A Searching Soul: Sabbath & Sojourning

I've been very poor at blogging lately, even though I enjoy it so much! Even if nobody reads it, it's quite refreshing to be able to detail my feelings, thoughts, lessons learned, and memories enjoyed. In the midst of the chaos that is two part-time jobs and 12 hours of exit-level courses, writing can be therapeutic.

As of late, I've felt very convicted about being much more intentional about my relationship with Christ. It is so easy for me to fall into the "busy, busy, busy!" mindset of routine, and forget to slow down and rest in the perfect peace that transcends all understanding. A good friend of mine is blogging through the Old Testament, and her recent post brought to light something I've felt tugging on my heart for quite some time: a Sabbath. Long story short, I work on the weekends, and have school and another job during the week, so a day of rest is something long forgotten. However, there is a day, Wednesday, where my school obligations are minimal and there are no shifts to be worked, so I will begin Sabbath-ing on that mid-week gem of a day. We'll see how it goes! I look forward to remembering how to rest in the Lord.

Now, here's my normal post (I'm going to try and speed this up, or I'll still be blogging about last summer when I return to Paderborn this summer!)
I'm currently blogging through my summer mission trip to Germany! If you haven't yet, read this!

July 6, 2012
Today I will GO TO PADERCAMP. I've been with the Schulz family for the past 2 days and it has been so great to be with believers.

Lydia is a wonderful, wise woman of the Lord and it's been such a blessing to spend the days with her, Jannis & Finni. I've really been enjoying her company, and I'm sad to leave her and the kids :( But excited to go to Padercamp! :D She's been filling me on on many, many, MANY things (From the differences in TX and here, to dating, marriage, benefits of getting married young, ministry, being the wife of a miister, raising support, raising kids--we've discussed just about the whole world. She's really great to talk to and really wise.) She also clued me in on Padercamp so I know a little more of what to expect now. I also got to sleep in this morning and it was glorious: first chance to sleep more than 6 hours in a row the whole time I've been here. WOO!

I also have enjoyed the little time I've gotten to talk with Juergen; he's also full of great advice. He gives a lot of it too, and always steering me towards Germany-- "well, maybe you should just come to Germany for a bible college" or "well, maybe if the food here is not bothering you that is God telling you you belong here" (quite humorous!) and he's full of good ideas. We spoke a long time yesterday about all the needs in Europe in general, not just Germany. He also brought up a ministry coffee shop, which I obviously found very interesting! There are a vast amount of needs in the churches here in order to reach the cities and the people who haven't heard the Good News, and not near enough people to meet them.

Overall, these two days have been a truly blessed time. I can clearly feel the Lord speaking specifically through Lydia in many things--and also I just love their kids! I definitely want kids now. Never have I had inklings toward motherhood before, but I've "seen the light" with a fresh pair of eyes. (Maybe I just want cute babies who speak German....). The Lord has been so gracious with the beautiful weather so far! Not a drop of rain. Also, I understand much of the language, but cannot say near the amount that i would like to. It's a point of frustration.

James 1:11b, "so also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits"

Here are some pictures from downtown Paderborn, where Lydia took me:

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July 9, 2012
I'm understanding more and more, but there is still so much I don't understand. My speech is also a little better, but I can understand SO much more than I can speak. On the first night at Padercamp, with just the leaders, I was overcome by grace and the Lord's presence. Together with the universal church, hearing the Gospel in German, taking the Lord's supper, singing songs about Christ's love, friendship, and high priest-ness in German--I was crying from His beauty, but tried to hold it in... the people here don't seem near as emotional as I am. I've cried everyday, actually. Sometimes they are tears of joy for grace, other times tears of being overwhelmed by the language and missing familiarity.

Yesterday (Day 2 of Padercamp, week 1) started out very hard: I was missing home, family, English, friends; I was overwhelmed; I was tired; I couldn't communicate with the teens in my group well (they placed me as a LEADER during a week taught in German...what!?)... However, the day improved--I was able to communicate that I am not unfriendly, I just can't say much. They all (boys/girls) had fun getting me to say hard words in German, and they enjoy learning words in English. It's getting better, but there isn't much free time at al. I'm really not have a lot of good time in the Lord alone (or in English), and I only sleep about 5 - 5.5 hours every night. It's kind of tiring...

Here are some pictures from Week 1 (sorry for the wonky formatting):