Mark Driscoll

One of my "go to" podcasts is Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. He's currently preaching through the book of Esther and it's been a really great, challenging and thought provoking series, check it out!! Some of my other favorite series that he's done are "Religion Saves and other misconceptions" (the emergent church one is great) and his more recent "Real Marriage" is a great one too (I recommend the friends with benefits one).

Missionary Care Retreat, Split Croatia

I received a huge blessing this past week. I was able to attend a missionary care retreat in Split, Croatia. (Split is awesome - check out my travel blog for pictures!) There's an organization, based in Tennessee, that sponsors missionary getaways all over the world. They invite missionaries to come to a beautiful hotel for an all inclusive retreat - we just have to get there. Once we're there, meals and lodging are covered! Pretty cool!! I've had friends in the past who've been able to attend these, and was excited to go on one myself. Heather and I signed up, and our good friends Lou and Cathy also signed up. We've been extremely cared for. Lou and Cathy have been the Hospitality House directors in K-town and are getting ready to move to Yokosuka, Japan to lead the Hospitality House there. Heather and I are really sad to see them go, we were really happy to have some extra time with them this past week. 

It's been fun meeting other missionaries. Many are from Eastern Europe. We've chatted with people serving in ... Ukraine, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Greece, and some closed countries that I shouldn't list for safety reasons. It's been humbling visiting with them. Even though I live in Germany, because I minister to the American community and have access to American goods on base, I sometimes forget that I live abroad. Heather and I brought some American goodies for people... Mac n' cheese, pumpkin pie filing, oreoes, peanut butter, baking chocolate, salsa - and it was awesome to see how excited people were to receive these things. One teenage girl that we've been spending time with was sooooo happy to have some comfort food from home. One man had been in one of the 'Stans, but when he was discovered to be baptizing people, he was scheduled to be executed. Praise the Lord he was able to get out of the country and continues to minister in a new location. A lady in a different county works with refugees and she actually met one of the men, the other guy had baptized. It's a small world. Hearing stories like that, and seeing the connections and sharing in all that the Lord is doing all over the world, makes me eager for Heaven. How awesome is it going to be, when we can all gather - from every tribe, tongue and nation and celebrate the faithfulness of God and praise Him together.

It has been a refreshing retreat. For the past two days, I've enjoyed sitting by the pool, looking out at the Adriatic Sea. I've read a few books, spent time in prayer and have napped on and off. We do so many retreats with our youth. I'm so used to taking care of things for them ... transportation, lodging, meals, making sure I have enough money in the right currency, keeping track of students, holding on to their passports, making sure kids are drinking water and staying healthy, etc. it's weird to come a retreat and not have any responsibilities! I've been really blessed by this retreat and I'm thankful for organizations who minister to missionaries. What a cool thing! Each evening, after dinner, everyone has gathered together to sing a few songs. Because I attend a military chapel, I forget that many people living overseas don't get to sing in English. So each night we sing 4-5 songs together, in English. I think people really enjoy that because it reminds them of home.

Sunset # 1 from our balcony. 

Sunset #2 from our balcony. 

Sunset #3 from the poolside 

Final sunset, we fly out in the morning. 

 I spent two afternoons soaking up vitamin d (I don't get much of that in Germany). 

The hotel had an infinity pool overlooking the Adriatic Sea... and it was amazing view.

Fall Retreat

Dear Team, 

I spent Columbus Day weekend in Switzerland with a group of 25 high school students and 4 other staff. We had a great fall retreat. During our morning and evening devos, we went through the book of Ephesians and talked about community and being a part of the body of Christ. We spent one afternoon hiking up to a waterfall and another afternoon watching clouds roll into the valley over the mountaintops and mist fall from the sky as we played games inside of our lodge. At least half of the students were fairly new to our group. It was a good connection time with so many new faces. Praise the Lord, everything went smooth travel wise and that relationships were built. Here's a few pictures from the weekend ... 

^Taken just outside of our lodge.

^ Our lodge came with a fire pit. We roasted marshmallows on Saturday night, the sky was super clear and it was awesome. Since we were talking about community, I used the fire as a teaching illustration. I talked about how important good community is for spiritual growth. I pulled one log out of the fire and we watched how quickly it burnt out. As soon as I placed it back in the fire pit - it started burning again. As believers, it's helpful to surround ourselves with other believers who will help us stay on fire for the Lord! 

^ One Saturday afternoon, we all hiked up to a waterfall. One of our students is in a wheelchair, and wasn't able to do the long hike. So I drove her and her sister to parking lot near the waterfall and we did a shorter hike to it. I'd done the hike before, and it was a bit more rocky that I remembered - but we got that chair up to the waterfall! I think Christie enjoyed it.  

^ All of us at the waterfall! 

2 years!

October 1st marketed my 2 year anniversary of arriving in Germany. My how the time has flown.

I'm headed to Switzerland tomorrow with 25 high school students and 4 other staff. Each year we do a fall retreat, alternating between high school and middle school. The 2010 fall retreat was one of the first things I participated in when I moved to Germany. It was a great bonding weekend for me, as I got to know a number of girls on the trip who would become my core Bible study group for that school year.

I was looking through this year's retreat roster, and 7 of the 16 girls coming, are new to our group. I'm really excited for these girls to build relationships within the group and feel connected. One of the girls coming only arrived in Germany on Monday! We're going to spend the weekend talking about our relationship with God and our relationships with others. They'll be plenty of downtime for students to hang out, go hiking and enjoy being in the alps!

A few prayer requests for the weekend ...
1. Safe travel - we are leaving after school (4ish) and it's about a 6 hour drive. We'll be caravaning in 4 vans.
2. Connections - I'd love to see students build/deepen relationships with one another, and return home feeling known.
3. God Conversations - as we talk about relationships in the middle of one of the most beautiful places on earth, I pray students will stand in awe of our amazing Creator.