Cloud by Day - Fire by Night

I'm Back!

2011-02-23T08:25:00.000-06:00

I've finally gotten back to a place where I would like to blog some more, however Cloud and Fire will become secondary. My new and upcoming blog, "Smells in My House" [that is a tenative title, still working on it...] is on its way! Stay tuned....

Team

2010-05-28T16:56:00.001-05:00

Eloisa and Nick, Jason, Shoan, Emily, Charles, Michelle and Kevin [with Lincoln], Liz, Me, Davin

So, we are about two weeks out for our trip to Southeast Asia and I wanted to give you a picture of my team and some prayer points to pray for us while we are gone. I am so thankful to get to share this experience with these precious friends! Many of them were with me on my trip to Norman, OK this fall when I saw my first German student come to Christ!

Below are some prayer points that you can pray for us while we are there. I would be honored if you take a little time each day lifting us up.

SUN: Unity among our team

MON: People of Peace (hungry people who will accept Jesus and share Him with others)

TUE: Boldness & Wisdom

WED: Church Planting Movements (that we would start small groups which will develop into house churches)

THU: Grace with translators

FRI: Healings & Salvations

SAT: Grace & Discernment to disciple locals well

* You can pray for Healings and Salvations Every Day! [Just in case you were wondering...]

Thank you for lifting us up before the Father!

Freedom

2010-05-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

Jesus is pursuing me with an intensity that leaves no room for rejection on my part! I am finding that the more I respond to his invitations to join him in intimate relationship with the Father, the less I want to hold onto "stuff" in this world.

I once was a picture of a backpacker with a pack stuffed full of things...pots and tents and shoes hanging off all the edges...the pack weighed almost as much as I do and moving was slow and laborious.

With the realization of the passionate love my Savior has for me, I dropped the extra stuff and all I carry with me now is my lamp and an oil can...the freedom is amazing!

Fisher of Fish (AND of men, but when I say men, I mean people in general...although I would like to find a man too.)

2010-05-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, that was kind of a long title for this post, but I thought I should be clear with my priorities.

This weekend I went on a retreat with my class to do some team building and one of the recreational opportunities was fishing and I thought I would do a little.

I had been fishing for about 45 minutes and hadn't caught anything when I decided to pray. I just talked to Jesus and said, "I want to catch a fish for no other reason than it would bring me joy."

As soon as I finished my prayer, I got a hit on my line and landed a beautiful, large-mouthed bass. I posed for some pictures, gave him a kiss, then released him to swim the pond again.

God spoke to me as I was walking back to the lodge to get cleaned up for dinner. "You know, it is really that easy, all you have to do is ask and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession." [Psalm 2:8]

Hmmm...this weekend I got some extra-special training, had some fun and got to kiss a fish!

Chasing the Dragon

2010-05-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

We just got our new book last night in Elevate PM. It's the last one of the year and I am reading it voraciously. The first chapter stirred my heart so intensely, that I began weeping at my desk at work, which made it difficult when I had to answer my phone and talk to customers.

If you get the chance, I recommend you read it!

BGEA: Steps to Peace With God

2010-05-08T23:00:00.001-05:00

Check out this really cool site from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Romans 5:1

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." (NLT)

You can have peace with God...find out how by following the link below:
BGEA: Steps to Peace With God

Dead Gecko

2010-05-07T08:08:00.000-05:00

Last night, as I was preparing for worship for my life group, I looked up at my door and noticed something sticking out of the doorjam. We have been overrun by fat juicy slugs and snails, so I thought one was trying to "worm" its way into the house. As I got closer, I noticed that it had eyes! Now I was getting a little creeped out! At first I thought it was a snake...but when I opened the door, I found out exactly what I was looking at...

...dead gecko! Yuck!

I'm trying to bribe one of my guy friends with a meal...if they would come over to my house and scrape the dead gecko off my door jam. Maybe the two shouldn't coincide...

Prayers of Faith

2010-04-26T12:27:00.000-05:00

Since we have read the book by Andrew Murray "With Christ in the School of Prayer", I have found myself praying more specifically and with more faith that my prayers will be answered and I have seen some really funny and amazing answers to those prayers!

A group of girls who are going overseas on outreach with me had a Pancake Picnic this weekend and had the opportunity to get into the church e-news announcements as well as into the bulletin. [I know these things are virtually impossible due to the number of events that are held weekly.] Yet, I wanted more...yes, more...I wasn't satisfied with just the e-news and bulletin...

During the 8:30 service, as one of the staff members was making announcements and handing the microphone over to the pastor, I asked the Lord for them to announce the Pancake Picnic from the stage.

Then, unfolding before my eyes, as my pastor was wrapping up his announcement, a man from the front row got up and walked onto the stage with bulletin in hand. He began speaking to my pastor and pointing to the bulletin, then he tried to take the microphone. [I know this was an uncomfortable situation with security and such...] He says to my pastor, "You forgot to mention the Pancake Picnic." as he points to the announcement in the bulletin. So, my pastor mentiones the Pancake Picnic from the stage and the man sits down.

Wow-Wow-Wow! This just blew me away! I was laughing hysterically because it was a less than ideal situation for the staff, but the answer to my prayer!

It is even more significant for me as an administrative personality who makes plans that are expected to be followed, and when they don't occur as "planned" it isn't necessarily due to my failure, but sometimes to the Lord working on behalf of prayers of faith being lifted up. I began to see that flexibility in areas is working WITH God rather than striving for perfection in areas that I have limited control over.

Just In Time For The Media Fast...

2010-04-02T16:04:00.000-05:00

So it has been about 3 months since I last posted on my blog. I have been crazy busy looking for a job and keeping up with discipleship school and readings. I am thankful that I did find a job through Kelly Services.

I am enjoying my current position working in a call center. I get to talk to a lot of people and I - LOVE - to talk, so it is PERFECT for me. Every now and again, I get a mean person, but that is like finding an Easter Egg in that I get to search my inner soul for the training I have received finding my identity in Christ and speak from that place rather than take the things that they say personally.

Learning this skill has opened up a whole new world for me! I feel so free to live and not worry about what other people think.

My discipleship school is about to embark on a media fast, so I will take a break from the various social media sites for a while, but will update when it is over.

Scones

2010-01-25T07:25:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I made some yummy scones...thanks to a recipe I received from my sweet friend Jackie. She has to be the BEST scone-maker around! Anyway, I decided to try my hand at these amazing little delights. To my surprise, I won "Best Snack" at a local post New Year's party. Some pictures are below:

Basic Scone Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
Decorator's sugar for top

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and with a pastry blender, mix them into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Combine 1 beaten egg, vanill and cream. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until combined, but don't over mix.

Knead dough gently on a lighly floured surface. Shape into a circle, approximately 7 inches wide and 1/12 inches tall. Carefully cut into 8 triangular sections, similar to a pie.

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or parchment paper-covered cookie sheet. *If you want shiny scones, take 1 additional egg, beat it and brush on top of scone before baking. Sprinkle with the decorator's sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Alterations:

You can experiment by adding dried cranberries, coconut, white chocolate chips, pecans, lemon zest, etc as desired. Just make sure you add it to the dry ingredients before you add the wet mixture. You can also experiment with various glazes.

My First Loaf

2010-01-01T23:59:00.001-06:00

I made my first loaf of bread tonight! For Christmas, my mother gave me a book called "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" and I love it! I picked up supplies and started making the loaf about 8pm. By 11:30, it was done and my roommate and I dug in for a bedtime snack. Thanks mom! It turned out great!

New Year's Eve...Bringing in 2010!

2010-01-01T09:07:00.002-06:00

I stayed home all day just so I could be healthy enough to attend our New Year's Eve party. Once I arrived, I played it pretty cool, except everyone noticed that I sounded a lot like Peter Brady when his voice was beginning to change. I even stayed clear of the dance floor just so I wouldn't wear myself out...however, when the "Chicken Dance" began, I couldn't resist.

Following lots of snacking, and the drinking of hot Dr. Pepper to soothe my throat, we had our midnight countdown and then it was lots of hugs and cheers. Juan led worship and we worshipped our way into 2010! I didn't get home until 3am, but it was well worth it!

I am still feeling a bit under the weather, so I am resting, resting, resting and drinking lots of water and hot tea. Happy New Year!

Party or Not to Party...That is the Question

2009-12-29T17:29:00.002-06:00

I'm still getting over this bout of sickness. I've been trapped in the house for days and am SO ready to get out and be social...alas, I am afraid. I am afraid that if I do, I will have more of this nasty sickness to deal with.

Are there any New Year's Eve parties out there that consist of just lying around on the couch and watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy? If so, let me know...I'll come over with my Christmas snuggie and a pot of coffee.

Coffee with Mom

2009-12-28T09:31:00.003-06:00

I'm starting to feel a bit better today...I have a couple of social meetings coming up and I definitely don't want to miss out on them. First, tonight, I will meet with my lovely friends Stephanie and Tyler.

Stephanie has been one of my loving supporters and in return, I have been her massage guinea pig on many occasions. Not such a bad job...

Tyler has also been one of my supporters and a big encouragement in my years in Germany. She came to visit me in the Spring my first year and again at this time last year.

Today, however, has been dedicated to coffee with mom. This is a great time of multiple pot brewing and conversation. It is during these times that I have the opportunity to share with her new things I am learning about God and vice versa. We encourage each other in the Lord and she has always been there as a confirmation when I hear God speak to me. Usually, he has told my mom a few days before hand.

About 3am this morning, while I was sleeping...and wheezing...she came into my room and put on a scripture CD of words about healing called "Heaven's Health Food". It was truly a blessing and during the play of the CD through the early morning, I had dreams of spiritual warfare and rescue. It is interesting the way God presents dreams and visions to me...they usually come in the form of television shows/cartoons and movies.

This morning, my dream was Star Wars themed and it was paired with my Elevate class' Spring outreach which is to come. The details are far too intricate to explain here, but maybe we can meet for coffee sometime and I'll share it with you.

Now I must to go...the new pot is done brewing!

World Mandate 2010!

2009-12-27T15:07:00.003-06:00

As the New Year approaches, I encourage you to begin asking God what He would have you do this year. I think a great way to get inspired is to check out the missions conference at Antioch Community Church called "World Mandate". It will be January 29-31 and the cost is nominal when you look at the opportunity to gain some long-term visioning for God's heart for the nations.

Whether you are interested in serving, giving, mobilizing or praying; World Mandate is a great platform to spark your interests. There are main sessions with refreshing worship and compelling teaching...break out sessions that target your spiritual interests such as evangelism, discipleship, church planting, social justice and many others!

I'd love to see you there! Just follow the link below and register online...you'll love it!

World Mandate Registration

Sick, Yet Festive

2009-12-26T16:04:00.009-06:00

So, I've been sick for about 6 weeks now. I will battle with it about a week and a half, then feel better for a couple of days and then it comes on again. I don't really know what it is, and I feel like a lazy slouch laying around all the time, but I also can't afford to go to the doctor.

I've been at my parents now for Christmas and it has been extra special because I really haven't had to do anything but rest...I went out to run some errands with my mother last week, but it only seemed to make my mystery sickness worse.

Good news is that I was able to pray for a couple of people that I met while out and about in Lockhart. The most difficult part of being sick is the not wanting to be around people because I am weak and because I don't want to make them sick. The most discouraging part is that many people have prayed for me to get well, but it just doesn't seem to go away.

If you think about it, pray for me to get well...I don't want to go into the new year feeling like this. It is taking a toll on me physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Here's a picture of me dressed up all festive at my friend Shannon's wedding rehersal...

Mini Tour of My House

2009-10-27T13:27:00.004-05:00

Here are some photos of my house...furnished. I've attached a little video tour as well. I thank Jesus for His provision and all of my family and friends for your prayers and support. You are all welcome to come visit sometime...just give me a call and we'll set something up!

A Beautiful Inheritance

2009-10-17T01:27:00.003-05:00

In discipleship training school I'm getting ROCKED by Jesus on a daily basis. The past two days have been especially cool because we had two incredible speakers...Steve Backlund from Bethel in Redding, CA came and spoke on joy last night in my class and then this morning, we heard Rick Joyner speak on God's purposes for us and then he spoke a word over our church planting movement which was so right on...

I minister at a meeting on Friday nights called "The Feast" which is a community dinner for our urban neighbors. Five children came to Jesus tonight!

In case you didn't hear it...FIVE CHILDREN CAME TO JESUS TONIGHT!

I am so blessed! Some folks from my discipleship school went treasure hunting on Monday night and I had a word for a "Carol or Caroline". We didn't find anyone with that name and I was a bit discouraged. On Wednesday I went out treasure hunting again with a friend of mine and I heard that God had a word for "Gayle". Again, no Gayles on Wednesday. I was thoroughly discouraged by the time last night rolled around.

Steve Backlund was talking about how when we are discouraged, that God is more concerned about our attitude of discouragement than the thing that discouraged us. We spent time calling out and rejecting lies that we have been believing from the enemy. One of the lies I believed that I called out was "I don't hear from God". I was disappointed that I didn't find Caroline or Gayle and figured that it was just something I made up. I realized that believing that lie was wrong and I repented and cried out, "I can hear God's voice for his people!"

This morning, before going to hear Rick Joyner, I met with my friend Jennifer at a donut shop across the street from the church. While there, I saw a woman with a medical mask on and God prompted me to pray for her. I followed her outside and asked if I could pray for her. She agreed and I introduced myself, then asked her what her name was...it was Gayle! I started crying and told her that I had been looking for her for two days! I prayed for her and believe that she has been healed!

I was so charged up! Worship was amazing this morning and God continued to speak to me...that he has a new thing for me, he is renewing my mind and changing my dominance...You see, I am left-handed and usually lead out with my left. This morning, unintentionally, my right hand has been on top and has been reaching out first. I asked God why and he said, "Because I want to take you by your right hand and I don't want your left hand to hold it back."

Then, tonight, while leading worship with the kiddos, this little girl is standing before me. It is her first time with us and she is wearing a name tag right across her chest that reads, yes..."Caroline". I almost couldn't stand up to play my guitar or sing. After we ate dinner, she and another girl had to go to the bathroom. As Sabrina (who is 8 and knows Jesus) and I were waiting for Caroline in the bathroom, I told her that when Caroline comes out, we need to sit down and share with her about Jesus. Sabrina was such a great helper in sharing the Gospel with Caroline.

After Caroline asked Jesus to come into her heart, we ran back to the class and announced what God had done. Caroline is a twin...she and her brother Cesar are 6 years old and she told Cesar what she had just done. "I am going to tell my brother the story of Jesus when we go to bed tonight", she said. After we shared with the others what Caroline had done, we asked if there was anyone who hadn't asked Jesus to come into their heart, but wanted to, to raise their hands. Cesar, Antonio (their brother who is 11), Jr. (a neighbor they brought with them) and a little girl named KeKe all gave their lives to Jesus!

Now if that doesn't make you want to scream from the rooftops that "Jesus is LORD!", I don't know what would. It has been an amazing couple of days!

Give You Praise

2009-08-20T22:31:00.005-05:00

Doesn't this cake look amazing? It is sitting under this dome of glass...just waiting to be eaten. I love cake plates...I love cake. A cake plate is beautiful and functional. The best part is that it keeps the flies and fingers of passers-by off the cake when you have it sitting out somewhere. I have always thought that a cake on a plate with one of these domes was much fancier than just a regular cake in a pan, or one that you have to put toothpicks in to keep the plastic-wrap from sticking to the frosting. There is just something grand about a cake on a plate.

One of the things that I think about is how you don't dare touch a cake on a plate until the host/hostess says that it is time. You could pass by it a dozen times and still not dare touch it however much you want to.

Tonight, as we were worshiping to this amazing song by James Mark Gulley called, "Give You Praise", I had a picture of me standing on one of these cake plates with the dome on top of me. I had plenty of room to move around and people could come and see me. They may have passed me by a dozen times, but they have not had access to me...not until the dome was lifted off of me.

One of the staff members felt like God was saying that someone had a headache and he wanted to heal it...so if you needed prayer to come up. Well, I didn't have a headache, but I did have a broken toe. I broke it on Saturday and just popped it back into place and have been limping around on it all week. "There's nothing that can be done for it.", I said to several people when they asked if I had gone to the doctor. "He would just tell me keep from bumping it on anything and wait it out...it would heal eventually."

All week, I have been limping around with this broken toe, a dull, constant pain (like a headache) just thumping through it. I finally decided that I was tired of "living with the pain" of it and actually ask for prayer. And...yes, God healed it!

While I was being prayed over, one of my classmates shared something that he had seen as he was praying. "I see this wench pulling something off of you...I just see something being lifted off of you that you have been burdened by for some time." I cried out..."Yes! Lord! Take it away!"

I spoke with him right after that to tell him of the picture that God had given me before hand that confirmed what he was sharing with me. I think it is interesting that I, a girl, see it as a glass dome being lifted off a cake plate, but he, a guy, saw it as a wench lifting something off of me. We each saw it from our own perspective, but the spiritual application was the same...God is lifting something off of me that will make me accessible for His purpose.

Now...what that purpose is, I am still listening and waiting to find out. Ö)

Our retreat begins tomorrow afternoon and will last through Sunday afternoon. Please pray for me as the Lord does a work in my heart...that whatever burdens need to come off, that I would be readily able to recognize them and give them over to Him.

I close with the words to James Mark's song below:

I will give thanks to the Lord for You are good
I will give thanks to the Lord for You are merciful
I will give thanks to the Lord for You are good
You have been good all of my days - and I will give You praise

All my life I've dreamed of You
For Someone who would love me,
and take off all these chains
So God of Glory, speak Your word,
And the sun shall rise,
And the mountains, they will melt
And the King of Glory shall come in,
And I will lift my voice

And I will give You praise
I will give You praise
I will give You praise
I will give You praise

A Gentle and Quiet Spirit

2009-08-18T09:03:00.003-05:00

Last night was the first night of Elevate PM discipleship school, a ministry of Antioch Community Church. I moved to Waco just three weeks ago, today, to attend this school. I knew God wanted to do some things - GREAT THINGS - in my life this year...I expected it - expect it. However, I didn't anticipate exactly WHAT he would ask of me.

After introductions and expectations, we stood to worship. My body was still aching from our worship experience at church on Sunday. (It was Antioch's 10-year Anniversary, and it was a blow-out of lawn chairs, sweat, sunshine, sunburns, sweat, worship, sweat, baptisms, sweat, dancing before the LORD, more dancing and water...LOTS of water!) I don't have a gym here or a workout program, but who needs one with the kind of worship I have experienced in the past two weeks? You can check out a video of the service by clicking here or, a slideshow of the experience by clicking here.

Ok, back to the report...after introductions and expectations, we stood to worship. In the midst of this time of singing, the words of David from Psalm 25:3 poured out "No one whose hope is in the LORD will ever be put to shame..." At that moment, I heard the Lord speak, "Take off your rings - all your jewelery."

"Ahhh! Really? My jewelery? Is THAT the way you are going to play this?" - I argued with God

"Don't let your adorning be external - but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in my sight. For this is how the holy women who hoped in me used to adorn themselves...by submitting to their husbands. I AM YOUR HUSBAND! SUBMIT TO ME IN THIS!" (1 Peter 3:3-5)

Well, I couldn't get my jewelery off fast enough (don't forget the toe rings!)

You see, several months ago, as he was showing me that he is PASSIONATELY in love with me, he gave me a bracelet that I am wearing right now...It is gold, with a ruby-red heart. The heart is alive and it is beating even as I write this. You can't see it, but I can...and HE can. He said to me, "I only want you to wear what I give you this year - and it won't look like what you think."

Shortly after that, a girl named Anne, came to me and shared a word from the Lord for me. Matthew 6:28-30 "Yet, I tell you, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these - will HE not much more clothe you?"

What a blessing! What a gift! I wondered if I had been disobedient if he would have given me that word from Matthew...I was on such a high! I went home full of the joy of the LORD...and then I blew it...BIG TIME!

Do you have those things in your life that steal your joy? Those things that seem to rob you of your victory the instant you try to find comfort in something other than Christ? Well, I have plenty of them...and I look forward to HIM taking those things away from me this year. The discipline that will come from intimacy with Christ is going to be GRAND!

Psalm 130

¹Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
²O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
⁶my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

Sparmüll Tag

2009-06-04T15:39:00.006-05:00

In Germany, they don't really have "Thrift Stores", although today, I did see a clothing donation bin near the train station...there is a store down the street from my apartment called, "Second Hand Mollywood", but the clothes look too old for my life stage.

But...They do have something really cool and that is "Sparmüll Tag"! Which basically boils down to "Thrift store on the corner of your street day". Our team leader's wife, Jennifer, is great at finding usable stuff! We have furnished our office with a lot of furniture that Jennifer found on the street.

Well, today is Sparmüll Tag and I got some great finds! [If you receive any of these as gifts in the near future, pretend like you don't know they came off the street.]

A lovely little vase

Can be used as a pencil cup...

A stainless steel trivet (probably originally for milk and sugar)...

Works well for oversized tea lights...

If only there was some way I could list a bunch of the junk I find, and sell it on the internet...I'd be rich!

Love Heals Everything

2009-05-28T12:09:00.007-05:00

I've been listening to Shawn Mullins the last day or so and this song has been on my heart. I know that everyone laughs (even I do) when people take modern love songs and turn them in to "Christian" songs...the classic ones being: "How Sweet It Is" by James Taylor and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye. BUT, as I have been resting in the love of my Savior these past couple of days, the song "You Mean Everything To Me" by Shawn Mullins really has been a worshipful song to me.

I've been doing a study by Beth Moore called "Stepping Up" which deals with the Psalms of ascent. The latest lesson I have done focused on how God is FOR us...that he is on our side, not just that we are on his side, but that HE IS ON OUR SIDE! To know that I mean everything to my Savior is a sweet, sweet feeling. I thought I would include Psalm 124 and the lyrics to the song beneath it. I pray that this would be a time of worship for you as well...

Psalm 124 (New International Version)
¹ If the LORD had not been on our side—
let Israel say-

² if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,

³ when their anger flared against us,
they would have swallowed us alive;

⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,

⁵ the raging waters
would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the LORD,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

⁷ We have escaped like a bird
out of the fowler's snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

You Mean Everything To Me - Shawn Mullins

I've been on the road too long,
and I've been stuck inside a song,
And you know our love
has been through rougher weather...
But our passion's like a rose,
the seasons tell it how it grows,
And not much compares
to the times we've shared together.

'Cause love heals everything.
We're no exception to the rule.
You mean everything to me.

So if there is anything at all,
all you've got to do is call,
And you know that
I would drive 10,000 miles...
Just to show you that I care,
just to kiss your honey hair,
And pull you close
and hold you like a child.

Love heals everything.
We're no exception to that rule.
You mean everything,
You mean everything,
You mean everything to me.

Sushi Night!

2009-05-12T13:38:00.005-05:00

Tonight, I had the opportunity to hang out with Annika and make sushi for the first time before we met for our girl's discipleship group. Annika is a great teacher and I am very proud of my first sushi roll! The girls came over after we were finished putting it all together and we all had a yummy dinner.

Annika with the first of our ingredients: carrot, avacado, cucumber and sweet egg.

Everything is laid out and ready to roll...

We had to cover our hands in mayonaise to keep the rice from sticking.

Me rolling my very first sushi roll!

Annika was a master at cutting up the pieces!

Our sushi platter...Annika made the reverse roll as well!

凝った(こった)、美味しい(おいしい)
(tasty!)

"Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg." Hans Christian Andersen

2009-04-16T07:55:00.010-05:00

1 Peter 2:9-12 (New Living Translation)

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

If You Have to Make a Sign...

2009-03-31T03:35:00.003-05:00

I was shopping yesterday at Alnatura, which is Germany's version of Whole Foods. As I was passing through the produce department, I saw a really funny sign on their produce scale and thought I would share it with you all.

"We ask, for hygienic reasons, that no children with street shoes be placed on the scale. Thank you for your understanding."

414

2009-03-01T03:13:00.002-06:00

Friday morning, my team leader, Pete, and I went out into the city to talk with and pray for people. Interestingly enough, God gave each of us the same passage of scripture before heading out that morning: Isaiah 26:1-8

"In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts."

As we walked into the city, we were frustrated that it seemed as if nobody was just enjoying the day, at rest. Everyone was busily walking places and didn't have time for a conversation. Pete suggested we head to Schiller Platz, where there are a lot of benches. Maybe, we would see someone there.

We saw a woman sitting by a fountain and began a conversation with her. We prayed with her and talked with her for about 15 minutes. She is the typical example of the people here in Germany. She is "catholic" but only because she was confirmed in the catholic church.

She asked about our website (as we gave her a card with our church information on it and website address) Our website is: 414people.de

The 414 stands for John 4:14 when Jesus met the woman at the well and he told her that if she drank from the water that he gives, she will never thirst again...(I thought it interesting that we met her while sitting around a fountain or "well" as some call it - in German the words are interchangeable.

She does not have a church that she attends or a relationship with Jesus. I believe that she will come to our church tonight! I pray that she will encounter Jesus there as the woman at the well did. Her name is Heidrun, please pray with us for her.

As we were heading back to our office, we were walking past a store where we have a relationship with the store owners. Hasan and Sadia. They are Muslim, but Sadia has been very open to relationship. I have been reaching out to Sadia in various ways and Pete has been reaching out to Hasan. They have a son named Shayan who is the same age as one of Pete's boys. Pete and his wife have also set up some play dates for Shayan and Jacob, just as an opportunity for Pete and Jennifer to get with them as well.

We decided to stop into the store and buy something so as to chat with them and ask if we could leave some of our cards at their register. Sadia was working and was so excited to see us. When Pete gave here our card, she asked, "What does the 414 mean?"

Pete told her that was the right question to ask and began to quote the verse. Sadia looked at him wide-eyed as he was quoting the verse and blurted out, "Give me some of that water!" [At this point, I wasn't standing there quietly as they spoke...I let out a little squeal as I grabbed my Bible out of my messenger bag.]

I tuned to the passage and showed her what the Bible said:
[John 4:13-15 New Living Translation]

13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

I showed her that her response was exactly that of the woman at the well, and that the water was available to her if she would only ask Jesus for it. We prayed for her and I believe God gave me a picture of her sinking in a bog…struggling. Then I heard a voice cry out, “be still” and I saw a hand reach out to her. Then I heard Psalm 40:1-2

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

She received it well for herself, however, it is very difficult for her because her husband is not interested in following Jesus. Culturally, it is difficult for Muslims to have a move towards Jesus without the head of the house making that decision as well. My prayer for her is that she will share this story with Hasan and his eyes and heart will be opened to Jesus. Please pray for Hasan, that he would have an encounter with Jesus and that he would begin to seek Him! This was so exciting!

Welcome to the Family!

2009-02-03T06:46:00.006-06:00

I have great news to share! We have a new sister in Christ here in Mainz! This past week, Annika made the decision to follow Jesus!

Steffi and Annika

I have been working with a group of girls since June in a girl's discipleship group: Sandra, Steffi and Kerstin. In November, we began a series on Foundations of Faith. The first week was about giving the Gospel presentation and the girls really took the lesson on and began to use it!

Kerstin led a friend, Michael, to Jesus over the Skype within the first week! She shared her testimony with us and we were all inspired. [I got to meet Michael over the Christmas holidays...you can see pictures of him in a previous post.]

Kerstin and Michael

Just before Christmas, Steffi brought Annika to visit our church and then, two weeks later, Annika began to come to our girl's discipleship group. Annika has a heart of obedience and really responded to the Holy Spirit's pursuit of her heart.

This past Wednesday, before our girl's discipleship group, Steffi invited Annika to come over to her place a little early so she could go over the bridge illustration (from lesson 1) with her. After going over it with her, Annika said that she wanted to follow Jesus!

This is so exciting for me on so many levels! Not only do we have a new sister in the Kingdom, but Steffi was the one who took the initiative and brought her to the feet of Jesus! As a church planter, this is screaming through the streets, fireworks, dance-party, exciting! The thing that blesses me the most is that I was able to love and encourage Steffi to be obedient to the leading of the Lord and she followed through. Seeing Steffi pursue Annika and share with her was better than me doing it!

Two weeks ago, Steffi had a birthday and I encouraged all the girls in the group to pray about a scripture that they would like to read to and pray over Steffi at her party. Annika came to me and said that she didn't know of a verse to give to Steffi [as she had never done anything like this before].

I shared with her that 1 John 5:14-15 reads: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

Because God gave us the Bible to live by, when we pray scripture over Steffi, we know that it is His will for her and it she will receive these blessings. Then I suggested that she pray 2 Timothy 2:2 over her: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

Annika got a big smile on her face and said, "That's what Steffi is doing with me!"

Exactly...

Me with Annika

He Really IS Going to Change the World!

2009-01-21T14:00:00.006-06:00

So, President Obama is already changing things for the better in the world. Here is one example of his influence all the way over here in Germany...

There is a daily newspaper here called "Bild", which basically means "Picture". Yes, it is a picture paper with tidbits of information...similar to USA Today, but maybe not quite as newsworthy.

Anyway, everyday...and when I say everyday, I mean EVERY DAY, there is a picture of a naked woman on the front page. It is also displayed on a sandwich board right in the middle of the sidewalk where I have to pass it EVERY DAY...whether I am going to the bank, grocery shopping or trying to catch a bus. They sell this particular newspaper at every news stand in the city from the train station to the little kiosk next to the "Pretzel World". It is so commonplace, that I usually fail to see it anymore...until today.

I actually had to do a "double take" and scan the entire page. There was no naked woman anywhere on the front or the back of the newspaper! THANK YOU, PRESIDENT OBAMA! Because of you I was able to go an entire day without being exposed to pornography!

Keep up the good work!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T05:43:00.011-06:00

First off, I can't believe that it is a new year again. I know that lots of people experience this awe on the first day of a new year. I guess the older you get, the faster the years go by...(not that I am anywhere close to old, just older than I used to be).

Christmas was a great time...I had the opportunity to spend the day with my team leaders and their family, as well as Meghan McCoy (a student at the Univeristy who is working on her masters in German. She is from Pennsylvania and didn't go home for Christmas.) We got up and made pancakes Christmas morning...Meghan had bought a cookie cutter of Goethe and wanted to make "Goethe Pancakes", so I obliged. The problem with profile cut-outs of classic German writers is that they don't always look like said writers and occasionally look like other public figure profiles. So, after examining the Goethe pancake, it appears to look a lot like George Washington...

Monday, I had the opportunity to take the Leininger boys and their friends to a place called Tobolino. This is an amazing indoor playplace where kids can bounce on trampolines, climb tall rubbery things and dance around in bounce houses shaped like monkeys, trains and alligators. Who would have thought that a place like that would elicit such excitement in children and parents alike? OBVIOUSLY, the creators of Tobolino! It was a great time...here are some photos

Tuesday, my friend, Tyler arrived from Austin! It has been so fun having her here. So far, we have gone around to a few of my favorite places...Starbucks (where I got the Christmas Blend I am drinking as I write this) and this really fun little mall next to the train station in Wiesbaden. They have a shop called Nanu-Nana where we looked at some glasses for our New Years champagne toast. I tried out a few for feel and settled on the one below...

Last night, we celebrated the new year at Kerstin's with a fondue dinner. Her friend, Michael, who she led to Christ a couple of months ago was there as well. We ate dinner, then walked down to the Rhein and watched the fireworks...prayed and even did a little dancing. I found out that there is a tradition here in Germany where, every year, people watch a short film called "Dinner for One" and it is very funny. We watched the film and then made our way back home. The buses were running on odd times, so we walked back across the bridge from Kastel to Mainz and got to see all the firework shells and champagne/beer bottles littering the streets. It was a great New Years and I look forward to 2009!

With Tyler at dinner

The New Year's Eve Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

Kerstin and Michael at the Rhein

Christmas Phase Three

2008-12-24T01:55:00.011-06:00

The past week I have been staying at the apartment of my teammates Carrie and Jen. Carrie has a dog named Oreo and he didn't go home with her for Christmas this year. Oreo and I have had a good time together, going on walks...playing with a stick in the field...stuff like that. The best part about it all is that I have had the opportunity to get some true alone time (and take a bath!) We don't have a tub in our bathroom at the WG...and even if we did, sharing it with 4 others means you have to do your business and get out...none of that pampering stuff like candles and reading and bubbles and jazz.

Oreo on one of our walks.

*This just in! I turned my back for half a minute and Oreo ate all the bio trash (I cleaned out Jen and Carrie's fridge from some leftover, expired food...beans, pasta, mashed potatoes, apple cores.) I don't envy him the diarrhea he will have later!

I almost made it through the season without seeing Santa trying to make an escape from someone's window...

Last year, I saw several of them, and my friend, Imola, said, (in her Hungarian accent); "You know, if I wanted to steal someone's stuff during Christmas, I would dress up like one of those stupid Santa Clauses and hang outside their window. Then, if someone was walking by, I would stay very still and nobody would suspect a thing!" This Santa is on the top floor of Jen and Carrie's apartment.

On Sunday, we had our pre-Christmas service and watched the film The Nativity Story in German. I have to say that it was quite interesting experiencing it in German. There were a few lines that I enjoyed, however, my favorite story line is that of the shepherds. In the film, they come to see Jesus and Mary says, "He is for everyone."

Several church members before the movie begins...

Steffi and her friend Annika. (Annika came to hear of Christ while studying abroad in Australia, she may join our girl's discipleship group after Christmas!)

Samuel decorating a clementine with some cloves.

I had an amazing dream this morning somewhere around 5 am...

I dreamt that I was leaving Germany (in the dream, I was leaving the next day) and I was in the process of packing my bags. I kept coming across things that I didn't know I had brought with me...keepsakes and things that I had held onto for a long time. A couple of my friends were there with me, helping me pack and everytime we were almost finished, another box would show up! I would open it and over and over again, I heard myself saying, "Wow, I've had that for a long time...I don't really need it, go ahead and get rid of it."

Everytime I cleared out a box, I would look at items and think, "Hey, I really liked that." or "That doesn't fit me now (or that NEVER fit me!)" My friends were a great help in encouraging me to get rid of the things I didn't need.

When I woke up, I began to cry, thanking God for showing me how I didn't need those things in my life anymore. All the things that I didn't know I was bringing with me, I got rid of here! I am so thankful for my family, friends and teammates who have been patient with me in these areas and have prayed for me to be delivered from these "extras" in my life. My dream last night was a special Christmas gift from the Lord, giving me encouragement...not only for letting go of things from my past, but also in showing me that I have the strength to surrender those things that come my way that I don't need rather than holding onto them for so long.

This has been a L-O-N-G process! I know that the habits I developed so I could survive for 36 years of my life aren't all going to disappear quickly and I am in the process of being reshaped, but this dream was kind of a dump truck or "winter cleaning" of sorts.

Now onto some fun stuff! I made a really yummy applesauce this week that I thought I would share with you. I first had it when a missionary family from our organization was here for a few weeks working on getting their visas renewed. I had never made my own applesauce, I've made a lot of apple things, just not applesauce...and this one tops the charts! Try it yourself this holiday season and tell me what you think.

Chunky Spiced Applesauce

Cranberries lend this applesauce an appealing rosiness. For best flavor, use a variety of apples, such as Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Cortland, and Rome. Prepare it up to one day ahead. Serve with Grilled Pork Tenderloin.

Yield
7 cups (serving size: about 1/2 cup)

Ingredients:
10 cup cubed peeled apple (about 3 pounds)
1/2 lemon
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg

Preparation:
Place apple in a large bowl; cover with cold water. Squeeze juice from lemon half into bowl; place lemon half in bowl. Set aside.

Combine cranberries and remaining ingredients in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook 3 minutes or until cranberries pop.

Drain apple; discard lemon. Add apple to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until apple is soft. Uncover, bring to a boil, and cook 15 minutes. Mash apple mixture with a potato masher. Pour into serving dish; cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 124 (0.0% from fat)
Fat: 0.2g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g)
Protein: 0.3g
Carbohydrate: 32.5g
Fiber: 2.6g
Cholesterol: 0.0mg
Iron: 0.3mg
Sodium: 2mg
Calcium: 14mg

Barbara Lauterbach, Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007

Christmas Phase Two

2008-12-13T17:04:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more fun things that have happened over the past week. One of my favorite things about the cold weather is seeing how people dress. Below are my two top picks of the week:

Fashion

The man in the pink hat and pink striped scarf. (Apparently, pink is the new every color this season!) They say that it takes a confident man to wear pink, and I say that men who take it a step further and accessorize with pink are even better!

This little girl was just outside of the Mainz Weihnachtsmarkt and wearing a pink abominable snow-monster

The snow monster is so surprised that his fashionable coat is actually "fashionable".

The House That Gnome Built

There is a house in Bierstadt, a suburb of Wiesbaden, that is covered in gnomes. I tried to count them all, but then got too cold and went inside. Try to count them all and report back to me how many there are!

Here is a close-up of one of the windows above the door...

The Last Piece of Pie

We had buttermilk pie for dessert last night after The Gathering. It was so good, and everyone got a piece, however, after all was said and done, there was one piece left. Who was going to get the last piece? It came down to an arm-wrestling match!

Dimo arm-wrestles Kevin and wins...

Dimo arm-wrestles Meghan and wins...

Dimo arm-wrestles Jasper and wins...

Dimo, the winner of the last piece of pie!

Nice work!

Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt

Jan and Tamara from the English Cafe' and Jen and I all went to the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt together. It was a lot of fun, however, it was very busy. I recommend going on a weekday in the afternoon if you don't want to get touched by everyone that lives in Germany. When I got home, I had to wash the people off of me before going to bed.

The party train. You can rent this train out and ride it all around town while drinking wine with your friends. Sounds interesting...

It's not a trip to the Weihnachtsmarkt without a piping hot cup of Glühwein (mulled wine). This year's cup is very unique with a stamped picture of St. Nikolaus on the front.

The Christmas Market has a variety of different tasty fun. The chocolate-covered fruit is another hi-light of the market. For the first time, I saw chocolate covered chili peppers...tempting, but I passed this time.

Jen and Tamara at Starbucks...yes, we HAD to stop in to use their bathroom and have a coffee...it was well worth it!

Jan and I at Starbucks...he's eye-balling my

Dark Chocolate Cherry Latte

Finally, as we were leaving, I had the opportunity to take a picture of the main Catholic church in Frankfurt. The moon was full and there was this great cloud cover passing by. It looks a bit eerie, but beautiful none the less.

My New Roommate(s)

2008-12-13T01:27:00.006-06:00

I would like to introduce you all to my new roommate, Johanna. She will be taking the place of Elena and is a PhD student in biology. I am very excited about how she will fit into our house! Welcome Johanna!

I am embarrassed to say that Re brought it to my attention that I didn't introduce him to you all when he moved in last month, so I wanted to edit this post and include a photo of him as well. He is a great guy...studying to be a teacher. His girlfriend, Sabrina, is super-cute as well. My little family is getting bigger and bigger every month!

ALDI in Texas!

2008-12-12T07:39:00.003-06:00

Aldi is expanding to Texas! Read the article here. This is a discount shop and I like it for stuff like pasta, flour, sugar...basic staples. There are a couple of stores close by me here in town. Check out their website here.

My Brother's Cat Can Fetch!

2008-12-09T16:05:00.002-06:00

Check out this video my brother, Cullen, posted with his cat Dex fetching...It is hilarious!

A Heart Deeply Affected

2008-12-08T01:17:00.003-06:00

"A person who has knowledge of doctrine and theology only - without religious affection - has never engaged in true religion. Nothing is more apparent than this: our religion takes root within us only as deep as our affections attract it. There are thousands who hear the Word of God, who hear great and exceedingly important truths about themselves and their lives, and yet all they hear has no effect upon them, makes no change in the way they live.

The reason is this: they are not affected with what they hear. There are many who hear about the power, the holiness, and the wisdom of God; about Christ and the great things that he has done for them and his gracious invitation to them; and yet they remain exactly as they are in life and in practice.

I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine, by hearing the Word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. No one ever seeks salvation, no one ever cries for wisdom, no one ever wrestles with God, no one ever kneels in prayer or flees from sin, with a heart that remains unaffected. In a word, there is never any great achievement by the things of religion without a heart deeply affected by those things."

-Jonathan Edwards from Religious Affections

Christmas Phase One

2008-12-07T12:33:00.011-06:00

Phase One of Christmas has begun! We had our Christmas party at church last night. It was a great time. We had about 60 people there with lots of great food. We ate, sang carols, passed around gifts, danced (okay, maybe just Magdy and I danced), made monkey faces and laughed a lot. It was a great party!

I had the opportunity to share my testimony with a girl named Angela who has been coming to English Cafe' and The Gathering. We talked about trust and the goodness of God as Father from Matthew 7:9-11. Please pray for Angela as she reads over the scriptures from the booklet that I gave her on the four spiritual laws. If you have never heard of the four spiritual laws, you can read about them by clicking here.

Today, I went to the Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) because I have been dreaming of Kartoffel Puffer (Reibekuchen...if you want the old term). They are fried clouds of heaven served with applesauce. They have enough grease in them to take a year off of your life, but they are well worth it!

It has been a great first week of December and I am looking forward to much more in the upcoming days! Enjoy the pictures below.

I made my grandmother's buttermilk pie again!

I'm two for two...it turned out great!

Kerstin makes monkey lips.

Jan played the piano.

Pete led Christmas carols.

We sang along...

Tamara decorating a cookie

Someone's "Dessert Plate" at my table...it was a sugar buffet!

Our table

With Sandra and Kerstin

Entrance to the Weihnachtsmarkt

(Notice the blue sky?! We haven't had a blue sky view in 2 weeks!)

The Kartoffel Puffer Stand...

The Kartoffel Puffers

(The best Kartoffel Puffers are in Mainz!)

My Kartoffel Puffer Coin.

(One step closer!)

I got them! Kartoffle Puffer mit Apfelmus

These are Kartoffel Puffer in the making...keep an eagle eye out for the number one ingredient for amazing Kartoffel Puffer! (Sorry, you will have to turn your head to the side to watch...I couldn't figure out how to change the orientation.)

The Greatest Street Name In The World!

2008-12-02T16:17:00.001-06:00

Out by Pete and Jennifer's house in Mainz-Bretzenheim:

Strange Dream

2008-11-30T16:34:00.007-06:00

So, I had this really weird dream last night. I won't go into the details of it here, but if you send me an email, I'll tell you about it. I will, however, give you an idea of the theme with the pictures below:

Betamax

The Holy Spirit

Joel Osteen

Line Dancing

Thanks

2008-11-27T09:06:00.007-06:00

I thought I would take this time for Thanksgiving to share some of the things that I am thankful for.

1. Godly Counsel

One of the things that I am most thankful for is godly counsel in my life. Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to be guided in prayer through some very difficult things from my past. Some of the things I did not realize were so ingrained in my heart until I began to seek God's guidance in ridding my heart of the roots that produce the fruit that I so dislike in my life.

There have been so many hurts in my past: real and perceived, and many things that I have not confessed to God due to my pride. The godly counsel I have been receiving has encouraged me to confess these things and it has brought healing.

The funny thing is that God knows my heart, yet I still hold onto the hurt thinking that if I say it out loud, then that will make me a horrible person or not a "Victorious Believer". These times of guided prayer have given me freedom. It is tiring to go through the gut-wrenching confession and deliverance process, but I know that it is profitable and I can breathe freely for the first time in a very long time.

2. Supporters from Home

It has been such a blessing to receive financial and prayer support from my team back home. The team here is my new day to day family, but you all are the ones who bless me from afar. I can feel your prayers and in the times when I think I really need something special from home, a package will show up out of the blue with things like chocolate chips, dental flossers, drink mixes, velveeta (with rotel!) and my favorite deodorant. Your e-mails, packages and cards really do make me feel like you are close by.

3. Grace and Mercy

I have been going through a few lessons lately with my discipleship girls. We have been studying Hebrews 11 and then going back through the Old Testament to see how the various men (and women) of faith were faithful. These lessons have been timely as I have been going through the prayer counseling as well. The most recent on my heart is that of Moses and obedience.

As, we talked about Moses and the main focus of our discussion ended up resting on Exodus chapter 4 and excuses...how every time God asked Moses to do something, he came up with some excuse as to why he couldn't do it. In verse 14, it says that "The Lord's anger burned against Moses". Over and over again, the Bible says that God is slow to get angry, yet abounding in love. If His anger burned against Moses, then what was Moses doing for God to get so very angry with him? He wasn't being obedient and was making excuses. How many times have I come up with some excuse as to why I can't do what God has called me to do?

This is where I need His grace and mercy...to guide me in the paths of righteousness. As Joel 2:12-13 reads:

12 That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.

I need to tear my heart and allow the Lord to mend it as I am being obedient. I need His grace and mercy as I go through this process and I am very thankful that He gives it abundantly!

So, these are all things that I am thankful for on this day of giving thanks. I pray that you are able to see the hand of God move in your life this week and thank Him for His wonderful gifts.

I'll wrap up with a couple of photos from tonight's Thanksgiving Dinner at the Gorman's with my team and the Wiesbaden team.

The Silly Bug Table...Kids Make Thanksgiving So Much Fun!

My first buttermilk pie in Germany. I made it in a quiche dish because I can't find a pie plate anywhere. I rose to the challenge of the "Quiche Dish Pie" and came out the victor.

With Julia...she wins the prize for the cutest monkey of the night.

Unfall (Accident)

2008-11-25T01:45:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, I had a little accident on my bicycle. It was wet out and as I stepped onto my bike pedal, my foot slipped and I ended up losing my balance and falling into the street. I looked down to see my new jeans torn and a big raspberry on my knee. Thankfully, I was wearing a pair of leggings, which provided an additional layer of protection. I'm sure it would have gone to the bone if not!

So, I got home, popped a couple Aleve and cleaned myself up, all while doing a bit of documentary photography to share my pain with you all. *If you get woozy at the sight of blood, don't continue on!

The holy knee

Ooh, this is going to be bad...I can tell!

Can't stop the bleeding...

I almost passed out from the peroxide sting!

The bleeding finally stopped.

All better now!

Es Schneit!

2008-11-23T14:02:00.003-06:00

So, tonight after our church service, I walked outside to find that it had snowed! It is our first snow of the season...and is pretty rare around the city of Mainz. Normally, it doesn't snow around here. We get a few flurries now and then, but nothing that really sticks. So here are a couple of shots of me in the snow tonight!

Can you believe it!? It's snowing!

Trying to catch a some of the good ones on my tongue...

Fun Photos

2008-11-23T13:20:00.013-06:00

Here are some great photos I have taken over the past couple of weeks at our English Cafe' and Gathering Events as well as Campfire Night, Poker Night and one really great graffiti picture from the campus, which I like to call, "The Police Is Not Your Friend". Enjoy!

Folks sitting around the campfire

Sebastian and the boys...playing in the park while dark

This was just a really cool photo I took on the way to the campfire...the "smoke" is actually my breath...pretty cool huh?

Being the tallest person in the room has its advantages at times...you get to pet the shorter ones as they pass by

Poker Tournament...the beginning

Jan shows us his chips...

Björn dresses for the occasion...

The tournament winner...

Sebastian "I don't really like to play games" Duke

Jan is scarier than the scarecrows

Angela loves the scarecrows, but Kevin is a little afraid of them!

"The Spende Wagon" - For spare change and donations

Pete and Jan pause their "grossest things people have eaten" conversation for a photo

Four Beautiful Girls from the English Cafe' during Language Fun Time. They come from Chile, Colombia and Mexico!

Jen and dapper Thomas...he arrived at English Cafe' in a suit after a presentation at the University

My favorite campus graffiti..."The Police is NOT your Friend"

Jogging Session

2008-11-20T11:47:00.002-06:00

In an attempt to develop community, one of the residents on the 4th floor of my building, Simon, is going floor to floor to invite folks to join the 8pm jogging session tonight. Looking out my window, the weather report is: wet, cold and dark...which has been confirmed by my desktop icon.

Now where did I put my running shoes...

Baptism

2008-11-12T01:51:00.005-06:00

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to rejoice with our new brother in Christ, Sebastian, in baptism. If you remember from a previous post, we met Sebastian on one of our outreaches two months ago and after spending some time talking with Pete, he made the decision to follow Christ. We look forward to walking with him as he grows in Christ.

Congratulations Sebastian!

New Photos from October...

2008-11-04T10:34:00.003-06:00

My new photos from October are up! Just click on the slideshow to the right and it will take you to the Picasa web album and you can look at or snag photos until your heart is content. I will try to add some captions and information in the upcoming days...but until then, enjoy!

Smiles,
Michael Ann

For the Love of All Things Birthday...

2008-10-29T15:31:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday and I had so much fun! I started out my day with my morning coffee out of my birthday mug (thank you, Rick). The evening was spent with my roommates and members of the church. I made dinner for my roommates (sour cream chicken enchiladas) and then went to Life Group where we had an AMAZING cake made by my teammate, Jen.

My morning coffee in my birthday mug

One of the best gifts I received yesterday was from two of my roommates, Alisdair and Kevin. They made this great picture of themselves and entitled it, "From two of your biggest fans!" It made me smile (and still is).

From my biggest fans...Alisdair and Kevin

With Alisdair and Kevin

With Alisdair, Kevin and Elena

My Birthday Dinner Party: Alisdair, Elena, Kevin, Me and Jen

Blowing out the candles...

Super-Yummy Birthday Cake by Jen

Life Group Photo

Tonight I went to Starbucks with the girls in my discipleship group. We all had coffee and chocolates and had a nice time chatting and being girls. Tomorrow night will be dinner at the American Sportsbar with my team. I am glad for my birthday week! Thank you to all my friends and family who sent me love and blessings and good wishes. I love you all!

The four of us at Starbucks

Kerstin and Sandra

Steffi and Me

Our "toast" of chocolates

What I Have Been Up to Lately...

2008-10-15T11:03:00.007-05:00

Well, the saying is that "Time flies when you're having fun." I have been in a whirlwind lately. God has been so good to provide me with everything that I need as well as special surprises along the way.

Last weekend, several of us got together and played laser tag in the woods. We were in a small town called Naurod which is just outside of Wiesbaden. In this area, there are lots and lots of apple trees and I picked a few and made apple cake for church. Oh, it was so good! Everyone complimented me on it and it was gone in a flash! (It went so quickly, that I had to "recreate" the cake again last night just so I could take pictures!) My roommates didn't mind....

With whipped cream...it was even better!

Here's a close-up where you can see the apples and cinnamon...

One of my roommates, Kevin, is from China. I found out from him that the Chinese do not use cinnamon as a sweet spice, but rather in savory dishes and it is primarily used in cooking pork. So, I got to introduce Kevin to other uses for cinnamon.

Monday, we were on campus to hand out English Cafe invites along with coffee. We do this several times a semester just to serve the students and get into conversations with them. We had a great time. Here are some pictures of some of our fun:

Our cafe sign out in the square...

Carrie handing out invitations...

Jen serving coffee...

Bill and Kim preparing to pass off invites to cyclists...

Scott Robinson, from the Wiesbaden team, and I had the opportunity to speak with two people. As we were walking, God drew each of our attentions to a young man smoking a cigarette by himself near one of the administration buildings.

Scott approached him and let him know that we were Christians and believed that God can change lives and wanted to know if there was any way we could pray for him. His name was Sebastian, and he told us that he didn't believe in God. "When I was a boy, my father died of cancer. I prayed and prayed for him to get better, but nothing happened. That is when I stopped believing in God."

Wow! That was so difficult. You could feel his hurt, just standing next to him. Scott shared his story with Sebastian and asked him what it would take for him to believe that God was real...and he replied, "I don't know, maybe if something went good for me, I would believe." At the end of their conversation, Scott gave him a booklet in German of the 4 spiritual laws and he said he would read it. Our contact information is on the back and we are on campus several times a week, so I am confident we will have a follow up with him. We prayed for him as we walked to the next place that God was leading us.

I had the opportunity to share with a girl named Daniela. She is an "Erstie" or first year student. I shared with Daniela that we were on campus sharing with people that God loves them and asked if she had ever heard that before. "Yes, at church." she replied. I asked her where she went to church and she said that she only goes when she feels bad. She said that her favorite part of the church service was when people sang songs and took communion. It made her feel like part of a family.

I shared with her that God wanted to have that kind of intimate relationship with her all of the time, not just when she felt bad. "He wants to dance with you and share in your joys as much as he wants to comfort you in your sorrows." As we spoke, I gave her a copy of the 4 spiritual laws and walked through them briefly with her. I invited her to come to our student meeting called "The Gathering" and she said that she would like to come.

As we were leaving, I asked if there was anything I could pray for her about and she said she was having some anxiety about some of her classes. I agreed to pray for her and Scott and I prayed as we walked back to the group. (On a side note, I saw Daniela again today on campus and she said to me, "Your prayers worked! I did well on my placement tests! Thank you for praying.")

After our time on campus, Jen and I got together at her place for sandwiches and gingerbread lattes. She made the sandwiches and I made the lattes. While we were at the store, we ran into our new Sebastian and he came and ate with us.

Eating lunch at Jen's Bistro...

Yesterday, the last girl from my discipleship group finally returned to Mainz after the summer holidays. We got together for a catch up coffee and girl chat. We will begin our regular meetings again next week, so please pray for us as we meet. I believe that these girls will be a catalyst on campus in reaching other students for Christ.

Me, Kerstin, Sandra and Steffi...

Today, we were on campus for what is similar to freshman orientation day. Ersties come to the Rewie Gebeute for orientation lectures and older students come for the "gift bags" that are made for the Ersties. Usually, these gift bags have coupons for special things...It is our opportunity to hand out lots of fliers for English Cafe and allow them to see photos of what goes on. I made a slideshow of our activities. (I'll try to put it on here...)

We had a great time where we were able to see several familiar faces and a few new ones. I saw Daniela and she shared with me the good news of her placement tests. I also had the opportunity to share the gospel with another young man named Sebastian. (I know what you are thinking...so far, I have mentioned 3 Sebastians in this update...it's a pretty popular name.)

Pete's boys came down with Jennifer to help out as well. You can't resist accepting an invitation from the cutest 6 year old in the world can you? Here I am with Jacob and Samuel:

These boys are outstanding!

And, finally, like the whipped cream that topped my amazing apple cake...I had another surprise today...I FOUND 20 EURO IN MY POCKET!!! Yeah, it has been washed a few times, but it will still spend! Thank you Lord!

I just got 20 bucks from Dad!

Schnupfen

2008-10-04T13:30:00.005-05:00

So, I have a head cold. I have been sniffling for the past two days and drinking my weight in hot tea. Not my favorite thing to do...flying high on benedryl and running to the bathroom every 15 minutes, but it hasn't been all bad.

I've had plenty of reading time and have almost finished my book by Jimmy Seibert: "The Church Can Change the World - Living from the Inside Out".

It is inspiring to read of the great testimonies during times of learning and growth of the ministry that I work with. It only reaffirms the fact that I am in the right body in the right place for such a time as this. I highly encourage you to read the book...available on Amazon.com or from the church directly. It tells of how God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His Kingdom when they fully commit to be used by Him.

I recommend it for anyone who thinks that God is not calling them to the "mission field". This is living life missionaly in your own community as well as on the field.

Wow...I've not posted in a week!

2008-09-25T15:48:00.006-05:00

This has been an interesting week. Back into the schedule of going to campus and meeting with students. We have wonderful news! On Monday, Pete, Bill and Scott spoke with a guy who had just arrived in Mainz over the weekend. They invited him to come to our wii Night with English Cafe and he came and spent some time with us. This afternoon, Pete had a meeting with him, and he prayed to receive Christ! Our new brother in Christ will join us at church this Sunday and I look forward in encouraging him in his walk with Jesus!

Below are some photos of our wii night...we played bowling, golf and tennis. It was my very first golf game and the weather was perfect! I shot two over par, but it wasn't too bad for my first time...

Sebastian assists Jen with her wii golf swing.

Cheering Kevin on...

I'm trying to get out of the bunker...

My team mate, Jan is upset that I am making us lose...

Julia, Alisdair and Kevin watch from the sidelines...

Two Retro Photos

2008-09-20T21:05:00.002-05:00

So, I found this website called: http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

I decided to do a little playing around and made two retro photos of myself, so for your laugh of the day, I present...

Michael Ann 1952

Michael Ann 1976

Two Embarrassing Things...

2008-09-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

So, two very embarrassing things happened to me today.

1. Thinking I was home alone, I farted in our common room. This room has marble floors, cement walls and a glass-topped dining table (are you beginning to imagine the acoustics of this room?)...it was so loud, I offended myself! As it turns out, I was not alone after all. I had forgotten that my roommate's cousin and her boyfriend were staying the weekend and I believe I heard giggling coming out of their room shortly after the event.

2. I forgot that my blinds were open and as I was getting ready for bed, I stripped down to my underwear. Just then, I realized that my lights were on and everyone outside could see my little striptease act. Thankfully, my french doors only face the common area for our building and the landlord's building and it wasn't a street view! (I think I'm a REAL European now!)

Two Productive Things Before 10 AM

2008-09-19T07:08:00.008-05:00

So, today, I was quite productive...

1. Four loads of laundry completed...I LOVE my choice in fabric softener...smells so fresh
2. Four episodes of 24 Season 6 on DVD...that Vice President Daniels is a real nice guy

Tonight is The Gathering and I hope to have several students with us. Please pray that our discussion topic, "Using Bad Experiences from Our Past to Help Others", opens doors to good conversation. Here are some pictures from last week's Gathering...

The group of us eating...

In the discussion room after the meeting...

Jen and Kevin cleaning up in the kitchen...

Dimo and Volker kickin' it with a little Kicker...

Two Wrong Things Before 10 AM...

2008-09-18T08:47:00.003-05:00

So, today, the two wrong things that I have done before 10 AM were:

First: Stating that a city bus pass cost 71 euro a month. As I read a "correction" by an anonymous commenter that my bus pass information was wrong...all this time...for a whole year...I began to think of all the other wrong information I have been passing around. (If I had known that for a mere 51 euro a month I could have had unlimited travel throughout the Mainz-Wiesbaden Metro Area...I would have taken RMV up on the offer!)

That is almost as bad as telling the wrong story about how my friends, Eric and Kendra, met and got married. I have told the same wrong story for almost 10 years to numbers of people! (Although my story of how they met was pretty romantic...)

Second: I rode my bicycle to my team meeting this morning and rode on the wrong side of the road! I did this because the right side of the road has more stops and I would have had to cross the same busy street twice in about a 500 meter span...I know that breaking the law for even a small thing is really a big thing. So, I confess, I broke the law and rode my bike into oncoming bike traffic.

Wow...this living right kind of life is pretty difficult! It's a good thing I have the grace of God to help me make it through the day.

More Things Before 10 AM

2008-09-17T05:15:00.004-05:00

So I woke up this morning with the worst charly-horses in my thighs! Last night, I rode my bike 7 miles (3.5 there, 3.5 back) to my team leader's home, and I hadn't done that in 6 weeks! My body paid for it!

As I was doing my receipts this morning, I discovered that in the months of April, May, June, July...I only spent 93 euro on transportation (buses around town...) and a monthly bus pass costs 71 euro. I saved 191 euro and lost some weight to boot!

Two Funny Things Before 10 AM

2008-09-16T10:23:00.001-05:00

So, its not quite 10 am here and I have already experienced my top 2 funnies of the day...

1. The way the German worker who was moisture sealing my ceiling tucked his shirt into his underwear... (sealing-ceiling is funny too!)
2. The way Germans turn nouns into verbs.

For example, I asked the worker if he would like some coffee and he replied, "Ich habe schon gefrühstuckt." (I have already "breakfasted"...rather than "I have already eaten breakfast.")

I guess that is similar to "I just farted"...rather than "I just passed gas"

Zweiter Platz Ist Auch Okay

2008-06-30T13:48:00.002-05:00

Oh, so sad! Germany lost in their quest for the Euro2008 Cup. Spain played a great game, except for the part where a dirty head-butt with Senna gave beautiful Ballack another scar for his face. Some may say it was "unintentional" however the replay makes it questionable.

Anyway, as Flo said in his award-winning, post-game facebook video, "Zweiter Platz ist auch okay!" I would like to have seen Germany win, but I also enjoyed going to bed early that night rather than roaming the streets in celebration as we did during the quarter and semi-finals.

Maybe they'll win in 2012!

Finale!

2008-06-27T18:08:00.007-05:00

So, Germany has made it into the finals!

They played an amazing game against Turkey.

Even though Phillip Lahm got kneed in the crotch without a penalty...

...he came in and scored the winning goal at 90'.

So, I give him the most valuable player of the game...grrr!
Get'em Little Lahm!

I look forward to the final against Spain...

I'm In Love Again...

2008-06-16T16:53:00.009-05:00

So, since the Euro2008 cup has been going on, I have fallen in love again with the sport of soccer. In High School, I had the privilege of managing the boys soccer team and I really enjoyed it then...for more reasons than the obvious.

I love watching the sport although, I don't think I have the stamina to play. I've played a few games in the park since I've been here, however, with competition like Martina "The Plow" Freidhof and Rick "I'm Limping but Can Still Crush You" DeMarco, it really isn't a very 'friendly' sort of play. Each time, I've come away with severe bruising and missing skin. I don't know about you, but I like my pasty-white skin, so losing it and having it turn colors on me isn't what I call fun.

But...I've fallen in love with watching the sport on television. I have a list of favorite players from the various teams playing this year in the cup, and I thought I'd share some of them with you. I won't go into detail about why I like each of them because it really isn't so sportlich, aber, they are all special to me for some reason or another.

Michael Ballack - Germany

Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal

Arjen Robben - Netherlands

Volkan Demiral - Turkey

Little Portugal

2008-06-11T14:02:00.002-05:00

So, we live on the Portugese corner of Mainz. The street I live on is full of Portugese restaurants, groceries, bars...and we even have a Portugese church in the building next to ours.

You don't really notice them until something big happens, like beating the pants off the competetion in the 2008 European Cup and they spend the next hour and a half honking up and down the street.

Good for Ronaldo...Good for Portugal

Oh My God, Free Me

2008-06-09T17:51:00.005-05:00

I run for dear life
To you my God
And never live to regret
Do what you do so well
Do what you do so well
Get me out of this mess
Upon to my feet

You are my salvation
You are my fortress
You are my salvation with whom I trust

Put your ear to the ground and listen
Give me space for this salvation
Be a guest room where I can retreat
You said Your door was always open
It's always open

You are my salvation
You are my fortress
You are my salvation with whom I trust

My God free me from
The grip of the wicked
From the clutch of the Bad and Bully
Oh My God free Me
Free Me

You are my salvation
You are my fortress
You are my salvation with whom I trust

My Salvation - Shawn McDonald

Zucker Schnecke

2008-06-05T02:11:00.010-05:00

This week, I learned that the Germans have a very special

"pet name" for their girlfriends...

Zucker Schnecke, which means "Sugar Snail"

I found this pretty funny since in America,

we sometimes refer to our male partners as "slugs"...

...looks like they could make a good couple.

Slamming Doors

2008-06-03T10:04:00.007-05:00

We have had a short-term team visiting from Texas for the past two weeks. They were invaluable to us in making new contacts and working along side of us in outreach on campus and in the city. The area where we hold our English Cafe' and other meetings is in the back of a courtyard called a "hof".

There is also an apartment building called a Wohnheim Gemeinde or "WG", where I live with 28 other students and young professionals; a church that has a congregation of about 75; AND a furniture warehouse in the basement beneath our rooms. To get to these rooms, one must go through three very large and very heavy doors. When these doors close, they make a lot of noise. Since I live in the WG, I know how loud the doors can be when they are opened and closed often...so I can totally sympathize with the discontented people who have made it their mission to quiet the slamming of the doors. (I only wish their passion for Jesus was as great.)

With the team here and our various outreaches over the past two weeks, we have had many people passing through our doors. The English Cafe' is the main room where all of our offices are and where our meetings are held, so we have been in those rooms a little later than normal over the past two weeks. The problem is that we are only responsible for one of the three doors that is making the noise and we have become THE scapegoat for all of the noise that seems to occur in the "hof".

Our landlord, his wife, our team leader, the housemeister, the handyman and the architect who was involved in the remodeling of this building suite have all had "intense conversations" about how these doors can be quieted. Unfortunately, with the lack of air conditioning, all windows must be opened to allow air circulation and that leaves room for NOISE to get in...and maybe the occasional fly.

This issue has been the #1 topic of conversation within the "hof". It doesn't bother me because I tend to sleep through anything, but for those people who will one day actually make it out of a burning building because they hear the fire alarm, it has caused quite a bit of tension.

So, I find it humorous that now that the short term team is gone and our staff is taking some much needed time off (so we aren't using the ONE door out of three that we are responsible for) that much slamming is still occuring and the entire day today has been dedicated to opening and closing doors to find a solution to the slamming. Apparently, you gotta make noise to stop noise.

Is that the same as spending money to make money? I hear that, however it seems that it only causes people to go deeper into debt. Does that mean we are going to have even more noise in the "hof"?

All this to lead into what God is doing spiritually in my life...

As physical doors are being slammed all around me, I am also finding that spiritual doors are slamming around me as well.

If you have ever been around a "control freak", you will know that not only do they want to control things in their lives, they want to control the lives of others. Partly because they just enjoy being in control and partly because it gives them a sense of security.

I would call myself a control freak on the road to recovery. This road isn't pretty. It is covered with shards of unmet expectations, hopes, dreams and desires. Driving across this stuff can put holes in my tires and make it difficult to move forward.

Lately, I have been struggling with negative thoughts and vain imaginations. I have had thoughts that people have been lying to me or keeping information from me because they are afraid it will hurt my feelings. I have this problem of taking things "too personally". If someone criticizes me, rather than looking at it as feedback so that I don't make the same mistake again, I beat myself up over it or I attack with judgment.

I have the spiritual gift of discernment and I tend to pick up on things that are going on around me, even though they are unsaid. I make assumptions often based on this discernment. The problem is that even though my discernment may be spiritually accurate, I often make judgments according to my flesh.

This is where I get into big trouble.

Rather than taking the things that I discern to God, I take them to the individuals and they are caught off guard by my line of questioning. The purpose for discernment is so I have the privilege of knowing how to pray and how to guard my heart NOT so that I can judge...and that is often what I find myself doing. Sitting around making accusatory statements standing in judgment like a hawk, waiting to swoop down and say "Ah-ha! See, I was right and you lied to me!"

Self-Righteousness is a beast that doesn't let go very easily.

The problem is that there is only ONE who is truly just and it is only by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that I am even able to STAND.

It is only by HIS SPIRIT that I will be able to set aside judgment and walk in humility. My quest to know the truth at the expense of others makes me very unattractive. Rather than seeking justification in knowing the truth of a situation, I need to know THE TRUTH - JESUS. I need to put on the mind of Christ and not allow the enemy to flatten my tires and cripple me from being truly effective for HIS KINGDOM.

John 8:32 reads:

"You will know the TRUTH and the truth will set you free!"

He has set me free from the chains of the enemy in my life...please pray for me as I stand firm in HIS SPIRIT.

Lord, show me the TRUTH so that my mind, soul, heart, eyes and spirit may be set free. Deliver me from the constant bombardment of th enemy to dwell in vain imaginations, jealousy, pride, fear, control, selfishness and judgment! Give me YOUR mind, YOUR love, YOUR trust, YOUR humility, YOUR boldness and YOUR flexibility. TEACH ME HOW TO TRUST YOUR VOICE WHEN YOU SPEAK.

I owe an apology to my team that has been on the receiving end of my "fleshing out" experiences lately. Please forgive me for giving foothold to thoughts that did not bring life and for not trusting that you are for me in every situation and struggle. You are my family here and I love you all.

Come In Deeper

2008-05-14T11:15:00.004-05:00

God has really been speaking to me in regards to performance. I was reading Hebrews 11:39-40 again (I can't seem to get away from Hebrews 11 lately...I keep meditating on it.) Anyway, it says:

"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

It spoke to me in the area of false beliefs I have been holding onto. I have had this idea of God as a father that will give me what I want if I am just "good enough". If I perform well and am obedient, he will give me what I ask for...so, when I don't get it, it must be because I haven't performed well enough, or I'm not good and I need to find another "key" to unlock whatever it is that I need to do to be good enough to get what I want. I need to have more faith...

That is not truth...the truth is that God does not withhold any good thing from his children. His timing is perfect and I need to be patient and trust him in his timing. Something cool that happened this weekend was Saturday morning, I received a package from home with a stick of deodorant in it. The funny thing was that on Friday, when I was using my last stick, I pulled the cap off, the last chunk of what was left in the stick flew out. (You know that only happens when you are at the VERY END) I had asked my friend for it a few weeks before and knew the deodorant was coming...just didn't know when.

I realized just then, that if God is good enough to bring me a stick of deodorant EXACTLY when I needed it, why can't I trust him to bring me other things at just the right time? If I had panicked about the deodorant being gone soon, I could have grappled out there for something myself. I could have grabbed something that I thought was deodorant because it looked like what I needed/wanted but it turned out to be a glue stick. AND instead of cucumbery-fresh smelling armpits, I would have sticky (and stinky) pits and be in even more of a mess.

God is good at teaching me those lessons. They aren't pretty, but they are healing.

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Here is an entry out of my devotional journal from when I was in Prague earlier this month:

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

"What is my perspective of slowness? Am I more concerned about my own time table than that of the Father?

Jesus, I know you are good - you are in control and you know what it is like to be under authority of the Father. You must wait for the Father to say go! Thank you for loving me so much that you are willing to be patient with me. Give me your patience so that I may be content and wait for what you have for me. I want to follow your example - I want you to be my guide - I want you to be my strength - I WANT YOU!"

I have been questioning contentment in my life lately. Wondering if I can be content in Jesus, yet still want more. Is there anything wrong with wanting more? I get really irate when people give me that Sunday School answer, "You need to be content in Jesus before God gives you (fill in the blank)." I look at people who have many of the things I want in life and all of them love Jesus...yet, I don't see that they are all content. There's always the next step...the expectation of things to come...would you call them discontent? Is it okay to want more? Which brings me to question, "Am I on the mission field to 'prove' to God that I am content?" Is that profitable? Am I trying to "spite" God by sharing the gospel with hearts as hard or harder than my own?

These are thoughts that I battle late at night while I am lying alone in my bed, far away from my family and friends...what is contentment anyway?

So, last week, I met with a friend and we prayed about this. What is contentment? What does Jesus want me to learn from these questions?

I had a vision of a pool - shaped kind of like a jelly bean. I walked up to the pool with two friends. I knew that contentment could be found in the pool...my friends said they would go with me. At the count of 3 we would all jump together...but when 3 arrived, only I jumped and they walked away. There I was, in the pool of "contentment", yet all that really happened was I got wet, and abandoned by people I thought cared about me.

As we prayed...I realized that was not contentment. "How does Jesus want you to enter the pool? What is his way?", my friend asked.

Instantly, I saw myself at the edge of a gradient pool, water lapping over my feet, then to my ankles and up to my shins. "Where is Jesus?" my friend asks..."Jesus is the water." I reply. "I must meet him...I must walk in as the water rises up to meet me. The water is singing...'Come in deeper'."

As I am in the pool, I realize that I can spin and splash...not touching the sides, but I can still see the sides. "How high, wide, deep and long is the love of Christ" I hear as I play. Seeing the sides of the pool doesn't mean that his love is limited, his love is endless, but they represent intimacy. I am completely at rest in this pool...the things I want are still there, but I don't want to pick them up because I am so enraptured in the pool. "Ah, so this is what contentment feels like?" my friend says.

Then is was time for me to get out of the pool. As I stepped out onto the side, I am hit with a cold chill. My first thoughts are, "Where are my friends? Where did they go? What are they doing without me?" I am shivering...and in the background I hear this song, this sad Christian cliche' of a song about Jesus carrying me...I yell out, "Shut it off! I don't want to hear that!" and then I hear the bridge to a song called "Rest in You" by Hillsong United..."Your grace is all I need, Your grace is all I need." A warm towel has been wrapped around me and the thoughts of where everyone else is fade away.

So, I'm content when I am in the pool, and when I get out, I have His grace.

I long to be in the pool always, but the reality is that I have to get out sometimes to tell others about the great love our God has for them...and in those times, I have His grace.

Like I said before, God is good at teaching me these lessons...they aren't always pretty, but they are healing. Below is a photograph someone took of me while I was leading worship at an orphanage in Ukraine. I am completely in His presence when I am worshiping like this and thought it would well sum up the end of this post.

Your faithfullness endures always
Where mountains fall and reason fails
And You calm the raging seas
And You calm the storms in me, again

All I know is I find rest in You
All I know is I find rest in You

My heart will praise throughout the night
Where singing seems a sacrifice
Your grace is all I need
Your grace is all I need

My Utmost for His Highest - April 28

2008-04-28T00:56:00.003-05:00

Today, I thought I would post a significant devotion from Oswald Chambers' devotional. If you want to read more, check out the daily devotional website at: www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php

It spoke to me in the area of control. There are a lot of things that God is working out in my heart in the areas of control, trust, and security. I am learning that He ALONE is my refuge and my safe place.

Psalm 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

Enjoy the entry for today, I pray it speaks to you.

What You Will Get

I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go —Jeremiah 45:5

This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him— "I will give your life to you . . . ." What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. ". . . your life . . . as a prize . . ." means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go— the life that "is hidden with Christ in God" ( Colossians 3:3 ).

Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, "Well, what about this?" Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, "What about this?" you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, "I will give your life to you as a prize . . . ." The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything— they have not been given their life "as a prize." The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough.

One Week Later...

2008-04-17T15:10:00.002-05:00

So, it has been a week since I posted and I realize that the nightly post thing was a DREAM. Tonight we had another dinner with the room mates and made fajitas. Several of us on the team are into this "clean eating" program that Rick has come up with, so I had to work very hard to make sure all of tonight's dinner was within the boundaries of our new standards.

This meant making fat free tortillas. Not as good as the ones with a cup of lard in them, but they were functional and somewhat tasty. The meat was seasoned well and the peppers were perfectly done. Overall, I would say that tonight's meal was a success.

Tomorrow we begin our 3 day seminar series from "Victory Over the Darkness" by Neil T. Anderson. We have a guest speaker from the states and I am really looking forward to it. I had a really great meeting today where I am beginning to process through differentiating between service as God has intended me to serve and just doing things out of a compulsion to fill a need for approval. It was cool to hear the truth about what God says about me and to know that his love for me is greater than anything I could hope for and imagine. That I cannot control or "tame" God. That He will not work in the way that I want Him to...He will work according to His word and His character.

Oops!

2008-04-10T16:40:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that I missed 2 nights of posting! Sometimes I wonder what happens at the end of my day...

Last night was so much fun! I made dinner for all the roommates (and Jen). I made pork loin roast with potatoes and onions. It was amazing! (Too bad I'm not a very good cook or it would have been double-amazing.)

Afterwards we headed over to the cafe' and played some kicker. Yes, I actually played, even though I think it is a stupid game...but apparently some people think it worthy, so on that rare occasion, when I am well-fed and feeling a bit adventurous, I step up to the table. I scored one goal and my teammate (that would be Rick) scored the other nine that brought us to victory. I will probably not play again for a long time, but at least I can say that I have a winning streak going.

Tonight, we had English Cafe' Movie Night. We watched the film, "The Ultimate Gift" and it was wonderful. (I cried, Rick made fun of me, it was all good.) It isn't a "Christian" movie per se, but it has a good theme. My favorite line from the movie is when the Emily, played by Abigail Breslin, is sitting in the hospital chapel with Jason...looking at a statue of Jesus and he says, "I don't know much about God or Jesus, but I can promise you His arms are meant for you!" It was so beautiful. I pray that it touched the hearts of those who were there watching with us and brings up opportunities for discussion in the future.

Monday Night Live

2008-04-07T16:46:00.004-05:00

So tonight was our last night "off" before English Cafe' begins up again for the new semester. My roommates, Alisdair, Elena, and Rick all joined me in a trip to the Irish Pub for karaoke night. It is always a treat to go to the Irish Pub for karaoke night because you run into all sorts of folks.

Tonight, I saw about 4 people from the Fachhochschule who I met a couple of weeks ago. They are in a study abroad program for 6 months. They are from all over the world: Australia, Hungary, Greece, USA, Great Britain...and the list goes on. The wonderful part of the program is that they must speak English to be accepted into the program, so everyone who I have met speaks English. This makes my "job" much easier, as I don't have to concentrate on speaking German and can share my heart...God's heart for them...in English. ;0)

On a side note, last week, I actually spent a half an hour talking with some Jehovah's Witnesses (in German) about my faith in Christ. It was really cool because not only did the Holy Spirit give me the words to say (from the Bible), but he also gave me the words to say in German. It is so amazing at times when I am able to bring the Word to those living in darkness, in a language that is not my own. I know it is purely from the Holy Spirit.

Please pray for us as this week we are going to the campus to what is called "Erstie Woche" or "Fish Camp" back in the States. We will be handing out fliers for English Cafe', The Gathering and 414 (our Sunday service) as well as inviting students to our pre-semester English Cafe' movie night bash. Pray that the Lord opens up doors to minister to more students this semester and that we are able to have some good conversations this week.

Website

2008-04-06T16:15:00.002-05:00

Hey! The website for our church is up now! We still have several things to tweak, but I think it looks great! Thanks to Jürgen Werres for all his hard work!

www.414people.de

Looking forward to getting to bed early tonight!

Here I am with my sweet friend, Tyler when she came to visit me last month.

Sabbath

2008-04-05T17:38:00.002-05:00

Well, today, I think I took my first real sabbath in a long time. It was a beautiful day (inside) as it rained almost all day outside. I spent a good bit of my morning in Bible study, then spent the afternoon crocheting on an afghan I am making for my team leaders...for Christmas. I actually started it before Christmas, but rarely find time to work on it. I got a lot accomplished on it today.

The day was wrapped up with a nice dinner with my roommates. Elena prepared a Thai curry with chicken and vegetables. Now I am waiting for one of the girls from the 3rd floor to finish up with a game night in the cafe' next door so I can lock up and go to bed.

I've started the first book in Terri Blackstock's Cape Refuge series, so I'll get some more reading in before going to bed.

My favorite scripture I read today comes from Titus 3:4-5:

"But when the kindness of God appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy."

Laser Tag and The Gathering

2008-04-04T16:13:00.003-05:00

This afternoon, several of us from our team and the Wiesbaden team got together to play laser tag. This was very special because it was the first time that women have been invited to attend. Jen and I represented well. Well, at least Jen did after mother nature called me out about an hour before we were through and I had to make a quick get away.

Thanks guys for allowing us to play along! We had a blast!

We got home just in time to begin preparing the meal for tonight's Gathering and it turned out to be just Rick, Jen and I. Three of the people we were expecting didn't show up, but this is also the last week of break before school starts again on the 14th, so it isn't too surprising.

I made a killer dinner tonight of bratwurst, with caramelized onions and a pot of wiggly-noodle soup. We prayed together for a while afterwards and then watched an episode of the new American Gladiator. That Helga is one stout woman...and Mayhem dude kind of scared me.

Something Totally Awesome!

2008-04-03T08:25:00.003-05:00

So, we have been working on getting our church web page set up and it has been a long and grueling process. We have been working with a German, Christian web designer who has been invaluable in offering perspective for this project. We have prayed, talked and designed our way through this with him for quite a while. Anyway, last week, we finally came up with a domain name called: 414people.de

This name refers to John 4:14 where Jesus says:

"whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

414 is also the name for our Sunday service, which had been given to the team before we got here, but has kind of faded in the past months. (The name, not the service.) So, last week, as we were talking about domain names that would work, 414people came up again and we all agreed that it was a good choice.

Well, here's the TOTALLY AWESOME part...

Our web designer sent us the following e-mail this afternoon and I believe it is self-explanatory.

Hi,

found something really really r e a l l y great :-))

Do a search for 414 at www.google.de

With the first hit you`ll find following page
http://dejure.org/gesetze/BGB/414.html

It`s about german law, a paragraph §414 saying that:

Eine Schuld kann von einem Dritten durch Vertrag mit dem Gläubiger in der Weise übernommen werden,
dass der Dritte an die Stelle des bisherigen Schuldners tritt.

Debt can be overtaken from a third person by contract so that the person who has overtaken
stands for the debt instead of the debtor.

What do you say now?

Can I just say...GOD IS AWESOME! In his infinite wisdom, he placed this law in the German books. How could anyone think this is just a coincidence? There are no coincidences with God...God is good all the time!

New Commitment

2008-04-02T17:00:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I am going to try the nightly update method without going too deep while still keeping folks informed. I had a pretty interesting day today. We started out as a team with our regular morning prayer time and began praying for the nations. Afterwards, Pete, our team leader asked us to share things that God has been putting on our hearts.

One of the passages that stood out to me was 1 Timothy 6:17-19

"Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life."

It spoke to me in many ways. The issue with the Euro plummeting is a pretty big deal. At times, I wonder if I raised enough support to make it each month. The Lord is faithful, though. The cool part of this verse from Timothy is that even those of us who don't have money should trust in God who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. He is my provider regardless of the exchange rate.

So, I felt compelled to pray that as God is working out trusting in Him to provide in my life, that He would also lay it on the hearts of those who have money to give, to give generously. God is doing great things in our midst and I commit to be more diligent in keeping you updated.

This past Friday night at the Gathering, we were able to host about 40 students from the Fachhochschule here in Mainz. One of the guys who lives in my building, Sebastian, is sponsoring a group of exchange students for the semester. I had the opportunity to meet several of them two weeks ago. It is a requirement that they speak English to enter the program, so that makes things incredibly easy for us. Rick made an announcement about the things we have to offer: English Cafe', The Gathering and Sunday service. I pray that we are able to plant seeds in the lives of these students over the next semester.

I shared this story with my mom today as we were talking and she suggested that I put it on the blog. Sebastian, the same young man I mentioned before, is very special to me. I have had the opportunity to get to know him over the past 6 months and when we first met, he was very cheerful, but also skeptical. At the end of January, Sebastian asked me to review and edit one of his papers for an English class he was taking.

Afterwards, as a thank you, he took me out for coffee and we had a long talk. I was able to share the gospel with him and he shared with me how his brother was in the hospital with leukemia. He was having treatment and didn't have any positive outlooks at the time. I asked if I could pray for him and mention the situation to my team so we could pray for him as well. About a week and a half later, I saw Sebastian in the hall and he said that his brother had completed his treatment and the cancer was gone. "Your prayers worked!" he said. He didn't say it in a way as much as he believed that they would, but more in a surprised fashion that they did. "And", he continued, "I got a 1 on my report that you helped me with!" All was very good news and I believe that it really planted some good seeds in his heart.

Please continue to pray for the relationships I am building with the people in my building, especially my new roommates: Elena, Alisdair and Cedric.

The following photos are from our recent English Cafe' Scavenger Hunt. My team won by a landslide. A funny story about feeding the ducks...we didn't have any bread and there aren't any stores around, so we decided to check the dumpsters for scraps. One of our teammates, Tamas, said, "This should be easy, I grew up doing this." Can you believe that the first dumpster we opened had 3 slices of bread in it. That's all...nothing else! God is so fun!

It's Been So Long...

2008-03-13T15:06:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the delay in postings. There have been some changes going on lately and something had to drop. I realized that I really don't have to write a long posting every time I post, so I thought I would just share a bit about what we did today.

Today, we had our regular, weekly team meeting at the Leiningers. It was profitable and we spent time in prayer for those we are inviting to our Easter services next weekend. After team meeting, Rick, Jen and I went shopping for food for our Friday night Gathering dinner...and thanks to Rick's family who brought cake mix with them when they came to visit...I'll also be making a cake...with a killer glossy dark chocolate frosting that I found on a blog by the Hillbilly Housewife. www.hillbillyhousewife.com )

After shopping, we went to the gym and worked out. They are offering a free 7-day trial at my gym right now, so Jen was able to come along and work out with me. I thought it was cool because she really enjoys going to the gym and I have someone to talk to. I find it interesting that I cannot have "conversations" at the gym, but Rick, my teammate, flourishes there. He talks to everyone and always seems to have something good (outreach wise) come out of going to the gym.

We finished our day by making dinner and hanging out with the roommates. It was a great day and I pray that the seeds I planted today will produce good fruit.

Unique Posting : Happy Birthday Grandpa and Becca!

2008-01-31T14:35:00.000-06:00

I'd like to start by giving a shout out to my Grandpa Roe who is 93 and my sister Rebecca who is 29 today! Happy Birthday! May you both have many more happy years ahead of you with the blessings of the Lord upon you both!

Okay, so today is the last day of the month and I REALLY need to post something, seeing as I haven't done so in about 2 weeks. I have had a tough couple of weeks...struggling with some personal issues. I took a personal retreat on Tuesday and returned today, and feel like God truly met me where I was. I will write more about it soon, but do not have the emotional energy to do so at this time. I do have to say that spiritual warfare is very real and the enemy's attacks don't necessarily take the form that you think...you have to be on guard at all times as it says in

1 Peter 5:5b-9

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

One of the things that I learned this week is that proud people don't laugh because they are so serious...so, in the spirit of humility and all "unseriousness", I thought I would post a list of the items in my bathroom right now. Maybe you have some of the same items in your bathroom...if so, let us have a good laugh and then write me about what you have in your bathroom. So, here it goes beginning with the right side of the door:

- A silver, three-shelved rack with 2 hand towels, a cosmetic bag, a roll of trash bags and 3 bottles of conditioner

- A towel bar with 1 blue towel hanging on it

- A chrome-plated shower caddy with 3 bottles of shampoo, 1 bottle of conditioner, 3 bottles of body wash, 1 razor, 2 mesh loofas (1 blue, 1 pink) and a squeegee

- An adjustable shower head with an attached soap tray containing 1 bottle of shampoo and 1 bottle of body wash

- A blue non-slip shower mat

- A white shower curtain with 4 blue weights attached to the bottom to help prevent it from sucking in on you while showering

- A can of shaving gel,

- A large, white, ceramic, IKEA cup holding a toothbrush and a razor

- A tube of toothpaste

- Large toenail clippers

- A bottle of alcohol-free mouthwash

- Extra razor blades

- Dental floss

- Orthodontic container (with or without tooth?)

- Can of "Lemon Fresh" deodorizing spray

- A very comfortable toilet (as I am sitting on it now...lid down... because it would be gross to blog while going to the bathroom)

- 2 blue bath mats

-1 roll of semi-soft toilet paper (the truly soft toilet paper costs about 3 euro a roll)

- 1 box of fresh wipes (like I said earlier, the toilet paper is only semi-soft)

-1 bottle of coconut and milk hand soap (held in reserve)

- 1 large, red tea light candle holder

- Pine box containing secret items

- Jar of urban:tribe freaky hair wax

- Box of generic q-tips

- 1 nase dusche (the German's answer to a netty pot)

- Another can of shaving cream

- A bottle of nail polish remover

- 1 stick of Dove Ultimate Clear cucumber and green tea extract anti-anti-perspirant/deodorant

- Another large, white, ceramic IKEA cup holding a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste

- A suction cup hook with one tan hand towel

- A box of "morning grump pills" with smileastics (given to us by our friend Tamas to help us be more cheerful in the morning prior to a cup of coffee and time in God's Word)

- A sink with a bottle of Bath and Body Works Mano-Mandarian hand soap

- Another box of dental floss

- Another stick of Dove Invisible Dry roll-on anti-anti-perspirant/deodorant

- A bottle of Nivea Visage make-up remover

- A tube of facial cleanser

- Yet another tube of toothpaste

- An electric toothbrush

AND FINALLY....

- A night light

Thank you very much, and have a nice day.

There's A Stirring

2008-01-15T15:01:00.000-06:00

The Spirit of the Lord is moving in the hearts of the German people! We kicked off our first prayer meeting tonight and there was a great turn out. Unfortunately, I had an appointment with a girl in my WG, so I wasn't able to attend, but I heard good things. I am pumped about next week!

God is so faithful to move in us when we surrender our lives and plans to Him! I just finished up the book of Matthew today and will begin Mark tomorrow. It is astonishing the things that I have learned in just one week. Something that really stood out to me this week as I read through Matthew was how faithful Immanuel is to be with us always. This is something that I have really needed.

I really miss my brothers and sisters in Christ from back home in Texas. I miss being held. One thing that I crave and don't get here like I did in my community in Austin and Fort Worth are the hugs and closeness that I shared with my friends and family. I never realized how much I needed it until it wasn't there anymore.

So, when I read this week in Matthew 1:23, I was encouraged:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

Going on further, in Matthew 4:12-17, Jesus started his ministry in the city of Capernaum, which is by the lake in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-2:

"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."

The land of the shadow of death...

Psalm 23:4 reads:

"Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me."

Finally, Jesus ends his ministry on earth with his statement in Matthew 28:20b

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus has been the comfort that I have needed this week. I have felt his presence in a variety of ways. Even though I haven't received the physical touch that I miss so greatly from home, I have felt the spiritual comfort that comes from being deeply loved by One who laid down his life for me. It has sustained me this week...

He has put a new song in my mouth...

Psalm 18:30

"As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him."

There is this worship song that we sing here entitled, "Jesus, Du Liebst Mich" and it has been on my heart for many days. I find myself singing or humming it as I go along throughout the day. I will close with this and thank Immanuel for His great love for me...he will never leave me.

Jesus, du liebst mich
Mehr brauch ich nicht

O Herr, deine liebe
Ist unermesslich gross
Egal, wer zu dir kommt
Jede findet schutz bei dir

Loose translation:

Jesus, you love me
You are all I need

O Lord, Your love
Is immeasurably great
And anyone who comes to You
Finds refuge in You

Not Rocking As Hard As I Thought...

2008-01-12T16:33:00.000-06:00

Apparently, to update a blog, you have to write one. I have made the mistake of letting it slide so far this year. I mean, it's already the 12th and...well, excuses could fly, but I'll not publish them.

We have really been hitting it hard as a team lately. We have been meeting several times a week, seeking God for wisdom and direction...planning for the New Year. It has been equally difficult and rewarding. This week, we began a plan to read through the New Testament in 4 months. To do this, we need to read about 3 chapters a day. We are also taking study notes, so that by the end of this time, we will have an outline that will help us with Bible-based discipleship.

I have really enjoyed my journey so far through the book of Matthew. I should finish it by Monday and move onto Mark. I have noticed a few things since starting this study that I would like to spend a little more time delving into over the next few weeks...one being that in Matthew, there is an account of Jesus delivering the demon-possessed men (two of them) by casting the spirits into a herd of pigs; but in Mark, the same story is told only referencing one man. I remembered the account in Mark more accurately than that in Matthew.

Last night, we had "The Gathering" again and there were a couple of new visitors. We discussed the topic of trust and then asked people to write down suggestions of things they would like to discuss in the future. We had one suggestion and it was on relationships with people of other faiths than your own (especially when each religion claims to be the "right" one). I think it will be a great topic to discuss. Please pray for us as we prepare this week for the topic...and if you have any suggestions for a good, inexpensive meal that can be prepared for 12 people (besides chili and taco soup) I'd love to hear them. I've made taco soup about 3 times now. Not that it is bad or anything, because my cooking rocks...I'd just like some variety. So, send your recipe ideas!

I'll close with a really funny poster that we saw last week in a German student ministry magazine. I made one that looks similar to the advertisement in the magazine.

Happy New Year! (Rocking Hard in 2008)

2008-01-01T04:31:00.000-06:00

This time last year, I was starting my first day at the Passion Conference in Atlanta. I had the opportunity to pray in the New Year with my sweet roommate, Jennifer Rigsby. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful week. It was this week, one year ago, that God woke me from my sleep and said, "Michael Ann, when can we expect you?". It began a chain of events that lead me here to Germany to do what God has called me to do.

Last night, we had a New Year's Eve party at our team leader's home. The Leiningers really know how to throw a party. We had so much fun...played and was beaten by a 10 year old in Wii Tennis; had some killer snacks; prayed in the New Year together; then shot off some amazing fireworks. I've attached several photos from last night.

With Kerstin...a girl in our church who also has a heart for missions

We gather together to pray in the New Year

We enjoy some fireworks

This morning, as I was coming home from returning their car that we borrowed, I saw a curious sight. A marching band (check out the link for a video) all dressed up in fancy garb marching through the streets. I got off the bus at the train station and followed them for a while. Then something amazing happened! Another band showed up! (and then another....and another....and another) IT WAS SO MUCH COOLER THAN THE MUSIC MAN!

I took several pictures and thought about how cool it was to usher the New Year in with a marching band! I felt like I was blessed by God today by it. I will spend the rest of the day reading and maybe doing a little crocheting...but nothing will beat those bands...OH MY...UNLESS JESUS COMES BACK!!!

Now, that would ROCK!

Snowy Days and Christmas Cheer

2007-12-26T19:22:00.000-06:00

Here are some photos of the past few days with my teammates and other friends as well as Christmas Day! Love you all!

In the coming New Year, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Michael Ann

Jen, Rick and I at the Christmas Market in Frankfurt

Jen and I on the U-Bahn in Frankfurt

Also the three of us out in the snow today...

Rick and his snow angel

The best Christmas presents ever!

Putting together food and clothing sacks for the homeless

Rick and I in the city and down by the Rhein on the first day of snow.

A photo montage of Rick's more fashionable moments this week:

Join Me in Praying for Our Philip Again

2007-12-22T03:14:00.000-06:00

We have some news in the house. Two of our roommates, Sofia and Diana, are leaving in January and we will have the opportunity to gain two new roommates. Although I will be sad to see Sofia and Diana go, I know that this can be used as an opportunity to meet our Philip. (Read the postings Praying for Philip and Philip Update)

Rick has been a real trooper over the past four months...living with four women and trying to remain a sensitive and Godly man when situations arise in the house that aren't all that fun to deal with. However, now we have two more chances at getting another guy in the apartment to help balance out the estrogen a bit.

So far, the procedure is that the rooms are listed on the internet with the phone numbers of each Sofia and Diana who will show their rooms when contacted. After the interested party views the room, then they will be introduced to Rick, Ann-Kathrin and I so we can decide if that person would fit well into our home. Then, we will introduce this person to the landlords and they will make the final offer.

Specifically, I ask that you pray that the right people are brought to us...even though we desire that it be guys, we are open to what the Lord wills in this situation. Also, I am asking that those who come will have hearts that are open to the Gospel of Christ. I ask that their lives (as well as ours) will be changed as we love then with the love Christ has given us. I ask you to pray that these two will help us in connecting with other students at the university; and finally, that we will be protected from any spiritual attacks that may come in as a result of these two. This is a dark world and many are deceived. I am ready to stand and fight against the principalities and powers of this world with the strength that I receive from dwelling in Christ daily, however, I would really not like my home, where I retreat to and spend time with Jesus be a place of strife.

I am so excited to see what God has for me in the coming 8 months! I can't believe that I am already 1/3 of the way through this stint. It has gone by so quickly! Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement!

xo,
ma

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2007-12-18T15:23:00.000-06:00

It has been cold here for the past few days! I'm trying to get used to dressing in layers so I can stay warm. There are, however, only so many layers a person can put on before they get too stiff and bulky to move. Yesterday, I looked like Joey when he wore all of Chandler's clothes on Friends

I have broken every fashion rule that can be broken (as if I was a fashionista before coming here...), however, I have learned that staying warm is more important than looking good. If you can look good and stay warm at the same time, more power to ya, but warm trumps fashionable in my book any day.

So, in this blog, I thought I would ask people who have lived in cold climates to respond with some good ideas in keeping warm on those bitter cold days (without wearing all the clothes in my wardrobe.) Share away, share away and send me pictures as well if you have them!

Warm Fuzzies and Warm Thoughts,
Michael Ann

This Is What We're Here For

2007-12-13T01:13:00.000-06:00

Last night, there was a Weinacht's party on the 5th floor our our building. Several people from each floor showed up and we had gluhwein (a hot, spiced, red wine) and snacks. Rick has been sick for the past couple of days and I know that he really didn't feel well enough to go, but he did and God was faithful!

He was able to get into a good conversation with a young man who lives in the apartment above us. They have been "bumping into one another" for the past couple of weeks, and last night was the night that they really got to sit down and talk. (I'm sure he will write more about the experience later better than I could...) So, please pray for this young man that we may have opportunity for more conversations with him in the future. He has come down to English Cafe' a couple of times, and last night's conversation opened the door for many more like it in the future.

I was able to share my testimony with a young man who lives on the 4th floor. He just moved in last week and shares the same apartment with our friend, Michel. He is studying Eastern European cultures, and we were able to have a really cool conversation about Ukraine. Please pray for this young man as well, that his eyes would be opened to the truth of Christ.

"This is what we're here for!", I said to Rick as we were shopping for dinner before the party. I am so thankful for the opportunities like this where we are welcomed into peoples homes and we have the chance to share the Gospel of Christ with them.

Spoken Groove Review

2007-12-12T02:09:00.000-06:00

So, better late than never...I'm posting several of the drafts that I started and never finished because I didn't have the photos or got distracted...so this is from last month. Enjoy!

Peter Nevland and Paul Finley (Spoken Groove) performed last night for our English Cafe outreach. I was so excited to have them here...believing that the Lord would move greatly in the hearts of those who came to see the show.

We had some really great guests there...here are just a couple stories:

One of our WG housemates, came in and picked up one of our Jesus booklets, asking if she could have it. Rick was able to have a good conversation with her afterwards. I pray that she reads the book and is able to hear the Spirit calling her name to come to the Lord. She is an interesting girl...a member of a "couch surfing" club. This is a club where students/travelers can stay on a stranger's sofa overnight while traveling throughout Europe (or wherever other "couch surfing" club members live). Two weeks ago, she brought a guest who was staying on her couch to English Cafe. I believe that God can use any means to expose people to the Gospel of Christ...how funny that someone would have a seed planted in their lives because they were couch surfing through Mainz and a girl brings them with her to the English Cafe.

One of our English Cafe regulars who loves to play the guitar, sat in the front row and grinned the entire time...fully entertained. When we were promoting the event, I took him over to my apartment to show him Paul's [Youtube] video. He said that he loves Paul's style of playing and would definitely be there. While playing, Paul took the opportunity to share an amazing testimony about the Holy Spirit. After the concert, Paul prayed for this young man. That was so great. Not only did they come to perform, they spent time praying for the guests as well.

There was a guest there who is Muslim. He came at the invitation of another English Cafe regular. Earlier in the week, she was talking with Rick about this friend and how to share Christ with him. Rick recommended Kevin Greeson's book "The Camel Method" that I had brought with me. We are hoping that he will begin to hang out with us at The Gathering. There is another young man who has a Muslim background and has been coming pretty regularly.

I am so pumped about the opportunity to minister to Muslims here in Germany! So many students with a Muslim background attend the university and many we come in contact with, like one of our roommates, are more cultural than religious Muslims.

God really blessed this time! Check out some of the pictures below...

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

2007-12-11T02:07:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. That is the result of two things, or maybe a hundred things...two being that I have been crazy busy and somewhat unsure how to put all of these experiences into words that others would be interested in reading. I'll give you a quick rundown of the past two weeks and throw in some pictures as well.

Thanksgiving
Since my last post, we had an amazing team Thanksgiving in Wiesbaden with the Antioch team there. It was hosted by their team leaders, Bill and Rachel Gorman. The Gormans have six beautiful children and the Leiningers have three, and the Robinsons have two...so, it was kid central. One of the sweetest things that happened was when we were handing plates out to all the children, the Robinson's oldest daughter, Mya, tugs on my shirt and I look down at her. "I didn't get a plate." she says in her cutest three-year-old voice. (Her mother happened to have her plate, but she was so cute, I was ready to do what I needed to do to find her a plate!)

Bowling
After Thanksgiving, we had an English Cafe' social event where we went bowling in Wiesbaden. We had about 11 people come and it was a great time. We had leisure and speed bowling...a few pinched thumbs...great bowling "nick-names", fantastic shoes and a lot of laughs. We rented the lanes by the hour, and about the time that Jen Robbins was about to have her "all time high score", the dude shut down our lane. Then we all headed to the gaming room where we shot a little pool, played air hockey and, of course, kicker. Rick and I played pool against a couple of guys named Sebastian and Jasper. It was so much fun because just about the time we were going to win, Jasper would change the rules on us. Jasper is a cool dude who is a freshman at Gutenberg University. He spent the last 7 years in Massachusetts because his father worked for a German company that had a plant there. He speaks great English. All night, he kept referring to Rick as "The Dude" and quoting lines from The Big Lebowski.

The best part about the trip was that in Wiesbaden, they have already passed the "no smoking in public places" law and we were able to leave smelling more like pure sweat instead of sweat and smoke. The law doesn't go into effect here in Mainz until the day after "Fastnacht" which is their "Fat Tuesday". I long for that day! C'mon! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked around in the fiery furnace and when the came out, their clothes didn't even smell of smoke...why is it that I can't go to a coffee shop, restaurant, bowling alley, hardware store, movie theater, etc. and not come out smelling like smoke?

On Our Own
The following week, our team leader, Pete, was gone on a week-long mens retreat in Dubai. That put our team in a bit of a scramble as we delegated jobs and got prepared for our Christmas Party. I really missed Pete while he was gone...it is obvious how much of a driving force he is for our team.

The Gathering
A few weeks ago, Rick and I started hanging out with a few students on Friday nights in the clubhouse. We just made dinner, then visited and played guitar, a little kicker. Rick suggested that I play the song I wrote after our training and one of the students was so fascinated by it that he begged me to teach it to him. This is great because he is not a believer, and it is our desire that by hanging out and sharing the love of Christ with him, that he will come to know Jesus personally.

Our desire it for these times to eventually develop into a non-believer Bible study where those who are curious about the gospel or Christian faith can come and ask honest questions and allow us to share our personal lives and testimonies with them...living life on life

I write the meeting down in my planner with the title "The Gathering". Rick and I have been tossing around different ideas as to what to call the meeting. We want it to be relevant to what we believe God is calling us to do in these meetings. As I was thinking about the term "gathering", I thought about how it has more than one meaning. Three ideas came to me in regards to the definition and what we want to see:

1. A place where people meet
We would like to create an environment where people feel like they have community and connections can be made with others
2. A slow and steady increase over time
We would like to see this ministry grow and multiply as students begin to tell others and bring their friends
3. A harvest
We want to be faithful to bring in the harvest...as John 4 states, "I tell you, open your eyes and look to the fields...they are ripe for harvest! I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

We have had a couple of vision meetings and some discussions with other believers as to what we would like this to look like, so please pray for us as we seek the Lord's will for this meeting.

Imola
Our friend and sister in Christ, Imola had knee surgery last week. This is a praise because she had struggled for over a month to get the insurance company to agree to cover the cost of her surgery. She has been in a lot of pain for a long time and now it looks like she is on the road to recovery. Rick and I went over to see her and spend an evening with her so Magdy could go to work. We brought pizza (which Imola plowed through because she hadn't eaten all day!) and then we watched the webcast of Perry Noble's first message for the series "Stripped". We look forward to Imola's full recovery very soon!

Christmas Party
Our Christmas party was a great success! There are many people to thank for pulling off such a great party. We had some mad hot snacks thanks to Jen Leininger coming through with an unbelievable spread. The decorations were beautiful thanks to Jen Robbins (I don't think I have ever seen a nicer tree.) The stage was finished and ready to go thanks to Rick and Rudy. Carrie pulled off a world-class cooking decorating table; and Jan and Pete put Bing Crosby to shame with their rendition of "Santa Clause is Coming to Town". Pete presented the Christmas Story in a unique way as he presented a passage from the book of Isaiah that prophesied the coming of Christ and ended it with the priestly blessing from Numbers 6.

Following the singing and Christmas Story, we had a gift exchange where we all stood in a circle and passed the gifts around as Pete read a special story. It was lots of fun and I ended up with an extra-special gift that just so happened to have been purchased by my favorite roomie and teammate, Rick. Petra Daugette received my gift and so we had our pictures taken together in celebration.

Kelly Allen came and visited with us. She was originally going to be part of our team, however the Lord had other plans for her. She is now living in Wiesbaden, helping out her family while her brother is in Iraq. It is good to know that the Lord still has a plan and a purpose for her here in Germany, even if it wasn't with our team in Mainz.

Here's a picture of the three Hungarian girls: Magdy, Imola and Gloria. All three are so much fun to spend time with. Imola was feeling better by the Christmas party and was able to come out and spend time with us.

Baptism Service
We have been believing God for at least two baptisms by the end of this year and it has happened! After the Alpha Course's Holy Spirit Weekend Retreat, four people in our church said they wanted to follow the Lord in baptism! Imola was one of the four and her knee surgery has postponed her baptism, however we did have two after all this Sunday...Kristina and Tamas. This was a very big step for each of them due to various reasons. They are both stable and strong members of our body and it was great to see them take this next commitment in their walk with Christ! Each of them took a few minutes to share with the church about how they have trusted Christ and their journey to baptism. Pete then had us rejoice with them and then we prayed over them as a church. It was an amazing service and a great ending to our week! Congratulations Kristina and Tamas! Yeay God!

Two Final Shouts...
I want to give a shout out to my friends Chelsea and Shannon, my mom and my community group for sending me encouragement packages over the past few weeks! It has helped us in outreach by providing us with some great supplies to make tasty treats for English Cafe' and other Gatherings. Check out this link to see me opening one of the boxes I received:

Michael Ann's Gift Box

Also, Shannon sent me a link to "Elf Yourself" and I decided to elf Jen, Rick and I...so check us out below:

We Got Elfed!

So, I guess that gets you caught up with the past couple of weeks. I would also like to share that as a result of both the Thanksgiving and Christmas outreach parties we have thrown in the last month, we have had several inquiries about our church and people interested in knowing more about Jesus! That is why we have these activities and it is a joy to see the harvest swaying in the wind just ready to be brought in! Thank you for your prayers and continue to pray with us that the Lord of the Harvest will send workers to help us in the fields!

xo,
ma

Here Comes the Sun

2007-11-25T04:24:00.000-06:00

Living in Europe is awesome! There are so many cool things (culturally, spiritually, emotionally, physically) that I have experienced since I have been here. However, one of my top two complaints...second only to the crap dollar to euro exchange rate, is that it is so often overcast and we rarely see the sun.

Coming from beautiful, sunville, Austin, Texas where 90+% of the days are filled with life-giving sunlight...it has been very difficult not to have the sun. It has been raining here for over a week and when it isn't raining, it looks like it is about to. I have begun to experience a new level of white-ness, which has moved from a mere glow in the dark to glare in the dark. I even considered finding a solarium (which I think they have at my gym) where I could lay under some "fake" sunlight. I am pretty good at pushing through with a positive attitude, however the days have been terribly dark and I was reaching my limit.

Enter Saturday morning, 9:30am...

I am heading to the gym to workout and when I get out from behind the downtown buildings near the train station, I see the most glorious sight I have seen in a long, long, time.

THE SUN!!!

I stood on the bridge that crosses over the tracks and turned around to face the sun. I leaned against the railing, closed my eyes and lifted my face to the heavens. It felt so good to have the sun shining on my face.

After about 5 minutes, I made my way onto the gym, but when I got there, I couldn't make myself go inside and workout. I knew I needed to workout, but it was second to spending time in the sun. There is a residence facility on top of the gym I workout at and there is a large terrace that was getting some prime sunlight. I found an open door and made my way upstairs. I walked out onto the terrace and sat on a bench and began to read a book that Rick lent to me called "Humility" by Andrew Murray. (Just a little plug for this book...if you haven't read it yet, you need to get yourself a copy. This is a must read for every Christian.)

After about half an hour, I decided to head in because it was pretty cold outside (our days are running around 40 degrees in the midday). There was a slight problem with leaving...since I basically "wandered" onto the terrace, I didn't pay attention to the fact that the door locks behind you...AND since I was not a resident, I didn't have a key to open the door and "let myself out". I wondered how long I would be trapped on the terrace, if there was a way of escape, and how I was going to contact someone to let me out.

I felt like the Lord gave me peace in the situation to remain a while longer, so I put in my headphones and began to spend some time in praise and worship. I downloaded CeCe Winans' song "King of Kings (He's a Wonder)" onto my mp3 player a couple of weeks ago and hadn't been able to find it. I searched and searched for it and figured that it was lost somewhere in there kind of like socks get lost in the dryer...and I figured it would eventually show up. Well, right there on the terrace of the Gutenberg Residence in Mainz, Jesus and CeCe Winans showed up with me.

I had the most awesome time of praise and worship...standing in the sun...no one around (or so I thought). Now, more than just blessing me with sunlight, He was blessing me with Himself and I was truly being filled up.

Psalm 103

A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

I don't know if it was my singing that alerted him to my presence or that he was just on his regular rounds, but the janitor for the building showed up and propped the door open. He didn't say anything to me, just propped the door open and left. I made my way back downstairs and worked out at the gym, then headed towards home.

It was something I took for granted back home...sunlight...but God used it to bless me beyond measure. I long for the day when we no longer have to walk in this dark and overcast world...the day when my Groom returns for me and we will worship before the Throne of God and in the True Light of His Son.

Revelation 7:9-12

Re-UP!

2007-11-21T18:07:00.000-06:00

Okay...so I was looking through my blog tonight and thought that I should re-post one of my previous posts with a little bit of an update. Things have been going well here and I am learning so much from this church-planting experience. I never imagined what would come of the week of training that I spent in Clifton, just outside of Waco. Below is the re-post of the night we spent with Heather Mercer and following it is the song that the Lord gave me after hearing her testimony. Enjoy...

xo,
ma

Came To My Rescue

So, its 9:30pm and I’m sitting in the meeting room of Three Mountain Retreat. We had just had an amazing hayride around the entire camp, and I was ready to go to bed. The leaders of our training session hosted a cookout tonight and several friends/missionaries came out to celebrate with us. I’m hot and tired…really ready to go to bed when the moment of a lifetime presents itself.

Heather Mercer, missionary and former Afghani prisoner is going to share with us [first hand] her story of her capture and release. This was amazing! Heather is one of my great heroes of the faith outside of William Carey, Hudson Taylor and Elisabeth Elliot. She has been here, hanging out with us and helping guide us through the staff training that has made some of the most incredible impact in my walk with Christ that I have ever experienced. So, she begins to tell her story and we are completely intrigued. It has adventure, tears, miracles, gross outs, cheers, worship and most of all hallelujahs shouted out in praise to the glory of God our Father.

How He rescued her from her captors is nothing short of an episode of 24. The story of her capture and release didn’t just end with her freedom, it continued on with an amazing message about forgiveness and redemption. One of her former captors, was able to escape Afghanistan and come to the U.S. to attend school. Heather connected him with a community of other refugees and he is now attending a Christian university, where he is experiencing the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ on a regular basis.

This has been an experience that I could never have planned for myself. The Lord did an excellent job in preparing the teachers and lessons that would be presented to erupt change in the hardest of hearts. I am glad to be able to be used as an instrument of blessing to the nations…and this is a great springboard from which I can dive off and go deep.

Song of Rescue

In a world that doesn't know Your Name

Struggling to find their way

You have called me by Your might

To take Your Light

I will bow before Your throne

Give glory to Your Name alone

Remember Your promise to me

For it's my only hope

I trust in You alone

I need Your touch, I need Your rain

I need Your everlasting promise

Revive my heart again

I need Your voice, I need Your peace

I need to know that You will come and rescue me

Who have I in heaven but You

And by Your right hand You'll see me through

My flesh and my heart may fail

But You are my strength

You will prevail

I need Your touch, I need Your rain

I need Your everlasting promise

Revive my heart again

I need Your voice, I need Your peace

I need to know that You will come and rescue me

When darkness surrounds me like a flood

And peace seems like it's nowhere to be found

When digging deep goes way beyond

My own ability

I need to know that You will come and rescue me

I need Your touch, I need Your rain

I need Your everlasting promise

Revive my heart again

I need Your voice, I need Your peace

I need to know that You will come and rescue me

Testing and DHL

2007-11-21T05:30:00.000-06:00

"This smells of a test."

My teammate, Rick, makes this statement as I am standing in the kitchen, tears streaming down my face in frustration. I love him even more when he does this...nothing like good encouragement when you need it most.

I have been in a battle with DHL for a week trying to receive a package my mother sent to me containing my debit card. My current card expires at the end of this month and without it, I am unable to draw money from my U.S. account to place in my German bank account so I can take care of living expenses. Granted, I have enough in my German account to sustain me for the next two-ish months, however, I am a planner and I like to be prepared.

The first time they attempted to deliver, they didn't have the street address on the printing label. (I made a 7 euro phone call to the customer service office and got the address issue fixed...OR SO I THOUGHT!)

The second time they attempted to deliver, they had the WRONG street address. (I made another 7 euro phone call to the customer service office and corrected the street address...they had 45a instead of 49a. They said, "Nobody lives at 45a...it is a restaurant and they didn't know you.") This I don't understand because when I gave them the address, I gave it to them in English AND German. Forty-Five (fünf und veirzig) does not sound like Forty-Nine (neun und vierzig) in English or German.

The third time they attempted to deliver, they said that they rang the bell, but nobody was home. I find this ironic since in the 4 hours that I was home, I answered the door, signed and received packages for my roommates TWICE!!! (When I made my third phone call to customer service, my cell phone ran out of money and cut off in the middle of the conversation...)

Which brings me to where I was standing in the kitchen in tears.

"This smells of a test", Rick says, "and what do we do when testing comes?"

"We trust Jesus...and maybe cry a little bit.", I reply.

So, here I am...trusting Jesus to provide for my every need and committing not to worry about tomorrow. I am thankful for everything He has given me and know that there is nothing that can separate us from His love...not even DHL

James 1:2-4

Side note: If you want to send me a care package...please use the U.S. Postal Service. I received 2 packages from my community group in Austin (thank you friends!) and the delivery driver just dropped the boxes off with people in my building and they signed for them. No big deal.

Buns of Steel?

2007-11-11T14:24:00.001-06:00

So I put on a pair of jeans this week that I haven't worn in a while and notice that they are longer than I remember. They are breaking on top of my feet in the front and dragging under my heels in the back. This is disturbing to me because it has been raining quite a bit this week and I don't like the feeling of wet pant cuffs.

At first, I think that I'm getting shorter or something...they fit the same in the waist and I don't really understand how my pants can get longer...then it hits me...MY BUTT IS GETTING SMALLER!!!! I reach behind me and pull my pants out in the rump, as if I was filling out my pants like I used to, and guess what?! The length goes back to where they're supposed to be! Apparently, my backside is not as large as it was when I arrived in Germany.

All the walking I have been doing here has done some reshaping of my tuckus. I know I have lost about 6 kilos so far (which is just a little over 13 lbs.) but I didn't think that there really has been much of a change. I guess I was wrong.

Whew! This is definitely something that I don't mind being wrong about.

Unfortunately, I won't be posting any before and after photos for those of you who may be interested. [In case you were counting...I made five references to my rear (no, make that six) in this post.]

Two Month Anniversary

2007-11-05T01:05:00.000-06:00

Today is my official second month in the beautiful country of Deutschland. I am far more assimilated than I thought I would be at this time. My language skills are getting better...I'm taking more risks. We had a travel team from Antioch come and visit our team this past weekend and it was good to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with each of them.

This Thursday, Peter Nevland and Paul Finley [Spoken Groove] will be coming to Mainz to perform for us. This is one of our outreach opportunities and I pray that many students show up. Please pray along with us that this performance will open up avenues of conversation so we can minister the love of Christ to the students in this city. Also, pray for Peter and Paul as they travel here. I will meet them at the airport on Thursday and bring them back to Mainz.

Below is a picture of the flyer I designed for the event.

The Cookie Is Back!

2007-11-03T09:07:00.000-05:00

Whoo!

I'd like to start by thanking Jesus for Butter Flavored Crisco and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. I'd also like to thank Wes Martin for allowing us to visit the commissary at Ramstein Air Force Base and the beautiful woman that I met while standing in line who recommended purchasing the oven thermometer. Finally, thank you to my mother for teaching me how to bake and to my father for eating all my mistakes.

Today, I made my World Famous Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies. They turned out PERFECT!

This does great things for my self-esteem. I was really feeling like I was a fish out of water not being able to bake like I did in the U.S. However, yesterday, things turned around.

Rick has a friend and supporter from his home church in South Carolina, whose son, Wes, is in the Air Force. He was in town yesterday and invited us to come visit and make a trip to the commissary. This was such a blessing to us! I was able to stock up on baking items that I really needed but cannot find on the German economy. I purchased a large, red, Rubbermaid tub to put all of the items in so I could store them in my room. Not that I mind sharing, however, the girls in my apartment wouldn't know how to use this stuff anymore than I know how to use their products. I will use the items in my red baking box to bless the girls (and Rick) with some good, homemade, baked goods.

Did I happen to say, "Whoo!"

This weekend has been really encouraging for many reasons. There is a pastoral care team from Antioch that is here ministering to our team in various ways. Yesterday, Rick and I had lunch with two of the travel team members before heading out to Ramstein. We discussed how things were going so far...how we were doing communication wise and how we felt we were doing with being assimilated into the team. It was a great time and I enjoyed the time and care Kerry and Ruthie showed us.

After lunch, we headed out to Ramstein. It isn't that far of a drive from Mainz...maybe about an hour. We met Wes and headed straight to the commissary.

This is a picture of Rick, Wes and I outside of the commissary. We were trying to find items that couldn't be found in the German supermarkets...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I felt totally insane as I walked around with my arms piled full things like baking soda, corn starch, cocoa powder, vanilla, lemon pepper, sweetened condensed milk, butter flavored crisco and the such. I'm trying to hunt down Rick with the cart and I find him loading up on cereal. They really don't have much going on in the way of cereal here...at least not many with a decent amount of nutritional value. They have these spelt squares called "Ballastoos", but that gets old after a while. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Rick.)

I was able to get some deodorant and Dr. Pepper as well and I was pretty happy. As we left, a sweet girl named Christine carried out our groceries. We talked with her for a bit and shared with her that we were missionaries. "I've never met any missionaries before!", she exclaimed excitedly. She told us of how she loved to go to church as a girl, but now her mother has stopped taking her. She attends different base chapel youth events when she can, however, she doesn't attend church. Lord, I pray for Christina and her mother, that You would move in their lives and that they would begin to seek You again as a family. Give them a hope to look to and protect them from the deception of the enemy! Thank you, Christina for your help with our groceries!

This is a picture of Christina, Rick and I after loading up the groceries. Such a beautiful girl!

After the commissary, we headed over to the base exchange and picked up a few more items. I was able to buy some mascara and hair bands. Mascara costs about 10 euro here on the economy! I have the opportunity to buy a used bicycle this week for 15 euro...tell me that there isn't something wrong with that!

Following the visit to the BX, we headed to Chili's. Yes, they have a Chili's there on the base! Crazy huh? As we were waiting for a seat, we sat at the bar and met a guy named Chris. Chris has just left Iraq and is on his way to Lakenheath, England to start a new position there. We all had an opportunity to visit with him for a while before he headed out. Lord, I ask that You would reveal Yourself to Chris in a powerful way while in England. Give him the wisdom to recognize Your hand at work in his life and draw him to Yourself. Thank you for protecting his life while in Iraq. Show him the purpose and plan You have for him!

Here is Chris, Rick and Wes at Chili's Bar and Grill on Ramstein AFB.

We left after dinner and headed home. It was an eventful day and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet some new people and share the love of Jesus with them. We had just talked about the Lord orchestrating "divine appointments" for us throughout the day as we lived our lives in His will.

God is good all the time! Thank you for your great love for us in the big and small things...for SALVATION and oatmeal-raisin cookies!

All Saint's Day

2007-11-02T00:50:00.000-05:00

Today is All Saint's Day and in our state of Rheinland-Pfalz, we have a holiday. The city is completely shut down so that people can spend time together and remember their relatives who have passed on.

However, since the state of Hessen does not share this state holiday, Frankfurt was wide open, so Rick and I went with our roommate, Safije to do some window shopping and meet her boyfriend.

We had such a good time! We were able to see many of the sights of Frankfurt (some that we really weren't looking forward to seeing...) as well as get ministered to in a surprising manner. After being in Frankfurt, I am very thankful that we live in Mainz. Mainz is a very intimate town...it feels more cozy and friendlier. There's also the issue with pornography. Of course, it is here in Mainz, however not as blatantly abundant as we saw in Frankfurt. I pray daily for myself and my teammates that the Lord would protect us from the onslaught of pornography. I guess you could think of it as the difference between Fort Worth and New York City. Although it was fun to visit, I am definitely glad that I am Fort Worth!

As we strolled along in the market, we picked up little things and played with them. Here is a picture of Safije and I wearing reindeer antlers. Below that is a photo of Rick sitting up on a giant tie sculpture.

We ended up in the main shopping zone where there were many people who were there doing the same thing we were with their "day off". As we passed a particular square, I heard a man yelling out into the crowd. Of course, anytime there is a large number of people milling about, there is some street preacher telling people that they are "going to Hell" or that they are "an abomination to the Lord". They call individuals out and identify them as "prostitutes", "witches" and "fornicators". These people, I believe, do more harm than good to The Kingdom of God.

However, as I began to listen a little more closely to what this man was saying (he was speaking in German), I took interest in his message. I began to walk toward him, then stopped just a few feet away and watched him for a while. He was pleading with the people to come to Jesus. He said, "Jesus loves you and wants to know you personally! He loves you with an everlasting love! You may say that you cannot change, but take heart! He has overcome the world! You are not too old to change! You can still become friends with God! He is powerful! He can do the work! He calls out to you women and men to be reconciled to God! His power is not to beat you...His power is love! Come to Jesus!" 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

I am standing there weeping as my heart hears the message that he is speaking to the people of Germany. Many people walk by him with their blinders on...others make comments to him, calling him "crazy" or a "nuisance". None of these could be further from the truth! He was speaking truth to this nation (truth in love with great desperation and compassion) and the ruler of this world convinced them that this man was crazy...and in their rebellion were given up to their own evil/sinful desires...and as God is a good Father, He has allowed them the free will of making that decision although it breaks His heart. Romans 1:24-32

While I was standing there listening to this man preach, Rick and Safije were standing several feet behind me. Safije was translating to Rick the words that this man was saying to the people. Safije, our roommate who we love and desire to come to Christ, was interpreting truth to Rick! She was taking in what this man said and then speaking it to Rick so he would understand. I don't think I could have asked for a better way for her to have experienced the truth of God's Word than through that exact process! God is so good! He knows just how to speak to each heart. I pray that she will treasure the things that she heard in her heart and respond to the Holy Spirit's move in her own spirit.

Rick and I went over and spoke to the man. He said that sometimes he preaches in English, but today he was preaching in German. We gave him our information in Mainz and prayed over him before we left. He said that he comes to Mainz often. We invited him to call us so that we can prepare a meal for him and minister to him.

I'd like to sum up this post with one last photo that Rick took while we were on our walking tour of the city. Frankfurt is a large banking center for Germany, so naturally, money would be quite important to those who work here...especially in that industry. So, we come upon a city square and see this HUGE euro...erected to the god of money. Matthew 6:19-24

You cannot even begin to know how much this frustrated me (and Rick for that matter). I know that God is my provider...everything comes from His hand. It is difficult for me to lay down my burdens in the area of money because every time I pay my rent, buy a bus ticket, do laundry or go to the grocery store...I feel like I get physically assaulted due to the weakness of the dollar at this time. Whenever I draw money out of the bank to place in my German bank account, I take out 400 euro...it is equivalent to $580. That is quite a bit of difference! I started to get hot when I saw that symbol and began to fret about what the rest of this year is going to look like.

That, in conjunction with the fact that I built my budget on the verbal commitments of individuals who agreed to support me and haven't been able to follow through for various reasons causes me a little anxiety at times. I know that this is God's territory...He is my provider and I need to rest in His hands for all of my needs, but sometimes the anxiety comes. Philippians 4:6-9

Please lift me up in prayer in this area because that is definitely not the thing I need to be concerned about while here ministering to the people of Germany. Also, if the Lord lays it on your heart to assist in partnering with me in the work He has me here for, please reply to me personally via e-mail or by posting a comment here and I will get back to you directly with the forms you need to donate. All gifts are tax deductible if they go through AMI...my support number is #546. If you are a monthly supporter or have partnered with me through a one-time gift, thank you again for your gifts and faithfulness. You are a big encouragement to me and I thank God for you every day. Please feel free to let me know if there is anything I can pray about for you as well. I do not want to be completely absent from the body of believers God has surrounded me with just because there are a few thousand miles and large bodies of water between us!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

I Say It's My Birthday...

2007-10-28T02:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Michael Ann! I had the most wonderful birthday party tonight here in Germany with my new friends. It didn't even seem as if I was away from home. We had snacks and drinks in the early evening, then we watched the movie "The Gospel". I love the movie because it has some really amazing gospel music in it, but it is also a great story about the prodigal son. This makes it a great outreach video. We had a few folks who came who are not believers, so it was great.

It is almost 1 am here and the clock will "fall back" in another hour, so I'm getting ready for bed. Technically, today is my birthday even though I haven't had a sleep and wake up yet. In the morning when I officially get up, a few of us will head out to brunch around 10 am to celebrate. I really look forward to what the Lord has for me in the coming year and I know that it will be a sweet time with my new friends here in Germany.

Thank you to everyone for your great gifts and birthday wishes. You made turning 29 extra special this year!

Thank You, Mr. Al Gore

2007-10-16T14:08:00.001-05:00

We now have the "World Wide Inter-web" in our apartment! I cannot express in words how excited I am, so I won't. Just know that technology ROCKS!!!

Boundaries

2007-10-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

Boundaries are pretty significant things. Nations have gone to war over them and people have been killed trying to cross them. Individuals are constantly trying to push them in our personal lives and depending on how we were raised or how much we want to have people "like" us or what we are dealing with personally at the time, our response to the pushing can change.

We have a boundary pusher in our home and things are getting sketchy around the house. I have been pretty lax lately in the area of boundaries. In my attempt to assimilate into the culture and trying to live in harmony with everyone, I have just tried to go with the flow, be flexible, not offend...however, I will have to start adjusting my strategy soon.

Actually, I was thinking of how we truly should deal with this situation according to the scriptures and with Rick and I both being the only Christians in our apartment, we have a responsibility to step it up and make sure things are right. Where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst. Since the others are not believers, the following does not apply to them, but it does apply to Rick and I and we need to be living examples of the Word of God in everything we do.

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:25-32 (NASB)

Please pray for Rick and I as we deal with boundary issues. Pray that our hearts and minds are in line with the Holy Spirit and that He will guard our mouths as we stand firm on issues that need to be stood firm on...and give grace and compassion in areas where grace and compassion need to be given.

Finally, this week we are hitting the campus for the first time for freshman orientation week. All of the "Ersties" will be picking up information for their classes and attending orientation meetings. We will be serving coffee and handing out information for the English Cafe'. Please lift us up in prayer as we are looking forward to building new relationships for the upcoming semester.