Easter Time

"How great is the love the Father has given us so freely! Now we can be called children of God. And that's what we really are! ... We know what love is because Jesus Christ gave his life for us!" 1 John 3.



What a great week and weekend we had celebrating Jesus, his life, his sacrifice, and his love for us so that we can also be called children of God and have a relationship with Him. It was a somber and yet joyful week remembering, reading about, and celebrating what Jesus lived and died for. We also did some of the typical Easter traditions as well, like dyeing and hiding Easter eggs, baking an Easter cake, and making some Spring crafts with the children at our Moms' and Kids' group.

We also made our annual trip to Slovakia to celebrate Easter with our church family from many different cities. It was a very special time together sharing our lives, our stories, and our faith with one another. I'm thankful for how God encourages me and teaches me through this time with our friends. Here are some pictures from the last week, though, unfortunately, I was too busy having fun to take pictures of some of the best moments. :)




Our teammates Mitch and Graham, as well as Josh, were able to share some lessons and thoughts with us at the Easter retreat.







This was the best photo we could get of the kids together. Jakub had a blast playing with all of them, following the older boys around playing cars, and he especially had a good time with his new best friend, Katka. She's the little girl with dark brown hair and has her head turned in the picture. They were inseparable by the end of the retreat and Jakub was constantly asking for her, pulling her around by the hand to play, and asking for her to come home with us. She was doing the same for him and they played really well together. It was very sweet, especially when they gave so many hugs at the end and were saying bye to each other.

There are 4 kids missing from the picture, so you can imagine how lively things were at times with all of the kids around. :) Thankfully, some volunteers planned some great kids' activities and classes during the adult Bible lessons so that we could fully listen and be a part of the study groups and discussions without much interruption. I am thankful and was refreshed and encouraged by this time spent with others. Jakub had a great time at the kids' classes, too, and we now have some homemade flowers in a pot and some real grass growing to watch after each day. :)

It also snowed again while we were in Slovakia in the mountains (just a little with lots of sunshine as well), so we had snow for 2 Sunday Easter worships in a row this year. Awesome!



The picture above is from our craft time at our Moms' and Kids' group in Olomouc last week. We made a spring tree by painting our fingers to make blossoms, as well as gluing on some popcorn. They turned out really well and we celebrated God's creation and the blooming trees and flowers all around us.





Here are a couple more from our Moms' group and celebration last week.










And here are a couple from time with Jakub dyeing Easter eggs. Thankfully,d we were able to do it with my Mom on Skype, so she shared in the experience with him. It was great!









I hope you all had a meaningful and blessed Easter as well. God is so good to us and I am so thankful. Love to you all!