 today. This morning she announced "one more year and I will get to be a teenager". This girl loves being a teen and all that goes with it. She is passionate about her "puppy" that she prayed for for 5 years and enjoys playing her saxophone. This year she actually gets to be an official part of our Jr High group and invite her friends. She really desires that her friends would know the Lord and feels the weight of the fact that most of her world is not Christian. She has learned a lot about being in the world and not of it, which is tested daily in her school environment. She adds so much life to our home. When she is gone for camp we usually sit around and wonder what to do. Thanks for making our home fun Kiley!

A Movement of God

Terry, Gašper, Polona, Meta, Neja

As I write this we are preparing for our Jr High leaders meeting that we have once a month. We are so thrilled to get to work with these Young (compared to us) people. They have really taken the role of leading or churches Jr High ministry and they are doing a great job. Gašper is responsible for the regular Friday night meetings for seekers and growers. Meta is responsible for our once-a-month out-reaches. Neja is responsible for our Sunday school program and Polona is responsible for one-on-one mentoring relationships. They all work together well and we are amazed at the fact that they give up their Friday nights to come to our house and serve about 20 Jr High students (who are not always the most grateful). But we are grateful and WE LOVE YOU GUYS! None of these leaders were believers when we moved here and now they are not only believing and growing, they are leading!