Home for the Holidays!

God has given me so many good gifts this month! I posted a month or two ago about all the wonderful things that have happened this year, but December alone has been incredible! Ken, Ben & Richard Rudolph visited me in Berlin December 10-14. Ken spoke in youth group for me Saturday night and 11 teens responded to the gospel invitation he gave! The next day, I got the privilege of hearing my 14-year-old neighbor pray to receive Christ. All that to say, I left Berlin on a HIGH! I was so excited about the salvations and so excited to go home. The excitement kept me from sleeping for several nights leading up to departure day.

The flight home was uneventful except that I got a migraine halfway through (from lack of sleep and a very HOT airplane) and thought I was going to be sick on the guy next to me! Thankfully, God kept me from that and allowed the medicine to take effect in time. Before it worked though, I was pacing the aisles until I got yelled at and told to return to my seat because the "fasten seatbelt" sign was lit. (I felt like saying, "What would you rather me do: pace and settle my stomach, or sit down and lose my lunch all over your plane?")

Walking through the arrivals hall in Philly and spotting my parents was a very welcome sight! Ironically and comically, the first thing we did after leaving the airport was spot an IKEA and stop to eat dinner and pick up a few Christmas presents. (IKEA is Swedish and there are 3 in Berlin.)

Now today, two days after arriving "home", we are in the midst of a winter snow storm! Six inches has fallen in 3 hours. If you know me, you know I LOVE snow!!!!

I'm sitting here enjoying the snow falling outside, blogging, working on Christmas cards, listening to my mom talk to herself while she makes butternut squash soup and counting the days until I get to see my brothers, sister-in-law, niece and soon-to-be-sister-in-law! :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

You Have a Friend Request

I taught a lesson tonight in youth group trying to capture the spirit of "Advent" in a way that would be relevant for teenagers. I came up with a way to present the good news of Jesus Christ using Facebook! I'll think the pictures sum it up. You have a friend request!

Warning: If you accept His gift of friendship, He will enter your life and dramatically change it! You will never be the same again. He will transform you from the inside out and you will join the largest “family” in the world . . . The family of God. Your eternity will be secure, and your life will be about HIM.

BUT if you reject Him, you will remain in your sin and under God’s wrath. You will ultimately pay the penalty for your sin, which is eternal death. To reject Christ, is to reject LIFE.

He did EVERYTHING to be your friend. Will you accept His friendship?

Thanksgiving ABCs

Things I'm thankful for this year . . . from A to Z
Advent – Christmas is coming and Christ is coming again!
Brothers – mine rock!
Churches that support me prayerfully and financially
Dad – I’m finding I’m more like him each day, and proud of it!
Excedrin – I don’t even want to think about life without it. Lol
Facebook – I would know absolutely nothing about anyone w/o it.
Glenn Amos – Thank you, God!
Hope, Health and Humor
ITunes allows me to watch the shows I miss
Jesus Christ – without Whom I would have no purpose or meaning in life.
Kaci – a great sister-in-law who loves my brother and gives me nieces!
Little girls – specifically my niece, Lana, and her little sister due April 3rd!
Mom – I miss you so much and can’t wait to see you in 2 weeks!
New family members – I’m also going to have a new sister-in-law on July 11th
Opportunities to laugh
Pumpkin and pecans shipped to me from friends and family
Quark Bällchen – You haven’t lived until you try these fried dough balls of delight
Rudolphs – Ken, Ben & Richard are coming to visit next week
Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos & Schokolade (chocolate)
Team Berlin – I still like them after 4 ½ years!
U.S. Airways (December 17th!)
Vonage allows me to call everyone stateside from a PA phone number.
Weihnachtmarkts (Christmas Markets)
X-treme Teens – the name of our exploding youth group in Berlin
Youth Ministry – I love it more and more with each new year
Zach Dye – youngest member of Team Berlin & cutest little guy ever