Sunday, June 18, 2006

Wie geht es?

It has begun. Attending classes has sent me back to days gone by. I recall sweaty palms, head spinning, and heart palpitating -- test anxiety? I think that they wrote the book about me - giggle!
I am thankful that there is only one test upon entry into the Kingdom...
Do I KNOW HIM?
answer - Yes!

Geothe Institut hits the language hard, uses good learning strategies, and is interested in giving a full acculturation experience. I sit with many young people from the USA, a Canadian, an Italian, and one young girl from Oman. There are twelve in the class. The four week program is halfway through. This has been great. I had enough of the culture/language to have some questions, some hooks to put the language learning into, and for my learning style - this has been the best way to go. I will take what I learn from this four weeks, implement it and return again for another class for four weeks later. Language learning is very difficult. Some come by it naturally, others of us... pray a lot!

Must get back to homework.

mutating missionary
Guten Abend
Posted by Robyn Rochelle E. at Sunday, June 18, 2006

Germany

Beauty

Ahhhh ! ! I absolutely love flowers.

Baseball.
My German past time.

I've been pondering LOVE quite a bit lately. One of my missionary friends http://www.youmustbekidding.blogspot.com/copied a blog entry from a friend of hers.http://davidroper.blogspot.com/.. hummmm sounds a little bit like, he said, she said... but it is not. Anyway. I am copying this man's words about Zephaniah because it so captured my heart:

"So, from David Roper, something wonderful to ponder.

Lovesick and Dumbfounded
Carolyn and I often spend our quiet times reading from A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, an Upper Room publication (If you've visited Shepherd's Rest you've seen the copies in each bedroom.) The Old Testament passage for this morning was Zephaniah 3:17.
With apologies to Zephaniah and Bruce Waltke, my old Hebrew professor, here is my translation...The LORD, your God is with you--your hero, mighty to save!He takes great delight in you.
He is speechless with love for you.
Every time he thinks of you he breaks into joyful song!-Zephaniah 3:17
I'm awed by the notion that God takes great delight in me and breaks into song each time he thinks of my name. But it's the phrase I render, "He is speechless with love for you" that captivated me.
The verse is usually translated, "He will be quiet in his love," or in some translations, "He will quiet you." But the verb doesn't suggest tranquility or rest. It actually means, "to strike dumb."[1] And since the verb is in parallel with other verbs that suggest God's strong emotions ("takes great delight," and "breaks into joyful song") it must point to what He himself feels.
I wonder then: Could the analogy be that of a lovesick swain who is bowled-over, flabbergasted and dumb-founded by his love for the beloved-so overcome with fondness that he is tongue-tied? Is God, in some inexplicable, anthropomorphic way, "struck dumb" with love each time he thinks of us? If so, to be loved like this is, in turn, to be rendered speechless. As Isaiah would say, "I am undone."And who is it that God so loves? One who is strong and able, brilliant, and breathtakingly beautiful? No, it is one who is "weak and the weary... who takes refuge in the name of the LORD" (Zephaniah 3:12). "
...He is speechless with love for you.
...He is speechless with love for you.
...He is speechless with love for you.
I'm pondering.
mutating missionary

The Buck Stops Here

Responsibility/Blame

Tonight I had a conversation with a young man that is in my language course. He and his wife are actually from DFW area - fancy that... and they are in my language class (the world keeps getting smaller)

We were discussing how we respond to authorities that take responsiblity for those under them and those that simply pass the buck. You know the old saying: the buck stops here...

Yes, we were discussing the ins and outs of the blame game and so on and so on.

As I come to the close of my evening. I am reminded of the sweet reality that God basically takes this thought to the extreme. I mean really. He has every right to place all of my sin upon me. It is I.

I alone have made these choices in my life. I catch myself on my knees asking forgiveness once again for something. Has He already forgiven me? Yes, He did it at the cross. But the asking of forgiveness is a sweet realization and acceptance of that forgiveness.

Tonight as I thought about it, I just had this incredible flash of Jesus (and the picture I conjure in my mind of what Jesus looks like has no resemblance to the sweet angelic pastie white Jesus I used to think of in my mind --- oops I digress) standing in front of me and saying to God the Father: the buck stops with Me, Father, the buck stops with Me.

And as I swim around in His warm whiskers He assures me that my job is to know Him. Thoroughly embibing in Him, simply surrendering to Him, seeking His face, listening for His voice, reading His word, walking and whispering words of intimacy to Him - the lover of my soul. The one and only Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.

To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.

Wrap it careful round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in your casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change.

It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers ... of love is Hell. (C. S. Lewis. 'The Four Loves')

Isn't it amazing that one of the descriptions of our God is just the opposite of 'locked up love'.
Many see I Corinthians 13 as a marriage verse - a description of marriage. I myself have long since changed my view on that. If it is a marriage verse - it is one that is to be striven for and never completely achieved. Just as I believe it is a life verse and is to strive for and never completely achieved.

But, as I told my dear young woman that faces her church ceremony after a year and a half of being legally married here in Germany. This to me is a description of our God. And what an awesome God we serve.

You see: God is love.

Love is patient,
Love is kind,
and is not jealous;
love does not brag
and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails.

I Corinthians 4-8

What a wonderful description of our Jesus. Of our Lord Jesus Christ and His offering to the world. He came as a baby. And He showed us all of these acts of love.

God is said to be a jealous God, but even in that He is all good in it. He is jealous for us to love Him because He knows that is the only true way for our wholeness and our well-being.
What a lovely God we serve.

mutating missionary

Posted by Robyn Rochelle E. at Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008
Bright Light


Christmas in Germany is the highlight of the year. Almost every Stadt und Dorf (Town and Village) sets up a Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) in a central area.

I drove to Mannheim last night to pick up a friend that needed a lift back down to this area... (a story all in itself)

While there, we decided to experience the Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkt, pick up some culturally unusual Christmas presents for my children and a few friends back home, and enjoy a wonderful mug of warm Gluehwein with a couple of friends.

The wind was cold, the air wet, and there was a hummm in the air. All of the Ferris wheels, the children's rides, the market booths had lights that were accenting the fest.

We drove to the center of town, found a parking spot, walked the entire area, bought really cool presents, looked at even more really cool artsy fartsy stuff, laughed, talked, and basically enjoyed the hubbub.

As the evening wore on, the crowds became thicker; we were ready to head home. It had been a fun night - but a bit tiring - for us all. With so many people, so much stimuli around, ones head gets a little bumfuzzled.


We piled back into the car. Driving south we inevitably came up on the snow I had left earlier that morning.

The wind picked up even more and the night became a white veiled sheath. We finally arrived back in my little area of Schwarzwald. I had the option of taking my last passenger/friend home or taking him up to see the heavier snowfall in my little mountain Dorf.

He opted to see the snow – no matter what the hour.

The Dorf was completely silent. Snow lay in 10 inch layers on the ground, and heavy layers on the evergreens and hardwoods. The town's white twinkling lights outlining the trees were everywhere. The quiet stillness, the light reflecting off the snowy branches, the snows purity on the hillside…it was all breathtaking. Later, I stopped several times just to breath it in.

Light.

Bright Light.

The lights at the Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkt were exciting. They flashed, they drew attention, and they created an expectancy, fun, frivolity. But the lights were dulled by the hubbub, the activity, the hustle, the bustle. They had their place - but one grew weary.

In the stillness of the night in my tiny kurort (health resort town), I found the tiny twinkling of lights wound within the white snow filled branches penetrating.

They shone in the night so bright. Nothing took away from their beauty. They were peaceful, calming, still. When I stopped, looked, I wanted to simply be. They were illuminating.

Illuminating. In the stillness of a tiny stable a baby who was Christ the King was born. The hubbub of the crowd was there. There was no more room for them in the Inn. But, in the stillness of a tiny stable/cave the Savior illuminated His earth.

And HIS Bright Light illuminates.

Il-lu-mi-nate (verb) [I loomi nayt] Definitions from Encarta English Dictionary

1. Shine light on somebody or something: to make somebody or something visible or bright with light, or be lit up

2. Decorate something with lights: to decorate something with lights for a celebration

3. Clarify something: to make something easier to understand

4. Cause somebody to look happy: to make something, especially somebody’s face, look happy and animated

5. Enlighten somebody: to provide somebody with knowledge or with intellectual or spiritual enlightenment

mutating missionary

He IS

Emmanuel. God is with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om5-95_Byjo

thanks Kathy

mutating missionary
Posted by Robyn Rochelle E. at Friday, December 12, 2008

hummmm thinking...

In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is. - Gertrude Stein
The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. - Eric Hoffer
Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. - Jane Wagner


guerdon \GUR-duhn\, noun:1. a reward
verb:1. to reward, pay back

YEP... I think I'll head to the red-coffee-box and think some more... Ahhhhhh leather chairs, ottomans, blankies, coffee and a good book - today with snow to my ankles... yep that is the ticket...

Fridays - gotta love em.

PS... these fotos are not taken from the red-coffee-box - but sitting in the little coffee shop I discovered in the town I was in recently for language school, sitting in this window corner spot I watched all sorts of life happen around me, studied and took pictures :-) - a friend had prayed for an enjoyable coffee shop and God granted his request. Sometimes God just wants to bless us with over and beyond.

Now - I walk in snow to the church down the road, drop off some things for a wedding next week, and then walk to the red-coffee-box...

cold - but beautiful... I think I just might take along the ole' camera on this trip - the snow is unbelievably beautiful.

mutating missionary

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

thanksgiving no-nos?????

I'm sorry...

I will - I promise I will - write a really thankful post tomorrow or Friday... but today I am just laughing over one of those infomercials that was on the internet.

You might have read it:
10 of the most unhealthy foods to eat during Thanksgiving...
I laughed so hard.

Why have Thanksgiving?

I think I will just stay in Germany - if America is getting rid of a one day (ok maybe two with the leftovers) tradition that could not make that much difference in anyone's diet ... come on... one or two days.

With Christmas that makes three and then we have Easter - just eat right the rest of the year and enjoy on these few days of celebration and fellowship - breaking bread together is a human fellowship thing - all families should do it!

• Turkey with skin. (maybe we should skin them all and make them look really sad)
• White wheat bread rolls (you know the kind that melt in your mouth. - the kind that even cafeterias know how to bake)
• Sweet Potatoes (candied ... naturlich!!! - how else would you eat them - maybe with some nice butter atop?)
• Mashed Potatoes with Gravy (I can't imagine the turkey without this... anybody else with me?)
• Pecan Pie (Considering I can't even buy Pecan's here - wow! to have the opportunity and not take it - these guys are crazy!!!!!!
  

there were 4 more that I thought were totally way out of line - these foods are the staples of a Thanksgiving dinner. Who decides these things? Cut them off is my view point - cut the informercials off.
mutating - mutating - mutating

Saturday, November 22, 2008Death O Death where is thy sting?

I just received word that a friend’s friend lost her battle with illness. Even as I type those words I find them contradictory. Why, because this woman knows the Lord. I say that in the present tense - because she is in the most present tense of present tenses!

O Death where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin. This woman through her confession of faith in the one and only triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is washed clean of sin. The one sin preventing us from entering the gates of Heaven - that sin of Unbelief.

I am thankful that I have been able to be involved in the prayers for this woman. I am thankful that I have asked God to allow her to be healed. I am thankful that I know that she is a believer. But most of all, I am thankful that at this point in time - upon hearing what others who don't know Him might consider a tragedy (husband left with children) - I know that God Triumphs and He will handle all the details.

There is a song I have been listening to... sorry don't know author, artist, or title - but love these words about dying:

I don't know if there are harps in heaven, or the process of getting your wings, and I don't know if there is a light in a tunnel or any of those things. But I do know to be absent from this body is to be present with the LORD. And from what I know of Him, that must be Very Good.

And really... isn't that what we are all waiting for. Death. It comes. It is for sure. We don't know how or when. But it comes. And living life unafraid of the one thing that is for sure - certainly makes life worth LIVING. By not being afraid of dying - we can truly live.

I too don't know for sure all of the things that will come in the future. I have ideas, thoughts, considerations - but I would not stack them into the ABSOLUTELY certain box. Angels? I know they're here. Heaven? I know it exists. Me? What will I be after I am no longer with this body? Suppositions, thoughts, intrigues... yes! But absolutes? Like the song says: To be absent from this body is to be present with the LORD. And from what I know of Him - that must be VERY GOOD!

Death O Death where is thy sting?
mutating...