welcome to Holland... December Update

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope that as this reaches you, you are all feeling blessed in this holiday season. Even through it is technically not winter it sure looks a lot like winter around here. The hills are covered snow and the mornings are quiet with not a bird chirping. Even though there is a rush to get everything done before Christmas, there is a peace in snuggling up on our couch under the Christmas lights remembering the birth of our Lord. 

I am so blessed to share with you all that this winter my parents have come to stay for three months. The kids really love having Grandma and Grandpa around and I love having my family here. We all just got back from a week in Bratislava. Zoe and Rocky needed to visit some doctors and my father had enough points from his credit card to put us all up in the Carlton for free. So each day we walked out of our hotel right into the Christmas Markets in old town Bratislava. It really was a blessed time seeing the joy and wonder of Christmas through my kid’s eyes. And a week in the lap of luxury was really nice too. 

Chello has had to cut back on a lot of ministry recently. Right now he is just focused on our life group and teahouse. The reason he has had to cut back so much is because after he had a 24hour EKG the results showed that he has ventricular tachycardia. His doctor told him he needed to take it easy and cut out all sports. He will be seeing a specialist in Bratislava to figure out what kind of treatment he will need. They have already told us that the worst case scenario will be a pacemaker. Chello is a little nervous about this news as he (like Zoe) has spent his childhood in and out of hospitals because of his heart. He thought these days were behind him. 

Zoe just had another checkup while we were in Bratislava. The news is the same. She will still need to have a surgery to put a stent in her pulmonary artery but she need to gain at least five more pounds before they will do it.

She is our little social butterfly and is best friends with everyone. She is still obsessed with pink and all things unicorn. Right now her favorite thing to watch is Strawberry Shortcake. 

Rocky is still a little bulldozer! He is all boy and rough and tumble! For the most part he is leaving the Christmas decorations alone, but a few choice things have already seen their last Christmas. Right now he is obsessed with Kung Fu Panda and doesn’t want to watch anything else.

We had Rocky’s appointment with the child psychologist. She believes Rocky to be autistic. She is not the first doctor to tell us this. While she won’t put a diagnosis on paper because of the language barrier, she did send us to the autistic center in Bratislava. At the autistic center we were told again it is going to be hard to get a diagnosis because Rocky only knows English. Also they said in order to give him the kind of care he needs we would need to take him to the center three times a week. Obviously we are not capable of commuting four hours one way three times a week. So we are trying to find other solutions to get Rocky the kind of care he needs. Bratislava is the closest place to us for autistic care. Diagnosis or not Rocky is such a joy and a blessing to us. We know God has BIG plans for our little man and we are happy God chose us to be his parents. 

For me right now I am just trying to find the balance. God has made me a mom to two beautiful kids with very specific and different needs. So now I am in the process of finding ways to meet their needs as well as serve the town I so desperately want to see saved. It is obvious that our picture is not going to look like I thought it would, but God has always been a better painter of pictures than me. I am sure if I stay faithful he will bless the work. I’m not going to lie; this is all hard on me. And I am struggling to find joy in all our situations. Though it is difficult I choose to believe in the greatness of our God and try to trust in His plan.   

Prayer requests-

The Lord will lead our steps and we will let Him

For good news for Chello as he travels to BA for his cardio visit

Continued health for Zoe and that God will continue to make her strong and ready for her upcoming surgery

For wisdom and guidance on how to best take care of Rocky and get him the care he needs

For God to do a mighty work in Veľky Krtiš and for the people here to be saved

Thank you all for the prayers and the support you have given not only on our behalf but on behalf of the kingdom. We are blessed beyond measure by you all and I cherish each note of encouragement that has been sent to us. We hope you all have a joyous Christmas and in all the busyness don’t forget to “Go tell it on the mountain!”

 

the Johnsons