I Cannot Be Quiet!

We have a group of believers from our church who meet in our living room every Thursday night. It has been wonderful to get to know some Hungarians better as they are very open about sharing their life experiences during this time. Almost 2 weeks ago, one lady in our group asked us to pray for her co-worker who was scheduled to have a late-term abortion on Friday, the next day. This pregnant woman had found out that her baby had Down Syndrome and she did not want to keep the baby. She was six months pregnant. Over the next week, our friend did not have contact with her and we did not know what happened until this week's Thursday night meeting.

The pregnant woman did proceed with the abortion on Friday. She was induced and went into labor, and the baby should have been delivered shortly after. However, the labor process went on until Sunday night. The nurses in attendance said that if the baby did not come this day, she would just have to carry the baby to full term. There was nothing more they could do to make the baby come so early. However, the baby did come Sunday night.

The baby was born alive, and the mother was not allowed to see the baby. The baby was then left unattended......and left to die alone.

And so, this is a typical late-term abortion. Is this more humane than the "partial-birth" abortion method that is in such high demand in America? Friends, let us not think that God does not see and that God does mourn for the callous hearts that would so willingly dispose of another human simply because that one is less than perfect. The word abortion has become far too common a word - even among Christians. Let's not get comfortable with knowing that so many children are being killed every day. Let's not put economics and health care ahead of the right to life when it comes to voting. Let's not assume there is nothing more we can do to stop such evil practices.

Remember our own beautiful daughter.....our five year old who loves to sing and dance, is learning to speak Hungarian and to play piano, completes an entire math chapter in one day, and plays princess dress-up every day......who has Turner Syndrome? She was a choice. "It's OK if you want to terminate your pregnancy, you can always try again. It's not your fault that something is wrong with your baby. We just don't know how bad the affects of her condition will be....." I will never forget hearing these words and how it stung my heart. It's unbelievable that we would even have to talk a genetic counselor who assured us that "pregnancy termination" was a perfectly normal choice! WHAT? What's normal about killing your baby? Special needs children are precious! They are a special GIFT from God......so that we would learn how to really love.


"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139

I cannot be quiet! Psalm 94:16, Proverbs 31:8-9

The Scent of Routine

Since we moved to Budapest, we have seen our home life evolve into some pretty nice routines. If it's Friday, you can always guess what we'll be doing........it's pizza day at our house. Friday morning, after breakfast, I make 2 recipes of dough. I don't have a bread machine, so I've mastered the art of kneading it by hand and letting it rise. Then, about 4 PM I start chopping the veggies and shredding cheese (by hand of course!). I buy a huge block of cheese and shred all of it - enough for 5 pizzas. At 4:30 PM we turn the kitchen table into a pizza factory with our rolling pins, flour, pizza pans, sauce, & toppings. The children take turns rolling dough, spreading the sauce and decorating their pizza, and mostly sampling the toppings. They like to eat more than they put on their pizzas. Stephen discovered he liked mushrooms last week! We can only bake 2 pizzas in the oven at one time, so by 5:30 most of them are done.......and they are sooooo delicious! Our favorite topping (the adults) are the spicy Hungarian peppers. The kids' favorite - cheese. (No surprise there.) The whole house seems to be exhaling the scent of Italy. We haven't yet made our homemade pizzas like the Hungarians do - baked with corn on top, and smothered in ketchup and mayo. This surprisingly simple routine has given us that something to look forward to at the end of the week, and has meshed us together with some fun together time. After dinner, we pile pillows and blankets on the floor, and chose a kids movie to watch - a movie that is in ENGLISH.

Here's our recipe, enough for 2-3 pizzas, depending on the thickness.
mix together:
3 1/3 cup flour (half whole wheat, half white flour)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
Then add some olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water.
Knead together until smooth and ball shaped. Let rise!


"Mom, is it Friday yet?"

What About Missions?

"Why Hungary? Of all the places in the world, why would you chose Hungary?" We have heard this question many times, and the answer isn't always easily understood. Separately we read through job requests for places all over the world - Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, South Africa.....and Hungary. During my time of reading through the requests, I was moved to tears when I read the last one on the bottom of the pile. I had a very small glimpse of light into the dark post-communistic society of Eastern Europe, and saw many Hungarians coming to know Jesus. When we came back together, we had both chosen the same job request. So why this place? You could say that God put the Hungarian people in our hearts. The other requests sounded interesting, exciting, and wonderful, but something was missing......the calling, the passion, the presence of God in leading us to a different people group.


Many people love to talk about missions or say that they're praying for missions. Churches love to support missions, but often missions is just a concept that is too far removed from the everyday American life. It's easy to feel guilty for not having more time or money to do something more for the nations. Let's get real and specific! God is concerned about people - individuals and families all over the world. God calls His followers to respond to Him. If we as Christians are listening to Him, there will be people or peoples that he is leading us to. Not just "missions" in general.....but people.

Missions becomes REAL when we become involved with REAL individuals. Not programs, not offerings, not promotional videos, and not in idolizing missionaries. Who are we concerned about?

Which people are on your heart?