changing weather

So, on the 22nd I took the first photo and on the 25th I took the second photo... note the difference. :-) That is the view I have out of my bathroom window.. .amazing. The 25th is also the day I drove to Austria... never have I driven through so many snow storms... but it was beautiful!

This weekend

well, this is the traditional Thanksgiving weekend for Americans. Here in Germany, the Americans have Thanksgiving celebrations on any day around the week when they can gather with others who want to celebrate. :-) Me? I am gathering with the a couple friends, German/French/American. :-) I am making a couple pies.

Then, Friday morning I will get in a car with my co-worker Riitta (she is Finnish) and we will drive to Salzburg, Austria. We will explore Salzburg on Saturday and go down to Spittal (where I lived before) on Sunday and return to Kandern on Monday.

And next Wednesday I fly to Naples Italy to encourage a team of students working in southern Italy. and then to Rome for the weekend.

yep... I am traveling a lot. hope to post photos when I get back from it all. :-) for now... here is a photo of a stream that runs through town and that I walk by every single day.

Birthdays

So, today a co-worker took me to lunch for HER birthday... Sabine is one of the receptionists here that I have clicked with. She is great! She leads a gospel choir. :-) love it! German's singing Kirk Franklin. They do pretty good. Anyway, today was her birthday and she asked me last week if I could join her for lunch today. I was very honored and of course agreed! Then we went to lunch, had a lovely chat over some really good Italian food and then she paid.. I was shocked. I said, "I should pay for you!" she said, "no.. it is MY birthday!" So apparently, the tradition in Germany is that you pay for your own birthday celebrations... which is one reason they only have big parties on the 10s... 20, 30, 40, 50. Interesting eh....? :-)

My living room...

ok.. I bent to the pressure... here is a photo of the living area in my flat. I am making pillow cases for the remaining white pillows. :-)

Kandern down below

Well, here I am sitting on a hill that overlooks Kandern. That cement was very cold. :-)

France

So, I have been thinking a lot about what is happening in France, that happens when you live in Europe... things in Europe are more important. A state of emergency has been declared for all of France because of the rioting and fires and such. We have a team of young adults in Paris and in Toulouse. They are both in areas where these things are happening heavily. A co-worker received a photo yesterday taken by a man he knows in Toulouse. The photo was taken out of his front window. He wrote with the photo. "It is hard to go home when your streets are full of fire."

The nearest rioting is about 40 minutes from where I am living. It is subsiding now, but still going on. If you click HERE you can see a timeline of what has happened.

Could you take moment pray for the people you know in France and those who need to know Christ.

Musings...

Have you ever sat in a meeting with headphones on so you could hear the translation of the speaking in your own language? I did last night. I went to a Willow Creek type church in a nearby town. One of the men I went with was the English translator for the evening and all of us who did not speak German sat in the back row with headphones on so we could hear the translation. It was a strange feeling. But I really enjoyed the church service. They apparently have a seeker-friendly service on Sundays and church "members" service on Thursday nights. It brought up a brief discussion on the idea of seeker-services...

After the service we all went to Switzerland for some Starbucks coffee. It was nice to go to a big city and sit outside with new friends and drink coffee. The man translating in the service is Christian... and he is a Christian. He is German, married an amazing French woman and they have three children. He is working with Athletes in Action to work with the World Cup outreach that is being planned. ANYWAY....all that to say... he is good friends with a guy who works with my brother Matt and when he is in Portland, he goes to the church where my friend Jeremy is the worship leader. My world is getting smaller by the minute.

And I know that you all want photos of my place... but I don't have my container yet.. so I don't have it all put together. :-) so you have to wait... I am so sorry. :-)