Set Apart

The other day my team and I had the opportunity to visit a Roman Catholic monastery near Vienna called Stift Klosterneuburg. It was founded in the year 1114!! It's so hard to fathom something being that old in my American mindset since our country is so young in comparison. This visit would've been pretty boring since I feel as if all the old European buildings are starting to look the same, but we had an insider tour. Our team supervisor Robert has a friend who is a resident at the monastery. The men living in this amazing building are called Augustinian Canons and are unlike monks but yet not your typical priest. They are dedicated to prayer and have made a commitment to live in this community in poverty. They have no possessions of their own and live a quite simple life dedicated to God. Some of them are priests over parish's and leave the monastery to attend to their duties for a parish.

I learned so much from our guide and new friend. His name is Daniel and he's a New Yorker who's been living in the Stift for 6 years. He taught us a lot about Austrian history, cultural differences, and Catholicism. It was an unbelievable breath of fresh air to meet someone who may look, act, and live completely different than me, but share the same passionate love for God! We laughed as he talked about a lot of the assumptions people have about priests, one of them being that priests don't eat. He was completely down to earth, real, and a joy to be around. We all hope to keep in touch with him and hang out sometime in the future. Since he is a priest that does eat food, he invited us for pizza sometime. :) I'm thankful that there is a unity found in Jesus Christ that goes deeper than some disagreements of how things should be done.

Celebrate October

October is by far my favorite month of the year. I remember my dad telling me it was his favorite when I was a little girl and I noticed that we did end up on a lot of walks during that time. Now, here I am, over half way through with October and I must say I've enjoyed every bit of it.

October has also been repeated over and over in the mouths of my teammates as the time when our lives would finally settle down in Austria. It's true. We've been getting back into ministry and organizing our lives after a long time of meandering all over Europe. It's been nice to be reunited with my homeless friends and Calvary chapel buds. I can't deny that I am a bit antsy to go on another journey. :)

Luckily, I've been finding adventures without having to leave the country. In the beginning of October I had the opportunity to help harvest grapes at a farm in a tiny village not too far from Stockerau. It was most definitely a tasty cultural experience with a nice gift of freshly squeezed grape juice. Truly the fruit of your labor!

Litér Part 2!

The wonderful people in Litér invited us back for a short weekend outreach that we just returned from last night. I must say, I've never found a place where I've felt so genuinely loved and cared for like this. These people have only known us for a little over a week and have totally brought us in as if we were family. The outreach was with kids ranging from age 5-17. We spent the whole day with them on Saturday for an English/Bible camp. I was with the youngest group of 5-9 year olds which made English learning a little bit difficult. I had many of the same kids that were in my group last time which made it so much fun. Our main focus was on the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep and we even prepared and performed a skit based on this story. I hope to visit Litér at least one more time before leaving Europe. It has been by far my favorite place I've visited since arriving.



The following video is during our afternoon meal when our lovely Hungarian host families decided to teach us a folk song. In return, we taught them an English kids song. It was hilarious!

Croatia

Almost as soon as my vacation with my parents ended we left for a week long team retreat in Croatia. We were in a town called Hrvatska in a quaint pension 5 minutes from the coast. I spent some lovely moments walking along the Adriatic sea and plunging into it's cool, clear-blue waters. The focus of the retreat was to recap what has gone on so far and prepare for an awesome second half. The director of our internship and his wife came to give us insight on relationships, conflict resolution, and encouragment to squeeze every bit of goodness we have left on this journey in Austria. We all had a lovely time relaxing, enjoying the outdoors, hiking, and playing loads of games. It was truly a retreat.

I had the pleasure of hosting my wonderful parents for a full 12 day long vacation! It was very nice having them around, especially after such an intense summer. I will admit it was challenging to be the constant translator and tour guide, but traveling around with my parents was a lovely time otherwise. We visited Prague for an overnight visit that included a tour of castle grounds, discovering the old city, amazing food, and medieval atmosphere. Then, after spending some days exploring my more familiar city of Vienna, we head out for a trip to Innsbruck and Salzburg in southwestern Austria. We got to experience amazing views of the Alps and a fun Sound of Music tour. We also took a detour at the end to find the town where supposedly our roots started. Here are some pics of my time.

On Friday we leave for Croatia for our intern retreat. When we return we are heading to Hungary for a weekend and then hopefully will be done with our traveling for a very long time. I'm excited for these next couple travels, but am a little nervous for our time of settling down. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this next season, but God knows and He'll prepare me for anything.

My summer in Hungary has come to an end. We finished up at a conference near Lake Balaton. Our job was to play with the kids who came to the conference and whoever else that stopped by on the beach. I must say that it's really nice to have your main priority be fun and games and silliness.

This summer was full, crazy, fast paced, exciting, and splendidly tiring all at once. Even though there were moments where I wanted to leave desperately, I know that God totally had us there for a reason. It was not an accident that we didn't get our visas. God showed and taught me new things about myself, the people around me, and Himself. He provided for me in my insecurities, fears, and doubts when I tried to depend on myself. It was an awesome time to learn, love, and live life fully. I'm thankful for the whole experience and am looking forward to this new season of life.

In 4 days my parents will be here in Vienna for almost 2 weeks! I'm so excited to hang out with them and show them what my life here in Europe looks like. After that we have a week of class and then on to our intern retreat in Croatia! Praise God for all of these opportunities ahead of me.