The Wonderful World of Journaling
Journals. Brand new journals have such mystery and allure. They draw me in to a place of possibilities. Old Journals tell stories of where they have been. They are history keepers and secret keepers. My Journal: a little lonely in the month of December. I was able to sit down and write for a good while a couple days ago and thought to myself, "Wow, this is so good. Why don't I do this more?" It was like I was able to understand the person I was being and the person I was becoming. I was able to tell God in writing how things really were going for me. I was able to be myself. I am reading a... Read more
Climbing the Staircase One Step at a Time
This is an update of the lives of some of the women we are ministering to at Neustart and the steps of redemption God is lovingly bringing them through. J: J is a young Polish girl who was once part of a Satanic cult but whose heart is in a state of seemingly rebellious searching. What I mean by that is she expresses her fears, concerns and questions often in the form of closed remarks or piercingly hateful comments. She talks about how evil God is but continues to bring Him up in conversations and makes jokes about my "relationship" with Him. I see this as a real search of her heart and soul... Read more
Merry Christmas from Berlin!
A very merry Christmas to all!! Gesegnete Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr! Here is the latest from Berlin… My Roommate It has been a joy for Robby and I to have had many more continued conversations with my roommate Pascal about Christianity. He has been wrestling through questions about Hell and why people go there, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the importance of scripture as the highest authority and something not to be added to, and may other topics. A few weeks ago I took him to meet with Timo, the German pastor with Reachglobal, to talk more about these questions in his... Read more
Two Months Ago...
I boarded a plane and moved to Ukraine! (I just wrote that, then read it and realized it rhymed.) But wow! Can you believe it? I have been here for two whole months! Some days, I feel like I have been here for years and other days I feel like I just got here an hour ago- but everyday is an adventure. I have been learning a lot about culture, time, people, myself, and God. I wish I could sit here and list out every single thing that I am experiencing, describe it all in perfect detail for you, but I’m not that talented, plus you and I don’t have the time for that. There is also so much that I... Read more
Humble Beginnings
Christmastime in Berlin has reminded me that it is not about the Christmas decorations (especially those revolving around Santa, reindeer, or other characters). While it is nice to have a decorated tree, lights hanging on the wall, or red and green placemats, that is not what Christmas is about. These things definitely help it feel more like home and help combat homesickness during the holidays, but I need to remind myself that I do not need these items. The idea of the Christmas tree came to my mind when I was thinking about this. It starts as a basic pine tree. There are lots of those in... Read moreLife Together
When my roommate Jeff and I moved into our Berlin flat, we knew that we would want at least one more person, maybe two. Jeff had a comfy single room to himself, and I had a massive room to myself, which is equal in size to our living room. The layout of the flat is that we have a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a small bedroom all in a row between two larger rooms. Jeff was perfectly happy with his room, but mine was definitely too big for just me. For just two people the flat felt kind of lonely, and if one of us wasn’t there then it felt even more so. And neither of us is especially... Read more
A Dynamic City
Can you see the awesome effect the sun has on the Fersehturm (T.V. tower)? I've heard it called the "kreuz effect" because the architecture of the tower makes a cross when the sun hits it just right. I saw this one day when I was sight seeing with one of my team members. I turned around and there it was shining brightly for everyone to see. I also like how from almost every angle you can get the cross on top of the Berliner Dome in the picture. This city changes so fast from construction going down the street to new restaurants opening over the weekend. There is so much happening and so much... Read moreLeaning to Love Well
After a busy week of language school, English Club and life I was really looking forward to this weekend. I always have this imagination that when the weekend comes, suddenly I will have tons of time to relax, catch up on rest, do the things I didn’t do all week, exercise and have tons of fun. Then somehow the weekend comes and I fill my days with things that somehow are never as relaxing as I imagined and I stress out about not doing other things, be them work or “fun,” that I had wanted to do. I am a doer by nature and a list maker and so I perpetually have a list of expectations for... Read more