1st Snow

This weekend we had our 1st snow here in Zagreb. It was a wet, sloppy snow...nonetheless a snow and very fun. I'm a huge fan of snow and love this aspect of living in Croatia. After church on Sunday the kids had a big snow ball fight. Of course this ended with multiple kids crying due to snow in the face. Oh well...they survived. Lizzie just laughed at all of it. Anyway, we had a great time this weekend! Enjoy the pics.

Travels with my parents

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated the blog. If we ever did have any faithful readers, I've probably lost them at this point. Please forgive me. I promise to do better. :)

Well, my parents just left a week ago or so after a month long visit to Europe. They spent the first 5 days here in Zagreb helping me watch the kids while Laura went on a trip to Rome with her mom (1st time without kids in 2 years). The next week, our family and my parents went on a road trip to Tuscany in northern Italy. It was a blast and I highly recommend it...even with little kids. It's full of little towns set on top of a hill and vineyards as far as the eye can see...then olive groves after that. It was very relaxing. Anyway, after our trip to Tuscany they came back and spent 5 days or so in Zagreb with us while we got back to work. Then they took a trip to beautiful Dubrovnik on the Croatian Adriatic coast. A few days later they returned for America. We got very used to them being around as did the kids.

For those of you who might one day consider or who have already gone to Tuscany, we stayed about 10km from San Gimignano...the town with all the cool medieval towers. We spent a lot of time there. We also went to Siena a few times which was beautiful. Other towns we visited were Florence (of course), Volterra, Pienza, and Montapulciano. It's so great because you can choose a couple of towns to visit one day and on the way you'll pass by a bunch of vineyards with wine tasting. You choose a vineyard to pop in on and enjoy some of the local wines. One of my favorites was "Rosso di Montalcino". I haven't found it for sale here yet, but maybe you can get it in your part of the world.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable vacation. The location was great and the company was even better!

Flooded River

I've started a habit of going up to pray at a levy along the River Sava which winds through Zagreb. It's just behind the student dorms, about 5 minute bike ride from our apartment...it's a great location to pray for the city and for students specifically. As I've told you about in the past, there is a prayer movement which has started among us. Currently as a church we are praying more than 24 hours in a week for our city and nation. This number is only increasing. Along with this, I feel God stirring in me to round up intercessors in the city to pray more specifically for this younger generation of college students. You see, the spiritual atmosphere here in Zagreb is suffocating. People are not open to listen. Generally speaking, there is a lack of spiritual hunger...and if for some reason hunger does exist, this post-Christian culture turns to other answers. We're praying that they'll come back to reality...to the way we were meant to live...in intimate relationship with our Maker. This turning in people's hearts (in my own heart) is only a work of God and must come through prayer. So because of this, we need to pray for our city and change the spiritual atmosphere.

Back to where I started...I was up praying on the levy the other day which has now become my habit. Well, one night we had some strong storms come through our area. When I woke up that morning and went out the levy, the river was flooded over it's banks and into the flood plain. It had doubled it's size in a matter of hours and was now strong enough to uproot and carry entire trees and bails of hay. I saw all kinds of crazy things floating down the river! It struck me as a picture of what these prayers are like. The river is always there flowing through the city just as our prayers are. Then one day, due to a downpour of God's "rain"...His Spirit, the prayers increase to flood stage. This flood will totally change the face of the river bed. It will wash away all kinds of junk out of the city. It will be noticed by all who pass by...and people will watch in amazement at it's strength. This prayer movement is the same way. Only may it never die down! May it be passed on from person to person and from generation to generation.

We praise God for all the miracles He's performed since this movement began. In our newsletter (which I am currently writing) I'm giving more detail about all the Lord has done around us. If you are not receiving that newsletter and would like to, please send me an email at albrights@sharelifenow.net. We're encouraged. Please pray for steadfastness. -James

Lizzie Vocab

Well, our little (near) 2 year old has developed quite an interesting vocabulary and we thought you guys might laugh along with us at some of her words. If you're ever trying to communicate with Lizzie, here's a little dictionary you can use.

Dora (as in Dora the Explorer) = duda

Penguin = mingo

Triangle = gyno

Outside = side

Please = peas

Nana (her grandmother) = Ma

Barney (as in the dinosaur) = Marney

Pacifier = duda (Croatian word for pacifier)

Cookies = geeky

Banana = ba

Bekah = beda (she's getting better at pronouncing her name now)

More = mo

Water = wa-er

I love you = I yuv you

Elephant = e-fant

Chip = s#*t

Shake = s@*t

My wife is wanting me to make sure you all know that Lizzie says plenty of words correctly, has a great vocabulary, and to our knowledge does not have a speech impediment. :-) Hope you enjoyed our little 2 year old dictionary. - james

Late night thoughts

If you guys would like to read an amazing story, go to this blog below.

http://fromaxumtohere.blogspot.com

One of our friends has adopted a little 9 month old Ethiopian boy and just returned to the States with him yesterday. Go the this link above to see how precious this little boy is. In every picture you can see him beaming with excitement...his newly adopted parents have an equal sized smile on as well. :) It'll make you happy to read a couple of the entries they made while in Ethiopia.

Other than that, I have nothing important to say. It's August around here which means things have slowed down to a near halt. Everyone was gone today for our normal church gathering with the exception of one family. We ate together and just relaxed. It was enjoyable and beneficial. We normally to not get 1 on 1 time with this family. So we were happy to deepen our relationship with them.

Blessings, - james

Prayer Needs

Hey folks...please write these down to pray for. This is a prayer update that our teammate, Erin, has written out for all of our intercessors. We are in a special time of prayer right now. Erin explains more about it in her letter. Here it is:

Friends, Supporters, Intercessors, Watchman on the wall,

We thank God for you and value your support and prayers. We'd like to do a better job keeping you updated on what we see as our targets in prayer. As always, if the Holy Spirit leads you to pray in a different direction we say go for it, and we ask for your feedback if the Lord leads you to share with us.

Hebrews 6:12 "Do not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience.

Hosea 6:3 Let us press on to know the Lord! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of the dawn of the coming of rains in early spring.

Praying for by faith:

-- Meeting place: We have been prayer walking Horvacanska street (We, the Albrights, live right off of this street) this week and are praying for favor to meet in one of the community centers on this 3 mile stretch. We are drawn to the Knjezia center which is more central for all our members, very accessible via public transport, and across the street from the student housing. Pray that the center will be available for us to use on Sunday mornings. Goran will approach them next week. We are also considering a small office in this same area.

-- Disciples/Seekers: We are praying for divine appointments and kingdom friendships. Pray for these friends,coworkers and neighbors: Zlata, Goran, Tomislav, Ivan, Mirjana, Dubravka, Andrea, Marica, Stef, Maja, Jelena.

--Cell Groups: Continued Growth in vision, leadership, and Life.

--Personal Intimacy and Transformation: Pray that each of us will draw closer to the Lord, growing in faith, intimacy and hunger for him. Pray for our times with Him. Pray that we will be submitted to constant transformation into Christ's likeness.

--Prayer Movement: As a church, we would like to commit to 24 hours of intercession each week starting in September. We are also praying for greater unity in prayer with other croatian churches and would like to continue to host and expand monthly prayer meetings together. Pray for strategy and perseverance.

--Finances: Pray that the Lord would bless our church and our individual families with miracles, good stewardship, and total provision. Pray for increased faith and faithfulness in this area.


Ok...there you go. Please do pray with us. Whether you quickly go over them before work or spend hours praying for them it doesn't matter to us. We appreciate any and all prayers. We know it is the one key to this work in Croatia. Thank you!

James

Westminster Nappy

Just got back from visiting family in England as well as enjoying a couple of extra days for a quick vacation. We had a great time!

Here's one of the coolest places we've ever changed a "nappy"...Westminster Abbey.