There are fewer more beautiful city sites than a European city in the evening. Here is my home city of Bratislava just a couple weeks ago. All along the Danube river here in the city are these grand old boats which have been decomissioned as sailing vessels and have become popular restaurants, pubs, muzeums and hotels. You can see in the background St. Martins steeple and of course the castle on the hill. If you look closely in the boat there are musicians playing and an appreciative listening audience.

Welcome to the Cirkev Bratska church picnic 2008. Every spring our church selects a different countryside location as a gathering place for food and fellowship. Everybody brings their own klobasa (sausages) and cooks them over the open fire. This year 20 or so people from a Cirkev Bratska church plant (in a town about an hour from Bratislava)also attended the cook out. There were about 50 or 60 total picnic lovers.

Most Slovaks really enjoy getting back to nature and their country has so much of that to enjoy. These places are truly a breath of fresh air, literally, compared to city life. Why does God's presence feel so much more tangible here as opposed to the city? For me, my soul feels nourished when it is bathed in the serenity of these places. Here, vibrations of the unseen creator reveberate in and through all His creation. There's something supernatural about the way the teeming forest penetrates ones soul. There is a subtle sense of renewal following these excursions.

City life has been quite an adjustment for me. I doubt that I can ever fully assimilate to the concrete jungle. The city represents everything nature is not. The pace, noise and harshness of the city life leaves little room for contemplation, meditation, serenity and true intimacy with others.

We went for a bit of a hike after lunch looking for some nearby castle ruins. Lo and behold, here they are. These are true ruins in a sense that there is not much left of this former grand castle. There are simply too many castle ruins in Slovakia for the country to maintain or preserve all of them. Inevitably there are some which will slowly deteriorate and disappear never to be seen again, but then again the same is true for all of us. Fortunately for us, we have the opportunity for preservation and restoration.

Certain parts of this area resembled something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

Here's my friend Adam acting as if he's the king of castle. Nice pose Adam, where's your crown?

Allow me to introduce you to some new friends. This is Peter and Viera Komrska. They have been members at Cirkev Bratska since its inception. Until 2 weeks ago I had not formally been introduced to this couple. After service one day they just approached me and asked if I wanted to enjoy lunch in their home. I said, "today?" and they said "yes." It was my pleasure getting to know Peter and Viera although there is much more we could learn about one another as the language barrier presented some real challenges.

And these are my friends Tim and Lucia. Tim is from India and Lucia is a Slovak native. They lived in India when they first got married and have now settled here in Bratislava. They attend my church and I'm pleased to say we have become aquainted.

I am most pleased to introduce you to my new neice Hania. She made an earlier appearance on the blog but not while sitting on my lap. This is the first meeting between uncle and neice. Hania flew all the way to Europe just to see me. Ok,so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. My brother Rick and his Polish wife Magda brought Hania from their home in California to meet mom's side of the family and to have her baptized. Isnt she a beauty?

Last weekend I made the trip up to Poland to meet and snuggle with Hania as well as spend some quality time with Rick and Magda. What a wonderful little family!

I had the pleasure of staying with Magda's parents while I was there. What a great opportunity to get to know them better. As with a number of relationships in Europe, the challenge is the language barrier. What was interesting about this situation is that Polish and Slovak have some similarities so I was actually able to understand a small portion of their communication and they mine. One things for sure, the Poles are phenomenal hosts. I think I gained 5 lbs in 3 days.

We spent one day just walking around the city of Wroclaw together. Baby Hania is quite the trooper and seems to love being on the go.

Before I made the journey to Poland I had wanted to get something nice for Hania to commemorate this visit, as well as her baptism. I found this little dress in Bratislava which fit her quite nicely. I know what a risk it is for an uncle to buy an article of clothing for a neice but I think it worked out ok this time. That is to say, I dont think 15 years from now Hania will see this photo and say "uncle scott, what were you thinking?"

Here we are at Baby Hania's baptism. The water on her forehead woke her from a brief nap and there was a little fussing but all in all a smooth and poignant ceremony. May the baptism of the Spirit also be yours one day my lovely neice.

The proud grandfather!

What a grand and special weekend it was for all of us. I have always known what a great blessing my family is to me. Unfortunately at times I have taken that for granted. These past 2 years being away from my family has intensified my awarweness of how precious and sacred family really is. Aside from my heavenly Father, nobody knows me like my family does. And despite what they know and have seen in my life they love me anyway. I would venture to say there are not too many finer representations of God than a family who puts love above all else. This photo demonstrates the ability for family to expand in beautiful ways. I can only stand in awe of the way you move God and say, thank you!