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OK. My brother does have Crohn's disease and has been living with it for the past few months rather well. He changed his eating habits, and takes his medicine regularly. Soon he will go for another test in Zagreb, but all in all, he's doing well. No fever. :) Praise the Lord.

Other than these things, he's been doing really well... emotionally. We saw him during the Christmas break, when we stayed with my family for 2 weeks. I used to be afraid to look at him sometimes, because he used to be eager to interpret looks as threats, as attacks, as acts of belittling or scorn, although I tried my best never to feel or act that way toward him.

Anyway, this time... his look and his eyes were the most welcoming eyes in that house. Whenever I felt embarrassed or just caught myself in an awkward pause, his face was there to help me. Not because he used it, aware of the effect, but just because he was so friendly toward me. And everyone else. It was just... wonderful. I praise God for that, too.

Well, in other news, and pretty exciting news - Miro's Ordination service is this Sunday! I am not a fan of ceremony, when ceremony is its own end, like a custom. However, I am in awe of a meaningful ceremony, an event where words MEAN something, something beyond usual, everyday use of them. When you say something and in a special way you are aware that HERE and NOW God is here, listening, because it is a vow to Him. So special. May God be glorified in it, may His character be magnified and exalted among us on Sunday. Because everything is from Him, through Him, and for Him. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

My Brother

My posts seem to be one prayer need after another. Just like life, I guess.

Well, my brother, Ivo, is at the hospital. The doctors are trying to figure out what's wrong with him, but without success. He's had a fever for a long time, but his bloodwork is perfect and there are no other visible symptoms.  Needless to say, he is feeling really sad. The longer he doesn't know what's wrong, the worse and darker his thoughts become. He's never trusted Jesus as his Saviour and Lord, so that all his hope is feeble. Today, he's been very aggressive, arguing with the nurses and with our parents. I thoroughly dislike (in other words, hate) staying at the hospital (at least in a Croatian hospital), where nobody tells you anything and they just expect you to accept whatever they bring your way, so that I understand how helpless he must be feeling. And helplessness can make us all behave very bad. God help him.

They've already tested him on numerous bacterial diseases, from TBC and HIV to Streptococcus and Escherichia coli. And now, they're testing him for malignant diseases. Bone marrow puncture yesterday, today the Chron's disease test and an ultrasound of the heart. Next week lumbar puncture.

Here's a photo of him and his beautiful wife Sanja, and their darling son Ante...

Please pray with us, for a spiritual wake-up call and physical healing! Thank you so much!

Moving ahead

The teacher wasn't pleased. We'll try harder next time.

Miro is in Slavonski Brod today and I've done the Saturday lesson at the Deaf and hard of hearing school. I'm teaching the kids there the symbols of English phonetics so that they don't have to rely on what's written in their English classes but have a way of knowing how to pronounce words. Since they can't hear well, they usually go for the letters on the page, reading them phonetically, and, needless to say, that's fatal in a language like English where pronunciation is extra weird:). No offense:)))

And now... we are being lazy. It's still quite warm around here, but the colours are changing. October colours. A bright sunny day - a perfect day for walking, squinting and smiling.
And I hope to do some of that:).

Before we know it, the forests will be dressed like this...

Book Report Day and Baptism Service

Well, this too has passed. Jakov is at school now, with his report in the school bag. The second story he chose was called the Swineherd, and, for different reasons,  it was not an easy read. Anyway, it's all done now. Thank you so much for praying! I don't think it will make a good grade. However, the teacher might reward his effort - he did read it all by himself, which is something many other kids don't do - their Moms read it for them. And, he did write everything required of him. Miro spoke with the teacher yesterday, and tried to explain the difficulties Jakov is facing, and she seems to have understood and is willing to help. That is wonderful and hope inspiring! Here's the book, in all its 80s glory:(

Aahhh. Moving on. And not looking back.

Now, here's a great piece of news: a baptism service on Sunday. One dear brother and sister will be baptised!! I am so happy for them both! What an enormous encouragement they are for our church here. I am so looking forward to it (thinking about, among other things, what to wear:))))!!! Our little church band will play two songs, that is great, too. It will be held at a different Church, since we don't have a baptistry, but that is no downer:) We are going there small in numbers but with great joy in the Lord. May He bless the lives and paths of our new brother and sister in Him, who is our Beloved!

Progress

We finished reading The Ugly Duckling, and now need to choose another story from the book. Actually, Jakov was supposed to read every story in that book and write a report on two of them, but that's not the way it's gonna 'go down'.

These are the kinds of things that he needs to write there: time and place of the plot, main and other characters, some of their characteristics, a few of his favourite sentences and the moral of the story.
I was surprised at how quickly he did it. No crying. No saying 'I can't do it, it's too hard!' So, I decided I was not going to correct the many spelling mistakes and investigate the fact that his favourite sentence was the first sentence of the story - the shortest and easiest for copying:))! I was happy it was done, and he was ecstatic:)!
He will probably get a D (a 2 in Croatian, 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest grade), but there's time. We will press on. Can't wait for his speech therapist to come from her vacation.

OK, the first part is over. Now we need to choose and read the next story. A short one, perhaps;)?

The Saga Continues

September - the school month. The month when you start wearing socks and quit wearing flip-flops and forget about the occasional run with no shoes at all. The end of the barefoot, carefree summer. But oh so exciting beginning of the school year. The intoxicating smell of books, school bags, pencil cases, the rush of being in the school corridors, the promise of hysterical classroom laughter, the adrenaline of exams.....aahhh, the good times. At least when you're in elementary school, and you are not yet your own worst enemy. Like you might become in high school.

But, that's my story, not my kids'. Somehow, my kids seem to be different from me! What's up with that?!? :)

Well, Josip (my 1st grader) seems to be following in his mama's footsteps, at least for now. When he's in front of his classroom, he seems hypnotized - doesn't even notice me once the thought of entering that room possesses his mind. I can't deny that that gives me such joy.

Jakov, on the other hand, seems to be ridden with different little problems that annoy him like flies when he's trying to concentrate and do something pertaining to school. He is often completely miserable. The hardest thing about looking up different learning disabilities is that he seems to have symptoms for each and every one of them. ADD, dyslexia, visual perceptual deficit, bad short term memory (related  to his stuttering), etc. I don't think it is something very severe, more like a mild case of such things combined with a personality that becomes overwhelmed easily and shrinks away from 'hard' things. And the hardest thing for him, and is related to all learning, is reading. Our reading sessions are usually soaked in tears. Last year, our friend Rachel used to help him with that, trying to make it fun, and he loved it. This year, Charlie and Barb will try. I love them all so much for thinking about Jakov like that and doing something about it. His speech therapist is also trying to help, because it seems that children who stutter are known to have a hard time reading, at least in the beginning. Anyway, please pray...

He needs to read a book of Andersen's fairy tales by next Thursday. We are still in the first story - The Ugly Duckling. His pace is so slow that he doesn't even get things he reads. Which in Andersen's case might be just as well!! Why give such incredibly SAD stories to an eight year old who probably will not know how to cope with it?!? But that's another story. He needs to have a book report on this by Thursday. Please pray with us...

Oh yes, it's been a while

The Busy July is almost at its end. One more event tonight and tomorrow night, and we are leaving the green pastures of Slavonia and exchanging them for the vast blues of the Adriatic. Praying for sunshine, a lot of sunshine to warm up our bones, to make us sleepy and full of smiles, to ressssst.

Tomorrow evening we are hoping to make a bonfire and roast corn with our short-termers. 'The Edgers'. Make some sweet memories, hopefully. They've all been very good, wonderful girls.

I'm aching for the sound of waves and concerts of crickets, squeaking of pebbles and the smell of pine trees.