I'm titling this blog entry to correspond with the book we are studying in our housegroup through the 40 days of Lent. Most people in the group have done the study in the past and I think I read the book about 10 years ago but for some reason I'm getting so much more out of it doing it with a group of folks that are committed to reading it and committed to encouraging eachother through a Facebook discussion group. I'll summarize what we've read so far in terms of what it's meant to me and what God is teaching me through it.
When we first arrived in Germany I felt so on fire for God and excited about our ministry here. I was having my quiet time every day, praying for our supporters every day and memorizing German scripture verses. I had committed to not getting on my computer until I had my quiet time each day whether I "felt" like it or not. Some days it was really hard to hear from God and sometimes I felt so incredibly close to Him but I noticed that those days where I took the time and made the effort I had a lot of peace, joy and I felt really on fire for God.
Then we started school and we were getting up reallllllly early and rushing around trying to get everything done and so my quiet times started to fall until after we got home but then when we got home we were hungry and tired and just wanted to relax and so several days I missed my quiet time all together. I would still pray and talk to God but the more days that went by where God wasn't first in my day the more down, unpeaceful and discouraged I became.
Then came this study. We made a commitment to do the study with our housegroup and Alan and I started three days early and then re-did those three days with the rest of the group. As I allowed Gods word and the truths in this book sink into my heart I again began to feel hope and peace and much less discouraged. It's been twelve days now and I haven't missed a day studying the chapter, reading Gods word and praying He will reveal himself to me more and more each day. For a while there when I wasn't sticking close to God the devil and my flesh had a hay day on my spirit and on our marriage. How silly we are to think that we are not at war each day with a very real and live enemy bent on destroying us. How forgetful we become that our flesh is still at work to pull us away from God and toward the world.
The things so far that have really stood out to me in the book are:
Ch 2: You are not an accident - "If there was no God, we would all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe... your life would have no purpose or meaning or significance. There would be no right or wrong, and no hope beyond your brief years here on earth. But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point in our lives."
Ch 3: What drives your life? I felt convicted that at times I have been driven by guilt, resentment or anger and by fear. I no longer feel driven by material things and while I appreciate and need others approval it's not a driving force in my life. I want a focused life. Focused like light through a laser beam - able to cut through metal. I want a life focused on Christ and his purpose for my life. Am I there yet? No but I do believe in the past several years that when the big choices and big decisions have come up I have passed the test. It's the little stuff that seems to trip me up. Life here on this earth is truly a test. I love how Warren puts it though when he says we will have a final exam before we enter eternity but because God wants us to pass this test he has given us the two questions in advance. The first is "What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?" It's not about your religious background or doctinal views - it's about whether or not you accepted what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him. This first question determines where we will spend eternity. The second question will be "What did you do with what I gave you?" What did you do with the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships and resources God gave you? This second question determines what you do in eternity - what God will put you in charge of, what rewards you will receive and eternity is a LONG time! Why we focus so much on the here and now when we have eternity to look forward to is a really good question.
Ch 4: Made to Last Forever: "If your time on earth were all there is to your life, I would suggest you start living it up immediately. You could forget being good and ethical, and you wouldn't have to worry about any consequences of your actions. You could indulge yourself in total self-centeredness because your actions would have no long-term repercussions. But -- and this makes all the difference -- death is not the end of you! Death is not your termination, but your transition into eternity, so there are eternal consequences to everything you do on earth. Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity."
Ch 6: Life is a temporary assignment: "Repeatedly the Bible compares life on earth to temporary living in a foreign country. This is not your permanent home or final destination. You're just pssing through, just visiting earth." Just like Alan and I are foreigners in Germany and life here sometimes is really tough and lonely and frustrating, we are also foreigners on this earth and things aren't how we'd have them to be. They aren't supposed to be. This is a fallen world and it's not our home.
These are just some of the things that have really touched me so far reading this book. I am grateful for a group of believers that have struggles just like Alan and I do but that are so encouraging to us and that show us through their successes and failures, hopes and short-comings that we are not alone and that God is still a God of forgiveness and love. He takes pleasure in US! We make God smile when we live for Him - when we live to bring him glory. He is deserving of the very best we have to offer but when we screw up, he doesn't condemn us. He doesn't accuse us. He doesn't stop loving us. He helps us up, brushes us off and encourages us to try again. I love that.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Breakdowns - the theme for the week?
No I'm not just speaking of Alans and my breakdown on the autobahn last night. Officialy I've had two total breakdown/meltdowns this week that I'm not proud of. The first came Wednesday night when we were trying to get to housegroup on time. I was driving and about 10 minutes into our drive Alan realized he didn't have either his bible or his German lesson book that he was going to study on our way to housegroup. He knew he had them when he was heading out the door and thought he either put them on top of the car or on the stairs going down to the car and so we decided to turn around to find them. When we got back home his bible and book were nowhere to be found so I told him to check the apartment and sure enough he'd left them in the kitchen. No emergency after all but now we were going to be late to housegroup. Ugh - we hate being late.
So we're driving and we take this route which I hate but the satellite nav insists it's the shortest way. The reason I hate it is because it goes through the mountains and the German drivers insist on driving right up on your tail to try to intimidate you I guess. Talk about stressful! Well Wednesday night was no different and as we drove out of the mountains and we got to the bottom of the hill we found a huge line of traffic waiting for the light before you go onto the motorway. So we waited... and waited... and waited. About 20 minutes later I'm getting really frustrated because the line of traffic we are trying to turn into continue to block the intersection making it impossible for anyone coming from our direction to turn. It's too congested to be anything but a bad accident and I'm watching the clock and saying, well now they're having dinner and now they're singing and now they're praying -- all the while knowing we were still 20-25 minutes out even if traffic started moving right away. Ugh.
You see - I really, really needed to get to housegroup. I had been feeling so incredibly depressed this past week with adjusting to life here in Germany. I had experienced off and on anxiety about being a first time mom and the language learning, especially for Alan, has become another big stressor. Being around other believers and being encouraged is something we look forward to all week and it didn't look like we were going to make it or if we did, it would be for the last five minutes only... ugh.
Have you ever noticed that when you get stressed, others around you start getting stressed too and suddenly it's no longer about the German tailgaters or the terrible traffic or having to turn around to try and find something that wasn't lost to begin with but suddenly it's about you and the other person and you're taking jabs at eachother over nothingness and that makes you more stressed, etc., etc? Well this was what was happening with Alan and me. In a matter of about fifteen minutes I had gone from being upset about our circumstances and my depression over the past week to being upset with Alan. I can probably safely say that my pregnancy hormones had taken over but when I started to cry I just couldn't stop. This in turn stressed Alan out unimaginably. Needless to say we turned around and went back home. We sorted things out between us after a good prayer time and I was able to call my mom and get encouragement from her as well which I needed.
Then last night we decided we wanted to go and see the English version of The King's Speech which was playing in Mannheim. Unfortunately our car had other plans and as we were driving along the autobahn it decided to breakdown. Fortunately Alan got it over to the side of the road but German drivers on the autobahn drive so incredibly fast that we knew we couldn't stay there for long. Someone could very easily hit the car so we needed to get out and phone someone for help. As my week would have it though my phone decided to die at the exact same moment as the car and my phone has all our church friends numbers stored in it. Alan brought his phone but the only number it had in it was my mobile phone, our home phone and Cathy Thompsons phone number in Hungary. Alan thought it would be a good idea to walk down the autobahn and cross over into a field where there was a road we could walk on into the small town about a mile away but I was terrified of walking on the autobahn so I made him climb over a metal barrier and cross a big field. Unfortunately I managed to get caught on the metal barrier and my favorite maternity jeans tore from my butt to almost my knee. Insert breakdown number 2 here.
I won't go into the details but it wasn't pretty. Here I am over 6 months pregnant, walking through a plowed field trying to make it to someone who could give us the phone numbers of our friends, a tow service and a mechanic. My jeans are torn and Alan is saying how we just need to relax and trust God. At this point I didn't care about trusting God. I was mad at God. Mad at Him for calling us to Germany, mad at Him for not giving us a reliable car, mad at Him for letting my phone die, etc., etc. AND I was mad at Alan. Mad that he hadn't gotten our car fixed when it started acting up a while ago, mad that he didn't manage to help me over the barrier so I wouldn't tear my jeans, mad that he kept insisting I was going to fall in the field and so could we please walk on the road instead. Yeah breakdown number 2 wasn't pretty either.
You know the one good thing about being with someone that loves you? Truly? He'll forgive you when you're freaking out and blaming him for everything. Alan always does and God does too. For some reason that hit me in the face later because I attribute God to having so much less love for me than my human relationships and in reality those relationships don't hold a candle to how much God loves me. AND He doesn't abandon his children when they need him. Yes they might experience a breakdown, get hurt or damaged trying to get help, stumble a bit for a while through a dirty field but He's always there and all things work together for good for those that love God. All things. Not the occassional few or most things but all things. This was no exception.
For example: God provided a newstand with a sweet lady that loaned us her phonebook. We rang our pastor who gave us the number for a recovery service in addition to calling our other friends in the church and asking them to drive out to help us. He provided a sweet man in the newstand who told me where I could find a bank and then he followed me there to make sure I found it ok. God provided a recovery service that towed our car to the church where we could leave it until we figured out what to do with it. Finally he provided our friend Matt who came to meet us, picked me up from the train station where I was waiting for Alan, drove me to the church to meet Alan and then he gave us the church van as the pastor said we could use it until we got our car sorted. Provision, faithfulness, unfailing love.
Today we got to see The King's Speech and loved it. We spent a few hours before the movie enjoying Mannheim, walking Webster and eating 1/2 meter long bratwurst.
Is living here easy? No. It's really hard sometimes but is it worth it to see God working in your life and watching over you so evidently? Yes.
God willing Alan and I will be parents in 12 weeks. We'll either get our car fixed or God will provide something else. We're learning German and we're meeting some great people from around the world while we do it. Yesterday I took orchids to two of our sweet neighbors that we've met who have been very kind to us and just knew this was where God wanted us.
Will I have more breakdowns? I hope not. I hope I can become more grounded in the assurance of Gods love and faithfulness so that when these acute stress moments come I can take a deep breath, widen my vision, pray and deal with them constructively rather than destructively. It's all about Gods grace and I'm so glad for it.
So we're driving and we take this route which I hate but the satellite nav insists it's the shortest way. The reason I hate it is because it goes through the mountains and the German drivers insist on driving right up on your tail to try to intimidate you I guess. Talk about stressful! Well Wednesday night was no different and as we drove out of the mountains and we got to the bottom of the hill we found a huge line of traffic waiting for the light before you go onto the motorway. So we waited... and waited... and waited. About 20 minutes later I'm getting really frustrated because the line of traffic we are trying to turn into continue to block the intersection making it impossible for anyone coming from our direction to turn. It's too congested to be anything but a bad accident and I'm watching the clock and saying, well now they're having dinner and now they're singing and now they're praying -- all the while knowing we were still 20-25 minutes out even if traffic started moving right away. Ugh.
You see - I really, really needed to get to housegroup. I had been feeling so incredibly depressed this past week with adjusting to life here in Germany. I had experienced off and on anxiety about being a first time mom and the language learning, especially for Alan, has become another big stressor. Being around other believers and being encouraged is something we look forward to all week and it didn't look like we were going to make it or if we did, it would be for the last five minutes only... ugh.
Have you ever noticed that when you get stressed, others around you start getting stressed too and suddenly it's no longer about the German tailgaters or the terrible traffic or having to turn around to try and find something that wasn't lost to begin with but suddenly it's about you and the other person and you're taking jabs at eachother over nothingness and that makes you more stressed, etc., etc? Well this was what was happening with Alan and me. In a matter of about fifteen minutes I had gone from being upset about our circumstances and my depression over the past week to being upset with Alan. I can probably safely say that my pregnancy hormones had taken over but when I started to cry I just couldn't stop. This in turn stressed Alan out unimaginably. Needless to say we turned around and went back home. We sorted things out between us after a good prayer time and I was able to call my mom and get encouragement from her as well which I needed.
Then last night we decided we wanted to go and see the English version of The King's Speech which was playing in Mannheim. Unfortunately our car had other plans and as we were driving along the autobahn it decided to breakdown. Fortunately Alan got it over to the side of the road but German drivers on the autobahn drive so incredibly fast that we knew we couldn't stay there for long. Someone could very easily hit the car so we needed to get out and phone someone for help. As my week would have it though my phone decided to die at the exact same moment as the car and my phone has all our church friends numbers stored in it. Alan brought his phone but the only number it had in it was my mobile phone, our home phone and Cathy Thompsons phone number in Hungary. Alan thought it would be a good idea to walk down the autobahn and cross over into a field where there was a road we could walk on into the small town about a mile away but I was terrified of walking on the autobahn so I made him climb over a metal barrier and cross a big field. Unfortunately I managed to get caught on the metal barrier and my favorite maternity jeans tore from my butt to almost my knee. Insert breakdown number 2 here.
I won't go into the details but it wasn't pretty. Here I am over 6 months pregnant, walking through a plowed field trying to make it to someone who could give us the phone numbers of our friends, a tow service and a mechanic. My jeans are torn and Alan is saying how we just need to relax and trust God. At this point I didn't care about trusting God. I was mad at God. Mad at Him for calling us to Germany, mad at Him for not giving us a reliable car, mad at Him for letting my phone die, etc., etc. AND I was mad at Alan. Mad that he hadn't gotten our car fixed when it started acting up a while ago, mad that he didn't manage to help me over the barrier so I wouldn't tear my jeans, mad that he kept insisting I was going to fall in the field and so could we please walk on the road instead. Yeah breakdown number 2 wasn't pretty either.
You know the one good thing about being with someone that loves you? Truly? He'll forgive you when you're freaking out and blaming him for everything. Alan always does and God does too. For some reason that hit me in the face later because I attribute God to having so much less love for me than my human relationships and in reality those relationships don't hold a candle to how much God loves me. AND He doesn't abandon his children when they need him. Yes they might experience a breakdown, get hurt or damaged trying to get help, stumble a bit for a while through a dirty field but He's always there and all things work together for good for those that love God. All things. Not the occassional few or most things but all things. This was no exception.
For example: God provided a newstand with a sweet lady that loaned us her phonebook. We rang our pastor who gave us the number for a recovery service in addition to calling our other friends in the church and asking them to drive out to help us. He provided a sweet man in the newstand who told me where I could find a bank and then he followed me there to make sure I found it ok. God provided a recovery service that towed our car to the church where we could leave it until we figured out what to do with it. Finally he provided our friend Matt who came to meet us, picked me up from the train station where I was waiting for Alan, drove me to the church to meet Alan and then he gave us the church van as the pastor said we could use it until we got our car sorted. Provision, faithfulness, unfailing love.
Today we got to see The King's Speech and loved it. We spent a few hours before the movie enjoying Mannheim, walking Webster and eating 1/2 meter long bratwurst.
Is living here easy? No. It's really hard sometimes but is it worth it to see God working in your life and watching over you so evidently? Yes.
God willing Alan and I will be parents in 12 weeks. We'll either get our car fixed or God will provide something else. We're learning German and we're meeting some great people from around the world while we do it. Yesterday I took orchids to two of our sweet neighbors that we've met who have been very kind to us and just knew this was where God wanted us.
Will I have more breakdowns? I hope not. I hope I can become more grounded in the assurance of Gods love and faithfulness so that when these acute stress moments come I can take a deep breath, widen my vision, pray and deal with them constructively rather than destructively. It's all about Gods grace and I'm so glad for it.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
German lessons, Hungarian visitors and Garmisch
Alan und ich lernen Deutsch zusammen. Wir gehen in der Schule. Es heisst die Volkshochschule. Wir haben am Montag morgen begonnen. Es dauert von 9Uhr bis 1Uhr Montag bis Freitag. Alan ist in der erste Klasse und ich bin in die dritten Klasse. Der Lehrer und Die Lehrerin hat uns gut gefallen. Ich habe drei Lehrerin und ein Lehrer. Alan hast drei Lehrerin. Wir haben viel schon gelernt.
Auf Englisch:
Alan and I are learning German together. We go to a school that is called the Volkshochschule. We started class on Monday morning. The class is from 9am until 1pm Monday - Friday. Alan is in the beginners class and I'm in the third class. We really like the teachers (male and female). I have three female teachers and one male teacher and Alan has three female teachers. We have learned a lot already!
Last week we had our area leader (Cathy) and another missionary from Pioneers in Hungary for a visit. It was nice chatting with them and getting encouraged by them. They were also able to attend our church housegroup that night which was great. Alan and I were able to share a lot of our early anxieties and stresses that we experienced when we first moved here. It was good because we got a lot of confirmation that what we were going through was completely normal - especially given we're also expecting our first child and are so newly married.
Right now we're on a church retreat in Garmisch, Germany. It's on the border of Germany and Austria. We weren't sure we should go given we are so new to Germany but it seemed like a good opportunity to get to know members of the church better so we made the decision to go. We're staying at a hotel called the Edelweiss which is a military hotel and it's really strange because there are armed guards at the entrance and you have to show military id or be accompanied by someone in the military to get in. Apparently the US military purchased this hotel to entertain soldiers and it's very nice but the security is a bit over the top for me.
Tonight the church group is going out for an early Bavarian dinner together. I think I'll try and go with them to the ski hill tomorrow so I can watch Alan ski some. The World Alpine Ski Championship is also going on this weekend so I might be able to watch some of the mens giant slalom if we get there in time. It wouldn't be a problem but we have to leave for another hotel for one night only due to a mix up here. I'm not sure how many rooms are moving but in a way I'm glad to move away from all the security.
Unfortunately we'll have to miss school on Monday so hopefully we won't fall too far behind. We have really enjoyed getting to know the people in our classes. In my class alone there are over twelve countries represented. We have two girls from Poland, a girl and a guy from Brazil, guys from Iran, Sri Lanka and another place I can't remember and girls from Australia, Chile, Kirkistan, China, South Korea, France and India. What a great group to learn German with!
Well, I just got off skype with mom and dad and sweet Charlotte. In just a little over a week her vocabulary seems to have doubled. She is amazing but to me it's a little sad she's growing up so fast! And without me too :(. Ah well, Chloe will love growing up with her cousins and talking to them on skype. Family is great and we are truly blessed.
Auf Englisch:
Alan and I are learning German together. We go to a school that is called the Volkshochschule. We started class on Monday morning. The class is from 9am until 1pm Monday - Friday. Alan is in the beginners class and I'm in the third class. We really like the teachers (male and female). I have three female teachers and one male teacher and Alan has three female teachers. We have learned a lot already!
Last week we had our area leader (Cathy) and another missionary from Pioneers in Hungary for a visit. It was nice chatting with them and getting encouraged by them. They were also able to attend our church housegroup that night which was great. Alan and I were able to share a lot of our early anxieties and stresses that we experienced when we first moved here. It was good because we got a lot of confirmation that what we were going through was completely normal - especially given we're also expecting our first child and are so newly married.
Right now we're on a church retreat in Garmisch, Germany. It's on the border of Germany and Austria. We weren't sure we should go given we are so new to Germany but it seemed like a good opportunity to get to know members of the church better so we made the decision to go. We're staying at a hotel called the Edelweiss which is a military hotel and it's really strange because there are armed guards at the entrance and you have to show military id or be accompanied by someone in the military to get in. Apparently the US military purchased this hotel to entertain soldiers and it's very nice but the security is a bit over the top for me.
Tonight the church group is going out for an early Bavarian dinner together. I think I'll try and go with them to the ski hill tomorrow so I can watch Alan ski some. The World Alpine Ski Championship is also going on this weekend so I might be able to watch some of the mens giant slalom if we get there in time. It wouldn't be a problem but we have to leave for another hotel for one night only due to a mix up here. I'm not sure how many rooms are moving but in a way I'm glad to move away from all the security.
Unfortunately we'll have to miss school on Monday so hopefully we won't fall too far behind. We have really enjoyed getting to know the people in our classes. In my class alone there are over twelve countries represented. We have two girls from Poland, a girl and a guy from Brazil, guys from Iran, Sri Lanka and another place I can't remember and girls from Australia, Chile, Kirkistan, China, South Korea, France and India. What a great group to learn German with!
Well, I just got off skype with mom and dad and sweet Charlotte. In just a little over a week her vocabulary seems to have doubled. She is amazing but to me it's a little sad she's growing up so fast! And without me too :(. Ah well, Chloe will love growing up with her cousins and talking to them on skype. Family is great and we are truly blessed.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Waiting on the Lord
Waiting as a general rule makes me uncomfortable. I'd rather be doing anything than waiting pretty much any day of the week. Why is that? I'm not sure although I know it has something to do with the way I was raised. Both my parents are doers. So much so that they sometimes frighten me! Though I will say that they both do take time to themselves. My dad studies for the bible studies he teaches, works on wonderful wood turning pieces for family and close friends, attends twice weekly book clubs with his guys friends and works out a lot. My mom spends lots of time praying for her family, friends, church and internationals as well as reading the word, she loves painting, working out twice a week and she fields about a dozen plus phone calls a day from her three children (10 from Christine, 1 from LeeAnne and 1 from me!) They also both give themselves wholeheartedly to their grandchildren. So it's not all work although they do more work than any other retired couple I know.
As far as Alan and I go, we are waiting now. Waiting on the Lord to tell us what we should focus on and who we should talk to. We're waiting for language school to be able to communicate. We're waiting to evangelize and disciple until we can speak the language. We're waiting on health insurance to decide where we can have Chloe and we're waiting for Chloe to be born so I can stop feeling so uncomfortable and fat! :) So, why do we hate waiting? Why does God tell us specifically to wait on the Lord, to be patient, to be long-suffering? I don't know but I would love to know your thoughts on this.
Since my last post, we've managed to get everything moved down here (finally), purchased all our furniture, put it all together, unpacked and cleaned until we didn't think we could do any more and now the apartment is looking pretty good I think. I'm going to finally include some pictures here so you can see where we live an.d how things are coming together :).
Alan and Mary
As far as Alan and I go, we are waiting now. Waiting on the Lord to tell us what we should focus on and who we should talk to. We're waiting for language school to be able to communicate. We're waiting to evangelize and disciple until we can speak the language. We're waiting on health insurance to decide where we can have Chloe and we're waiting for Chloe to be born so I can stop feeling so uncomfortable and fat! :) So, why do we hate waiting? Why does God tell us specifically to wait on the Lord, to be patient, to be long-suffering? I don't know but I would love to know your thoughts on this.
Since my last post, we've managed to get everything moved down here (finally), purchased all our furniture, put it all together, unpacked and cleaned until we didn't think we could do any more and now the apartment is looking pretty good I think. I'm going to finally include some pictures here so you can see where we live an.d how things are coming together :).
This was when we first arrived. We still had the van and trailer loaned to us from a friend. We then drove them back to England, got our car and dog Webster and drove back. This is what we've accomplished since then...
This isn't all our pictures but it gives you an idea. Schönau is a beautiful place. We've taken a couple of drives just around our village and the mountains and streams that flow into the Nectar make it such a special place to live. Here are just a few pictures. I'll try to take more in the coming weeks and post some of the area around our church and Heidelberg.
This week Alan is volunteering at the church trying to help out in any way we can. I've asked if I can help with the youth group as the church doesn't have a college group (yet!) and we'll have housegroup on Wednesday night at our friends Matt and Tamara's house. Our language school starts on the 14th and hopefully we'll catch on quickly and not find it too overwhelming.
Chloe is pretty quiet during the day and decides to wake up and do summersaults at night. Her health seems good but I'm still waiting on health insurance which will ensure we can have the baby here rather than back home. We know that no matter what God is in control and that He has us in the palm of his hand. We appreciate our followers, supporters, prayer partners and friends so much and would love to hear from each of you as to how you are doing and specifically what can Alan and I pray for you for? May the God we know and serve guard each of your hearts as you trust Him for your future.
Alan and Mary
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Three days in England and now we're heading home
Although I wasn't sure I would be glad I came, I am. The 15 hour drive was very long but Alan stayed safe and we got here and had the opportunity to rest for a couple of days and get caught up. I've spent the bulk of my time online working out our budget versus our actual spend, getting caught up with friends and family and trying to get the last remaining items handled in a country where folks speak a language I can understand!
We heard today it was snowing in Heidelberg so hopefully the mountain passes aren't too difficult for us to get through on our way back to Schönau. Today we will drive only to Northampton to spend the night and then in the morning we will go to Eric and Ellen's hotel to pick up two suitcases they are bringing over for us and then we catch a ferry from Dover to Calais tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm. We're taking webster with us and we made sure to get his European Pet Passport (he even has his picture in it) to take with us as well. Hopefully there are no issues bringing him over.
After returning home I want to spend the weekend finishing putting the Ikea furniture together and unpacking and organizing everything. Then Sunday we'll go to church and out to lunch with the folks there. So far we've really enjoyed getting to know folks over our last two trips to Heidelberg. Now that we've moved we hope to really start building some strong friendships and accountablity relationships.
In a lot of ways I'm sad leaving here because neither Alan nor Margaret are christians and it's hard saying goodbye to them not knowing if we'll ever see them again. Alans dad is in such poor health but we're praying God will keep him alive long enough that he'll recognize his need for a savior and put his faith in Christ. In other ways I'm glad to go because it's as if Alan becomes a different person when he's here. He watches WAY too much television and he lets his mother wait on him hand and foot - like he did when he was a kid. I told him to snap out of it but it's hard for him because it's what he's used to. I end up spending a lot of time up in our room doing budgets and paperwork and writing supporters because if you go downstairs to try to talk to anyone you feel like you're interupting something very important that they're watching on TV - even if it's only the Jeremy Kyle show (the UK's version of Jerry Springer - YUK!!!).
Ah well, they take very good care of us here and are loving and kind so we'll miss them. Sometimes I feel like when I talk about Jesus it goes in one ear and out the other but I don't care I'm just going to keep doing it until the Holy Spirit does a work on their lives and opens their eyes and hearts to him. It's so frustrating when those you love can't see the truth that is right in front of them. It makes me want to take the devil by the throat and strangle him for what he's doing to people that I love. The only thing that matters to me in life to me is seeing the people that I love and the people that I meet come to know Jesus. Everything else is just "stuff" that gets in the way.
We heard today it was snowing in Heidelberg so hopefully the mountain passes aren't too difficult for us to get through on our way back to Schönau. Today we will drive only to Northampton to spend the night and then in the morning we will go to Eric and Ellen's hotel to pick up two suitcases they are bringing over for us and then we catch a ferry from Dover to Calais tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm. We're taking webster with us and we made sure to get his European Pet Passport (he even has his picture in it) to take with us as well. Hopefully there are no issues bringing him over.
After returning home I want to spend the weekend finishing putting the Ikea furniture together and unpacking and organizing everything. Then Sunday we'll go to church and out to lunch with the folks there. So far we've really enjoyed getting to know folks over our last two trips to Heidelberg. Now that we've moved we hope to really start building some strong friendships and accountablity relationships.
In a lot of ways I'm sad leaving here because neither Alan nor Margaret are christians and it's hard saying goodbye to them not knowing if we'll ever see them again. Alans dad is in such poor health but we're praying God will keep him alive long enough that he'll recognize his need for a savior and put his faith in Christ. In other ways I'm glad to go because it's as if Alan becomes a different person when he's here. He watches WAY too much television and he lets his mother wait on him hand and foot - like he did when he was a kid. I told him to snap out of it but it's hard for him because it's what he's used to. I end up spending a lot of time up in our room doing budgets and paperwork and writing supporters because if you go downstairs to try to talk to anyone you feel like you're interupting something very important that they're watching on TV - even if it's only the Jeremy Kyle show (the UK's version of Jerry Springer - YUK!!!).
Ah well, they take very good care of us here and are loving and kind so we'll miss them. Sometimes I feel like when I talk about Jesus it goes in one ear and out the other but I don't care I'm just going to keep doing it until the Holy Spirit does a work on their lives and opens their eyes and hearts to him. It's so frustrating when those you love can't see the truth that is right in front of them. It makes me want to take the devil by the throat and strangle him for what he's doing to people that I love. The only thing that matters to me in life to me is seeing the people that I love and the people that I meet come to know Jesus. Everything else is just "stuff" that gets in the way.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Our first week in Germany
Well, if I said it was one of the hardest weeks ever in terms of physical exhaustion I don't think I'd be too far off the mark. It seriously felt like we were going to work ourselves to death. At our apartment we have about 34 stairs outside up to the front door from the road down below (no ramp) and another probably 15 or so inside to our first floor apartment. Given I'm 5 months pregnant, poor Alan had to lug everything - somewhere between 3-4 tons of stuff by the end of the week up all those stairs by himself. We were sore and stiff every night as we crashed into bed but still praised God for his goodness and faithfulness to us for that day. The way God came through for us every step of the way continues to amaze us.
I left off 2 days and 12 hours prior to leaving. The day we left was a Sunday so we spent the day before packing and repacking the van and trailer loaned to us by a friend at our church. We barely got everything in so we have no idea how we would have made it with our original plan which was just to make a couple of trips in the car. Sunday we went to church and I had told the youth that Alan and I wanted to take them out to lunch as a special treat but they could only qualify if they came to church and they needed to be on time as well. Well we got there and pretty much every youth had shown up which is unusual given most of them have become complete slackers in the last few months and stopped going to church completely. I'm disappointed that the pull of the world is so strong and so many of them are willing to compromise their faith but they are young and they'll have to learn the hard way I guess. Ugh.
Anyway, church was good and after we took the youth and Joan and Iain out to lunch at Pizza Express at Cheshire Oaks mall. Fortunately Mihai and Simona got to come too so that was nice. Alan and I had to take off pretty quickly after eating so we could make the six hour drive down to Dover to catch our ferry. We made it with a bit of time to spare and once we got into France drove about an hour to our hotel. Unfortunately we forgot we lost an hour upon entering France instead of gaining an hour which we thought originally so our clocks were completely wrong when we woke up the next morning and we missed breakfast. Because of our late start we didn't get into Schonau until nearly 8pm and it was super foggy for about the last 45 minutes which made mountain driving really tough but we got there, met Herr Dei and was able to get his help to unload the mattress so at least we had a place to sleep that night. Alan got a few other things up like our clothes for the next day and we were so tired we didn't do much else.
Tuesday morning Alan wanted to get everything else inside and he did, 50 someodd steps at a time - van plus trailer. I felt sooo bad for him but he refused to let me help so I stayed inside and unpacked and tried to put things in the right rooms at least even though we had no furniture to put them into. That afternoon we went by the church and dropped off our trailer thinking we wouldn't need it the rest of the week and then we went to the T-Mobile (also Deutsche Telecom) to try to get phones and setup our internet. Long story short, it's not as easy as you might think as they require all kinds of information and most importantly a German bank account which we didn't have. We tried to go and get one only to find out that the banks close at 4pm on Tuesday. Who knew...
On Wednesday we focused on trying to get a bank account setup and on getting some furniture. I didn't want to do the whole Ikea thing but I couldn't for my life find a furniture store with anything in our price range. We couldn't find consignment stores (we didn't even know the German word for consignment). We couldn't find goodwill stores or anything similar. All the new furniture stores had this horrid, expensive stuff that just was ick so we ended up at Ikea. We actually found a Media Mart next door where we stopped first for a kettle, toaster, router and washing machine and dryer. Then at Ikea we got a few bookshelves and dressers. That night Alan spent the first few hours trying to get everything upstairs and then our door buzzed and we were surprised to find that Ken and Danine had stopped by to see us. We had gone to their house a couple of times that day and left a note in their mailbox that we wouldn't be able to join them for dinner but I guess that was their German mailbox that they never check so they came all the way out to Schonau to see us which was really nice. We ended up going to dinner in Schonau and having a nice schnitzel and enjoying the conversation. It was a break that we needed and it was really appreciated.
Thursday Alan put furniture together and we went by the bank to finish opening our account as it had to process overnight. We then found an internet cafe to finally check in with family and friends back home. We then met Danine at the church to get the kitchen stuff we had taken down and stored back in October and then went back to T-Mobile to get our phone and internet and about two and a half hours later finally got everything sorted. Thursday night was a long night of unpacking and putting stuff together and Friday we decided to stay around the house to do more of the same until we realized our brand new washing machine had a bad motor and would have to be returned. UGH!
Saturday we knew it was our last day with Alan and the van so we were determined to find a living room set and dining room table with chairs. Fortunately God was good to us and at the 11th hour, helped us to find what we were looking for at a good price. Unforunately they didn't take credit cards and Alan had to go to the church to get the trailer so we could fit everything in. In the meantime I walked about two miles to a local mall to try to get money out of every bank account we had. After 5 different bank machines and trying every card we had twice I sat down and prayed. I said God, we believe you led us here to buy this furniture and if you want us to have it you're going to have to somehow provide a way for us to get it. I decided to try the same cards that had been denied twice in another bank machine and was able to get 10EURO more than we needed to get all the furniture. Alan was not having as good of a time though as on his way back with the trailer he got lost and couldn't find his way back to me. In the end we both made it back, completely exhausted but knowing we now had a van and trailer FULL of stuff AGAIN, it was dark outside, we had no help unloading and Alan had to leave directly after church the next day. It was going to be a long night.
Have I mentioned how much I love and respect my husband? Honestly I think he's amazing. Not only does he treat me like I'm the most important person on the planet but he is incredibly strong - physically and mentally. He's also just a good person. Poor thing though I thought he was going to have a heart attack taking up this last batch of stuff. He was committed though and wouldn't stop and at 11pm after two guys visiting friends and leaving for the night offered to help him bring the washing machine up the stairs, the sweet lady underneath came out and asked us (in German) if we were just about done. I apologized and we decided to go to bed and just finish the rest after church. Alan would have to take a later ferry.
Church was good. Ken and Danine were in Garmesh skiing with friends so Matt preached on relationships. We both enjoyed seeing folks we hadn't seen since October and meeting new people as well. After church Matt and Tamra and John and his wife Michelle came over to help Alan get the last piece of sofa bed up the stairs then they stayed a bit to see the apartment and to chat. Alan was late getting off back to England and when I thought about how lonely I was going to be without him I decided to go as well. The drive was long (15 hours) but I was glad to be with him and he was glad I think for the company. We got into England early yesterday morning and went straight to bed, then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just relaxing with his parents at their home.
Today we gave the van and trailer back to Iain and got our car back, went to Tesco for some shopping for Germany, went by the hospital to get my paperwork and then came back to Alans parents for some lunch and to do some work on the computer. I feel so much better now that I've rested and now that my feet aren't killing me. Our plans are to head to where Eric and Ellen will be staying on Thursday night and spend the night getting our two suitcases from them Friday morning before taking the ferry over that afternoon and then driving the rest of the way. We'll both be glad I think once we're home and we can finish putting the Ikea furniture together, finish unpacking and start our ministry. We're thankful for all our friends that have prayed so faithfully for us and are so excited about this time in our lives. Chloe seems to be doing well (I'm getting fatter!) but I still haven't felt her kick yet. It's 22 weeks on Thursday. :)
I left off 2 days and 12 hours prior to leaving. The day we left was a Sunday so we spent the day before packing and repacking the van and trailer loaned to us by a friend at our church. We barely got everything in so we have no idea how we would have made it with our original plan which was just to make a couple of trips in the car. Sunday we went to church and I had told the youth that Alan and I wanted to take them out to lunch as a special treat but they could only qualify if they came to church and they needed to be on time as well. Well we got there and pretty much every youth had shown up which is unusual given most of them have become complete slackers in the last few months and stopped going to church completely. I'm disappointed that the pull of the world is so strong and so many of them are willing to compromise their faith but they are young and they'll have to learn the hard way I guess. Ugh.
Anyway, church was good and after we took the youth and Joan and Iain out to lunch at Pizza Express at Cheshire Oaks mall. Fortunately Mihai and Simona got to come too so that was nice. Alan and I had to take off pretty quickly after eating so we could make the six hour drive down to Dover to catch our ferry. We made it with a bit of time to spare and once we got into France drove about an hour to our hotel. Unfortunately we forgot we lost an hour upon entering France instead of gaining an hour which we thought originally so our clocks were completely wrong when we woke up the next morning and we missed breakfast. Because of our late start we didn't get into Schonau until nearly 8pm and it was super foggy for about the last 45 minutes which made mountain driving really tough but we got there, met Herr Dei and was able to get his help to unload the mattress so at least we had a place to sleep that night. Alan got a few other things up like our clothes for the next day and we were so tired we didn't do much else.
Tuesday morning Alan wanted to get everything else inside and he did, 50 someodd steps at a time - van plus trailer. I felt sooo bad for him but he refused to let me help so I stayed inside and unpacked and tried to put things in the right rooms at least even though we had no furniture to put them into. That afternoon we went by the church and dropped off our trailer thinking we wouldn't need it the rest of the week and then we went to the T-Mobile (also Deutsche Telecom) to try to get phones and setup our internet. Long story short, it's not as easy as you might think as they require all kinds of information and most importantly a German bank account which we didn't have. We tried to go and get one only to find out that the banks close at 4pm on Tuesday. Who knew...
On Wednesday we focused on trying to get a bank account setup and on getting some furniture. I didn't want to do the whole Ikea thing but I couldn't for my life find a furniture store with anything in our price range. We couldn't find consignment stores (we didn't even know the German word for consignment). We couldn't find goodwill stores or anything similar. All the new furniture stores had this horrid, expensive stuff that just was ick so we ended up at Ikea. We actually found a Media Mart next door where we stopped first for a kettle, toaster, router and washing machine and dryer. Then at Ikea we got a few bookshelves and dressers. That night Alan spent the first few hours trying to get everything upstairs and then our door buzzed and we were surprised to find that Ken and Danine had stopped by to see us. We had gone to their house a couple of times that day and left a note in their mailbox that we wouldn't be able to join them for dinner but I guess that was their German mailbox that they never check so they came all the way out to Schonau to see us which was really nice. We ended up going to dinner in Schonau and having a nice schnitzel and enjoying the conversation. It was a break that we needed and it was really appreciated.
Thursday Alan put furniture together and we went by the bank to finish opening our account as it had to process overnight. We then found an internet cafe to finally check in with family and friends back home. We then met Danine at the church to get the kitchen stuff we had taken down and stored back in October and then went back to T-Mobile to get our phone and internet and about two and a half hours later finally got everything sorted. Thursday night was a long night of unpacking and putting stuff together and Friday we decided to stay around the house to do more of the same until we realized our brand new washing machine had a bad motor and would have to be returned. UGH!
Saturday we knew it was our last day with Alan and the van so we were determined to find a living room set and dining room table with chairs. Fortunately God was good to us and at the 11th hour, helped us to find what we were looking for at a good price. Unforunately they didn't take credit cards and Alan had to go to the church to get the trailer so we could fit everything in. In the meantime I walked about two miles to a local mall to try to get money out of every bank account we had. After 5 different bank machines and trying every card we had twice I sat down and prayed. I said God, we believe you led us here to buy this furniture and if you want us to have it you're going to have to somehow provide a way for us to get it. I decided to try the same cards that had been denied twice in another bank machine and was able to get 10EURO more than we needed to get all the furniture. Alan was not having as good of a time though as on his way back with the trailer he got lost and couldn't find his way back to me. In the end we both made it back, completely exhausted but knowing we now had a van and trailer FULL of stuff AGAIN, it was dark outside, we had no help unloading and Alan had to leave directly after church the next day. It was going to be a long night.
Have I mentioned how much I love and respect my husband? Honestly I think he's amazing. Not only does he treat me like I'm the most important person on the planet but he is incredibly strong - physically and mentally. He's also just a good person. Poor thing though I thought he was going to have a heart attack taking up this last batch of stuff. He was committed though and wouldn't stop and at 11pm after two guys visiting friends and leaving for the night offered to help him bring the washing machine up the stairs, the sweet lady underneath came out and asked us (in German) if we were just about done. I apologized and we decided to go to bed and just finish the rest after church. Alan would have to take a later ferry.
Church was good. Ken and Danine were in Garmesh skiing with friends so Matt preached on relationships. We both enjoyed seeing folks we hadn't seen since October and meeting new people as well. After church Matt and Tamra and John and his wife Michelle came over to help Alan get the last piece of sofa bed up the stairs then they stayed a bit to see the apartment and to chat. Alan was late getting off back to England and when I thought about how lonely I was going to be without him I decided to go as well. The drive was long (15 hours) but I was glad to be with him and he was glad I think for the company. We got into England early yesterday morning and went straight to bed, then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just relaxing with his parents at their home.
Today we gave the van and trailer back to Iain and got our car back, went to Tesco for some shopping for Germany, went by the hospital to get my paperwork and then came back to Alans parents for some lunch and to do some work on the computer. I feel so much better now that I've rested and now that my feet aren't killing me. Our plans are to head to where Eric and Ellen will be staying on Thursday night and spend the night getting our two suitcases from them Friday morning before taking the ferry over that afternoon and then driving the rest of the way. We'll both be glad I think once we're home and we can finish putting the Ikea furniture together, finish unpacking and start our ministry. We're thankful for all our friends that have prayed so faithfully for us and are so excited about this time in our lives. Chloe seems to be doing well (I'm getting fatter!) but I still haven't felt her kick yet. It's 22 weeks on Thursday. :)
Thursday, 6 January 2011
We're almost on our way! :)
Well the countdown continues - 2 days, 12 hours to go until we begin our drive to Schönau, Germany - our new home. I guess I would say I am regularly a busy person. I like doing things. I don't like just sitting around. That being said, I have been borderline swamped, overwhelmed and just plain exhausted these last six months. Ever since we became appointees with Pioneers and started to plan our move Alan and I haven't stopped. Fortunately we're almost there.
Alan spent today in Liverpool working on the trailer that a friend from our church is letting us borrow for our drive to Germany. He's also loaning us his van so that we can take everything we own down. Both of us discuss regularly just how much God has blessed us in the past year. He helped to rent our home in Georgia at the 11th hour, provided the support we needed for year one through friends and family, reducing our budget in a couple of key areas (rent) and allowing the EURO to fall rather than rise against the dollar. He also helped rent our house in England to sweet friends, find a great apartment for us in Germany and so much more it's hard to not go on forever.
I spent the day tying up one thousand loose ends - packing and repacking, going to the library, bank and post office to send tons of documentation to our insurance broker in Germany and another set to the Revenue and Customs department in Newcastle. I worked on our budget, sent final necessary paperwork to Pioneers, looked into internet providers in Germany and talked to our landlord about last minute details.
Tonight I have to get our stuff together for going to Bawtry in Yorkshire tomorrow and write thank you notes to our supporters in England. That was supposed to be Alans job but he's been so busy I told him I would do it for him this once. Alan just got home a few minutes ago and he's heading out again to put some fuel cleaner in the car and top it up as well as go to Tesco to buy cling film so that we can wrap our mattress so it won't get dirty.
Tomorrow night we'll have chinese here with Linda and Richard and Alans parents then on Saturday we'll go to our friends to pick up the van and trailer then to Arrowe Park to get our paperwork before we meet the youth at the church that will help us pack our things at Mihai and Simona's and then bring them to Chester to pack everything here. On Sunday it's church, lunch at Pizza Express with the youth group and then we're off. Our ferry in Dover is at 9:20 and we hope to stay in a hotel in France that night before finalizing the rest of our trek on Monday.
The last week here has been good. We especially enjoyed going to church and seeing everyone there, visiting Alans sister and nieces and their kids in Wrexham yesterday and I enjoyed teaching my last Influence at the church last night. During my quiet times this last week I really felt as if God wanted me to speak on his second coming and on the tribulation. I also really wanted to encourage the youth in our church to get back in church and be strong witnesses for Christ in Birkenhead. I told them I know it's very difficult to be a christian in England. It's much, much easier to be a christian in Athens, Georgia but still, they can do it - especially if they stick together and encourage and hold eachother accountable. I have really grown to love this group of students. They aren't the easiest group, they have at times proven themselves to be undisciplined, lazy and too willing to compromise but for the most part they are hungry to learn, eager to serve, struggling to find their individual identities and wrestling with God. Alan said to me, I don't see how you get away with yelling at them like you do but they don't seem to mind it. I said - they love adults to challenge them, to treat them like they have brains and to not accept lackadaisical behavior. They are really talented and can change the world if they set their minds to it. I'm going to miss them - big time.
Well is blogging any different from blabbing? I feel like they are one in the same with this latest blog so please forgive my rambling. Alan and I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of you in our lives. Thank you for the encouragement, the support, the prayers. One of the things I have enjoyed the most these last few months is pouring over the prayer requests from our supporters. For those of you that have sent prayer requests to us, know that we are praying for you and we would LOVE to hear any updates when you have them. We especially like to see God answer prayers and we're keeping track so we can remember how faithful and good He really is. He is faithful and really good, isn't He?
Alan spent today in Liverpool working on the trailer that a friend from our church is letting us borrow for our drive to Germany. He's also loaning us his van so that we can take everything we own down. Both of us discuss regularly just how much God has blessed us in the past year. He helped to rent our home in Georgia at the 11th hour, provided the support we needed for year one through friends and family, reducing our budget in a couple of key areas (rent) and allowing the EURO to fall rather than rise against the dollar. He also helped rent our house in England to sweet friends, find a great apartment for us in Germany and so much more it's hard to not go on forever.
I spent the day tying up one thousand loose ends - packing and repacking, going to the library, bank and post office to send tons of documentation to our insurance broker in Germany and another set to the Revenue and Customs department in Newcastle. I worked on our budget, sent final necessary paperwork to Pioneers, looked into internet providers in Germany and talked to our landlord about last minute details.
Tonight I have to get our stuff together for going to Bawtry in Yorkshire tomorrow and write thank you notes to our supporters in England. That was supposed to be Alans job but he's been so busy I told him I would do it for him this once. Alan just got home a few minutes ago and he's heading out again to put some fuel cleaner in the car and top it up as well as go to Tesco to buy cling film so that we can wrap our mattress so it won't get dirty.
Tomorrow night we'll have chinese here with Linda and Richard and Alans parents then on Saturday we'll go to our friends to pick up the van and trailer then to Arrowe Park to get our paperwork before we meet the youth at the church that will help us pack our things at Mihai and Simona's and then bring them to Chester to pack everything here. On Sunday it's church, lunch at Pizza Express with the youth group and then we're off. Our ferry in Dover is at 9:20 and we hope to stay in a hotel in France that night before finalizing the rest of our trek on Monday.
The last week here has been good. We especially enjoyed going to church and seeing everyone there, visiting Alans sister and nieces and their kids in Wrexham yesterday and I enjoyed teaching my last Influence at the church last night. During my quiet times this last week I really felt as if God wanted me to speak on his second coming and on the tribulation. I also really wanted to encourage the youth in our church to get back in church and be strong witnesses for Christ in Birkenhead. I told them I know it's very difficult to be a christian in England. It's much, much easier to be a christian in Athens, Georgia but still, they can do it - especially if they stick together and encourage and hold eachother accountable. I have really grown to love this group of students. They aren't the easiest group, they have at times proven themselves to be undisciplined, lazy and too willing to compromise but for the most part they are hungry to learn, eager to serve, struggling to find their individual identities and wrestling with God. Alan said to me, I don't see how you get away with yelling at them like you do but they don't seem to mind it. I said - they love adults to challenge them, to treat them like they have brains and to not accept lackadaisical behavior. They are really talented and can change the world if they set their minds to it. I'm going to miss them - big time.
Well is blogging any different from blabbing? I feel like they are one in the same with this latest blog so please forgive my rambling. Alan and I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of you in our lives. Thank you for the encouragement, the support, the prayers. One of the things I have enjoyed the most these last few months is pouring over the prayer requests from our supporters. For those of you that have sent prayer requests to us, know that we are praying for you and we would LOVE to hear any updates when you have them. We especially like to see God answer prayers and we're keeping track so we can remember how faithful and good He really is. He is faithful and really good, isn't He?
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