Birthdays

I like birthdays. I like that they mean a new life. A day of birth! So many of my friends have had babies this past year. So many birthdays to celebrate!

I like that they give us a time every year to ponder again how God has made us. I like that when you have a birthday I am given an opportunity to stop and thank God for you.

December 2nd is Cheryl and Kendra's birthdays
December 6th is Annie's birthday
December 8th is Beth Ann's birthday
December 11th is my mom's birthday
December 14th is Matt M.'s birthday
December 22nd is Deb's birthday
December 23rd is Christina's birthday
December 24th is Jana's birthday

December 25th is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus who gives us new life! When I was a child we had Happy Birthday Jesus Parties at Christmas. The party was a real party with cake and ice cream and punch and the happy birthday song.

I do not celebrate Christmas with a happy birthday Jesus party cake and ice cream anymore, but I do celebrate the birth day of Jesus. And oh what an amazing reason to celebrate!!!! Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby.

Babies always bring joy to those around. I watch it on planes, in trains, in churches, at grocery stores...everywhere! And Jesus came as a baby... that Joy goes all over!

It is Christmas time... and here are a few things that I have seen the past week.

Here are some photos from the Kandern Christmas party. Some of the people I love and will miss greatly when I move to Italy.

SNOW!!!! It snowed in Kandern and these photos are of the beginning of the snow fall.

I drove through the snowy weather to meet up with some friends who were up from Italy. We met in my favorite city of Switzerland. Luzern.
I had so much fun I forgot to take photos most of the time. which is sad... because Luzern was stunning in the snow!

Here are some photos of Lausanne, Switzerland... French speaking Switzerland.
The International Christmas market in Lausanne where we saw the First Bagpipe Band of Switzerland perform.. this lady was amazing! And from the top of the hill overlooking Lausanne...

And then I drove home... through a lot of snow and cold. It was stunningly beautiful.

And so... tomorrow I get on a train to get to Frankfurt and catch a plane to Riga Lavtia to visit good friends for Christmas! I am so excited to have this time to be amazed at the Gift God has given us and to share it with good friends.

sleeping and eating patterns

My sleeping and eating patterns are not easily recognizable as patterns these days.

Sleeping:
Some days I am ready to go to bed.. literally falling asleep in my chair or on my couch by 7pm. Some days I cannot go to sleep until 1am. Some days I am awake from 3 am or 4 am or 5 am until a nap later in the day.

Eating:
Some days I am hungry at normal meal times.. 7am, 12ish, 6pm. Some days I am really really hungry at 10am or 3pm, or 11pm, or... And why when I eat a good meal am I hungry not more than an hour later?

Reasons:

• Jetlag... The German word for the reason that you are so tired at strange times after crossing several time zones is... Jetlag. I have seen many beautiful sunsets, sunrises, mountains, oceans and cities from the window seat of an airplane the past few months.
  

• Finding ministry partners...there is a six to nine hour time zone difference between myself and the people I am trying to contact. This means that sometimes, I am actually trying to get up at 3am. I love the people God brings together on this ministry team!

• The weather... It is 8am right now. (I have been awake since 5:30am) Outside my balcony window I see a light grey sky. The day is beginning to show itself as day. I love the description in the creation account of day and night. Genesis 1:3-5 "And God said, 'let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness He called 'night. And there was evening and there was morning the first day." I LOVE the light. I love the day. This time of year the sun does not show itself very much in this part of the world.