How Great is our God!

Today was a lazy day.

I didn't get to bed until really late, because I Skyped until 1 am my time, and then I was up until 3 am coughing and being congested, so I couldn't sleep. Then, I slept in until 11 am, woke up, and ate breakfast. I read a little bit more in the book I'm currently reading, Emma by Jane Austen, and then fell asleep again. When I woke up the 2nd time, I realized I had missed lunch - homemade lasagna. Made from pork, not beef. Interesting... After I finished eating, I took a shower and SHAVED MY LEGS! Pure bliss! If any men are reading this and thinking "TMI," I'm sorry. haha After my shower, dinner, then Wilhelm took the kids over to Alwina's parent's house to spend the night. And Alwina went to choir practice. So I was at home by myself. I put on really warm clothes, got my MP3 player, and went for a walk. It was INCREDIBLE. I put it on my "Love Revealed" playlist. The first song that came on was "How Great is our God" sung by Bethany Dillon. What a perfect song for the walk :) God was everywhere. In the breeze. The trees. The grass. Even the ridiculous amount of slugs. haha

Just close your eyes for a minute and picture it. You're walking on a path alone. The wind is blowing all around you. The leaves on the trees look like they're laughing or dancing in worship to the King. You're listening to music about the Creator. You feel - LOVED. Embraced. In rapture.

That's what my walk was like. It was incredible. I started praying about my future. Because when I get back to America, I have to go back to work. I was thinking, "I don't really enjoy the work I'm doing right now. I just want to have a job that I love." I was also thinking about meeting my future husband. And then this thought hit me like a ton of bricks - finding an awesome career is not the end-all, be-all of my life. Neither is finishing school. Or finding a husband. Or starting a family. Or, fill-in-the-blank. Nothing I accomplish on this earth is worth worrying about, because it has no real eternal significance. Other than serving Him. In the big things. In the little things. In every day occurrences. In my conversations with others. In my prayer life. Life is an adventure. And we're not experiencing this adventure alone. Because He is right there with us to give us strength and smile down on us or comfort us when we need it. How exciting is that?! How thrilling of a thought!

Lord, thank You for going on a walk with me today. I can't wait until our next one =)

Walking Down Schnecke Lane...

For those of you who don't know, "schnecke" is German for "slug." And their slugs here are GI-NORMOUS!!! They only come out after it rains, and it rained all day today. But that's okay, because I like rain :) So Alwina, Levin, and I went for a walk tonight and these slugs were everywhere. Naturally, I proposed that we should count them as we walked. Going one way, we counted 32 slugs!!! Yeah, 32! Talk about disgusting!

Anyway, just thought I'd share that bit of enthralling news with you all. This walk was the first time I had been out of the house in FOUR days. That's right. When I woke up Friday morning, I was SICK. As in, nauseous, throwing up, sore throat, coughing, fever, congestion...you name it, I probably had it. So Friday and Saturday, I was bed-ridden. I felt awful. And I felt even more awful because we had planned to travel to Frankfurt to see Alwina's sister this past weekend, and my immune system ruined it all! Luckily, Alwina's sister was able to drive here and see the family instead. While I remained in a fever-induced coma ;) Alwina was very good about giving me medicine and being sweet to me. I shall relay to you my diet over the past 4 days:

Medical Menu for Health-Challenged Individual (aka Me)
1. Toast, lightly buttered.
2. Some really gross black liquid stuff that I can't pronounce the name of (for congestion).
3. Fever medicine (Supposedly. I was popping whatever pills Alwina gave me.)
4. Vitamin C. ALL the time.
5. Gargling with salt water. Blech.
6. Drinking water - a lot of water.
7. Black tea with honey...only fun to drink AFTER the fever went away.
8. Last but certainly not least, DICED GARLIC. Raw. I had to swallow that each night.

Well, there you have it. My diet. Sounds good, right? =/
I'm just glad I'm better now - praise God that He is the ultimate Healer =)
That's all I'm going to talk about being sick, except to say this. I still have a cough. And it hurts like something that hurts a lot. So please keep praying for me.

There's not really any other recent news on the Germany front, but I do have some news on the relationship with Jesus front - that is, if you'd like to hear it. You would? Ok, good. So the other night, in my feverish condition, I started thinking about demon possession (don't ask me why - maybe because I'm reading through 1 Samuel right now and Saul is possessed by an evil spirit). What I was thinking was - how easy am I making it for Satan to attack me right now by being so inconsistent with my devotions? I find other things to occupy my time instead of spending time reading the Words of SOVEREIGN GOD and praying/talking to the MAKER OF THE UNIVERSE. Who is more important or worth my time than Him?! Noone!!! So what's wrong with me? I'm selfish. And unfaithful. That's all there is to it. I asked God to remind me every day to spend time with Him. Because I don't ever want to forget that He is my all in all. Even though I know I will. Lord, thank You SO MUCH that You are a God of forgiveness and second chances! But I'm tired of stopping, and then running to catch up again, when I should just be consistent and faithful in this race I'm running in the first place. I don't want to stray from His path, because His path is GOOD and RIGHT and PERFECT. No other path can boast of these qualities. No other person can honestly say they will never leave me or forsake me - except for God. No other being can create something out of NOTHING - except for God. No other being can sustain me another day - except for God. No other being can do for me what I cannot do for myself - except for God.

Praise the Lord, for He IS.

Chasing Sunlight

I wrote this on the plane ride from Chicago to Munich.

How long have I been in the dark?
Fumbling along a path of my own folly,
Groping for some kind of consolation in the shadows.
My knees are bleeding from falling over my own sin,
Thorns and branches tear at my flesh -

I begin to run.

Tears sting my cheeks.
My broken hands reach out in front of me;
They long for Your touch.
Lord, I cannot see.
Where have you gone?

I stumble.

My bleeding feet scream in agony.
Where is the sun?
I've been in the dark for so long,
I can't remember what light and warmth feel like.
Grace seems foreign and undeserved;
We're so far apart,
But I'm the one who left.

I stop. I listen to the silence.

Then I begin to sob,
"Abba Father, Abba Father..." over and over.
I cover my head in shame and despair.

The midnight black engulfing me lightens to a blue;
A beacon of light appears in the distance -
I gasp in wonder.
Can it be?

I wait.

The light grows, stretching and racing to meet me.
A strangled cry of forgotten ecstasy rips from my throat.
I tremble with desire.

A song dances toward me,
Embracing me with its restoration and beauty.
My self-inflicted wounds begin to heal.
All of a sudden, I feel a hand caress my head
Like a father caressing His precious child.

I look up into the Sun.

I am blinded by the Glory I see before me.
"I am not worthy of this," I protest.
"My child, I will never leave you.
Though you chase after other lovers,
I still pursue you. My love is unfailing."

My being is filled with awe.
He delights in me.
He holds my frame.
He will never leave.

"I cannot walk," I admit.
He picks me up and carries me
Into the realm of His light and love.

,,Machst du das?"

In other words, "Do you like this?" Meaning my blog. haha Just a little German I picked up today :)I am going to try and write this post without Skyping anyone in the meantime. We'll see if that actually happens...

So...noteable activities of the day - paddleboating in Schieder this afternoon with Alwina, Lionel, and Elias. Rode a bike for the third day in a row. And I didn't fall over. Win. Babysitting privileges this morning and tonight. As in, home with Lio and Eli all by myself for a total of 3 hours! Went shopping with Alwina while the boys had art lessons. I have discovered many American dishes the family has never tried, much less heard of! Some of these dishes include (but are not limited to) mac 'n' cheese, spaghetti with meat sauce, s'mores, rice krispie treats, grilled cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, and french toast. So tragic. I am going to try and remedy as many of these failures as possible, but I can't make any promises...I am just one person, after all. And I'm not the best cook in the world. Ehhhhh...

Anyway, so back to my delineation of the day's events. (I try to use big words on my blog, because I don't get to use them in my every day conversations with the family, and I don't want to lose my vocabulary.) Played volleyball with the boys while I babysat them. Also, taught them the songs, "Father Abraham" and "I've Got Peace Like a River." We also worked on our books some more today. We're almost done! Here's a little preview of what each of them look like:

Mine ^

Lio's ^^

Eli's^^^

So there you have it. Our books. In the making. Stay tuned for more...!

PS: Can't wait to Skype with you again! You know who you are.

Dude.

Today, we went swimming in Schieder! Yay!

Here is a picture of the cutest boys in Germany :)

The swimming pool here in Schieder is epic. I love it. But it's only about a foot and a half deep. So it's definitely for kids, silly rabbit! Also, there was a family of kids playing in the pool and they were speaking ENGLISH! I was so excited! I asked one of the kids where they were from, and they said England. They weren't as excited as I was that I could speak English as well. Sad. :(

Then Alwina and I watched the kids swim some more. At around 12-ish, we rode our bikes home. I still ride like a child. But I think today I graduated from a 3-year-old skill level to a 4-year-old. Although, I still can't really turn, so that's a problem...

When we got home, we had lunch. Leftover potato soup. Mmmm. Then Christine, Alwina's sister, came over. And I took a nap because I was "le tired."

By the time I woke up, it was almost time to start making dinner. Dinner was an odd combination of zucchini, red peppers, onions, meat, cheese, tomatoes, and salsa. Hmmm. It was good, though. What I actually tasted of it. Because after dinner, Alwina and I went to her choir practice at church. It felt so good to sing in a choir again! Even though I was sightreading the notes and the words. In a different language. Talk about challenging. After choir practice, we came home and had tea with Wilhelm and talked about parenting. Like I would know... I just pretended. And used Jessica and Matt's family as an example. haha Then I came in my room and Skyped with my best friend.

So that was my day. In a nutshell. I always purpose to write more when I get on here, but by the time I actually start writing, I just want to get it all over with. Ehhh.

More later!

PS: I hope the kiddies know what an awesome person they have hanging out with them :) You know who you are.

I'm a PIRANHA!!!

...Name that movie :)

I RODE A BIKE TODAY!!!!

Yes, it's true. For the first time in about five years I actually rode a bike. And it was scary and awesome all at the same time :)

So this morning I woke up. Per usual. Except this morning I was able to sleep in until 9:45 am because the kids did! Woohoo! So for breakfast we had lunch-type food...aka sandwich fixings. Then after breakfast, I taught the kids how to sing "I Love Him Better Every Day." After that, we started making books all about us! We have the first 3 pages made. I'm excited. After we're done with the books, I will try to post either pictures or video of the books for you.

When we were working on the books, Alwina said, "Let's go for a bike ride after lunch!" And I got really...excited...? Lunch was spaghetti noodles and potato soup with a buttery/milky type broth. It was good, albeit a bit bland. Then we went on the bikes. I ride like a 3-year-old. Seriously. Lionel is 7 and he rides better than me. Anyway, so we came home from the bike ride and I was very sore. Already. I can't even imagine how I will feel tomorrow.

Dinner consisted of PANCAKESSSS! But they're not your every day American pancakes. I will post a picture or two here for you :)

As you can see, the pancakes are very thin. They make the batter runny and purposefully try to get the pancakes as thin as they can. Then they put on toppings such as sugar, jam, butter, sour cream, and/or some kind of sauce made from sugar and milk.

It was sooo good. But I like America's pancakes better. They're more substantial :)

After dinner, I put on a skirt (blech) and rode with Alwina to her orchestra practice at church. She plays the flute. The whole time I was sitting in the church listening to the orchestra play, I was missing Amy (there was someone playing the cello, except they weren't as good as her), and I was also wishing I had brought more skirts. haha I feel like a heathen walking around in jeans all the time, when all the women here wear skirts.

After orchestra practice, we came home and had devotions with the kinder (the children), and did our prayers. The psalm we read tonight was Psalm 51. I LOVE that psalm so much. It is really amazing. If you haven't read it, you should. I also sang for Wilhelm and Alwina the song I know from Psalm 51, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me..." You know the one :) And if you don't, you should. After we prayed and the kids went to bed, it was only 8:30 pm. I was so excited!!! I was thinking, "I have time to watch a movie! Or do my own devotions! Or actually write a really good, in-depth blog post!" So I got in my room and started Skyping this lovely lady and her beautiful child...and their dog?

About 5 minutes into the call, Alwina knocked on my door and said her parents were coming over so Wilhelm could cut her dad's hair, and then we were all going to have tea together. ...So much for going to bed early. haha It was a good time of fellowship, though. I absolutely ADORE Alwina's parents even though they don't speak a word of English. Her father rebinds leather hymnals and Bibles as a hobby, and her mother is a seamstress. Basically, they're awesome. And her father sometimes preaches a message in the church. They both sing and play instruments, too.

If I could direct your attention to the left, you will see a picture of Wilhelm cutting Alwina's father's hair. Such a fun time :) After Wilhelm finished, we did indeed partake of tea and other accoutrements (sp?) outside on the patio. As we were sipping the tea, Alwina's parents asked me questions about America and Faith Baptist Church while Wilhelm translated back and forth between English and German. Then, Wilhelm told me the history of how all the Russian-German Mennonites (sp?) came to be in this area of Germany. It was soooo interesting. And inspiring. And now I'm Skyping with Hannah. And Amy. And writing this post. And my back hurts. And it's late. So I'm going to go to bed.

Also, Levin asked me if he could sit in my lap today. It made my life :))))))

AND, if you say, "Wilst du auf mein schoss sitzen?" you are asking someone to sit in your lap. If you say, "Wilst du auf mein schloss sitzen?" you are asking someone to sit in your castle. Just proof of how 1 letter can change the meaning entirely. That is all. Goodnight!