My time in the States

Well, I am back in Germany. Back home. And I am catching up on many things here.. funny how life does not stop in one place when you are in another place...

Here are some photos and special moments from my time in the states...

My dear friend Cheryl got married to Matt Oldham. It was wonderful to be part of that big event in her life!

And she... being such a dear heart and a great friend... after the wedding, told me that she was praying for me because she knows that it is hard to be in a wedding or even go to a wedding when you are single. Wow.. how precious those words were to my heart. Still are to my heart. Cheryl is one of my many amazing girlfriends. And we have all encouraged each other to truly trust the Lord that He has our best match for us. And seeing her and Matt together was such an encouragement to my heart!

I have some great friends in the Portland area. And every time I am back there I thank God for bringing them into my life. Some of my dearest and closest friends are there! I wish I had photos of all of them.. it is hard for me to remember to take photos when I am just enjoying someone's presence. This photo is thanks to my friends who remember to take photos of fun times...

These girls and I... and a couple others were in a small group together for several years before I moved to Europe.

I thoroughly enjoyed the quality time with about 40 different people, speaking in 2 churches, time at my own church, sharing wedding memories with dear ones, the road trip to redmond/prineville, and seeing the changes in Portland... there are 3 lanes now where 205 splits off of 1-5 north! about time!!! :-) I loved meeting fiancees, spouses, new pets, seeing new living spaces, seeing Mount Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson... etc... stunning!

Something I was pondering while I was stateside is how much it means to me when you make an effort see me! All of you who contacted me to say you wanted to spend time with me... THANK YOU! Even though I did not get to see everyone.. not even nearly half it feels like... I am honored to know that you care enough to make an effort. My Aunt and Uncle in Walla Walla, Washington even tried to come down/over! I love you guys!!! thank you for making the effort! I think the hard thing about being in the states is wondering if people miss me enough to want to spend time with me.

And I realized that 2 weeks.. is not enough time to get quality time with even half of you! I guess next time I get to be stateside I need to make sure it happens when I have more time to spend with you all.

Another great thing about the time I was in the states was the surprise God blessed me with in the time at Depoe Bay. I LOVE the ocean... and I have seen some pretty amazing beaches this past year (Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus) but there is nothing like the Oregon coast line. The ruggedness of the coast in Oregon takes my breath away.

During my days at Depoe Bay I got quality time with my dear friend Tami... AND... I was blessed to know her mother Betsy and her mom's husband Arie. AND... her grandmother-Barbara. God designed a perfect few days to get me rested and refreshed before returning home! Rest, ocean storms, conversations, reading, writing, music, great food, deepening relationships.... my souls sings for joy at the Lord's provision for me!

So thank you all for a great time! Thank you to all of you who made an effort to see me! Thank you to all of you who pray for me! You are all so deeply rooted in myheart!

The wedding of a dear friend... and thoughts on that

It was such a huge blessing for me to be able to be in my friend Cheryl's wedding on Saturday. She remembers sitting on a porch with me years ago and telling me that she wanted to be my friend. I remember her forcing me to be real and vulnerable with her through a really hard time in my life. She is a delight and a blessing to me! And the man she married is so perfectly matched with her!

Being part of major life events in the lives of my friends and family is something that I greatly miss and highly treasure. I know I am missing several other weddings this year of people who are extremely close to my heart. I told Cheryl that if i had not been able to be with her on that day, I would have spent a couple hours mourning that loss with tears of joy for her and sorrow for missing the event...in my flat at home. Instead I got to be there in person to cry tears of joy for this union and tears of sorrow that I had to leave again so soon!

Riley and Alli... I held this girls when they were younger and this weekend I got to do their hair for the wedding! Riley was a junior bridesmaid and her sister was a flower girl. they both did a fabulous job!

Brenda... Oh I just love this woman! I love that we could pick up and talk as though no time has passed! She is the mother of the girls above and the wife of Jeff whom I worked with for several years. It blessed my heart to have some time with Brenda!

Allison and Jen, two women who are special in my life. Great for my heart to get this time with them!

I will post more photos when I have them, but for now.. just a couple with my dear friends who I got to be with in the wedding! God is good!

In P-Town

Just a little note to say that I am in Portland for the next two weeks. If you want to hang out, let me know. :-)

I am privileged to be part of my friend Cheryl Boersma's wedding this weekend. What a treasure for my heart!

I had stumptown coffee this morning with a dear friend... now that is living. :-)

Grün ist in!

So yesterday I picked up my Sunday paper from my mailbox... a small title on the bottom the page caught my eye...

I know it is hard to read here.. but the title says Grün ist in! and it goes on to tell how green Spargel (Asparagus) is becoming more popular than the traditional white Spargel around here. Shocking! To be honest... before I came here, I did not know that asparagus could be white! But over here in the Southern Black Forrest... Spargel is grown under coverings so that it stays white... and now.. they are saying that Green is in!... I wonder what that will do to the poor farmers who make white Spargel as their main crop...

To continue the green theme... I grew up eating green beans raw.. out of the garden... my favorite way to eat green beans actually! and last week, I was taking the ends of a few for lunch when one of my German friends (yes you dear Sabine) told me that she was raised not to eat them that way... because they are poisonous!

She went on to explain that over here, they are all taught that you must cook the beans for 10 minutes to get rid of the poisons! I was shocked! I have to say... I am grateful for Sabine's ways of pointing out where I am different. :-) she is very gracious. I just hope I have not offended my European friends by eating raw green beans. :-) Oh.. and momma.. I finally planted the ones you bought me. I am excited for them to come up!

So later that day, I washed my rugs in my flat... I have great Ikea rugs... two with great greens and blues and two with cream/red/black... I washed them all together.. with a white towel....

yes... now I have two green and blue rugs... one green towel... and two green/red/black rugs... the cream with dark brown rug in the photo is just for contrast... on the red rug... used to be that cream colour... Sigh....

But honestly... these greens reflect what I see outside! I am in awe at God's palette of colours each season. and right now in this area... the green is everywhere!

why I love my job-#3

A month or so ago I began doing periodic posts on the topic of why I love my job... if you would like to read the ones that I have written already click on the titles.

• Living in Europe
• The myriads of different people I get to be in contact with
• Learning new cultures and languages all the time
• The opportunities to grow in my own faith
• The opportunities to share my faith and help others grow in Christ

Here I will write on a new one:

why I love my job-#3

-Learning new cultures and languages all the time-
I have the privilege of a lot of variety in my job. It has been confirmed for me over and over again how important and needed variety is in my life... so this is good. :-) So here are some photos that capture a bit of the cultures and languages that I encounter on a regular basis.

an Island in Greece where there are no cars, and I can't read the signs because they are not in letters that I can read. Good thing everything is also written in English. And mainland Greece.. so much history! But I have learned how to say good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello and thank you in Greek. I have no confidence in my ability to write them out however. :-)

Notre Dame in Paris...I am learning more French words... a language I have never sought to learn, but there are staff in France who are dear to my heart and I love being able to communicate in another person's heart language! so... I am learning to recognize some French when I hear it. This culture appreciates beauty in what they create and view.

The ceremony of the cows coming home in Switzerland. I live in an area where there are a plethora of festivals! This one happens in the early fall. I study the people around me to know that it is appropriate to cheer on the cows, then listen to the town mayor's speech, then listen to the band play, accept a small glass of wine from the town vintners, go eat bratwurst and fries at the town square, hike back to your car and go home.

And...

The Alps in Switzerland. This is an area of rugged individuals. Swiss German is very musical to listen to, but I can only understand every 25th word. I try my Hoch Duetsch and they try their Suisse Deutsch... sometimes we just have to both try English.

Italia! I love this culture and this language. So warm and affectionate! It helps meet my need for physical affection for sure! The language sounds beautiful and the culture appreciates beauty. I have spent time in Rome, Salerno, Florence, Verona, Venice... the country is different from the north to the south... as is the entire continent different from the north to the south.

Telis in Cyprus preparing a typical Cypriot BBQ. He is Greek, married to a Cypriot.. I wish I had a photo of his wife Olga, she is amazing! And a view of the sea... I love the sea! I had such a good time with them when I was there I will write more on that in a later post.

buildings along the canals in Amsterdam. The language in the Netherlands is very similar to German so I could understand a lot of what was said and figure out the signs. And EVERYONE speaks English. They are a very independent and tolerant as a society... and God is calling them to Himself! I feel very short there...making sure I pack a pair of heels when I go there. :-)

Barcelona Spain. One thing I love about the Spanish culture is the bright colours! This warm culture has a language that I feel most comfortable using. I experience the most confusion in my brain with knowing what language to use when I am in Spain or around Spanish people outside of Spain... I want to speak their language but because I am working to learn German... that comes out sometimes.

A perfectly stacked woodpile in the Southern Black Forrest of Germany. I have never seen a culture be so precise in it's wood stacking! This does make sense for a culture that likes to have "alles in ordnung"

so... there it is... just a sample of the different cultures and languages that I encounter. Add to that, Finland, Lithuania, UK, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Portugal and you have a more clear picture.

I just have to thank the Lord for putting me in this job that allows me to experience such a HUGE variety of cultures and languages, people and places.