Leaf Fun!

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years"---(Genesis 1:14)

Playing In The Leaves

Jack was WAY too cool to play in the leaves this year..or maybe just way too tired since he spent the weekend at DiscipleNow and barely slept. Either way, Lily and Sofie still managed to enjoy the fun, and pulled our dog Sydney into their shenanigans in Jack's place. As you can see in the pictures, Sydney is a very good sport! After the fun, Sydney took a nap while snuggling with Lily on the couch. Lily was singing Sydney to sleep. (so precious!) Sydney is making herself right at home since joining our family and we love her very much.

Dancing With the Stars

We love watching Dancing With The Stars and we are very excited for tomorrow night's finale. We each have a different opinion of who should win but we all agree the suspense is fun. Sofie and Lily were inspired to work up this little number this morning while still in the pajamas. I don't know about you, but I think they definitely are contenders for the disco ball trophy. Here they are doing the Jitterbug...(sort of). Hee, hee!

No Longer Unwritten...

I am thrilled to announce that one of my writing pieces was selected for publishing and was included as a featured piece in McKinney Woman Magazine for the Nov/Dec edition. I cannot even put into words the excitement I felt seeing my very first by-line! I am still smiling...hope you take a minute to check it out. Go to www.mckinneywoman.com and click on the divine line icon. The article is titled "Be Still" and was originally a devotional written for Molly Reck during her battle with leukemia. How awesome God gave me a larger audience. I pray I am found faithful in my service to our King through the written word and that His word would not go forward without accomplishing His purpose.

You can find the article at the following link:

www.mckinneywoman.com/divineline.html

Blessings and thanks for sharing in my joy!

Sofie is a Reader!

Sofie read her first book all by herself this evening. We are so proud of her. She read the book to me, to Marty, to Jack, and then to Lily and even Sydney, the dog. You could see the excitement in her face as she pointed to each and every word. In a funny moment where art imitates life, the title of her book was In The Mud...how funny is that? Enjoy watching the Honeybug discover reading. Oh, the places she will go! <3

Introducing...Sydney Arbuckle (our Australian Terrier)

Some of you know the story from a few weeks ago. The girls and I were driving around running errands one Saturday before I left for Vienna. Lily, in her sweet way said, "Mommy, when can we get a dog?" I replied that I thought that would be really neat but I didn't think we could afford it right now. Our budget is very stretched right now since I have stepped out of the classroom to be at home. With Jack's athsma, we would have to buy a hypoallergenic dog, and those tend to be pretty pricey. So, I suggested to Lily that she pray about it. Right then and there, as we drove down Virginia Parkway, Lily went to God with a heartfelt prayer that went like this..."Dear God. I would like a dog. If it is best for my family, could you send me one for Christmas? I will try to understand if it is not right for us right now, but I would really like a dog." Sofie chimed in in her own spunky way and said, "God, DELETE THAT PRAYER! I want a dog!"

Well, I am happy to report that the kids' got their prayers answered this week. On Tuesday, we picked up the newest member of our family, Sydney. She is a 5 year old Australian Terrier. She has been living with Jack's best friend up to this point in her life, but they needed to find her a new home and God led her to ours. The kids could not be more thrilled and I confess, I have fallen in love with Sydney as well. She is definitely an answer to the kids' prayers. She doesn't shed. She is sweet as sugar and she was FREE! How awesome is that???!

Vienna Waits For You

Hi everyone,

I am drinking coffee from my new mug from Vienna and writing to thank you all for the prayers over the past 12 days. They were definitely felt as I faced the challenges before me in Vienna. It was a busy week, filled with emotional ups and downs. I will take a few moments to share with you all what we accomplished (and I am including you all in the "we" as I could not have gone without your support). These are some of the highlights of how God moved in Vienna during my time there...

I stayed with a beautiful young family who made me feel instantly at home. This morning, I was thinking of them with a smile in my heart as I drank my coffee remembering our laughing at the breakfast table. It is remarkable to me how God can make lifelong friends out of strangers. That is how I feel about my new friends in Austria.

Our first big event was a baking day with the youth at the church where I mainly served. They are a small church, maybe 70 members and the youth is less than 20 kids. But the kids are truly amazing and I had a spectacular day with them. I have never had so much fun baking cookies! They have a dream of going on a mission trip to South Africa, but need the funds to do so. The baked goods will do much to help with that mission. We also sold leftover chocolate chips and peppermint candies for 3 Euro a bag, (or about $4.50). Austrians love them and they are quite expensive there since they are imported goods. That really cracked Marty up! :)

We cooked a number of American cookies and desserts including chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, pumpkin pie, pecan tossies, and carmel popcorn. We then bagged it up and sold it for 5 Euros a bag. We then sold the goodies at two big performances. One was a line dancing evening where we Texans taught the Austrians to line dance. There were many unchurched/unbelieving visitors that night who came to dance. Of course, I had to mention that I learned how to linedance by the instruction of my sweet mother at Baxter Fun Days in Iowa. Ha! The second big event was a concert where we also served Texas chili and cornbread and pumpkin pie for dessert. (I was in charge of the cornbread, thank you very much!) Most of the bags were purchased when I left the church Sunday. Amazing! Austrians definitely like sweets! Ha!

I also had the privilege of visiting a Romanian church in Krems, Austria. Three of my teammates and I went to support Arletha Green, a gospel singer, at her concert there. While there, I was unexpectedly asked to share my "story" with the entire congregation. I was trembling as I spoke with nerves, but God gave me the words to touch the hearts of those there, just as I had prayed. After the concert, I was flooded with hugs and tears by young women inspired and touched by Christ's love through my words. One precious girl there, quite young, maybe early 20's gave me a sample of Boss perfume out of her purse because she wanted me to have something special for touching her heart so much. It put tears in my eyes to be greeted with such love. I occassionally smell the perfume, but then I put the cap back on. It is too precious to me to actually wear. On the way home, we went to a Benedictine Monastary, still occupied by monks that is 1200 years old. My testimony was about "shining as light in the darkness" and it was an amazing sight to see this amazing structure completely lit up in the black starless night. We stood silently on the hillside with the monastary behind us and gazed out onto the town before us. Tiny specks of light lined the hillside where the lights of homes shone in the night. It made my heart swell as I felt God's presence there with me. It almost seemed like he was saying "well done, good and faithful servant." I fell in love with the romanians there. Such a warm and affectionate group of people. I am already praying for God to give me an opportunity to go to Romania and do mission work there someday. They so touched my heart! I heard amazing stories of escape from Romania that would pain your heart. It made me so grateful to be living in the United States and proud to be an American.

Before I left someone whom I used to be quite close to told me it was foolish for me to go to Austria to share Christ because they didn't need my Jesus. She told me if I wanted to do something good that I should go to Africa and take on a poverty mission. Obviously one cannot ignore the plight of those living in poverty, and we have a responsibility to care for the poor. And yet, my heart is drawn to the hopeless in Europe. A continent slowing falling into darkness. You may not know this, but Islam is growing fast in Europe. At the current rate of immigration, France will be an Islamic state by the year 2020. Most of those immigrants come from Radical Islamic States. Austria has a large Islamic population as well. In fact, there are more Moslems than Protestants in Austria with a sleeping Catholic church. We simply cannot afford to lose Europe. For if we do, Christians in America will surely stand alone. That is why I went to Austria. That is why I will return one day to Europe. That is why I hope you will continue to pray for revival there. Also pray for the Beheimgasse Baptist Church as it is now my European church family and I love them very much. They inspire me to be a brighter Christian.

Stepping off the plane, I was struck by how different the air felt in Dallas. (not just really warm), but filled with hope and love and peace. One of my teammates said, "You can just feel God's favor here can't you???" She took the words right out of my mouth. To all of you who supported me with donations, prayers, friendship, or all of the above...thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to be an ambassador for Christ in Austia. May God's work continue and reap a harvest all the days to come.

All my love,
Heather

Make a Smilebox slideshow