Packing up

We spent the weekend packing and inventorying our belongings. The movers will come Friday morning to transport our things back to the US. We will be staying in Europe a couple more weeks. We'll be heading out Saturday for 6 days in Spain. Then we've got 5-6 in Switzerland and then we'll hit southwestern Germany on our way back to Hamburg. We'll say goodbye to our friends Feb 16-17 and then fly back to the US on February 18.

I'm still working on finding the right job. I've got two great offers that I am deciding between. Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll get to post where I'll be working when I get home.

Kristy

A great birthday

I had a wonderful 31st birthday yesterday. It started out with breakfast at my German friend Judith's house. Check out that gorgeous table- all for me! This summer, I had Kristi and Cari bring over some American measuring cups and spoons in order to make my mom's Casa Salad. She got onto the Internet and found a recipe for American pancakes. She also made a birthday cake with candles. I almost cried.

When I got home, my husband (who was home sick for the day) had a sweet card, flowers and wonderful gift on the table. He also took me out to dinner.

The rest of the day, the phone and Skype rang off the hook. I felt really loved. Thank you to all!

Silvester in Hamburg

Fröhes neues Jahr für alles!
(Happy New Year for all)

Silvester is the German New Year's celebration. We were invited to a Silvester Party at Judith and Steffen's. They introduced us to a Swiss tradition of Raclette. That is the grill in the middle of the table. You can fry meat and veggies on the top and melt cheese over it all in little skillets. It was a great meal and a fun way to socialize.

At midnight (and for hours before), Germans shoot fireworks. This isn't your average 4th of July. Ken described it as the 4th of July on steroids. Everyone shoots fireworks everywhere. We were in a pretty residential area and once still had a close call. You can see the boys from our party (?, Steffen, Tobias, and Klaus) with one of their big rockets. You'll also notice that it looks like Ken's camera has dirt on the lens. That would be the air. We walked outside and the smoke looked like a fog.

This picture was taken the next day. This type of mess was everywhere in town.

Jesus working in hearts in Hamburg

We arrived back to Hamburg Saturday December 29 after a wonderful time in Indiana with our friends and family. Two weeks was just not enough time to do all of it.

Yet God clearly wanted us back in Hamburg because we have had a lot of celebrating to do. On Sunday, three members of the small group that Kristy led at the International Baptist Church chose to follow Jesus in obedience through the waters of Holy Baptism. The picture here shows Steffen (second from left), Chelsea (fourth from left) and Priscilla (right).

Steffen grew up in Eastern Germany under communism where religion was forbidden. His brother in law Tobias and his wife Judith led him to the Lord about a year ago by bringing him to the IBC. He joined our small group in spring and is such a model to me of faith and conviction. He has 100% confidence in what Jesus says.

Chelsea is a Canadian dancer in the Hamburg Ballet Company. Another dancer invited her to her joint church friends/dancer friends birthday party a few years ago. Chelsea crossed the line and interacted with some of the church folks. She was surprised at how nice they were. Meggan invited her to coffee and began connecting her with other Christians. Chelsea came to church and started asking lots of questions. During one of those question sessions or services, she made the decision to accept Jesus's free gift of forgiveness. Chelsea has probably come farther than anyone in our small group. She has gone from a timid, brand-new Christian to a woman who loves to pray and has no fear of 2008 because she knows that God is in charge of it.

Priscilla is an Australian dancer in the Hamburg Ballet School. She came to Hamburg at 16 for dance school. She was already a Christian but she faced the choice that many of us have when we go to college. She could choose to keep the faith that her parents gave her or she could give it up. She chose Jesus. As soon as she got here, she looked for a church and the IBC Young Adults group.

As you can see, I'm pretty proud of these folks. They aren't just a Bible Study, they are my closest friends in Hamburg. I could go on more about the rest of the group- Ines, Bettina, Judith, and Eva-Maria, but I'll just stick to the honorees.