... It's been a long time.

After much deliberation and prayer, I've returned to the city of my birth. I left much unfinished when I dashed away a few years ago. There are so many lessons knocking on my door, as if to say, "Learn me now?" 


After recovering from the initial, "What have I done?" shock, I've settled right back in. There's nothing like walking in your front door, smelling that homey scent and hugging your very proud mother. It's been a rewarding experience. 


So far, I've returned to work at the Bowling Alley (small-town, I know). I have had surprisingly good conversations with my coworkers, and I really know that this is where God wants me. As hard as it is, I am learning more about the heart of God for people in this job. I'm learning to serve, and I get to literally feel God's heart for the lost, and speak hope into the lives of people that are convinced that God hates them. It's war.


I have returned also to the church that I grew up in. It has gone through a major overhaul in the past 2 years, and it is a new place, where the passion of Christ is beginning to flow freely, and believers are seeing the undeniable hand of God. Plus, on Tuesday nights, they are having a class on the history of the Bible, which is like my very own piece of Bible College that I miss so dearly. 


I am also currently dating my best friend of 6 years, Jesse Wisener. Old news, but good news. We are experiencing the joy of God, and fellowship daily with the Lord in ways that are new and sometimes mind-boggling. I am watching as this is growing both my character and my trust in the Lord, leading me towards His heart. 


My dear Readers, I probably miss you, as you are all spread around the world. It satisfies my heart knowing that we share a future and a hope of eternal fellowship, for you are all so uniquely amazing. May God richly bless your day. 

Lest we forget...

Today was a good day. Happy Kelsey's Birthday everyone! It was my roommates Birthday today, so to celebrate we went to Köln today, to see the 5 Christmas Markets that are there. So I played tourguide/translator as best as I could and led a delighted group of girls around the city that was originally an old Roman Colony. We saw many beautiful things, humongous Christmas trees, ate a massive amount of German goodies and had great fellowship.

This is something everyone should experience at least once.

While we enjoyed the magical experience, the Starbucks, and all the other shiny things there was an impactful end to our night. We were ready to leave a little early, so I found a train that left before we had planned. Coming up the stairs to our platform, I looked left to see if the train was coming, and it was. There was one major problem, an older man had fallen on the tracks. Why, we don't know, but we can only speculate that he tripped or slid or fell. The train was slamming on its' brakes, and three men were on the tracks, picking him up and hoisting him over to a few other men. He looked unconscious. Limp, with a gash about 6 inches long and four inches wide on his head. His head must have broken his fall. They were successful in getting him up and the train was able to stop in plenty of time. Thank God. And for a few breathless moments, all we could say was, "Jesus". Our immediate reaction was to pray, and while we couldn't think of what to pray, and were in a state of shock, we watched and prayed while this man's grown son cradled him in his arms, crying and asking for medical help. People ran for the first aid kit and paramedics. After we began praying, the man began regaining consciousness and moving. To our extreme relief. His head would not stop gushing. By the time we were boarding our train, his head was bandaged and the paramedics had set him up and were taking him for medical attention. We were all pretty shaken and continued praying for him and his family.

It stirred us, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship afterward, trading stories of how good God has been to us all. I love hearing those special testimonies of how God has provided, saved, comforted, healed and protected his people. I don't think 2 hours has ever gone so quickly in my life. We were united, by the blood of Jesus and the testimony of a God who is very involved in our lives. I feel like I needed today, to hear those stories, and to reflect on all those times God has intervened in a special way.

Let us praise him, Lest we forget Him. For he is amazing, and no one can compare to our great God. I love him. I hope you do too.

God saves the day... err... year!

so, I don't know why I ever doubt God or become anxious.

long story. I wasn't sure quite what God was doing, but I knew that I was set up for a miracle. I had no money for next semester, so I was praying and simply holding onto faith that my God will supply what I need for the things that He has called me to. ie: Bible College.

I had possibly the worst morning of my life this Tuesday, ugh. After a long sleepless night of worry and anxiety mixed with prayer, I woke up 10 minutes before class. And it's a 20 minute walk to class. On the rainiest ugliest day ever. Not such a good start. James class that morning was amazing. My teacher, Hannah was speaking on the will of the Lord, and discerning his voice and direction as well as trusting him and planning accordingly. Leave room for God to change your plans! So, needless to say, this calmed me down. It was exactly what I needed to hear and set my heart at peace that God would provide for me here if he wanted me here.

I continued about my day, enjoying the rest of it. It was genuinely joyful after that. Well, I get home I have a vague email from my mom saying that she has tuition money for me. Shocked and confused I called her, and she told me the amazing news. She was suddenly reminded of a college fund that she has for me! I don't know how it was even forgotten about, but it was a great and amazing provision from God. It is miraculous how he can open our eyes and simply drop things from out of nowhere. All I have to say is, God is good, and he is so faithful to lead us and take care of what we need.

So take heart. be encouraged. God can and will take care of you too!

Auf dem Berlin Straßen

We hit the streets this week in Berlin. My team and I. It was bitter cold and rainy, but that didn't prevent the people from being out on the streets. We split up in small teams and hit up all the very touristy areas to spread the gospel, and we received mixed responses. For the most part, the people were all really open to talk, and some were excited and shocked to hear what we had to say. A few of my teammates had a one and a half hour conversation with a Muslim that was very encouraging.

The spiritual climate in Berlin is very dark, with only about 1% of the giant city professing to be Christians. Needless to say it was exhausting spiritual work those first few days. Oh, and I helped Tuukka (our Finnish outreach leader) lead worship for the small church on Sunday, and it went really well. The people were very encouraged by it, as well as the Pastor. All glory to God because we had very little to offer that day, and very little time to prepare.

The church was in a predominately Turkish neighborhood, and Pastor Paul's greatest hope is to start by reaching his neighborhood. On his street alone, there probably live about 2,000 people. Not to mention the rest of Berlin. About half of the congregation in his church is saved, and the other half aren't, but come on a regular basis. We can continue praying for them, and that they would truly come to a relationship with God, with the evidence of changed lives. They run a boy's club and a girl's club which a lot of the neighborhood kids attend. We got to meet some of these boys, and there is real hope in their lives. There seems to be a spark in them for God. The road will be difficult because they come from Muslim backgrounds, but they love the Pastor and being at the church. They are there almost everyday and act as if they own the place. It's a good thing, and they bring great life to the church.

The last day we met up to work with another ministry in their garden. They needed to have a couple fences removed and posts pulled out so that they could have another fence installed. It was totally an answer to prayer, cause they didn't have the time or the manpower to do so before the fence installers came. We had a great time working with our hands after all the spiritual work of the previous days.

All in all, it was a great trip of getting to know the church, helping them out, and being encouraged by the hard work that they are doing. God is surely glorified in their ministry, and it is a place I would love to go back to again.

Berlin... reaching out.

It's that all, important time in the semester again. Headed on Outreach week starting on Saturday. We are going to take a wonderful, nine hour train ride across the country to Berlin. I am pretty stoked about this, as Germany is my favorite country ever. My team is 7 Germans, 2 Americans, and 1 Fin. So needless to say, I will be hearing a lot of German, and hopefully able to practice speaking more. We are going to a Calvary Chapel in Berlin to encourage the Pastor and do a lot of praying for the church and the city. It's a city full of Atheists, and some Muslims, so we will have a wide array of people to talk to. In the afternoons we will be going on the streets to talk to people, and playing soccer (YES!) with the kids. And, get this, I will be helping 2 other people lead worship... gasp. I'm kinda nervous about this. Please keep us all in your prayers, that God would use us to share the truth with people, and that we would really be help to the small church that is filled with people who really struggle. From what I understand a lot of the members in the church are new believers, so it will be a really good thing for us to come encourage them. Pray for smooth traveling on our many different train connections. Pray for great unity between the team and also with the church.

I am excited to see what God will do, and share stories with you all!

PS: It's been 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell! I hope to go see this, and other things on our last day there. Plus, the birthplace of Döner. Hello, does it get any better than cheap, delicious food mixed with history?

Tschüß!

God spoiled me.

So I totally feel like God just hooked me up and spoiled me this semester. The blessings are immense. I have the best work duties ever!! Coffee Bar! So now I get to learn the fine art of espresso, and hang out in the cafe 12 hours a week. Thanks God. We had orientation today and I was quite pleased with my foam making skills. Hopefully they will be finely honed throughout the semester. :)

But seriously, I am blessed.

Classes started today. Woohoo! I love love love school, and studying and digging into the text and researching. And it can't get any better than studying what you love and what changes your life.

Sooooo... I am taking
The Gospel of Mark
Apologetics, (the reason and defense of the Christian faith. The same as a lawyer defending a client, for example)
James for Women
Missionary Biographies
Choir
and Missions

Which is a pretty sweet line-up and I am totally stoked about it.

I am praying for happy studies and sweet devotion times for you all with the Lord. Maybe I will post some of my exciting studies. We will have to see... Ciao.

Siegen isn't Siegen without the rain.

I'm finally back to my home away from home.

Oh, how I've missed it. It didn't really hit me that I was actually here until the rain came. It brought back all the multitudes of memories from the past two semesters. I have missed the people and the atmosphere, but at the same time it is so different. I'm sure once classes start and we get into the swing of things that we will really get to know one another well.

Due to the large amount of female students this semester, they put a lot of us in Apartments down the road, but I think I have the best set-up by far. I may be partial though. I have one roommate, named Kelsey, and we are staying with a couple from the church, in a little apartment down the road. We have a nice big bathroom all to ourselves and plenty of space to retreat to. It's quite lovely, and I am excited already. So, I am blessed, and super happy. I get to live my dreams, what more could I ask for.