Favorite Pictures and Memories from 2008

I know that 2008 isn't over yet, but I was goofing off tonight with Picasa and came up with this collage of favorite pictures and memories from this year. I thank God for each and every memory. Enjoy!

My favorite memories were definitely (in chronological order):

• January: Celebrating my 30th birthday in Lancaster, PA
• January: Driving my Uncle Tom's tractor in Iowa
• January: Ice fishing in Alaska
• May: Traveling Germany's "Romantic Road" with my parents
• July: Seeing fireworks on July 4th in Berlin!
• July: Meeting my parents in Milan, Italy
• August: Having my Grandma Walker's church come for our teen camp
• August: Rejoicing over my neighbor, Janek, starting to come to church
• August: Attending the EBM European Conference in Wagrain, Austria
• August: Finding out I'm going to be an aunt again :-)
• September: Experiencing a record high attendance in youth group - 60+ teens!
• September: Witnessing 10 baptisms in a lake at our church retreat
• October: Discovering my brother, Todd, is getting married!!!

Thank you, Father, for all of it!

Interesting Book

I'm ashamed to say that I no longer read very often. Before college, I used to read 2-3 books a week. I used to just sit at cafes, like Borders, and just read or meet friends and talk about what we were currently reading (Josh, Jason . . . good times!). After all the forced reading in college and the busyness of "real life", I just don't get to it like I wish I could. The books that I have read this year have been mostly forced reading as well: "The Mark of Jesus" and "Don't Waste Your Life" (in German). I've read a little for pleasure, but that pretty much sums it up. (I thoroughly enjoyed a book entitled, "The Gospel According to Starbucks"!)

I've heard quite a bit about "The Shack", but I don't usually get into bandwagon Christianiaty (ie: never saw "The Passion of the Christ", never made it through "Blue Like Jazz" or "Velvet Elvis" . . .) Last week though, a German friend described to me the difference "The Shack" had made in his thinking and it lit of spark of curiosity in me great enough that I borrowed the book and started reading it. I wasn't expecting it to be fiction for some reason. I mean, I knew it was a "story" about some guy going to a shack and meeting the trinity, but I felt for the first 70 or so pages like I was reading a mystery novel. I couldn't put it down! The unfortunate thing though, was that I read those first 70 pages before traveling back to my apartment on a bus, in the dark, alone. Not good. If you've ever read "The Shack" you know why I say not good. I was scared to death! So, disclaimer: read those first 70 pages selectively . . . maybe not right before bedtime.

I'm a little over halfway through the book right now and I've been mad, scared, excited, shocked and slightly offended, but overall I'm really enjoying it. It's definitely a page turner and thought provoker! I know there are probably people reading this that both loved and hated the book for various reasons, but I just felt like sharing my feelings so far. Any feedback? Have you read it? If so, what'd you think?

I wish I could go to Borders today with a friend and talk about it . . . I miss that, a lot.

A Glimpse into the Joys and Oddities of an International Church Plant

I grew up my whole life in America in churches that consisted of 98% WASP’s (white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants). Basically, church was several hundred American, Caucasian, Republican, Regular Baptists who agreed on the big issues: the inerrancy and authority of the Bible as the Word of God and the importance of all-church potlucks (aka “covered dishes" - a wide assortment of unidentifiable casseroles, green jello and fattening desserts).

Sitting in church today, I was surrounded by people from Germany of course, but also people from America, England, Rwanda, Kenya, Iran, Finland, Holland, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Russia, and I might be missing some!

Today is November 9th. This date probably means nothing to you, but we were reminded in the service today that it is the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall (1989) and “Kristallnacht” (1938). Today was also the “International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church”, which we also recognized and prayed for in today’s service (hopefully many of you did too!). There’s nothing like praying for the persecuted church with a church full of people representing those nations! Then, to top it off, we had a special guest speaker – a female, Tutsi survivor of the Rwanda Genocide! She gave her testimony today of attackers breaking into her home and killing everyone but her, including her two small sons. She escaped death only to deliver her third baby hours later . . . alone. Her husband was gone and her other children recently murdered. It was an amazing testimony!

After the service ended, we had to quickly move out of the sanctuary and into the fellowship hall to allow another church to set up for an evening Gospel concert. An hour later, we were holding AWANA on one end of the building while hundreds of Africans (and other nationalities) sang together at the top of their lungs at the other end in a style of worship that is completely foreign to me. Meanwhile, the little kiddies on our end were screaming and dancing to a song with the lyrics, “Heiß, heiß, heiß!” (“Hot, hot, hot!”).

Bet your church service was nothing like ours. Bet you wish you could visit! ;-)

What babies teach us . . .

I went to a birthday party for my teammate, Zach, who turned 2 on Halloween! It was, of course, great fun. But I, once again, learned a lesson from a little person that I don't want to forget.

For Zach, opening presents was a bit of a chore. He just wanted to play with the first toy he opened. But there were many more unopened gifts! His little mind couldn't comprehend it. After every cool present, they'd tear him away from it and make him open the next one. The presents were getting better and better and towards the end Zach got more and more upset. He just wanted to play! He was content.

Sometimes in life, we get content with what we've been given, thinking it's the best it's gonna get, and then God does exactly what Zachy's parents and siblings did to him. The "gift" is taken away so that the next thing can be revealed . . . the next "gift", the next chapter in life, the next assignment, the next person, etc. But since we fear the unknown, and since we don't really trust God like we think we do, we get upset, just like Zach. Loss, in our minds, can never be a good thing! It rarely occurs to us that loss and separation simply makes way for gain and the possibility of even greater gifts!

Zach's final gift was this Thomas the Tank Engine train set, which was his favorite gift. But, he couldn't foresee that. :-) Maybe this means nothing to you . . . but it does to me. Thanks, Zach.