POLAND 365 :: WEEKS 22 & 23

June 3 - Some days it feels like we spend all our time at
the doctor's office. In fact this week, we had three doctor
visits for three different family members! And although
this can be discouraging, we take heart in knowing God
is in it all. Olivia (here) had to go because her ear drum
ruptured (again) and after a visit to the pediatrician and
ENT specialist, she was put on some medication to help
heal her ear drum. After our follow up appointment a
few days later, it was COMPLETELY healed! As
amazing as the doctor seemed to think this was, we
knew full well that the Lord had been at work and
is to be credited for healing her.

June 4 - A fun afternoon with friends from
PIC and these three boys are just pure
trouble...I mean joy! They are all the same
age (within a few months of the other) and
it's always fun to see them play together. We
are thankful Isaac has some buddies his age.

June 5 - What's better than evening story time? Well,
evening story time outside on the patio with one of your
favorite Dutchman of course! Our kids love Michiel and
he has become a regular around our house for meals. 

June 6 - I remember shortly after arriving here
riding with someone in their car and we were
trying to find a place on our GPS, and I made
the comment that it seemed "random" to be
in a neighborhood to look for this particular
business. The lady driving responded, not
in Poland, that's totally normal. And so it
is...there are businesses all over, and not
necessarily in some main strip of town,
but many times tucked away in a neighbor
hood or in someone's home. On this day,
we were driving by a house in a residential
part of town and I spotted this cafe...in some
one's garage. It is so different than in America,
but I'm looking forward to going back to this
place maybe one day and trying their food!

June 7 - When Isaac naps, you know something
is up. This kid who never seems to stop, stopped
today. We instantly thought something was up
and that he may not be feeling well...so a doctor
appointment was made for a few days later.

June 8 - We have a neighbor down the street who we learned
used cardboard to help heat their home in the winter. So
anytime we get tons of cardboard, we send it down their way.
The other day, they stopped by to collect some cardboard
we had been collecting in our garage and gave us fresh
picked strawberries from their garden in return. These
were super tasty!

June 9 - Honestly, it seems like this first year
of living in Poland has been doctor visit after
doctor visit (as I mentioned above) and today
was no different as we took Isaac to the allergy
doctor (again) to see how we can manage his
continual cough and allergies that have flared
up this time of year. An ice cream cone was
in order afterward for this brave kiddo!

June 10 - Olivia, as cute as can be, and exploring the great
outdoors (in our yard). From the day we moved into our
home here in Poland, she has preferred being outside to
being inside and we love that she already seems to have
an adventurous spirit to her!

June 11 - We began packing for vacation a
few days early...as we knew the days ahead
would be filled with work/language class.
So while we were both home on the weekend
we decided to get a jumpstart on packing.
Excited to get some time away as a family!

June 12 - We had the opportunity to attend
K5N (a Polish Evangelical Church here in
Poznan) and it was a joy to worship the One
true God in Polish and also amazing to see
what the Lord is doing through the faithful
servants who lead this congregation.

June 13 - I always enjoy cooking for others
and when some friends here came home from
the hospital after welcoming their first child,
I was honored to bring them a meal. Per request
of the new mama, "a healthy meal" was in order
and it was fun to be able to bless them in this way.
We remember just how thankful we were when
all three of our kids were born and so many
people brought us food, so we enjoy getting
to return the favor to another new mama & daddy!

June 14 - Isaac's school had a performance for Dzien Mamy i Taty day (which
was to honor parents). He had a short line that he spoke with this little guy who
has become his favorite friend in class. We were so proud to hear him try and
speak his line in Polish and by his smile afterward, we knew he was proud of
himself! This was a huge milestone for Isaac and we are so proud of him.

June 15 - We got to snuggle this little baby boy-ok, Jenny did because she
 didn't want to let him go! Mateo is so sweet and it was fun to hold a little
newbie babe. His momma and daddy have become some of the sweetest
friends to us here in Poznan and we were honored to be invited to meet him
before we left for our vacation!

June 16 - This was the start of our weeklong summer vacation. We decide that we
didn't want to go far, a short drive was enough with three small kids, and also
thought it would be fun to connect with familiar faces. So (near) Berlin is where
we ended up (more in the next blog post about that). But on the way we wanted
to stop into Berlin for a night and meet up with the McCallister family. We met
this family when we were in the States just about a month before leaving. They
serve as cross cultural workers in Berlin and it was fun to connect, talk about
language learning, transitions to another country with small children and just
all around be encouraged by all that God is doing in their lives.