Christmas 2017

Mili pratele a rodino, 

protoze je tu uz prosinec, ohledli jsme se za uplynulym rokem, od ktereho jsme si hodne slibovali. Vydrzi mi remise dalsi rok? Kdy se prestehujeme do naseho domku? Jak to dopadne se zalozenim noveho sboru? Vsechno to byly velke,  zasadni veci, za ktere jsme se modlili a dekujeme, ze jste to nesli na modlitbach spolu s nami.

Dear friends and family,

as December started, we looked back on an amazing year, one that we had high hopes for on so many levels. Will my health last another year? When will we move into our house? How about starting a new church? Big things that we prayed for, and you were joining us.

Kdyz to vezmu po zpatku, ta nejnovejsi zprava se tyka meho zdravi. Vse je v poradku, remise pokracuje a slavim 48 mesicu v remisi!!  Posledni chemoterapie skoncila pred 18 mesici, pred 4 roky na vanoce mi doktorka oznamila, ze jsem znovu v remisi bez pritomnosti leukemie v tele, a posledni den v listopadu to bylo 6 let od zacatku cele teto kapitoly. Za tech sest let se udala spousta zmen, ktere by se bez me nemoci nestaly, ale asi tou nejcasteji pripominanou a  nezapomenutelnou skutecnosti, jste byli vy vsichni, kdo jste se kolem nas semkli a postarali jste se o to, ze jsme se nikdy necitili, ze to musime zvladnout sami!!! Za to jsme Vam moc vdecni!!!!

Going backward from the most recent news, last week I had another check-up, and my health is good. That simply means that I am celebrating 48 months of remission!!!!!! So I have been without any chemotherapy for 18 months, four years no-show of leukemia and six years since it all started. Looking at the six years, we are amazed of all the changes that have happened in our family life because of my sickness. We will never forget how many people embraced us and walked so closely with us- that we never felt alone. Very thankful for each of you! 

Minulou nedeli byla prvni adventni nedele a nase rodina mela za ukol zapalit svicku behem bohosluzby a rict par slov na tema “nadeje”. Podle jedne z mnoha vanocnich tradic, prvni adventni svicka reprezentuje nadeji. Jane cetla biblicky text v anglictine, Sofia v cestine, Mia zapalila svicku a na me zbylo neco rict. 

“Nadeje. V mladi jsem zil nadeji, ze zmenim svet. Ted po dvaceti letech je moje nadeje, ze Buh zmeni me. Predtim jsem se spolehal na svoji silu a co dokazu ja. Ted se spoleham na Boha a na to, co chce On. Spolu s Janem Krtitelem vyznavam o Jezisove miste v mem zivote: “On musi rust, ja se mensit.” (Jan 3:30). To je moje nadeje. “

Last Sunday, we lit the first advent candle in our church. We were asked to speak about hope. Hope means different things for different people. These were my words:

“Hope. When I was younger, my hope was to change the world. Twenty years later my hope is that God will change me. Before it was about my strength and what I could do. Now it's about who God is and what He wants to do. Together with John the Baptist, I say this about Jesus’ role in my life: He must increase, I must decrease. (John 3:30). That is my hope.”

Zivot neni jednoduchy, ale zije se daleko snaz, kdyz mate nekoho jako je Richard Davis za sveho mentora a muzete s nim probirat zivot a okolnosti tak jak prichazi.  Kdyz jsem se mu zminil o mem adventnim svedectvi o nadeji, obratem to vyuzil pro dalsi lekci a protoze me zna, pouzil ilustraci s dvojkolem (tandem). To je celkem paradox, protoze tandem byla “moje” ilustrace co jsem pouzival na klubech Young Lifu pro studenty. Richard rekl: V mladi mas dost sily a velke ego. Pozves Jezise do sveho zivota, ale posadis ho dozadu. Chces jeho silu, aby slapal a rychlejc te dostal kam ty ridis. (Nakonec ceske nazvy pozic na dvojkole - “Kapitan” a “Topic” jsou asi dostatecne jasne.) Ted si ale menite mista, ty budes vzadu a Jezis vpredu. “ A pridal i slova jeho kamarada: “Kdyz je Jezis kapitanem, dostanes se na mista, o kterych ani nevis ze existuji.. “ A neni sam, kdo to zazil. S odhodlanim a velkym ocekavanim se vzdavam riditek, at me vezme na vylet kam On uzna za vhodne. 

One of the biggest blessings of my life is to have Richard Davis as my mentor. Last time we talked, I mention to him my words about hope. He, knowing me, used a tandem bike illustration to take me even deeper on the theme of hope. (Do you know that  tandem bike is not only our hobby, but also it was my thing to use for illustrations for kids during the Young Life club talks?). This is what he said: “When we are young, we have strength and ego. We invite Jesus into our lives. But we give him the back seat - we want his power to go faster to places as we steer the bike. (That makes us captains and Jesus a stoker. or some say rear admiral.) Now, you are switching places, you will sit in the back, and Jesus will take you places.”  As goes a testimony of one of Richard’s friends - when he let Jesus be the captain, Jesus took him places that he never imagined he would see. And so did many others, I am told.  Now I am ready to give Jesus the handlebar to steer where he wants us to go.

Nevim co je prede mnou. Verte mi, ze bych nejradsi smlouval s Bohem a mel jistotu, ze v leukemii jsem si odbyl to nejhorsi a je to za nami. Bohuzel takove vyjednavani neni mozne a nasledovani Jezise je bez jakychkoliv garanci pohodli, klidku a ruzove budoucnosti.

Pokazde kdyz me boli hlava, premyslim o nadoru na mozku. Cokoliv me boli na tele, premyslim ktery organ selhava a jake to bude mit dusledky. S kazdou drobnou zmenou znejistim a ptam se jestli to je zacatek konce.. Ale zaroven kazdy novy den je dar a chci se ptat Boha, jaky smysl ma to ze tu jsem, co je duvodem proc ja tu jsem a nekolik jinych uz ne? Vidim svoji situaci tak, ze jsem na zacatku nove kapitoly. Pokukuju po moznostech jak bych mohl zacit pravidelne prispivat do rodinneho rozpoctu, a postupne se vratit  do role zivitele rodiny a prevzit tuto roli od Jane, ktera ji zastavala po dobu me nemoci. Neumim ani slovy vyjadrit dostatecne svuj dik Jane za to, jak se o vse postarala behem me nemoci. Jako rodina jsme nejen prezili, ale szili se dohromady a pokracovali na ceste spolecnym zivotem. S kazdym rokem co jsme spolu si ji vazim o to vic a mam ji rad, ale jako spravny Cech komunikuju spis opak, takze pokracujici modlitby za nase manzelstvi jsou na miste :-)

I don’t know what is next. Trust me when I say that as much as I would like to bargain with God.  'Ok, leukemia happened, but now there should be nothing else that will affect our lives to such an extent as leukemia did.' I know that is not how following Jesus works.

With every headache, I think of brain tumors. With every pain inside my body, I think of organs that have given up for good. Every change on/in my body I look with a question - is this the beginning of the end? Yet, each day is a gift, and as long as I am alive and well enough, I want to ask God for His purpose. He left me here, while others are with Him. I am pursuing a new chapter of my life, hoping to start some regular activity that would bring more money into our family budget and Jane’s role as our provider would slowly take a turn, and it would once again be my role. I can’t express enough gratitude for God allowing me to have Jane as my wife. Because of her, we didn’t just survive during the sick time; we grew as a family together. With each year I love her more and more! (but as a true Czech man, I mostly communicate the opposite, so pls continue to pray for our marriage! :-))

Po dvou a pul letem usili, kdy jsem nejvice casu stravil na stavbe a vecmi s tim spojenych, jsme na zacatku listopadu prosli kolaudaci!! Byly to nervy, ale vyslo to na poprve. Uzivame si bydleni v novych prostorach, stale je co delat, a jak rikaji zkuseni stavitele - je to hotovy, jen to dokoncit.

Tak je to i u nas - jen to dokoncit!

In the last two and half years, my main role was to be present and supervise the renovation of our house. It is with great joy to report, that in November our reconstructed home passed the state inspection!! That was a big deal, and it's done!! We love living here. It is not completely finished, but we are told by many house owners - there is always something, you are never done with a house.. So all good on this end.

Potom co doktor potvrdil dobre vysledky odberu,  skoncila rekonstrukce uzavrena kolaudaci, zacalo rozhlizeni se po praci, tak zbyva jen jedine - podat zpravu o nove vzniklem sboru DoSlova. Zacali jsme v zari a uz po trech mesicu je seznam veci, za ktere jsme vdecni! Hned na zacatku nam nevyslo uzavreni smlouvy v prostorach kde jsme se schazeli. Buh se smiloval a ve velice kratke dobe se objevilo nahradni reseni, ktere je v nekterych ohledech zajimavejsi nez to puvodni, ktere jsme tak neradi opousteli. Schazime se v prostorach, kde je pres den a vecer bar, a kde vicemene vsechno (zidle, stoly..) drzi “na cestne slovo” - ale v nedeli je to nase utociste, slouzici k chvaleni Pana Boha. A protoze jsme maly sbor, nemame moc divaku.. Vetsina musi prilozit ruku k dilu, abychom si rozdelili zodpovednosti, a bohosluzba probehla cela od zacatku az do konce (99% bohosluzby je s prekladem na podiu). A moc se tesime z nedavneho narozeni dvou miminek maminkam z naseho sboru! Je to obrovska udalost v zivote nasich kamaradu, ale zaroven to zpusobilu vysoky procentni narust poctu lidi v nasem sboru behem prvnich trech mesicu.. (test zarlivosti pro ostatni skupiny zakladajici nove sbory ;-)

With my good health reports, house renovations finished and approved, job search, last but absolutely not least, is the report on the church plant of which we are grateful to be a part. We started in September, and now, three months later there is so much to be thankful for. Even though we got kicked out of one location, God provided a new one, that suits our group perfectly. Because of what it is - a run down bar right in the center of Prague - God is teaching us a lot regarding ownership of the responsibilities that each one of us has for us to come together and worship him. Most people who come on Sunday, have to participate more than just being spectators. It is a good thing. We are still ironing details to make the service run more efficiently and smoothly, especially as 99% of the service is in two languages and translation happens from the stage. We have two new babies being born to two couples, now parents from the launch team, so our church growth makes others jealous - just kidding!

Jsem moc vdecny za kazdeho z Vas, kdo jste se kolem nas semkli, modlite se za nas a stale ctete nas blog. Mam v planu pokracovat s blogem jeste minimalne pristi rok, kdy bych z Bozi milosti dosahl na 5. rok remise. Pak se rozhodneme co dal.

I am very thankful for each one of you, who have come and embraced our family in prayers and who continue to read the blog. I plan to continue to give our updates here for at least another year when by God’s grace I finish year 5 in remission. Then we will decide what will happen next.

Dekujeme Vam vsem za Vasi vytrvalou podporu, modlitby, dopisy, emaily. Je skvele Vas znat a jit zivotem spolu s Vami. Pri vyhledu na rok 2018 vubec nemam poneti co napsat. Nemame plany, ani nevime co si vlastne  prat. Predstavte si novy, cisty, nepopsany list papiru. Takova je nase predstava o 2018. Pokud byste nekdo mel nejakou potuchu nebo proroctvi pro nasi rodinu a co nas ceka, prosim sdilejte s nami.  Nepamatuju si, ze bych nekdy v zivote “nemel plan” nejen na novy rok, ale Ti co me znate jako organizatora, cloveka co vidi co by mohlo byt tak si umite predstavit, ze jsem v teto situaci trochu nervozni.. Cisty nepopsany papir. Modlime se. Pridate se k nam, prosim?

Thank you all for your faithful support, prayers, letters, emails. We are thankful for knowing you and having you in our lives. When we look at 2018, we have no plans and no idea of what that year will hold. Literally,  2018 is a white sheet of paper. Anyone wants to predict or prophecy, or give us heads up of what will happen? I think this is “a first” for me, a planner, a visionary, a dreamer. Not this time.

White blank paper. Praying. Will you continue to pray for us and with us?

Prejeme Vam krasnou vanocni oslavu dodrzeni Boziho slibu svym vernym, ktery se naplnil narozenim Jezise Krista. To jsou nase vanoce a moc si je uzivame, 

je to opravdovy Dar s velkym D!! 

May you have a very Merry Christmas, celebrating that God fulfilled His promise he made to His people and he gave us Jesus Christ! That’s Christmas for me, and what a GIFT!

V Kristu,

In His name,

Martin