"I'll be home for Christmas..."

(I apologize for the gap of time in between posts this fall. A quick update on my computer situation -- I will hopefully be receiving my new power cord in the mail tomorrow and my computer should be running if all goes well!)

A very Merry Christmas to you all! I hope that this time with family and friends has been a blessed time, a time of joy and laughter but also a time of reflection as we remember Christ being born into this world.

This Christmas has been a very different one for me this year. As you may already know simply because you have not seen me - I have spent this Christmas in SW Germany. It was something that from the beginning I was looking forward to. I was excited for spending this holiday in Germany because I would get the chance to experience how this country celebrates. While there were definite times of homesickness and wanting to be with my family it was also really neat to be in Germany for the holidays.
A good friend of mine told me not to think about all the traditions I was missing with my family as they happened, but to be excited about all the new ones we were making in our new home here.

Kandern had a Christmas Markt about once a week for the few weeks leading up to Christmas. Here there were lots of great German foods (wurst, goulash, kinder punsch, waffles) and there were also bands and choirs that performed Christmas carols. They would close off main street and set this all up along with big tree trunks that were upright and on fire! It was lots of fun!

My roommate, Courtney, back from Lethbridge times has been living in Scotland this past year to study abroad. On Christmas Eve she flew into Basel to spend Christmas with me! It has been really nice, especially since both of my roommates in Germany have been gone for the Christmas break.

For Christmas day we were invited over to the Storch dorm (where I dorm sub when the students are here). The dorm parents had all their kids there, as well as many of us who weren't with their families for Christmas. It was so great to have this time together and to celebrate the birth of Christ! We had lots of fun reconnecting (as some there were dorm staff and we share very opposite school schedules), eating amazing food and playing games together.

After coming home from a great evening with friends, Courtney and I both called our families, brought out the Christmas cookies and watched "A Christmas Story."

All in all - a great day!

I hope and pray that as we continue on in this Christmas Season and will soon be entering back into our busy schedules, that we will have spirits like Mary did. In Luke 1:35 she says "I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered, 'May it be to me as you have said." May the Lord be at work in our lives in 2011 and use us in ways that we could never possibly imagine.

Blessings in the midst of trials

As many of you know, I have had some health issues in the past few weeks. It has been hard as we still don't know what the underlying problem is. I have tested our German health care to its finest in the last two weeks. I have had blood work done, an ultrasound and most recently, a gastroscopy, among many other general doctors appointments.

It has been a trying time, not only because I haven't been feeling well, but because Christmastime is one of my favourite times of the year and there are so many exciting things going on.

In some of this down time I have had I have been thinking a lot about what God wants me to learn from this. Something that has been on my heart the last few days is that even though it hasn't been an easy few weeks, God is still good and there are still blessings in the midst of trials:

1. It's a huge blessing that after two weeks of being sick, and still not knowing what is wrong that I feel so encouraged. I know that so many people back home and here, have been lifting me up in prayer and continue to do so. While it's still frustrating not knowing what is wrong, I know that God is good and He has a plan and purpose for this. I appreciate and have definitely noticed a difference in people praying for and over me. I appreciate it so much. Thank you!

2. I am been so blessed to have a roommate who has stayed up late with me on painful nights, has made numerous phone calls, and has taken me to many appointments - among so many other things! I appreciate her encouragement and support during these hard days. I am so thankful for her!

3. Most of all - I know that satan is trying to overcome me and defeat me in this, he is trying to make living here difficult - but that is just another indication that this is EXACTLY where I am supposed to be and am so encouraged by that. It's still hard, but no one said it was going to be easy.

I hope that this Christmas Season you remember the reason we celebrate and are able to find blessings in the midst of trials.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your fath develops persevance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4