Texan nuns and spring suns

• Last night I went to an extremely international prayer meeting. There were two Americans, one was of the Texas/nun type and the other of the Pennsylvania/Lindy type. There were two Brits, a brother and a sister from Poland, a Hungarian who spoke very little English, and an Austrian. Oh it was so much fun. It's really neat to be in a group setting where you feel unified but have no logical reason to be that way.

• Today at the homeless breakfast Ludwig gave me a gift with a note. After some help from an Austrian friend of mine, she said that the note seemed as if he was saying a final goodbye to me. I wonder what's going on...

• I ate fish last night and it wasn't half bad.
  

• The sun has returned. Maybe even to stay!

If you're ever wondering what it really is that I'm doing here, I find that this informative blog says it way better than I do.... http://globalinternship.edublogs.org/

Here comes the sun

My friend Regi came from Hungary and brought with her the sun. It was so nice having her around and showing her some places in Vienna. We talked a lot about Hungary and she also taught me some new words. I'm really looking forward to my visit there in just a few short weeks! Here are some pictures of our day in the sun together.

Lately I've been having loads of fun hanging out with friends and meeting new people. Meeting new people!?! Now!?! It's so sad that I feel most connected when I have so little time left. I got to go to the Stephans Cathedral a few nights ago to watch Julia be blessed for her baptism by the Austrian Cardinal. It was definitely a new experience for me, but I'm so glad I got to be there to support my friend.

Whats love got to do with it?

A lesson in love is the hardest thing

You and I will ever learn

Because our hearts are so shy

"If I want my own way rather than God's, it's quite obvious that I shall want my own way rather than the other man's."

"Everything that comes as a barrier between us and another, be it ever so small, comes as a barrier between us and God."

Colossians 3:12-14
¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Trying to let this sink in. Sometimes loving hurts really bad at first. Our pride and selfishness hate it when we have to admit that our way is wrong, because any action that opposes love is wrong. Sometimes I feel like one of those dangerous wounded animals. You know the kind that is in a corner, hurt, afraid, and annoyed that you're trying to help it? Instead, I want to trust. Thrust myself into dangerous waters knowing that God will vindicate me, protect me, and strengthen me because I am not meant to do that on my own.

Love is hard.

But oh how it sets you free!

Post #50

We should have some sort of celebration seeing as this is my 50th post. Maybe I'll treat myself to one of the many Valentine's cookies on my kitchen table which will probably haunt my healthy diet non-stop for the next few days.

Well, here goes a few of the highlights of my week.

Since we've moved the homeless dinners to a new building we've been sitting on different chairs. So far, every meal that I've been to, someone has fallen off their chair. I don't think these chairs were meant to hold slightly heavy and rowdy homeless men. Every time someone had fallen before everyone would get quiet, waiting and watching to see if the person was ok, and not laughing in order to not shame them. On Tuesday, things were different. One of the regulars, one of the most inappropriate regulars I might add, was leaning back on his chair when both back legs completely snapped in half and sent him tumbling to the floor. The whole room roared with laughter as people all seemed to agree that this jokester got what he deserved. Then, as the laughter was beginning to die down and the shouts of "Zu dick" (too fat) were at a minimum, regular-comer number 2 fell! People were literally getting out of their chairs to get a better look as they laughed and laughed and laughed. This wasn't heartless laughter in anyway. I think both men who met the floor that night enjoyed a good laughing at themselves. I think Austrians need that. I think we all do.

I visited my friend Kathi in Hainburg this weekend and it was amazingly refreshing. We started out the visit by celebrating Shabbat together, the Jewish sabbath. It was fun to eat together prayerfully and with scripture in mind. The woman who cooked that night is from Texas and basically made a classic American style Thanksgiving feast. It was delightful! The rest of the weekend was spent worshiping, reading the Bible, and praying with Kathi. It was a wonderful time for the both of us to be refreshed by good fellowship and fun. We also went to a Heauriger, which is a typical Austrian style restaurant, where I ate blood sausage, for the second time since being here. There aren't many things on earth fouler than that. Here are some pictures of my time with Kathi and me fearfully nibbling the blood sausage.

If you don't know what blood sausage is, I suggest you google it. Then maybe you'll feel the urge to give me a high five or a pat on the back for consuming it more than once.

Treasure

Another week has passed and I can't shake the feeling that time is slipping away from me faster than I realize. One could possibly go mad if they think too hard about trying to make the most out of the time they have remaining in something. It's challenging to soak in everything at a natural pace. My tendency to be an "all or nothing" kind of gal is making an attempt at a bad case of burn out. I will have none of it!

This past week I spent some quality time with my Austrian friend Julia. She plans to visit in the beginning of May during my first weeks at home. She's played such a major role in my adventure to experience and learn about the Austrian culture, I can only hope to do the same for her.
On Wednesday a few of us hopped on a train to Znojmo (Snoi-moe), Czech Republic. It still amazes my American mind that you can be in another country in about 45 minutes. Znojmo is a cute and cheap border town that makes for a wonderful day trip. If any of you readers out there find yourself in Czech, I highly suggest ordering the gnocchi, no matter what the style. It's delicious. This coming weekend I plan to travel to Hainburg and visit my friend Kathi who is doing an internship at a small house of prayer. The next weekend my Hungarian friend Regi will come for a visit and hopefully a few weekends after that I'll get to visit her homeland one more time. This is such a special time.

Green

This weekend I finally completed the "Circle Series" by Ted Dekker with his latest book "Green." Reading these books has challenged me and opened my eyes to different aspects of God, Satan, and sinful humanity that I've never been able to fully grasp before. Dekker does an amazing job of explaining the spiritual reality here on earth with physical representations. In the book Green he demonstrates evil in a way that makes you shudder. You can almost feel, touch, and taste the wickedness that we so quickly and easily "cuddle up" to without seeing it for what it is. There were times that I wanted to stop reading the book because I was so frustrated that the author spent so much time and effort to depict something so terrible. This book as part of the "Circle Series" was meant to be the volume that brought things full circle. The picture was of the end times in this fantasy world as everyone was groaning and waiting for the return of their savior. In the end, I was thankful for how vivid the portrayal of evil was, because it made the redemptive, victorious, and just ending all the more incredible.

I'm still going through the long and never ending process of being aware, awake, and alert to what God has revealed to us about what is to come. One thing I know for certain, drowning in the constant, overwhelming, all consuming, presence of God for all eternity is reason enough for an urgency to keep my eyes fixed and my lamp burning.

I highly suggest reading this book series. There are some rough/rocky parts that are a bit confusing, but push through and it will be totally rewarding.