10/31

Today we had our farewell worship time and said goodbye to all the kids. Tears were shed and hugs were given all around. A lot of the kids will be coming back in February, so it will be really nice to see them again.

Before I forget, it snowed the second day we were at camp, which was a lot of fun. There were snowball fights and soccer in the snow and lots of beautiful pictures which I guess I'll have to upload later. The snow stuck all the way until the last day:)

View from my window:

Erik playing barefoot in the snow!!

We took the bus and then the train to Stuttgart again, where we met up with Annelie who had been on vacation with her family and lives nearby. The station there is beautiful, with the classic columns and huge clock that you see in movies. We had an hour layover, and since we haven't had Starbucks in two months, were willing to go to great lengths to find it.

With Annelie as our confident guide, Steph, Austin, Peter and I carried our luggage three quarters of a mile to Starbucks and Steph took lots of excited first drink of Starbucks in two months pictures. The buildings there were absolutely magnificent, and it's just a really nice European atmosphere. Then we grabbed Chinese and after a quick lost ticket scare, made it back to the station only to discover that there was a Starbucks within 50 feet of where our train had dropped us off.

The train ride from there was packed with standing room only for most of our 5 hour trip home. I actually found it very peaceful though, and when I was finally able to find a seat, put my ear buds in and had a great time of deep thought that I've been missing with so many people around me all the time. I really enjoyed it.

At one of the stops, there was a guy dressed as the Joker and it sorta freaked me out being in a busy place with lots of people and all, but we made it out without any explosions and I was able to laugh at his little Halloween prank.

It was so nice to get back to our home away from home! Annelie was beyond excited to be back in her apartment, and they had a hot dinner and Apple Fritters all ready for us when we walked in the door.


1 Peter 2:17

Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

10/30

Today we had our final English lesson. It was great, we had a spelling test and got to reward the kids with candy and just hang out for awhile.

After lunch was another workshop time, but Emma and I cancelled ours since so few kids showed up and we had some nice free time. It was the first time this week we had internet access, so I got to catch up with people a little bit.

One of the workshops was roasting marshmallows and we saw a couple of boys heading out all bundled up for it and, jokingly, said they should bring us s'mores. We didn't expect it, but they did! Isn't that the sweetest thing? They brought them in and all the way up the stairs to us. Made my day:)

The children stole my camera:

That's simon.

Steph being cute.

Daniel! (and Mitchel creeping in the background)

Tonight after dinner was our serious worship time and decision night. We had worship, then Jochen talked to the kids while all us leaders went downstairs and set up rooms for them to come to. We had a questions room, a prayer room, and a decision room for the kids who wanted to accept Christ into their hearts. I was in the prayer room.

First I got to pray with Elli, who I mentioned from the first day. I've been praying for her and her boyfriend, who was also at camp, all week for guidance and wisdom. Tonight was only the second time I've talked to her and she asked for prayer because she felt like God was calling her to use her free social year to serve him in a ministry, but she wasn't sure and her boyfriend didn't want her to go. She said she thought if she did it, they might have to break up, but that she wanted to serve God no matter what. She also said that my testimony really touched her specifically, so it was so neat for me to get to actually talk to this girl who'd been on my heart all week and find out why, and how much we have in common even though we come from such different places.

I also got to pray with a girl named Yanina. She told me that here dad is a minister and she had accepted Jesus into her heart, but never really felt close to Him the way that all of us had talked about in our testimonies. She was crying and I prayed with her, but I could tell she didn't have peace about it. So I wrote her a letter and was able to encourage her with some of the things I've learned that helped me when I was feeling numb to God in eighth and ninth grade.

And Priscilla came to me in tears about her brother and other family members who aren't saved. Her compassion really touched me and I was able to hold her in my arms and pray over her and her family, it was so sweet:)

We had a breakdown time with the leaders after putting the kids to bed, and one of the students' mom died. His name is Manuel and he really needs prayer. We were blessed to hear about how many of our leaders had been used by the Holy Spirit to encourage and influence our kids.

I am so thankful for God's faithfulness in my life. It's easy to doubt, but He proves His love and presence to me time and again and all there is left to do is glorify Him.


Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

9/29-30

The 29th was rainy, but that didn't stop me and three other girls, Kelty (I've never heard that name before, but really like it), Hannah, and Mikayla from heading into Frieds (nickname for Friedrichshafen for the slower readers =P) for shopping, etc. We went to a German store ironically named "The New Yorker", as well as H&M, and ended with a quick stop at the only McDonalds in probably a 20 mile radius of school. Clothes are more expensive here, but fruits and vegies are cheaper. Odd, yes? Especially coming from California...

The 30th was rainy too, which tends to give the school more of a lazy atmosphere. Regardless, we finished the day with "K-group Olympics". I mentioned the K-groups earlier, so this was basically just a series of interesting and/or odd and awkward bonding games. We got 5th place out of 8!!! Each group had 5 mins at the end to "present itself" to the school, and somehow we came up with acting like monks with an accordion playing background for us :P

Psalm 147:8

He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

10/29

Today I had my fourth and fifth English lessons. We're getting the hang of it now, haha. Candy is a good motivator=P

At the worship time tonight, I gave my testimony. I hadn't had much time to prepare, but I really think God used it to speak through me. I felt very peaceful about it when I had finished.

I also participated in my first ever serious skit!:D I played a girl who was willing to change everything about herself to win the affection of the world and was disappointed. It was definitely uncomfortable, but good. They told me I did a good job, so I'm just gonna go with it:)

During free time after worship, we were standing around visiting and Caleb (the guy who is good friends with the Kochs) was eating pretzels. All of a sudden, I saw him holding his mouth and he looked up and smiled and a piece of his front tooth was missing. I busted up laughing, it was so hilarious! Apparently, he chipped his tooth playing airsoft and his cap came off and he swallowed it. He looks like a hillbilly and he's gonna hafta stay like that until he goes home for Christmas. I laugh at him every time I see him=)

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

10/28

Today I tried a Mars Bar for the first time.

Really, I don't need to say much more than that to make this post worth reading, but I will anyways cause I'm just a pretty awesome person..(btw, the Mars Bar was almond. And it was heavenly.)

I also had pancakes for the first time since I've been in Germany.

I also had a hamburger for the first time since I've been in Germany.

My mind is not centered on food at all! What are you even talking about? Stop with your disapproving glances! Don't they say a round face is more merry-looking anyways? Well I'm just going to be super merry:D Not really...but sorta. Ok new train of thought.

Today I had my third English lesson. I have a class of 25 kids, 6 of which traveled all the way up from Switzerland to be there. I'm loving spending time with all of them. Elena is really quiet, but slowly opening up and reminds me of myself a lot. Tim and Loris are hilarious and very smart. Immanuel is a quieter kind of funny and Dave's eyes are rolling more often than they're straight, but I like him. Simon is the class clown, but also smart...and there's Simone and Fara and Anna and all of them are great and so fun to work with.

It's interesting to me coming from the U.S. where it's cool to not care and not do well in school, to here where the cool kids are all very smart and know the answers. If they don't know, they want to find out. But I definitely have a new appreciation for all my teachers, haha!

During the afternoon was supposed to be Emma and my games workshop, but all of the kids chose soccer and football and we ended up with a small group of girls that we combined with the scavenger hunt workshop. It was sorta pitiful, but still fun.

Tonight was our movie night. We watched Pixar's Rio in English, and it was fun to hear all the kids' laughter when they caught one of the English jokes:)

Bonds are really started to be formed between the kids and their leaders, and I'm loving watching it happen. My roommates for the week are Elaine and Cassidy, and they have a group of girls with them all hours of the day, singing, laughing, holding hands and just loving their attention.

The guys all love Erik and his gang (I don't know if I've mentioned Simon who's become close with Annelie, but also Mitchell is great and Matt.) Many of us have nicknames. A boy named Daniel gave me the name "The Doctor" because I told them I want to be a doctor when I graduate. Mitchell they call "Botloff" or something like, which means a guy who thinks he's really cool. Haha it's all joking around, and it's fun to be able to laugh with them.

Schteffen, one of the campers, taught me that "Servos" is like "What's up?" in a certain area of Germany, so now every time I see him I say servos and he laughs with me:) He's a great kid and I got to talk to him about school a little bit and what he wants to do with his life.

Learning names has been a lot quicker for English camp than at Bode, and it's fun to see the looks on their faces when you can pass them in the halls and greet them by name, haha.


Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

10/27

Today was the first full day of English camp. We were woken up with a song on the intercom and then the leader here, whose name is Jochen, telling us to be at Devotions by 8:05 and then Breakfast at 8:30.

The food here is so good! And the coffee actually tastes good, they're spoiling us!

After breakfast was our worship time, with singing, a testimony from a boy and girl out of our group, and then Jochen gave a message that we missed because it was in German.

Next we had our first two English lessons. I have an intermediate class this week. But I was not prepared for how well they would speak English! In preparing my lessons, I was expecting to be teaching grammar. What I realized was that they know the rules of grammar better than I do, they just have a hard time applying them. For the first lesson, I had a game of English Jeopardy all planned out, so that went well. But the second lesson was a little tougher, trying to come up with speaking games to keep the kids engaged. Thankfully, I have Steph as one of my helpers and she's great at teaching the students and keeping each one involved=)

Lunch was in-between the English lessons, but after the second one is another break for coffee and various baked goods. I swear they're trying to send us home 15 pounds heavier, it's awful! But German pastries are amazing, so obviously I've gotta try them out:P

After break, Jochen lead a games time for the kids and we got some time to rest and prepare for the skits we did tonight after dinner. Tonight was our fun night, so we had three funny skits that the kids loved and a game time. For our game, we implemented all the combined wisdom of 25 high school graduates, and had the kids put buckets on their heads and run simultaneously in opposite directions across the room. I attempted to point out the stupidity of the plan to my fellow leaders, but my arguments were lost on them, and it actually ended up being hilarious and a lot of fun:)


Psalm 8:2
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

10/26

This morning we had breakfast and then left for English camp. Erik and Lia are both in our group, and Steph found out yesterday that she would be coming with us because another one of our girls got sick. So it was fun to have the four of us all together yet again!

We caught the train at about 10:30 this morning, got sick sitting sideways and looking out the window, traveled through the Stuttgart station and on by bus to a Christian convention center called Friolzhelm. We reached it right before dinner, when all the campers were set to arrive. There are 25 of us and 105 campers, ages 12-18. After dinner, we played some intro games with the kids and had a worship time.

We're all tired from travel, but excited for this week to start. We are confident that God will do great things through us in these kids' lives. Already, certain ones have been laid on my heart for prayer. It's interesting to be in a position of leadership again. I didn't realize the total lack of that in my life since I've been in Germany, until I came to this camp and had it again. It's a big responsibility, but something I really enjoy. I don't know...just some thoughts!


2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

10/24-10/25

I used these days to prepare to go to English Camp. I think I mentioned that earlier...? In order to go, I needed to finish reading from Genesis through Deuteronomy in the Bible, write a 1,500 word paper on it, create six hour long English lesson plans, and buy enough material for a girl named Emma and my indoor games "Workshop" that we signed up to lead twice during camp. Those were my goals for these days. And I accomplished them almost flawlessly. I credit this to Forest Lake and its activity insanity.

On the 24th, I read Leviticus through Deuteronomy. For those of you reading this who can truly understand the significance of that statement, a commiserating chuckle would be appreciated.

On the 25th, I headed to Kaufland to buy supplies for Emma and my workshop right after lunch. To save the extra Euro, I wanted to take a bike. All the bikes were gone by the time I got there, so I was left with Emma's bike. I noticed the flat tires before I took off, but was in a hurry and had no other options, so I just convinced myself that they were "flat-ish" and headed off. Flat tires make pedaling up hills and over bumps slightly difficult. Add a twenty pound bag of groceries with a hole in it, and you've got a painfully slow bike trip that's more than a little bit humorous in retrospect. Mom, you probably would've died watching me pedal-shake my way between the cones of a construction zone. You're laughing just picturing it, huh? =P

A man named Chris Thomas has been speaking to us this week. He's here with his wife. I don't particularly like his speaking, but it was interesting because on the very first day he came, I really felt like I should ask him and his wife to coffee and talk to them about marriage. I had arranged this with them for the 25th so I could talk with them before we left for English camp, and Steph and I were planning on meeting with them that afternoon after I got back from Kaufland. Perfect timing, as soon as I feebly pedaled onto our street, I saw Chris and Bonnie and grabbed Steph, and we headed across the street to Cafe Schwartz. Ended up having a great conversation with them that gave us both a lot to think about.

Afterwards, I finished my Pentateuch paper and was ready to head out for English camp the next day.


Proverbs 1:5
"let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance"

10/21-10/23

These days were mostly used for reading and catching up on writing. 

On the 22nd, Steph and I got a chance to Skype with Mr. Smith as well as Joshua Hengel, which was nice. I also went for a run today at sunset, which is unnecessary to mention except that it was beautiful and the pictures underneath show you a little idea of how gorgeous the area is:)

On the 23rd, I got to have a quick chat with Aunt Donna to wish her a happy birthday and catch up a little bit.

Picture of fence posts with plant underneath:

Picture of fence posts after I decided to move the plant, thereby realizing that it was, in fact, a stinging nettle:

(I felt it necessary to include both pictures since I suffered so much physical pain in taking them. There are stinging nettles all over the place here, it's the fifth time I've been stung!)

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

10/20

Well, for those of you who have been faithful readers...

"A t-shirt has a straight body with sleeves at the top that make the form of the letter "t," hence the name "t-shirt." While similar types of cotton undershirts were worn prior to the t-shirt, they were all sleeveless varieties so were not really "t" shaped shirts, or t-shirts, at all. The United States Navy began having t-shirts made for sailors in 1913 because they wanted something underneath the sailors' jumpers that would cover chest hair."

I feel so very enriched by that knowledge.

Today I went with Steph and Annelie to get pizza at La Taverna (where I went with my roommates), but it was closed. So we just went to a cafe and hung out for awhile and talked. Somehow, time goes faster here. So this little activity took up the majority of my afternoon and I have nothing else to comment on :D

Isaiah 61:1-4

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.

10/19

The day we've been waiting for. Cookie dough day. After lectures, I grabbed a bike and went to Kaufland. For twenty bucks, I bought enough ingredients for a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies, plus three containers of milk and various other enjoyable things. They don't sell chocolate chips here, so I got M&M's instead. You should stop here to recognize the impressiveness of locating baking powder in a store the size of Walmart labelled entirely in German. In addition, I had to translate the ingredients from cups to grams. I expect significant admiration for this feat.

When I got back, I went to Annelie's with Steph, Autumn (my roommate), and Jessica, who has become Autumn's close friend. We ate way too much cookie dough, made the cookies in a muffin tin, which is a glorious idea and will continue to be used in any future cookie baking experiences, and ate way too many cookies.

I then got to Skype with my mother, and later Shane Soria, which was fun:)

Tonight was the rehearsal for The Crossing, which is what I advertised for on Tuesday. The theme is patience, and they made a video, performed a skit, have a couple introductions (one by Annelie), a sermon, a few songs, and a testimony. It was really nice and I enjoyed it.

I wanted to read today but didn't at all. Tomorrow?!


Psalm 104:15
wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.

10/18

At Bode, every student is assigned a daily work duty to contribute to the school and help keep the cost low. For the first month, my duty was to serve food platters at dinner. Now I have shower duty, so I clean the showers on the third floor with another girl whose name I also forget because I'm an awful person. But she's really pretty and sweet, and she's from Germany. There are nine showers on the third floor.

This morning after breakfast, I headed upstairs. I threw on a T-shirt (oh hey by the way, Canadians call tennis shoes "runners" and think we're dorky to call them something different. I've been meaning to mention that and the 't' in t-shirt reminded me. And now I want to know what the 't' stands for...), put my hair in a ponytail, and ran up the stairs. Because my fellow shower cleaner and I are both ridiculously nice people, we are engaged in an ongoing and unstated sort of passive-aggressive fight over the cleaning of the fifth shower. Up until this point, I had not yet won. 

Now to most who might be reading this, that may sound a little disappointing. Maybe you think I'm lazy or slow, or that I really have been eating as much as I claim to be and have therefore gained significant weight, rendering me incapable of victory. But you're WRONG. Why? Because she's from Germany. German people clean like no one's business. It's absurd. And yes I shamelessly promote a stereotype in saying that. But you haven't seen the little modest smirk she has on her face every time I rush into that last shower, sweaty, water splashed all over the bottom half of my jeans, hair sticking out in all directions, squeegee in one hand, sponge and chemicals in another, only to see her drying off the final bit of water on a stinking spotless, shimmering fifth dorm room shower.

It's infuriating. 

And so I trained. It was like the karate kid all over again. I cleaned showers in my dreams. I wore my plastic gloves all the time so I was prepared at a moment's notice. None of those things are true at all, but they should help you to imagine the intensity of my resolve.

So this morning as I sprinted up that flight of stairs, The Eye of the Tiger played on a loop at top volume in my ears. Her chemical bottle was still there when I reached the supply closet at the end of the hall and I knew this was my chance for conquest. I gathered my supplies and hid hers and the race was on. 

As a motivational tool, I started with the least enjoyable showers to clean. Grab the shower head like a gun out of a holster. Rinse. Scrub. Rinse. Dry. Shower one: complete. Shower two presented me with a wad of stubborn, rotting hair, but nothing could slow me down. Move to the next room. No floors to clean here. Start with the one farthest from the window. Shower three finished. 

Rushing into shower four, I said a quick prayer and began. I flung the curtain out of my way. Rinse. Scrub-ish. Rinse. Looking down, I noticed a wet hair stuck to one of my gloves. I tried to rinse it off with the shower head, but it refused to budge. In a panic, I rushed out of the shower, banging my elbow on the door as I went out. With my other sagging, sopping, glove-covered hand, I frantically tried to remove the hair. The seconds felt like hours.  And then I had it between my forefingers! Stuck! Like it was stinking super-glued to my glove! I banged my hand against the inside of the trash can. Hysteria was setting in. 

Ditching my gloves, I surrendered myself to the inevitable cancer that is to come as a result, and dried the fourth shower. I walked into the fifth shower like a conqueror. The light from the frosted window that made up half of its far wall shone on my face. Probably, I shimmered. Taking my ear buds out in order to more fully enjoy my triumph, I turned to grab my washrag. There stood my fellow shower cleaner. She looked shocked. In an effort to throw salt in her wound, I smiled at her calmly and said, "Don't worry about it. I've got it," and watched her walk out the door defeatedly. When she was gone, I performed a jumping air punch for the benefit of the various bacteria who shared my company, and cleaned that fifth shower like a gold medalist running his cool down lap in the Olympics.

That is all.

Luke 5:31

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

10/17

This morning, Steph, Annelie, and I woke up super way too early and went for a prayer walk:) Of course none of us really wanted to get up, but walking together, praying to our Father in heaven, and starting the day out with a gorgeous sunrise made up for the hour of sleep we lost.

Other than finishing another chunk of reading, my day was spent going to and from Frieds to sign some papers and get fingerprinted for my visa with a large group of other students.

I finished off the day with a hilarious conversation right before bed with my roommates and Steph.

Every day I'm learning more and more about our faith and God is constantly convicting me and clarifying to me the position that He is to hold in my life. I have joy in this probably even more than any of the other things I've gotten to enjoy since I've been here.

"Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves...the man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God


Matthew 7:8-11
8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

10/16

Today (yesterday), I went with a group of students to pass out fliers advertising a public worship night being hosted by Bode this coming Saturday.

I wasn't sure what to expect, and wasn't really looking forward to it, but actually ended up enjoying my time quite a bit!

Because of some of the advertising I did for Stations, I was a little more comfortable with it than the girl I was with (...whose name I forget. How awful is that? I know she's from Holland, she speaks three languages, has three brothers and raises sheep back in Canada, but I forget her name=/) so I ended up passing out both of our stacks of fliers and we got to talk a lot and it was fun!

While we were walking, we met a group of sorta scary-looking people but started talking to them anyways and ended up praying with them and having a nice conversation! Pray for Anastasia, ok? She's a single mom with five kids who says all she wants is "freedom". She only spoke broken English, but I did my best to tell her that God is the only one who can give her true freedom. It's sad how so many churches, especially here in Germany, make Christianity such a religion of works and burden.

After passing out all the fliers, we went to a bakery to grab something to eat and talk for awhile, then we took the bus home.


Matthew 11:28-29
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

10/14-10/15

I am a part of what's called the English Team within all of the outreach ministries. What this means, is that twice, for one week each, I will leave school and become a camp counselor for kids who want to learn English.

Within the English team, there is a drama team, a worship team, various workshop teams, and the actual English teaching team. Because I overextend myself by habit, I am a part of all of the above teams except the worship team! It's not really my fault though, I was sort of obligated (Uncle Ron and Aunt Donna, no lectures=P). So....what that means is that I now possess no free time whatsoever:D

Haha, not really. But we leave, I believe, on the 26th of this month for our first week, and by the time we leave, I will need to have completed my tedious reading of the first five books of the Bible, written my research paper on them, read CS Lewis' book "Mere Christianity" and written an essay on that as well, composed a lesson plan for every day of camp teaching intermediate English, organized two workshops for the kids, written my testimony out to share with the campers, and memorized eight drama skits.

Lots to do, but I'm actually not stressed at all and enjoying the full days and sense of urgency in my work. I'm excited to go to camp and get to know a smaller group of my fellow students a lot better, as well as share my faith with the kids here.

Also, apparently to German students, not only am I automatically one of the coolest people on the face of the planet because I'm from America, but that coolness rises exponentially based on the fact that I'm from California. So pretty much, I'm a step down from movie star status, and I'm going to enjoy that to its full potential.

Anyways, all that to say these two days have been spent reading and catching up on stuff to do.

Oh hey, so you know how I start out a lot of these posts with "Today I..." Well, every time I do that, I feel a tiny twinge of guilt. See, usually I'm writing it several days after the event actually took place. Which, technically, is deceiving you. So I am taking this time to inform you of the truth of the matter so I won't have to take that weird sort of awkward conscience-induced pause at the beginning of every post.

I put "Today" because despite the fact that I've spoken English for my entire life, I would have significant difficulty dealing with some sort of weird past tense-present tense hybrid every single time I sit down to write. Now that my secret's out in the open, it sorta takes away from the magic of it all, doesn't it?

Haha oh boy...my brain isn't functioning properly enough to be attempting humor.


Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

10/13

Because today is Saturday, it began with brunch, and then we had the rest of the day free. We got ready and a group of us went to a little island called Lindau that's about 30 minutes away. The train takes a short land bridge back and forth to the island, which is old fashioned with cobbled streets and tiny alleyways. Here's the harbor on the back side of it. Across the water, you can see Switzerland:

Rapunzel's hair coming out of the tower window:

The harbor was lined with cafes:

Dad, I thought of you when I saw the lamp posts. I think they reminded me of the Christmas village:

Gorgeous bike with leather and wood. The bottle you see is a wine bottle!

Something from Greek Mythology:

Intricate dollhouse in a store window:

Lia, Kyle, and Gemma studying up on their German in the town square: 

Guy playing the accordion:

Kezia and Lia ordering French fries:

After we got back and ate, a group of girls went over to Annelie's apartment for peanut butter and oreos cause Annelie still had some peanut butter left over and couldn't believe that so many of the Americans had never tried it, haha. 

James 4:8

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

10/12

Today we began the day with three lectures from a Russian street evangelist. She didn't speak any English, so the father of one of the German students here translated for her. As a converted Muslim, she spoke to us on the topic of Islam, explaining its principles to us and describing tactics for effective evangelism. She was very lively and animated, and had some incredible stories to tell.

After lunch, I went to the cafe across the street with a girl named Mary who is here with her sister, Elizabeth. They're from Squim, Washington and we are very similar in personality, so we hit it off right away. When we got to the cafe, a few people from school were there so we sat and talked for a couple hours and had some interesting conversations.

Tonight was what we call the "Sixth Hour". Basically what it is is an opportunity for the students here to perform in various ways. We had several basic songs, two funny videos, a dancer, and even a group of guys who dressed up like Journey and played "Faithfully" I think it's called...? Hilarious. I've said before how talented the kids here are, and this was just another reminder. It's so much fun to watch them use and enjoy their talents.

A lot of kids here are sick, and I've got that sore throat that comes right before you get a cold, so I've been stocking up on vitamin C, did my exercise, and I'm going to bed early tonight=)


Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

10/8-10/11

I am sorry to group so many days in one post, but because I've been doing so much, mostly these were used to catch up on homework and reading for school. I'll list some of the other highlights:

10/8
After lectures, a whole group of us went over to Annelie's to help her finish off the raspberry pudding we made for the staff dinner. It's so fun to see more and more people learn to love Annelie and want to be around her more. She just has a happy, welcoming, non-judgmental way about her and it makes me happy that others see that as well:)

10/9
Went to Cafe Schwartz across the street with Steph. Ordered a hot cocoa and sat down to read and write our first book report on AW Tozer's "The Pursuit of God". At first, I didn't like the book. I thought I'd heard it all before. But as I continued thinking about it and writing my report, it ended up having a profound effect on me. Haha isn't that about right? It's the advice we think we don't need that often ends up being the most important for us:)

10/10
Steph and I went to Kaufland (the Walmart store a couple miles from school) to stock up on some healthy snack substitutes and various other things. Saw like three ridiculously huge spiders in the little bus bench covering area. I took pictures, but I don't have my ipod connected right now, so I might add them later. Enjoyed our time together at the store, got some dried fruit and nuts, avoided the awful temptation represented by the three huge aisles full of outstanding-looking dessert items, bought more vitamin C, and headed home.

10/11
Wrote my Tozer essay and studied for a test on the minor prophets. A man named Blain has been lecturing this week on the topic. He's from Texas, is married to an Austrian, and teaches at an all French-speaking Bible school in the mountains of France. It's kind of funny, because he's lost his Texan accent for the most part, but when he gets excited, it still comes out a little bit:P


Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

10/7

Today we had church in the morning. Bode opens its church services to the community, which is kind of neat, so people can come in and worship God with us, learn a little bit of English, and get to know the students. So I didn't think anything of it when I sat next to a lady I'd never seen before. After every church service there are 15 minutes of silence, and the lady next to me started talking to me, asking me my name and some basic introductory questions.

Within three minutes of introducing herself, she invited me to come to her house sometime so she could show me some historical sites in Germany.

*just a side note, I've realized lately how genuinely Germans are compared to Americans. When a German doesn't like you, he makes it clear to you. When he does, that is clear as well. They do not find the need to hide how they feel. If they want to be your friend, they just become your friend. If not, they ignore you! I didn't see the difference quite clearly until I started talking to Annelie about it. She agreed and expressed how at the beginning of school, it was difficult for her to interpret which people actually cared about her and which people were just being polite because Americans are so friendly, but insincere..*

This woman's name is Suni, and she didn't know anyone at the school, but was just visiting to try it out for a couple days. I sat next to her at lunch and even though I wasn't feeling well and REALLY didn't want to, I felt like I should invite her to coffee.

So we walked through the rain to the cafe across the street. I ordered a strudel-like baked good, she ordered a hot cocoa, and we talked. She is 34 and a doctor's assistant, obviously smart. The way she talked and carried herself reminded me very much of a woman from the 19th century, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way at all, only that she was soft-spoken, very well-mannered and dignified, humble, and a dedicated servant of God in whatever He might have in store for her, based at least on the conversation I had with her.

She is unmarried, her first language is German, but she has taught herself how to speak English and Romanian, and is working on French now. She learns using audio tapes while she gets ready for work in the morning. When I asked her why she's learning so many languages, she replied that she wanted to be available for God to use in whatever country He might call her to.

After coffee, I was planning to go to Annelie's room to help her make her desert for the staff dinner tomorrow, so I invited Suni. Annelie had invited my roommate Autumn and her friend Jessica, so we had a little gathering and made raspberry pudding. After she finished mixing it with the electric mixer, Annelie accidentally turned it on outside of the bowl and got raspberry pudding all over my jeans, so here's a picture of me wearing her pants...at the time, it was hilarious to us because my patterned shirt didn't go with her pants at all:

Here's Annelie and I cooking. I made a schedule to help me balance out my time the right way and you can see it there hanging on her oven. She wanted a copy of it so she could know when we can hang out:

A couple people asked for a close-up of Annelie, so there she is! No makeup either, isn't she pretty?!

This is Suni:

After we finished with the pudding, Annelie suggested we take a walk to the lake since Suni hadn't seen it yet:

This is the little tiny harbor just down the street from the school. (Dad I thought you'd like seeing the sailboats:)

Typical old man sitting on a park bench. I thought it was really cute, but he saw me take the picture and got up quickly, looking very offended:

Aaaaand sweetest thing ever, a granpa and grandson fishing. Haha I know, I'm a creeper.

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

10/6

Today we all loaded into buses and headed to the castle that Walt Disney based the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland off of. I took lots of pictures just for you guys, so here they are!!

On the way there. I love the green rolling hills:

Pretty Mountains:

View of the castle from Courtyard:

Other direction:

Surrounding Countryside:

The main castle was built by, I'm pretty sure, King Louis III. Unfortunately, he died before it was finished! But the castle you see below is just across the valley from the bigger castle and was built by Louis' dad as a house for him when he was younger. It has an almost desert feel, with warm weather plants and fountains and sandstone:

View of valley between two castles. Up close, the buildings remind me of Disneyland, it's so interesting to see in real life this atmosphere that I always considered to only exist in pretend when I was younger:

View from the other side of the smaller castle. The surrounding countryside was beautiful:

Part way through the day, Steph, Tana and I got away from the group a little bit and were able to walk down to the lake in the valley and quietly enjoy God's creation:

Little cafe overlooking the lake:

View of castle in the distance from inside the bus:

After visiting the castle, we went to a summer "roddlebaun" or sled course. A cable pulled us up the hill on individual "sleds", then released us at the top to roll down the track free of anything except our own break. I almost crashed into the people in front of me!

More views on the way home:

Psalm 26:8

LORD, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.