So, this is Christmas

This was my first ever Christmas away from home and boy oh boy was it interesting. We all knew that our team was the closest thing to family we have and decided to make sure that Christmas Eve and Day were spent all together. We did the usual things, watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol, ate food, made cookies, decorated the house, bought a Christmas tree, gave and received gifts, had a massive pillow fight, you know, all the "usuals."

There were of course some very unusual things about Christmas that stood out the most. Being away from family, friends, and my home-church really made things feel strange. I was able to Skype with my family, which is still a technological miracle to me, but it definitely wasn't the same.

On Christmas Eve however, I did receive something that made the strangeness of this week completely worth it.

On December 24th while everyone else in my apartment was cooking and preparing for our evening festivities, I was alone in my room spending some much needed time with God. I've felt so strongly lately how important it is to meet with God first thing in the morning. He's been showing me the importance of being faithful, day to day, and I felt so strongly my need for His presence on Christmas Eve. This day could so easily be filled with hustle and bustle of cooking, wrapping, and other things and I didn't want that to be the case. I knelt down by my bed to beg for His grace and strength for the day when....

God showed up. Mightily. Powerfully. Thinking about it makes my hair stand on end.

I came away from that time with an even stronger burden to know Him. To know Him in and out. To meditate on the Word day and night. To be more aware of what is to come. For the first time in my life I could honestly and wholeheartedly, with no hesitations or regrets say I didn't want any other life than one dedicated to following my Lord and Savior. I'm in this no matter what and there's no turning back.

This moment with Him was so timely due to some of the things that had been going on in my mind in the weeks leading up to this. I had been thinking so much about my past, that I'm not too proud of, and a bit concerned about whether or not I've truly changed. I was afraid that I was going to go back to my old way of life in the future because I didn't feel really committed. Now I am assured. God's plans for me are not going to be messed up by my apathy and trouble with commitment. He loves me and will keep me even with my mess ups, failures, doubts, and selfishness.

He never fails me. My eyes are set, my pace is steady, I'm singing a new song.

Frohliche Weihnachten!

On Friday night the ministry I help out with threw a big Christmas banquet. It was a lot of fun to help out with all of the behind the scenes work with a bunch of Austrian believers. Many people came and enjoyed a hot meal with coffee and a delightful dessert to follow. There was worship, caroling, and a few performances by little kids. I enjoyed seeing my usual friends and giving and receiving gifts. Here are a few pictures so you can catch a glimpse.

Blessings from Hungary

So, my delightfully spunky friends from Magyarország finally came to visit this weekend. It was so great to be greeted by their curly locks and laughter. We spent most of the day Saturday at the different Christmas markets in Vienna and then some relaxing time in the sauna. We talked, laughed, sang, prayed, and enjoyed life together. It was plenty of fun and we're already scheming on how they can reserve us for another long weekend in Hungary with them.

Egészségünkre!

Unexpected trio

I would like to introduce to you my Austrian fathers I adopted.


This is Ferdinand and Ludwig. They come to the homeless dinners on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings and we've become great friends. For some strange reason they've really taken a liking to me and want to hang out with me even outside of the dinners! I've gone out to eat with them a few times and it was so much fun.

What blesses me the most about my friendship with these two guys is their generosity and genuine care for me. They both have two very different financial situations but are still in no place to be spending extra money on random American girls. These are the friends who have supplied me with sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, an advent calendar and wreath for Christmas, and other special Austrian gifts. They make me feel very loved and cared for as they truly treat me like a daughter.

It's so neat how God can take people from very different situations and make something new and lovely out of it. I don't look at them differently because I know one of them sleeps under a bridge and is in a heck-of-a-lot of legal trouble. I don't look at them differently because they have to go to homeless dinners to get by. And they don't judge me for my nose piercings and terrible attempts at speaking German :) We make a great trio.

Torn

I've discovered that lately I've been living like a true 21 year old. Some how my flat-mate and I haven't gone shopping for food in a couple of weeks but are still surviving. I've noticed that I eat about one real meal a day and usually hold myself over with peanuts, olives, cheese, or ice cream throughout the rest of the day. I also never say no to free food. A mother's nightmare right?

Lately I've felt very strangely split between two worlds. I still have over 5 months left of my internship, but yet I'm preparing to go home. It feels so funny to be buying plane tickets and planning out my future at Bethany College and at home in Pennsylvania. I also feel like I should be heading home soon since it is the Christmas season. This will be my first Christmas away from home and it definitely feels very strange. I'm excited for what it will be like here, but I know it just won't be the same as home with family.

Also, this month will be exciting as I will entertain a few much anticipated visitors. In one week two very lovely, beautiful, and sassy Hungarians will be visiting me for a weekend. I'm so excited to show them around Vienna and make an attempt to show them the same top notch hospitality that they showed me while I was in their country. Then, on December 31 two of my most special friends will be visiting me for one whole week. I cannot hide my excitement when thinking about that wonderful week with them.

In honor of my fond thoughts of home :