End of the Year Fun

The way that ICSB says "farewell" to its teachers....a pie in the face!  Kids got the chance to come up and pick a teacher that they wanted to pie.

Covered market in Budapest...it's one of the biggest covered markets in Europe

At the last middle school chapel of the year, a middle school student came up for each of the teachers that are leaving and said some words about them and why they would be missed.  8th grader, Reed, talked about Brandon.

Allie, the girl on the left, talked about me at chapel.  Both of these are girls that I mentored this year.  I will miss them!!!

Then all of the middle schoolers came up and prayed for us.  It was so sweet to listen to what they had to say!

Girls' night in the city....I will miss them!!!!!!!


We are down to two weeks until we leave!!  We are excited about seeing family and friends, but everything is bittersweet...having to leave this beautiful city that has become our home this year.  We will miss all the people and kids so much!

Family Field Day

ICSB has an annual Family Field Day where all the students and staff and families come and play games and hang out. It's a mandatory "school day" so everyone comes.  We had a great time hanging out with everyone!

                The Blue Team working on our cheer

     Brandon getting pulled in the sled pull

Cage Ball - seemed like a dangerous game to me!!

Angela and I were the blue team leaders

Better than a Hallelujah

I think it can be hard for people to present themselves as anything other than perfect sometimes.  We try so hard to look good on the outside, whether it be how we dress, how we act, or how we talk.  Sometimes people feel like they have to be that way with God too.  Always singing songs of joy, songs of praise, songs of hallelujah.  What I'm learning is that our cries of misery, our tears in the nights, our pleas for life or death, are all music to God too.  They may be a different melody, but they are still songs to God.  And they are real.  

As we are nearing the end of this year, I find myself exhausted, physically, emotionally, and mentally.  I have had to walk through some hard things with struggling children.  I don't always feel like singing "hallelujah", but that's okay.  Sometimes the silence when words won't come or the tears over what's happened are better than a hallelujah.  Because for the time being, they are real, they are honest.  God hears them.  And he sees the beautiful mess that we are.  

-Melissa

*Inspired by Amy Grant's song

Lately....

This past Saturday our school hosted their annual rummage sale.  School staff members pay for a table in our school garage and then they sell their stuff and people from all over Diosd (our town) come to buy!  It's like a garage sale on steroids!  Our good friends are moving back to the states next year and needed help selling for the morning, so my friend Angela and I joined in.  It was exhausting, but a fun experience to be a part of...and I got much better at my Hungarian numbers!

Brandon spent the weekend in Krakow, Poland where the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps are.  He had a good time and felt like it was a great experience (even though it's not something fun to see). 

Last Wednesday he also got the chance to perform at school - he played guitar and sang with our friend Austin.  They played 11 songs and did a great job!  We are hoping to have the video up on youtube soon!

School is winding down...well time-wise, but it has been busier than ever this month!!  There are four more weeks of school left and they are going to be very full!  We are looking forward to seeing everyone in one short month!!

Thanks to those of you who have donated money towards our goal!  We appreciate it more than you can know!  We are still a little short, so we continue to appreciate your sacrifices!! 

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Melissa