Tuesday, September 29, 2009

meeting with the deputy mayor - part 2

as I posted yesterday, I was called an invited to a meeting with one of the deputy mayors of Szeged in regards to the church's desire to open 2 pre-schools and a soup kitchen for the homeless. what really surprised me (oh me of little faith) is that they took my letter and our desire seriously. so, today I, and Balázs, one of the elders from the church who is a lawyer, went to the mayor's office & we met with the deputy mayor and the head of the social services office. they were prepared and knew who "Golgota" (Calvary Chapel) was. after them asking me some questions about Calvary here in Hungary and the church in Szeged they asked about why we want to do these things. I told them that as we look at the life of Jesus, He reached out to people on a real, physical level and met their needs, which opened their hearts to hear the spiritual message. I told them that it is our desire to meet the needs that are obvious in our city. the head of the social services was open to us from the get go and by the end of our meeting the deputy mayor was also open to us operating social services. when he asked what we want from the city I told him we need facilities. we will be able to get the money to operate these "ministries" from the central budget but we need places to operate. he said that they will look for places for us and get back to me in a week. so we left very excited and hopeful.
when I got home our "contact" in the mayor's office called me. he told me that he laid the ground work for the meeting by giving the deputy mayor a lot of info about our church. he showed our letter to his boss, the deputy mayor in charge of city development and said that after he read the letter there was a "sparkle in his eye" that we want to do this. and because of this we were given audience today. our contact told me that the request for facilities would land on his desk in a couple of days & that now he would be able to finish a study that the city commissioned this summer about were new pre-schools need to be operated. he said that the city stopped this inquiry for some reason but now with us wanting to open two pre-schools, his boss would reopen this inquiry.
needless to say, I am in awe of what is going on. when I think about this rationally, we're a small church, with not much experience in things like this, with little money. but I know that we've got a big God on our side and we've got a heart to reach out and meet needs here in Szeged. so if this thing happens all I can say is, "all glory be to God."
please continue to keep this in prayer & check back often for updates on this.
thanks!

Monday, September 28, 2009

meeting with the deputy mayor

a while back I wrote that we are taking steps towards opening two pre-schools here in Szeged next year. we have a contact in the mayor's office and he told me to write a letter to the mayor to introduce our church and tell them what we want to do. so last week I wrote to the mayor. much to my amazement his office called me today asking if I could come in tomorrow afternoon to meet the deputy mayor. so tomorrow I, and hopefully one of our elders from the church Balázs (who is a lawyer) will be going for a face to face. please keep this meeting in prayer.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

family photos


we realized something, we had lots of pictures of Zara with pretty much everyone, and lots with mommy and lots with daddy but we didn't have any with mommy & daddy, so we finally had some pictures taken of us as a family yesterday.

Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 20, 2009

new pictures of Zara


over the past few days we've noticed that Zara is more & more active and alert during the days. thank God she is starting to learn that night time is for sleeping. for the past couple of nights she's only woken up twice to feed. anyways here are some pictures of Zara with her eyes open & at the bottom what I like to call the "fat & happy" face which happens after feeding.

Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Zara's first walk


Today we took Zara on a walk for the first time. We HAD to take a couple pictures because she just looked SO CUTE in this little outfit.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 13, 2009

social health care

so, I know there is a big debate over the health care system that the president is proposing. Living in Hungary for many years and seeing a social health care system up close, America would be stupid to adopt a similar system. our current system isn't perfect but it's the best thing out there.
what is this picture?? This is what Odi got for dinner in the hospital for 4 nights after giving birth!!! this is just a small display of what a social health care system would bring in America.
by the way, yes, I did bring Odi all kinds of regular food!
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, September 12, 2009

job description

just got this from a friend of ours and thought it worth sharing.

PARENT

This is hysterical.. If it had been presented this way,
I don't believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call...
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
:

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION
:

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS
:

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

Friday, September 11, 2009

night 3

tonight is night 3 with Zara at home. the first night was tough, Odi slept about 30 minutes, I got about 3 1/2 hours or so. I releaved Odi at 6am by taking Zara into bed with me for a couple hours and we all slept well. last night, things were better, we both woke up "rested" and Zara wasn't up too much during the night. tonight is night 3, we hope that she sleeps well tonight and only wakes up to eat. we'll see what night 3 holds........

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Zara came home today!


this afternoon Odi & Zara were released from the hospital. we brought her home in the same winnie the pooh outfit that I was brought home from the hospital in 33 years ago! so now we're home and getting ready for life to change but we both know it's gonna be a change for the better!!
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Monday, September 7, 2009

first "good" pictures of Zara


here are the first good pictures of Zara now that she is out of the intensive observation and in the room with Odi.
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, September 5, 2009

more pictures


so here's some more pictures, we can't even express in words how thankful we are to the Lord for this precious gift of out beautiful baby girl!





pictures of Zara



so, here are some pictrues of our beautiful baby daugther, Zara Reese. we think she is the cutiest thing either of us have seen. becasue she came a little early, they have kept her under intensive observation in an incubator becuase she was having slight breathing difficulty. she is doing much better now, and if she continues to improve then they will allow her to be moved to Odi's room either late tomorrow or on Monday.





our first family picture



















































Posted by Picasa

Zara Reese is here!!

when we woke up this morning we didn't think we'd finish the day being parents. but tonight around 10pm Odi's water broke and we went to the hospital. she was in labor from about midnight till 2:15am, when our beautiful baby girl was born. Zara Reese Eckhart arrived weighing 7.92 lbs (3.6kgs) and she is 19.7 inches long (50cm). hearing her little cry was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard!! both mom and baby are doing well and resting. it's been a long night, I hope to get some pictures up tomorrow. thank you all for your prayers.

love,

kyle, odi & zara