Thursday, October 28, 2010

Last month of October

Wow, this past month has gone by so quickly!
Some highlights:

--Started using the heater because we've been getting below freezing during the night
--Got a birdy named Yesil ("Green" in Turkish because he's a beautiful deep green)
--My mom's here to visit!!
--Took the Scooter out for a night in Basel with TWO of us on it...that was interesting as we realized the tires need some pumping up and then it started raining on our way back!!
--Got a cold and am getting over it pretty quickly, praise God
--I know I have people around me who really care about me. I see this in that they hug me, turn on the heater knowing I easily get cold, invite me over, give me flowers, come over spontaneously...
--I found out that one of my elderly neighbors won't be coming back to live there anymore because she has gotten too weak and dependent :(
--I tutored a neighbor kid in English and he got a B on his test! woohoo!
--I have the most beautiful drive to work, especially with the trees turning firey colors and skies bright blue (when it's not overcast...)
--I can't believe that my birthday is coming up so soon and I will be 23!!
--Getting used to things at work and enjoying working with numbers and money when it calculates out right :)

PRAISE AWAITS YOU, KING OF GLORY. COME!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Sewing Class Testimony

Upon coming to Germany, I was really excited about adult classes being offered at the local highschool in subjects varying from travel, craftwork, dance, to...sewing. Since being a senior in highschool, I've wanted to learn how to sew. I learned alittle bit from my host mom in TX that year, but dived at this chance to learn more.

I signed up...and got declined because the class was already full. I was really sad because I see this as such an opportune time in life to learn--the class is offered, I have a sewing machine here, and I actually have the time to learn and practice. So I figured that if God knows this deep desire of mine and it didn't work out, that there must be a reason...perhaps something regular will come up on Monday nights that He will need me to be involved in.

Vollbild anzeigen
Last week I got an email saying another class was being offered and I signed up! Last night was the first class and afterwards I realized why God closed the doors for the original class: the class I'm in has only 6 participant (more teacher attention!!) and most are beginners, meaning they won't already have a bunch of projects and advanced problems like the ladies from the original course would have had. Phew> save myself that embarrassment of learning!

LESSON: God IS in control. He DOES know how He's leading you. HE knows what's best for me, He loves me the most, and is able to bring all things to pass according to His perfect plan.

Praise, honor, glory to the Lord Almighty.


Friday, October 1, 2010

Stars for Germany




Growing up, I had mixed feelings about Germany--going from awe, to thinking it's a perfect place, to hating it because I had to be here when I wanted to be in Turkey, to never wanting to live there, to not caring that I hadn't been back in 5 years.

When we realized I might be moving to Germany, God approached me about the subject when I was going running one night. We talked about my experiences and evaluations of Germany. There were tears, surrender, healing, and a new open heart towards Germany.

Now I live in Germany. I honestly haven't considered living here since...a decade. But now that I'm here at God's command and good pleasure, I am content. Here are a few things I like about Germany, despite its shortcomings like every country:

--I LOVE all the flowers (many geraniums) that you see on every house, whether in the house, on the window sills, hanging outside from the window sill, in pots welcoming people in...
--I appreciate the cleanness. Every Saturday is "Sweep Day" in which the families rotate sweeping the road and sidewalk in front of their portion of the house.
--I haven't been to many regions in Germany, but where I live, in the Blackforest, is just breath-taking with its many hills, vineyards, trees, castles, fresh air...makes me smile thinking about it!
--As complicated, expensive, and ridiculous as the system is here, it works. You register something, it gets registered. You request this and that from the government, you get it. If you are sick, you're covered. If you're unemployed, 'socially weak,' or dying, you still don't end up on the streets
--People greet you when you pass them
--I love the different dialects and the many ways the dialects express the same thing (though this can be frustrating too because I never know which to use!)
--For online banking, there's a cool calculator thing that generates security codes so that everything you do is super confidential
--And I love how people really spend time outside.
--My neighbors rock, especially in the garden that one of them created: