Poland!

We made it to Poland safely! God was so amazing today. We traveled to Berlin via train and we were all a little worried about getting on the right bus after getting off our train in Berlin. Mind you the Berlin train station is the largest in Europe.(Its the one from the Bourne Supremacy if you want to get a good look at it) WE found the information center but the line was huge, and we knew we didn't have that much time. Then, out of no where, a man walked over to us and asked if he could help. We asked him how we got on the bus and he promptly told us where to go, and what bus to get on. We walked across the street, and right then our bus pulled up. We made it to the train station just in time to see Jane and Ray walk off there plane. Then 3 minutes later Ephraim walked into the airport to get us, and off we went to Poland. The timing was amazing, and can only be attributed to our great God. We had a pleasant drive, most of us slept. Tonight we had a tent crusade where Paul preached, and at the altar called 4 people came forward. It was amazing, and the prayer time was great, and much needed. I am so thankful for our amazing trip and am really looking forward to starting camp tomorrow. Tonight they decided that my group is going to be the oldest and farthest along of all the kids. I'm really excited because I'll be working and teaching alongside Alana(I only met her on Tuesday, but we were fast friends) and Ephraim will be one of our translators. I'm excited to get started. Please pray for our kids. I think that they will be fun since we will have a better ability to communicate. Everything has been so wonderful so far, and the people are great. I have been feeling a real need to make sure that when I get home my home is a place of hospitality, and that I am open to people coming and staying and serving them in any way. We have been served in so many ways and I hope that if real hospitality is the one thing I learn, that I instantly put it into practice when I return. Well, I need to go to bed morning is coming quickly. I thank you all for your prayers. I can only praise God for letting today go as well as it did.

On to Poland

Ok, my time here in Germany has been a blast. We have walked A LOT and have seen so many beautful things that I can't even begin to start to list them all. For example, today we were driving to Trier, and along the highway was this beautiful castle ruins that were up on the hill. It looked straight from a movie. This huge castle completely in ruin, up on a hill, over looking the valley and town. It was breathtaking. Seriously though, the list goes on and on.
This week with the Von Bibra's and Hilary have been great. There family is really fun, and the children are very cute and get along(which makes a huge difference) I'd forgotten how much fun Hil and I have together. I have tried new things, and had the most amazing week here. Tomorrow morning we leave at 5:44 am on the train from Bonn to Berlin. It is a 5 hour train ride, but we have a table so we can write, or play games. Please pray for safe travel for us, and for Jane and Ray who we will be meeting at the Berlin airport. Also, we have to get from the train station to the airport on our own and we are a little nervous. I am praying that God will give us wisdom, and someone that will know the way. We have decided we are asking the first person that works at the train station that we see. We will be picked up at the airport by pastor Daniel, then we will drive for a few hours into Poland( I think around 5, but I'm not sure)
Monday we start our camps, and I'm am really looking forward to all that God is going to do. As fun as this last week has been, I am most looking forward to the camps. I can't wait to see the children and get to know them. I have been praying for them for so long that actually meeting them will be a joy. I am trusting that God will bring everything together, and I am excited for everything to really get started. Please continue to pray! I know you all are, and I am so thankful for your prayers and support. Everything has gone smoothly so far, and I think that is a testament of all your prayers. I love you all.

More Lovely Pictures........

Being Silly in the Cafe
Einstein Kaffe
Annie and I
BBQing at the river
These are the funny slippers they made us wear around the small castle. The lady yelled at us for slidding around in them. They were really slippery and it was fun to run and slide. Good times...........

We had a great day today. We slept in late, so I'm almost entirely over my jet lag. Then we went and saw these two beautiful castles today. They were fun to walk through, and the grounds were magnificient. I can't even begin to tell you how beautful they were, and the pictures hardly do them justice. We had a great time eating down at the river tonight. We had a big BBQ with the whole family and the food was great. After a long day of walking around it was fun to just hang out and play soccer at the park. This family is great, and they are so generous and open their home to us. It's late for me, so I am going to go to bed. Perhaps I'll get up some more pictures later.

More Pictures

An amazing BBQ for dinner on the Rhine River

This was a beautiful Castle, but I can't remember the name.
We hiked out to this point on the river
This was as we were leaving. If you look straight out, those were the rocks we walked out on.
The gardens at the castle.

Pictures

Our Zippy little rental car.

Eupen, Belgium

In front of the Cathedral in Cologne.

Three countries, One Day

Yesterday we went to Belgium and the Netherlands, all in one day! It was so much fun. I was driving our little rental car all over the countryside. All we had was this little map and a car full of girls. We had so much fun. Eupen, which is a beutiful town in Belgium, was great fun. We walked all around the city and gained some interesting stare's from the locals. We definitely enjoyed our time and have some good pictures to show for it. I'll try to get some up for all of you to see. Well, thank you all for praying, and I am looking forward to next week when we will be in Poland.

Germany

I Made It Alive! God was good to me, and my flights all went really well. I missed my flight from London to Dusseldorf but it went ok, and they got me on the next flight. I was praying for people that I could talk to while I was traveling alone, and God provided many such people. First, a family traveling from Seattle to London saw me many different times and always talked to me and were very nice. We sat and talked together while we waited for our flight in Vancouver. They saw me again in London and waved me down just to say that they, too, had made it. I can't even begin to explain how nice it was to have someone to talk to me in London after such a long flight. They invited me to eat lunch with them, but I was stressed because of my missed connection and knew that I needed to find a phone to call Hilary. I was greatful for their kindness and praised God for sending someone to me that day. Secondly, a little spanish boy named Xavier(he was five) talked to me while we were waiting to board. He was so incredibly cute and he spoke perfect English even though his parents couldn't. He talked to me for nearly 10 minutes and was so much fun. I'm pretty sure that if they would have asked me to move to Spain to be his nanny I would have agreed on the spot. Thirdly, a girl that sat next to me in the Vancouver airport was crying, so I talked to her for quite a while trying to encourage her. She was a 20 year old from Canada moving to Italy for a year to be a nanny. She was sad to leave her family and friends. I talked to her for quite a while and helped her out as best I could. She was really nice and talked to me again after our flight in the London airport. She said she had traveled lots, but she must have been directionally challenged because I had to help her find her way four times. She always seemed to be lost. Other then that my flights were all normal. I didn't sleep a whole lot, but it was ok. The adrenaline kept me going. When I got to Dusseldorf it was so great to see my cousins and Alana. Hilary came running up to me when I came through the doors, and I was so excited to see her. The last time I saw her was in February when she left. It was quite the reunion. Anyway, I am here safe and sound. I didn't sleep very long last night, but we were up early today because we are leaving to rent a car and go to Belgium and France for the day since Hilary doesn't have classes. I'm thankful to be here safe, and I praise God for all the people He sent my way during my many hours of travel. Pictures should follow in the near future.

Off to the Airport!

I'm ready to go!

Off I go!

Well, I'm ready to leave! My bags are packed, and everything is as ready as it's going to be. I wanted to just ask again that everyone pray for my trip, our team, and especially for the hearts of the people that will be hearing the gospel. So much can happen in 8 weeks, and I am looking forward to seeing everything unfold before me. Thank you all, and I will try to get this updated as often as possible.

Kurt James

Hilary, this post is merely because I know that you will appreciate this as much as I did. While Kurt and I were eating dinner tonight he asked me if I could find him some spices to make his dinner a little spicier. I looked through the cupboards but found nothing that would work other then pepper. Then, to my astonishment, he responded, "O, drat". I continued to look but quickly asked him, "did you just say drat, as in d-r-a-t?" and he said that he had and then laughed like everyone uses that word all the time. I couldn't believe it. My little brother had possibly used our most favorite boggle word(other then gad) in context, in a sentence. I'm so proud! Anyway, I thought you would enjoy that little story!

A Week and A Day

It's exactly one week and one day from when I take off(almost to the minute since my plane leaves Yakima at 4:30 next Monday) I'm so excited and I can't wait to see Hilary and for all the fun we are going to have! I've been thinking about the mission trip a lot lately and have been praying for the children and the people we will be with. It is important that there hearts be ready to hear the gospel. I pray daily that the Lord will send people with a listening ear and that He will use me as a tool to spread the gospel. I'm so excited! I love working and serving our Lord. I can't wait to see all that He is going to do this summer, whether it be big or small. I'm so happy to see more of the world and truly cannot believe that in One week and One day I'll be in Europe! AHHHH!!! Sweet!!!

Sweet Girls!

Yesterday my youth group girls had a sleep over, so I was there to make sure that everyone had fun! When I got there they all jumped out and yelled surprise. Those sweet girls had thrown me a surprise birthday party. They had cake and food, and even presents. They were so cute and I love them all so much. I can't believe how quickly these girls have grown so dear to my heart, and I'm so sad to have to be gone all summer. We'll have to make up for lost time when I get back.

Today(or rather yesterday)

I'm posting twice in the same sitting, but they will have been posted in two different days. Ha, that kind of cracks me up. I look so dedicated to my blog but really I just wait until midnight to post so it looks like I post every day........... Ok, moving on.......... My day today was strange. First off, I went to work but wasn't exactly needed because my boss was only on call, not at the hospital working. So, I did my normal routine with the kids but there mom was at the house all along(this felt really strange since I'm just not used to her being there). After I took the kids to school my boss, Mary, invited me to go to Costco with her since she would rather have someone to talk and hang out with versus going alone. Since I rarely pass up a trip to Costco, I agreed. We had a good time walking around talking about Europe, and the rest of my summer plans. After we got back from Costco and a few other errands I left there house and headed to my apartment where I thought about cleaning my room but opted instead to play my piano and bake cookies. I had a joyous afternoon and was climbing into bed to take an hour long nap when my boss called beckoning me back to there house since she got called in to work. Tired, but smiling, I left my apartment to go pick up my kids. We had a fun afternoon down at my parents farm.

At five o'clock I had a call from my roommate who informed me that a friend of hers was killed in an airplane accident. I sat in the car, with my two kids and my little brother in the back seat, trying to think of the right words to say to comfort my dear roommate. Talk about a day switch. All of a sudden my mind was constantly trying to evaluate Becky's emotions. Where is she? Does she need me? Do I need to talk or listen? What do I say? How can I help her? I did the best I could on the phone, praying for his family, and trying to get a feel for how she was doing. I knew she was taking this hard and being stranded at work with three kids was probably the worst place I could have been. There was nothing I could do to get away but I wanted so badly to just give her a hug, sit on the floor next to her and just listen to all that was going through her mind. I am praying that the Lord will give us some time in the morning to just be. I really want to spend time in prayer for his family, friends, and all the relatives that will be devastated by this news. It was a sad way to end my day, but I'm so very thankful that I have God to lean on, or I'm sure I would go crazy.

Mediocrity

I had one of those days. You know, the ones that aren't exactly bad, but aren't exactly good. The ones that keep you up at night pondering whether or not you should even try to remember the details, or whether you should file them away with all the other mediocre days. Today was one of those days. I want to file my thoughts away for a rainy day but I know that most of what needs to be dealt with will have to wait until morning.

So, that brings me to my next thought. Morning. The bible talks a lot about the morning. My concordance has over 200 references to the word morning. God ceases to amaze me with His endless artistic ability in creating beautiful mornings. Since working this year as a nanny I have learned to enjoy and appreciate my early morning hours where the world is silent but my mind is eagerly stumbling over it's thoughts. Yet tonight, as I was dwelling on my mediocre day, and wondering what I was going to say to my roommate in the morning, a verse jumped into my mind. Lamentations 3:22-23, a verse many of us know by heart and almost everyone knows by song, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." I couldn't help but humbled by the grace of God. His love for me never ceases. His mercies are new every morning. Daily I can be renewed in spirit by the power of the almighty God, and whether or not I had a mediocre day should definitely not send me into any kind of worry mode. I have a Father who provides everything I need and I am sure that He will provide just the words that my roommate needs to hear in the morning. I am so thankful that I can turn to my Father in Heaven and know that He hears me, He loves me, and He is going to help me do what needs to be done for His plan to work. So at the end of this mediocre day I leave you not with negative thoughts but a joyful spirit. Tomorrow morning as I'm getting out of bed I can turn to my Lord and thank Him for the mercies He has already sent my way.

Thoughts

You know the Casting Crowns Song "Praise you in this Storm"? Well, I was thinking of that song today and what it really looks like to Praise God in the midst of everything and anything that is happening to you. I don't claim to be in the middle of any huge storms in my life, but some days I do feel challenged as to whether or not I will choose to glorify God even when things aren't going as planned.
To explain myself I will relate to you today's interesting happenings. First off, it was the second morning this week that I woke up throwing up. I was sure that I was already done with this little flu bug that I caught from Tre, but it seemingly reappeared inside my stomache. Nothing to me is more misserable then being sick to ones stomache.

The worst part of the story is that for the second time this week I had to call into work and tell my dad I couldn't come. If it were any other boss he would understand but because I work part-time for my dad it's difficult. I know he know's I'm not lying but the insinuation that I just need to suck it is more then I can take. But even beyond that is the fact that I want to work. I'm leaving the country in 2 weeks and any extra money is absolutely wanted. I would go into work if it were at all possible. Yet I know that going in would not be good for me, or anyone else.

So, I have to trust that A.) God will provide the money I need for this trip. and B.) that He is still in control.
Even though I don't claim to be in any real storm right now. I do think that choosing to praise our God is a daily task. A task which becomes challenging when we are sick, but one that definitely brings glory to God.

Psalms 37:5

"Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act."

I'm feeling much better about Europe. I'm really looking forward to all that God is going to do this summer, and I seriously can't wait to get started. I'm anxious to start to serving oversea's and meeting my brothers and sisters there. I have concerns and worries, but letting them cloud my mind is a sin. I serve a God that controls the Universe, that Created the Universe, and a God who is completely Sovereign. Why do I worry? Why can't I be completely trusting in His power and faithfulness? I now pray that I'll be in the right mindset, and that God will use me however He see's fit.
Pray for me, Pray for our team, and please pray especially for everyone who will hear the gospel. That the Spirit would move inside of them and that there would be a deep and far reaching spread of the gospel.

Almost ready for Europe

I have been thinking of making myself a blog for a few weeks now, but tonight a real reason for needing one happened upon me. I was sitting in my living room tonight pondering how few weeks/days remain until I leave for Europe and I decided two things. One, I needed to make a photo diary/journal of what I was thinking. Two, I needed to somehow get it to Hilary.

So here is my first entry, and for your viewing pleasure a small photo journal of my thoughts this evening. I hope you enjoy.

Basically Freaking out.

I wish I could make facial expressions that even compared with Hilary's

Knowing that I shouldn't be freaking out, and trying to get over it.

Coming up with a seriously bright idea.

Hey, reading my Biblio might help!

So I read a few chapters........and

Then I felt much better but was humbled by the fact that I am still a stupid, sinning, human being who needs to be reminded that she is not in control(nor wants to be).

The End