Our worship on Thursday on campus was a signficant experience. Florian and Felix led the worship in song.

At our exchange week in January, we had pasta parties on Wednesday actually in 2 student apartments ... then a third "pasta party location" was the pub where we met later on campus with everyone invited...

Here is one of the groups at Hella's place (middle), hanging out in the favorite place for German students-- the kitchen! Actually, in most student apartments there is no living room. Each room is used as a bedroom, so the gathering place is the kitchen! (where else-- I mean, well, would you expect the bathroom?!)

We were ecstatic that the roommates paired up for the week seemed to all get along so GREAT! A God- thing! Mallory (Union Un.) and Janine, who studies education, were hamming it up!

When handing out some cookies and invites at the Fine Arts College, we visited 2 of the German hosts for the students, Friedemann (middle, red shirt) and Ollie (black/yellow jacket), in their college "office"-- as grad students they get a place to work on their master's theses projects.

Our Friday night event was a "mini- retreat" at our church.

We invited some very special guests, friends from Cloppenburg (where I did lang. school years ago). Justine and Marco work with YWAM, helping troubled and homeless youth in South Africa. It was great to catch up and I'm just SO proud of their dedication, faith and courage!

More photos of a great 10 days with our german -american exchange... with Connexxion and students from Union U. Rachel is with Isaline, who is from France. Name tags helped with all the mix of languages and new names and strange spellings!

The term "foosball" is actually an English version of the German word meaning the game soccer. But this wooden version played here they call "kicker." Ralf, Hannes and Oli are playing with Tommy cheering them on.

The country-western party brought out over 30 students to meet new friends, learn line dancing and just practice English!

It's great having Lydia here from the Connexxion group in Jena (on the left, with Damaris on right and Kristin peeking through). She moved to Braunschweig in the fall to do an internship and write her thesis, and has brought the sunshine from "home" with her and understanding of our overall concept. On Wednesday we had pasta parties in 3 locations, followed by an evening in the basement of a local campus pub, to read a popular story from the Bible about a son who ran away from home, and discuss it together.

the "amis" are here!

Here I am with Kirstin from Tennessee (actually Kansas City!), and Doro, from Germany!

"Ami" is a nickname (can be derogatory but doesn't have to be; just sounds shorter to me) for Americans... this month we had a great time with our German- American Exchange Week with 10 here from Union U. in Tennessee. They stayed in the apartments of college students -- Andreas (left) was the host of Chad (middle). Brad is also with them (doing an internship; from Rhode Island).

handed out home- baked chocolate chip cookies at our table near the cafeterias,

and helped our Connexxion group host tons of events-- like a country -western party -- up above are Andreas, Chad, and Brad. Below... Friedemann (Germany) and Tommy (from OU) are looking quite "country" don't you think?
a campus worship,

a Bible discussion group in the pub -- here is an international bunch-- Katie (from England), Matt and Rachel (Tenn.) and Philipp (Germany) deep in thought!

and a Saturday trip to Berlin, etc. More photos later!

Family Christmas

It's great being with family and friends for Christmas. Dot celebrated with our family, as every year. We went to the Rockettes Christmas show several days before ... and enjoyed seeing a fountain out on the Hillsborough River, and palm trees. Only in Florida for Christmas! The towers of the Univ. of Tampa are in the distance.

I gave Heather and Bruce a German greeting sign: "Willkommen" (welcome).

It was good hearing Bruce preach on the weekend... the stage was fixed up really fun with brightly wrapped gifts.

Let it SNOW

No, these are not REAL snowmen in my apartment-- they are made from toilet paper & much imagination. The one to the left "bobbed" from left to right, as if plugged in, during the judging by our little "jury."

For Christmas our Connexxion group had a fun party in which 3 teams were busy at work -- here are the results.

You can also see us singing a few Christmas carols!

Candy canes, Cookies & the Christmas Season

This time of year is marvelous for having little (and larger) get- togethers-- to sing carols, bake cookies, decorate and celebrate the Reason for the Season! Recently 4 of us made festive tea light holders out of a special transparent paper, wallpapering glue and old jars. Marlen was the "artist in residence" showing how everything was done.

We capped off the evening by baking cookies! Mom and Dad, this is a recipe from the Martha Stewart Living cookbook you gave me!

This Friday our campus ministry, along with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship group (called Christian Union, in England & Australia) handed out about 500 candy canes, along with a description of their meaning. We were inside the lobby entrance of a main univ. cafeteria.I am pictured with Tommy, who is an exchange student from OU. A major THANK YOU to all my friends who sent them in packages from the States quickly during this crazy mailing time of year.

Last but not least... here i am at the Christmas Market in my city, with my friend Miriam and her parents. Funny enough, on the same Sunday I had TWO friends whose family was visiting... and they wanted to celebrate Advent together and also visit the market!

potatoes and games

I thought you might like to see a photo or two of our Monday night baked potato "party" in the dorms. Isaline, from France, who lives in this residence hall, had a birthday on that day and some of her friends helped her celebrate, too! I think Christoph, Tommy and Katie are waiting for the next game, Taboo, to start up.

I'm out the door now... so being quick, but wanted to ALSO share a fun photo of our group at the Connexxion retreat a week ago. It was our largest ever weekend retreat. THANKS for your prayers!

We have 2 discipleship groups that meet on Thursday evenings, back to back ... this one is going through the "7 Heart Attitudes" and it's a joy to pray together, fellowship and discuss the Bible! As you can see from the coffee table, we also snack together and have tea & Crystal Light!

Kids Weekend

This past weekend I got to have my "niece and nephew" visit me in Braunschweig. Their parents, friends and colleagues, brought them up from Jena and we had a TON of FUN!

It took 3 adults to get dinner going for 2 kids, while entertaining them at the same time --- hmmm.... maybe I am a bit out of practice with babysitting!! :-) Tommy is here for several months as an exchange student from OU, and Lydia just moved here from Jena. She's doing an internship locally in animal nutrition and just bought rubber boots to enter the cow stall!

What kid does NOT like ice cream? And in Germany the Italians have cornered the market for creative and tasty bowls of this stuff! The building here is where the city library is AND a huge, new shopping mall (complete with toy stores, their favorite!). Janine, a college student, was sweet enough to let us use her library card.

The whole family got all dressed up to go with me to the 2nd service at church, that is AFTER we had a marvelous, American- style pancake and bacon b-fast!

just what are you waiting for?

Or better yet, for whom are you waiting? A verse of note confronts me with this question, this answer:
"For God alone my soul waits in silence,
from him comes my salvation....
For God alone, my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken."
(Psalm 62:1 & 5-6)

Who am I waiting on, what am I waiting for? A LOT of things and people, I could answer. For starters, I'm waiting for the German society (as a whole) to be "nicer" and less direct. I could be waiting for friends to come through for me or initiate… OR God could bring people to initiate with me or act upon my overtures & let me know they have interest in a deeper friendship. I could rest in the fact that God loves me. And out of this overflow reach out, in a balanced way, to others.

I could wait on family to be there for me, to notice from a distance when I need a phone call or to realize what would make me happy. To buy the fun things I like to eat when I visit. OR, I could rest in the Lord and give to them without expecting. Be grateful for how they tend to my financial details back at home, and make the first move in researching for plane tickets for me for Christmas.

I could wait upon my supervisors to come through for me. To think of me and acknowledge my leadership in ways which I would determine. Or- hey, maybe I should be making THEM look good, and thanking them profusely for opportunities that they have put before me!

No, I want to wait ONLY on God. But how!?

Another thing I've realized is that waiting is not just passive, sitting around and praying for something to happen (though that might sound as if I feel prayer is passive, which it's not; for some of us it's less threatening than "getting out there and acting on guidance from the Lord!).

In Lamentations 3:24-26 it says the Lord is good to those who wait, to the soul who seeks Him. That means that although my waiting may look lethargic or in-active, it is actually ACTIVE – not impatient. But looking to the Lord for His answer, seeking Him for Him. And seeking His action on a matter!

I heard recently from a friend, who told me a lot of church starters that he knows think they can spend hours a week just sitting in Starbucks and then -- whoosh-- a church will appear! James 5:7 talks about the "husbandman" (the farmer) who is patient for the rains, that will bring about the fruit he’s waited for. Maybe he does have a time for a nice cup of Starbucks. But being a farmer? That involves a ton of activity—God is wanting us to expect and wait. But also ahead of time, or during this waiting, to act! To plant, to plow, and THEN to wait. And this activity is repeated over and over again in succession. Plant, plow, pray, wait, plant, pray, plow, wait, pray, etc. Sometimes we attempt to live out this statement: “it’s all about God” in an un-true way. Meaning that we just sit here & think we can be passive. God the Creator is not passive. We, too, can emulate His character, even in the waiting.

More on waiting

I wrote a couple of weeks ago on waiting-- and how I really do NOT like it. Here are other insights I've discovered in this word study I've been doing...

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"
(Isa. 30:18)

Another translation says that the LORD "waits" (longs) to be gracious to us. God waits. Why? He greatly desires to do good things for us. Oh, I thought if He's a God of justice, then He's ready to "judo-chop" me when I mess up ... ?! He is not "out to get us;" instead He is longing for fellowship to be restored. Is that my image of God, that He's waiting for the chance to show me compassion and mercy? He waits for us to come to Him and get rid of the sin; to stop fleeing from His plan. In verse 15 of chapter 30 it says:

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
'In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.'"

In this context of 'waiting' this verse makes a lot of sense. God invites me to rest in His arms. To trust His strength versus my methods and busy-ness. To be quiet (not lethargic and passive, or lazy at my job, however). Just quietly trusting. I recently put this verse on my laptop as my screen saver. The words leap out at me: "but you would have none of it." AHH! Is that true? I don't WANT to be quiet and restful? Am I fretting when I could be fellowshipping? Am I stressing, when I could be stable in His love? Why am I worrying -- my mind comsumed with "all I have on my do-list today"-- instead of taking time for worshipping?

This invitation is from God. I'm accepting it, over and over again, by faith-- I want to be blessed, in the waiting. I am in awe of a God who works SO hard, for me:

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him." – Isa. 64:4

Hats Off

"Kicker" is the German term for what Americans call "Foosball." And I just found out that Brits call it "Table football." But when you say the word in German "Fussball," that's our American word for soccer. And that's the British term "football." (are you with me?!)...

So which "hat" would YOU choose as the winner? We had a contest/ game at our "hat" -themed party and 3 teams competed. Miriam is Captain Blaubär (blue bear?), Jonny is something innovatively artistic with eyes coming out of the lampshade, and Ruben is Madonna just back from her Asian tour (yes, i had the privilege of "selling" this creative work to the jury). Suffice to say, we had a lot of FUN!

Especially when we swapped around hats and got some great party pics! Julia's grandfather's top hat was a hit! (Aunt Becky, you gave me one of these... and Mom, do you recognize 2 of Grandma's hats?!)