Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers' perspective on Christ and how the Christian life should be lived seems to be what I need in this season of life. In the past few months, I've been challenged, and my heart has been spoken to, by many things that Chambers have said. And so I've been trying to daily read "My Utmost for His Highest."

Yesterday's entry said, "Don't rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me." Today's entry said, "Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water."

This spoke to my heart. Also, Matthew 6:34 has been on my mind and heart for the past few days ("So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."), but Chambers' words remind me of verse 33 - "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school at BFA. This is a place steeped in traditions, one of which is beginning the new school year with fanfare. The day starts with "Opening Ceremony," which as I think about it, could be compared with its Olympic counterpart. The faculty, ResLife staff, and senior class all march in - I think we call that a processional? (Living in a foreign country sometimes makes me question certain English words.) Each member of the senior class carries the flag of a different country. (Often it's a country that student has lived in or holds a special affinity for.)

Now here's where the ceremony varied from recent tradition. You see, our former director left in July and we currently have an interim director. Mr. Interim Director rappelled down out of the rafters. I for one was definitely surprised. (So surprised that I have absolutely no pictures from this morning to show you.)

One favorite tradition that was also missing was the interviewing of the first graders. It is a memorably funny time because first graders have some interesting answers to basic questions (such as where they live, what their parents do, etc.). One of the two first graders was sick today, so evidently there will be an interviewing of the first graders in a few weeks (when their German counterparts in the bilingual school join them).

After the director's rappelling and introductory speech was the roll call of nations. Each nation represented by this year's student body - either by passport country or the country in which their parents serve - is listed. This year's list was fifty-some countries long, and spanned Europe, Asia, and Africa. (And I'm pretty sure there was at least one or two countries that I do not know the location of.)

It is good to have the students back. After all, that's why we're here. :)

John Eldredge on Sabbath

relief vs. restoration
survival vs. abundance
Life is up to me vs. Life is up to God
Staying on top of life vs. Rest & Renewal Activities

Busyness keeps up distracted

True Sabbath: It gives us perspective. Makes us more centered. More stable.

Mopping and Daddylonglegs

I grew up in a house that was completely carpeted - bathrooms, kitchen, and all! This is the reason I give for my hesitations and insecurities about mopping, at least. But really, what is so difficult about mopping? All you do is take a mop and dip it in the cleaning solution and water combo, and use some elbow grease to go back and forth across the floor. (After sweeping first, of course.) And when you're done, the floor is cleaner, right? (At least that's how I think it is supposed to work. I'm open to any advice or suggestions that you may have.) Today I decided that mopping is not something I should be unconfident (inconfident? nonconfident? Ah! What is it?) about. So my kitchen floor is now much cleaner. :)

Sometimes I vacuum with more...shall we say fierceness?... than other times. Today I was very fierce. Especially when it came to the few Daddylonglegs (or some of their cousins) who had taken up residence in various corners of the apartment while we were away this summer. They, and all evidence of their presence (ie cobwebs) are now gone. :)

Sometimes it's the little things in life - a clean apartment. Family recipes. Talking with my sister about good recipes we've tried. (She told me about this one she recently made and said they're AMAZING! - http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/08/peach-cupcakes-with-brown-sugar-frosting/)

Smile. Sigh of contentment.

Blueberry Jam and Watch Batteries

Sometimes it's easy to get trapped in by the four walls of our comfort zone. But life is richer when we do the hard thing and step outside of that box. Granted, the constant stepping out of one's comfort zone can become wearying, especially when one lives outside of one's home country.

I have fond memories of making jam with my mom. I've heard people talk about how easy it is to use the jelly-making sugars here. So one day last week, while roaming the aisle of the grocery store, I was brave. I bought "Gelier Zucker" (or something like that - I think it literally means "gel sugar"). After some time consulting my favorite online German-English dictionary (dict.leo.org), I soon had a jar of blueberry jam. (Yes, it only made one jar, but that was part of what convinced me - if it didn't turn out, there would only be a small amount of blueberries wasted.) It's fun to have a jar of homemade goodness. And to know that I could understand enough of the directions (with the help of aforementioned online dictionary) to successfully make jam. Granted, it was pretty simple - I only had to stir the fruit and sugar together for one minute.

Then, last Friday, around 3:30pm, I looked at my watch and it read 12:00. After a nanosecond of confusion, I realized that my watch battery must have died. But have no fear! This is not the first time my watch battery has died in Germany. But this time, I KNEW what to do. No moments of panicking and feeling overwhelmed. :) So, after meeting up with some of my English Camp staff friends (from previous years who had returned this summer) at the EisCafe (yum, ice cream!), I walked over to the store-where-I-could-get-my-watch-battery-replaced. Five minutes and five Euros later, I again had a functioning watch. Smile. Success.

Don't get me wrong - I still have my moments of feeling like a kindergartner or inept. For example, I just went to the grocery store. I was slow bagging my groceries, which meant the man behind me had to wait. And then as he walked by me in the parking lot, he said something that I didn't understand. I felt like he must have been insulting me or making fun of me, but I kept on walking and tried to brush it off.

But overall, I have noticed since returning from the US, I feel much more settled here. More settled into marriage. More settled into OUR home. More at ease with life overall. And that is a good thing.

Finding Routine in the Midst of Rest

Mike and I have been back in Germany since last Thursday, after spending about 3 weeks in the US visiting our families. My "sabbath summer" ended up including an unintentional break from electronic communication, including this blog, but I think it was a good thing for me. I think it refocused me a bit - I want to use these various methods of electronic communication as a tool to build and maintain relationships rather than as a way to waste time.

We've been slowly settling back into routine here. Mike is trying to get into a routine for school and prepare to start this new year (meetings start for him next week), and I'm trying to find a daily routine that includes purpose but also rest.

I hope to write some more posts - some including pictures and news of our summer, as well as sharing what is on my heart these days and what I'm learning.

I hope that you too are enjoying the special blessings of summer - a more relaxed pace, the yummy fresh fruits, sunshine, etc.

The Freedom of Summer...

Refocusing. I guess that's what I'm in the process of doing. Last week I spent five days in bed sick. I haven't been that sick - oh, possibly ever. I didn't proctor the exams I was supposed to proctor. Other people covered them. My end of the year reports will get written this week instead of last. Everything came to a standstill and I did nothing. Kind of makes you re-think life, eh? What's important and what's not? Relationships continued last week. But those tasks that I worry about so much? They didn't get done. And guess what? The world didn't stop. :)

I am thankful to be feeling better (still a bit weak, but hey - my body waged war on some gremlin germs last week!), and thankful that I was well enough to attend graduation on Friday and some other end of the year festivities. It's that time of year where there are many good-byes - some for the summer, some for a year, some for who knows how long.

I went back to the doctor this morning. As I walked home, and did a few errands on the way, I felt the freedom of summer. You know - that laid-back, unscheduled feeling to life. :) I haven't felt that in a long time. English Camp pretty much consumed my past few summers, so I'm looking forward to enjoying this "sabbath summer."