Would you pray with us?

Hi! Would you pray with us?

- Our health. Since our return at lest one of us has been sick at any given point. Currently the boys are worse off. So, pray for a quick healing.

- God to continue to provide all that is needed to live & serve here. He is always good, but He does like us to ask Him!

- PTL! God has been bringing many new families to the Sunday worship service. Pray that those who should be a part of the church would remain. The last two Sundays were great gatherings!

- Pray for us to know how to best serve God & the people He brings.

- Pray that God would stir people to use their gifts to edify the Body

- Pray for clear direction in reaching out to the community around us.

- Pray that we would be good witnesses in our jobs

- Pray for continued protection & growth in our family & marriage.

Obama-maniac

Apparently my 5 year old niece is an Obama-maniac. Where she got her political persuasions I have no idea..but find out more on her blog.

Personally I didn't vote this time around (yes... I know that is soooo bad!)Unfortunately I didn't make it in time to register myself at the US embassy here in Slovakia. And of course many of my Slovak friends and coworkers ask my about "my" new president. Regardless of what your persuasions are, one fact is clear - the world loves Obama. Is it hype? the real thing? or something more prophetically sinister? (as half of my junkmail suggests) Time will tell.

One thing I do like about Obama is that generally he is a good speaker, which gives me much in the way of material for my English classes on speech making. We just finished reviewing Obama's inauguration speech. The great thing about most of Obama's speeches is that you can usually find at least one great line in it that you are sold on. Mine was - "...people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

QuickFire Interview

I was recently interviewed for a school publication and thought I would include it here...

Name: Patrick Michael Higgins, aka "Mr.Patrick"

What are you teaching at Forel? H2-H5 English... the American way :)

Why did you want to be become a teacher? I don't think I had a burning desire to become a teacher. Teaching seemed completely boring from a student perspective. Then I came to Slovakia and discovered that teaching can actually be quite rewarding and often fun too!

Best thing about teaching? The summer breaks....and watching students finally "get it"...enlightenment is a beautiful thing.

Did you enjoy your winter break? YES, I spent the time in California. It was great to kick back in La Jolla on the beach, cruise around downtown San Diego, make snow angles on the surrounding hills, catch some sun in Palm Springs, and explore the hip vibe of Santa Monica. Home sweet home.

Quick Fire questions

America or Slovakia? Slovakia

Summer or Winter? Summer

Favorite colour? Green

Favorite film? Raiders of the Lost Ark

Chocolate or vanilla? both

Kofola or CocaCola? Kofola...is there any other choice?

Dogs or cats? Dogs - faithful friends... cats are social snobs.

Can you Sing? when I have to...but don't expect any solos

Favorite singer/band? This is a tough question. I tend to drift through various music styles but always come back to U2 & Louie Armstrong.

Your ambitions for the new year? Live & love deeply with my family, read more good books, become a student again, travel far and wide, be more spiritual, take naps, and change the world (at least my part of it).

The key to success is... figure out what 'success' really means. At the moment it is all about staying in my sweet spot - the moment you know you are doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. It's so easy to mess it up. Usually because we take ourselves too seriously.

LAPHIL

LA has the most funky, amazingly cool, architecturally outstanding philharmonics center. It was so fun to just walk around this thing and take shots. So - Shawn, my sole photo fan, feel free to upload some of these...

Wild Animals

On the way up from SD we meet my parents at the SD Wild Animal Park. If you haven't been there, you gotta go some time. It's like being on Safari with a safety net.... you are close to the animals, they are loose, but they can't get you... at least in theory.

La Jolla

Spending the day in La Jolla is like getting a faint glimpse of heaven (and I mean the beaches.. the shops are more like hell for me). I would for sure question my calling to icy Bratislava if offered a job in La Jolla (any job... was that paper or plastic?)Fortunately God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bare...hence no job offers... Anyways, a day is well spent there if you have the chance. Enjoy the pics, try not to drool on your computer.

DownTown

Even better then the So.Cal snow, is the sun. We didn't get much of that until after Christmas this time around. We went down to San Diego to visit our friends Neal & Yvonne Pirolo from ERI ministries. It's always great to meet up with this 'young couple' be it in SD, China, Slovakia, Mexico or wherever we end up crossing paths with them around the globe. I truly hope I have as much energy and passion to change the world as they do when I am their age. Anyways, here are some pics from our time checking out around downtown.

turbulencia

Click to find out more about the Turbulencia conference put on by Mozaika church in Nitra. Enjoy!

Cookie Monsters

Gabe, David, and Gemma adding some style to an army of gingerbread cookies.

African Rodeo

This visit to CA has been a fun one for the boys. Between hanging out with grandparents, cousins, Christmas, and two Labradors it is shaping up to a good time. Two weeks ago we visited a small zoo in Santa Anna. The highlight for the guys was the elephant ride...

perfect in weakness

Have you ever noticed that the short prayers are usually the most honest? Like - "Oh God, help!" Straight and to the point. They are devoid of any pretense and completely laying bare your inability to "do it my way." I like these prayers... I say them often. Not because I'm spiritual, but because I'm desperate.

Sometimes when I teach or share in a church I am misunderstood. I'm not sure if it's my fault or simply the crowds. Last Sunday I shared at a church about how God powerfully demonstrated His goodness to us by moving us to Bratislava and providing all that we needed for this move. Yesterday I ran into a young lady who heard that talk and she expressed her appreciation by saying something to the effect of - "It's great to hear about how much faith you have." Now, I think she was being honest, but she was honestly wrong.

God has been so good to me and my family in our journey with Him. But, it is not a story of our faithfulness but His. This is reflected in our prayers. They are not prayers of the saints, but the prayers of the needy. People with open and empty hands awaiting good gifts from a great gift giver. I wouldn't say that God's blessings in my life are the results of an inner strength or faith in me. If anything it is simply a good Father rescuing me from myself entrenched so deeply in my own weaknesses. You see... I need a Savior. A Hero. Someone to save me day in and day out.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" - Jesus
(1Cor 12:9a)

Show me the money

Well, Happy New Year! if you haven't heard yet, Slovakia just adopted the Euro currency over last night. Below is a brief BBC overview...

BBC Report:
Slovakia has become the 16th member of the eurozone - the second former communist country to join the grouping.

Up to 100,000 people gathered in the capital Bratislava's main square for a midnight ceremony with fireworks.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was one of the first to withdraw the new currency, taking 100 euros from a cash machine in the parliament building.

The Slovak koruna (crown) will remain in circulation alongside the euro until 16 January.

Cash machines were meant to be issuing euros from Thursday, while some banks planned to open, despite the New Year's Day holiday, to swap korunas for euros.

But the new currency was taking a while to filter through.

"None of my clients has paid with euros yet, everybody's using korunas," Marek, a 30-year-old taxi driver in Bratislava, told the AFP news agency.

At Bratislava's railway station, Richard Nedo, a 20-year-old waiter at an internet cafe, said: "Since we opened at 6am, we have had 10 customers but only three of them - foreign tourists - paid with euros. Slovaks are still using korunas."

Stability hopes

Slovakia sees its adoption of the euro as a shield from the turbulence that has hit currencies in neighbouring ex-Soviet bloc countries.

The koruna has been pegged at a rate of 30.126 to the euro since July, while Poland's zloty has lost 24% against the euro, the Czech koruna 11% and the Hungarian forint 13%, Bloomberg news reports.
A recent poll in Slovakia's Hospodarske Noviny daily showed 58% of respondents in favour of the euro, compared with 43% positive a year ago.

Euro "starter packs" have already been distributed in Slovakia and a big campaign has been under way to familiarise the nation of 5.4 million with the new currency.

Slovakia has enjoyed rapid economic growth since joining the European Union in 2004.

But the euro's strength may make life harder for Slovakia's exporters - particularly its big car industry - in the current economic downturn, correspondents say.
Slovakia's cabinet is counting on 4.6% economic growth, down from a peak of 10.4% in 2007, Reuters reports.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7806430.stm

Published: 2009/01/01 11:28:28 GMT