2010 almost over...

It is hard to believe 2010 is almost over. It seems like yesterday that I sat on our couch pondering this new year ahead and wondering what it would bring...

And now almost twelve months have gone by.

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... joys ... challenges ... excitement ... surprises ... tears ... guidance from above ... questions ... prayers ... no buying books ;) ... special days ... battles against darkness and its grip on me ... victories through Jesus ... meeting new people ... growing ... choosing certain ways ... making decisions ... walking forward ... stumbling and realizing how unable I am ... not giving up ... expecting ... relying on God ... experiencing His deep love and patient care for me ... etc. etc. ...

... and through it all ... peace & joy deep down in my heart!

Thank You, Lord!

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"O God, I have tasted of Thy goodness, and it has both saitsfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty."

A.W. Tozer

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One gorgeous site worth visiting!

Just today I discovered one of my friends (who used to study with me) has created a gorgeous website with her beautiful photography.

I haven't been able to look much around on it yet,

but from what I've seen so far it's unquestionably worth a visit!

http://oikeo-projects.blogspot.com/

Pictures from bildreich.ch

A marvelously snowy day... Here and now.

Today, as it was snowing all day long, I overheard several people commenting, "Ah, this snow is awful!" or "Oh, I can't stand how the snow gets so muddy and dirty on the streets!" or "This cold is unbearable! I'm looking forward to springtime and birds singing again!"

...Hearing these statements I thought,

"Can't you see how pretty it is?

Can't you see all the many fragile snowflakes slowly and silently falling?

Can't you see how the many Christmas lights in the city make the snow look so beautifully fresh and soft?

Can't you see the many lovely heaps of snow that are accumulating everywhere?

Can't you see?!??

Can't you simply enjoy this marvelous, snowy day - one of the very first ones this winter?!

...And don't you understand that life is best enjoyed in the here and now? Now the here and now being extremely snowy, freezing cold, a runny nose, frozen toes and a lot of blinking because the wind keeps blowing snowflakes right in your face - this here and now is supposed to be taken in and enjoyed!

Don't you understand??"

...Desiring to live in the here and now is one of my current and daily prayer requests. So often my mind keeps wandering off, either to the past or (more often) to the future...

Dreaming. Hoping. Wishing. Planning. Worrying. Anticipating.

...And completely losing sight of the present.

But the present is the time.

The present is the one and only time that is actually real.

It is the time in which you are given the chance to change something, to make a new choice, to act on what you claim to believe, to care for others and their needs above your own, and to enjoy what you see, hear or taste...

Now is the only real time.

I love how C.S. Lewis describes this in his book "The Screwtape Letters". Unfortunately I only have a German version of that book so I can't give you an exact quote. ...Well, I'll put it on here anyway - that way it's going to be easier for me to translate (or paraphrase, that is :)). And just in case there are any German speaking readers of this post, they'll able to read it in the exact wording.

"Die Menschen leben in der Zeit, der Feind (Gott) aber hat sie für die Ewigkeit bestimmt. Daher möchte Er, so glaube ich, dass sie ganz besonders auf zwei Dinge ihre volle Aufmerksamkeit richten: auf die Ewigkeit selbst und auf jenen Punkt in

der Zeit, den sie Gegenwart nennen. Denn die Gegenwart ist der Punkt, an dem die Ewigkeit die Zeit berührt. Vom Augenblick, und nur von ihm allein haben die Menschen eine Erfahrung ähnlich derjenigen, welche der Feind von der Wirklichkeit als ganzer besitzt; in diesem Augenblick allein sind ihnen Freiheit und Wirklichkeit tatsächlich angeboten. Er möchte daher, dass sie sich entweder stets um die Ewigkeit (was gleichbedeutend ist wie mit Ihm selber) oder um die Gegenwart bekümmern indem sie entweder über die ewige Vereinigung mit Ihm oder über die ewige Trennung von Ihm nachdenken und im übrigen der gegenwärtigen Stimme ihres Gewissens folgen, ihr gegenwärtiges Kreuz tragen, die gegenwärtige Gnade entgegennehmen und für die Freuden der Gegenwart danken.

Unser (Satans) Werk geht darauf aus, sie von der Ewigkeit und von der Gegenwart wegzulotsen. Mit dieser Absicht versuchen wir einen Menschen (...), in der Vergangenheit zu leben. (...) Viel besser ist es, sie in der Zukunft leben zu lassen. (...) Da sie ihnen unbekannt ist, hängen sie unwirklichen Dingen nach, wenn wir ihre Gedanken an die Zukunft fesseln. Mit einem Wort: die Zukunft kommt am wenigsten der Ewigkeit gleich.

(...) Die Gegenwart ist ganz durchleuchtet von den Strahlen der Ewigkeit.

(...) Die Dankbarkeit schaut in die Vergangenheit und die Liebe in die Gegenwart; Furcht, Habsucht, Lust und Streberei blicken auf die Zukunft."

C.S. Lewis - "Dienstanweisung für einen Unterteufel" (S.65/66)

And here is my paraphrase (though I suggest you get a hold of an English copy and read the whole thing yourself - it is the first part of chapter 15)... God created man for eternity, therefore He desires for us to focus on two things; on eternity itself and on the present. The present is the one point which touches eternity. It is in that moment that man experiences life in a way that is closest to God's reality. In that moment man experiences true freedom and truth. Because of that, God wants man to only pay attention to these two things (...).

However, Satan aims at distracting man from exactly that. He tries to pull his focus away from eternity and the present and to instead cause him to live in the past, or even better, in the future. Since the future is completely unknown to man, if he muses about it, then he doesn't live in reality and his experiences are unreal. And the future is what is most dissimilar to eternity.

The present is entirely illuminated by the rays of eternity...

In the past there is thankfulness, in the present there is love; but in the future there are fear, greediness, lust and (? don't know and can't find any accurate translation for this word! The German word for it is not really in use anymore).

(Please excuse any weird sentences in the above paraphrase or anything not making much sense... And again, take the time to read that part of the book for yourself! :))

I hope this gets you thinking as much as it does me!

Isn't it wonderful to discover more and more of God's Reality?

Of His Freedom and Truth?

I think this is incredible!

...And you are able to enjoy life to it's fullest -

even the runny nose and frozen toes. :)

Ahhh, I love it!

Thank You for the gift of Your Reality, my indescribable Master.

I love You.

All pictures from bildreich.ch

I see God is working...

I have started to realize how spending my time reading books doesn’t seem appealing anymore... I look at my bookshelves, look at all the spines, and think to myself, no, I don’t feel like reading, it doesn’t seem interesting. Really, I’m not tempted! Or if I am, then it’s just for a very, very short moment – I easily dismiss the thought as soon as it enters my mind...

london.diplo.de

And instead, what I now feel so drawn to is... the Bible! The Word of my God! I see my Luther version of the Bible sitting on my desk or on my bed or beside my bed, and I catch myself thinking, my Bible! Let’s read it! And I sit down and start reading (currently it’s usually Isaiah in the morning and Matthew at night, and sometimes during the day as well). And what I read starts speaking to me... Even though many things I don’t understand and I feel my lack in seeing the big picture, I can’t help but read! And I read, and read, and read... And suddenly I realize I have read several chapters in no time! Although I can’t tell you what exactly I’ve learned and how it all happened, it’s just the realization of this change in me that seems so astounding...! The Lord has really overthrown this idol (books and reading) in my life! He is the Migthy One!!!

And He says,

„I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE; I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE LIKE ME.“ Isaiah 46:9

...This is exactly what I have been praying for. I has been my request for quite a long time, though I haven’t started praying resolutely and persistently until a couple of months ago. I started asking the Lord to get me „hooked“ on reading His Word, to make me want more, and more, and more of it, to sow a passion and a hunger for His own Word in my heart, to make this verse a reality in my life:

„As newborn babes, DESIRE THE PURE MILK OF THE WORD, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.“ 1 Peter 2:2-3

And now, I am starting to see it happen! ...It’s so amazing. The only thing I do is sit down and start reading (and even that is what He’s doing), and He takes care of the rest. He wants my obedience, – to actually read it – and He faithfully answers my prayer and fulfills my desire...!

...I know I want more of that!!! ☺

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bildreich.ch

Another area I’ve realized He’s working on in my life, is the one of my daily decisions, no matter how small. I have been pondering these things a lot lately.

...The fact that what you spend your time doing is what is going to shape you.

...And that what you spend your time doing is, – as simple as it may sound – the way you will be living your life.

„How we live our days is how we live our lives.“ Francis Chan

...This is a big thing in my life. My whole day, my every minute, is to be lived according to His will. The smallest decision, the shortest thought, the most insignificant action.

...To first stop and remember my Lord, and to again and again decide against my own preferences...

„Saying Yes to happiness often means saying No to yourself.“

This quote by Elisabeth Elliot hangs on the wall in my room and it often reminds me of what my Lord is teaching me. ...To say no to my self and to choose fulfillment and joy instead. ☺

Radically Follow Jesus

Not so much because of the book he's talking about (I don't know it) but because of the message he's sharing, here's the challenge for you and me, this is what it means to follow Jesus:

(In this video David Platt addresses American Christians and talks about American culture. Even though that might not be who you are or what you live in (it's not who I am or what I live in either ;)) -

I believe this applies to you and me just the same.

I also believe our "Christian culture", the way we live our Christianity, (sadly) isn't much different from the one over in America.)

A New Year's Resolution

A little more than six months ago, on January 1, 2010, I sat down in our living room with my journals from 2009.

I started at the first entry of the year 2009, paged through the whole year and read all I had written down. I would write down in my journal all the things I was thankful for that happened during that last year. It was both good and sad/uncomfortable memories I wrote down... Things I loved experiencing and learning and others I would not have chosen to go through, though in retrospect I was grateful for the lessons I learned through them and for how through those challenges I was able to grow...

Then, I started thinking about the year that was ahead and whose first day had only just begun...

2010.

What would this year hold for me? What would I learn? What would I see? In which moments would I love to stop or slow down time so I could keep them forever? Which situations would challenge me? What would stretch me and mold me and make me grow?

I had so many questions and expectations.

I wrote them all down and I dedicated the coming year to the Lord and put it in His hands. I wanted Him to lead me. I expected Him to reveal Himself to me like never before. I prayed I would grow in Him and be made more and more into His likeness.

I was full of hope and expectation. Full of excitement.

It is great to start into a new year like that! :)

...Suddenly, as I was sitting there lost in thought, I heard Him speak:

What if you don't buy any book this year?

Are you willing to offer this area of your life...to Me?

Would you give up time spent reading? Would you give up the right to buy books anytime you want? Are you willing to let Me decide which book you need, which book you should read and when you should read it?

How important am I really to you? How important is this relationship between Me and you really to you?

Are you willing not to buy any book this year?

My immediate answer was Yes, though I added, only through You.

I said yes because I knew the challenge came from Him and I trusted He wants my very best. I also knew the area of books was one I was holding on to too tightly... It was a challenge to my heart and I needed to surrender this to Him.

I love reading. I've always loved it. I love to sit on my comfy bed (or on a deckchair in our garden in the summer :)) on a free afternoon or evening to dive into another world, to be inspired, to be challenged, to... oh, I don't know how to describe it adequately... If I was writing in German this would be easier, maybe... (Though very often, if something is very personal and deep, I struggle to find the right words no matter the language (be it verbally or in written form - even in my journal!)... I'm sorry...)

I also love buying new books and making lists of books I'd love to read one day.

Anyway... ;) Just to make my point clear;

I LOVE READING. :)

And it's not that I read just any books I can get a hold of... Because I think I won't be able to read all the books I'd like to in my whole lifetime anyway, I only read books I really, REALLY want to read. And if I ever start reading one that turns out not to be that great and edifying I stop reading it. (...I used to not be able to do that no matter how bad the book was... Remembering that makes me realize I do keep taking steps forward after all... ;))

So my New Year's resolution (and it's been a looooong time since I last made one - I can't even remember if I ever did this!) was (and is):

I will not buy any book in 2010. (Excluded are books I need for school and books I buy as gifts for others.)

Along with this and the process I'm going through that I wrote about a couple entries ago (about letting go of bad habits), with the Lord's help I made some conscious decisions on how I wanted to change my reading habits. Months before I had started to realize how my reading habits had been a way of escaping reality. Whenever I felt bored or tired or restless or overwhelmed it wasn't long until I grabbed a book from my bookshelf, sat down in a quiet corner and started reading. This way I was able to forget about reality and escape the things I needed to face... I invested too much time, too much thought and too much money into books...

Though at first I had no clue how this would work (except that I knew the Lord was faithful), through this resolution I was even more excited about the new year ahead of me and I couldn't wait to see what it would bring.

At first it was really hard. There wasn't a single day (and during the first couple of weeks NOT even A SINGLE HOUR!!) that I didn't think of this "New Year's resolution" I had made... I was reminded of it over and over again and I was astonished at what a strong hold books and reading had been having on my life for years!! Wow...!! ...I was tempted when walking past a book store, I kept thinking of certain books I wanted to read or buy, I thought of the fact that I wasn't going to buy any book this year, and I PRAYED God would enable me to keep my resolution and teach me more about this life for Him.
But then, after a couple of weeks passed, it got easier and easier and I didn't think about it all the time anymore. I still needed to remind myself of my decision from time to time and I also still needed to make conscious decisions against buying a book, but it wasn't that hard anymore...

Now that the year is more than halfway over (what? already?!?) I can't believe how much my attitude has changed and how much I've lost the desire to read or to buy books... Not that I don't enjoy reading anymore, and not that I don't read any books anymore - it's just that this has lost its immediate importance in my life, and instead of obsessing over it I am more able to concentrate on the things that are really important.

So, after almost seven months of having resolved not to buy any book (except for textbooks and as gifts) I can attest to the fact that I haven't bought any book this year!!

And let me emphasize, I was able to do it ONLY THROUGH GOD.

It wasn't me - it was Him.

Praise Him!! :)

All pictures from bildreich.ch

Just one cute picture

My most adorable little nephew and his mama! :)

P.S. I'll be gone for the next week... So excited about this trip to southern France with some of the girls I study with! :)

Christustag 2010 - Dominus Providebit

Last Sunday was a very special day for many Swiss Christians...

"Christustag"!

:)

(German for "Day for Christ" or "Christ's Day" or something like that ;))

It was a gathering of 25,000 (mostly Protestant) Christians from all over Switzerland meeting at the football (soccer) stadium in Bern.

They gathered for more than six hours of praise & worship, testimonials, sermons, games, dances, concerts, prayer, and all sorts of interactive highlights. It was just a day full of joy and fun,

and (to me) amazement at the incredible diversity and unity among all kinds of people having one thing in common:

Their faith in JESUS CHRIST.

I went to "Christustag" as a volunteer and I had so much fun "doing my job", like answering people's questions, distributing earplugs and free Bibles, giving directions, making sure people didn't sit down on the emergency exit stairs, getting to know other volunteers etc.

It was a unique experience to worship the Lord together with so many people from all over the country and from foreign countries as well.

The motto of the day was DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT, which means

"The Lord will provide."

It is the words minted (I hope this is the right word - never used it before ;)) onto the edge of our five Swiss franc coin and I believe that sadly, very few people know about that - let alone what it means...!

But what an amazing thing!

Each time you hold a coin of five francs in your hand you can remember what it says on it's edge and you are reminded of God's provision!!

Picture from swissmint.ch

(I couldn't find a picture where the words were actually visible and my own shots didn't turn out well enough, but here's at least one of what those coins look like.)

So going with the motto of the day, the offering was collected in five franc coins, which a group of children arranged on the ground in front of the stage writing in huge letters DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT.

This offering probably became the heaviest offering being collected in Switzerland this year!

(I weighed a five franc coin and it's 13 grams - being about o,5 oz.)

One very fun activity we did that day was the stadium choreography. Everyone sitting in the soccer field area of the stadium had to reach under their seat where they could find an envelope with a big sheet of paper in it.

Then, on command, everyone was supposed to lift that sheet of paper above their heads like this...

...

...

And here is what it looked like from above (from a helicopter flying over the stadium):

The Swiss flag!

While those sheets of paper were being held up and arms were being stretched out to God,

the whole stadium prayed for the country of Switzerland...

...

...

...

Then, on another command, the image representing the Swiss flag was transformed into...

...this!

The Cross.

...

...

...

..........

As a volunteer I didn't really get to see and participate in much of the program, but besides meeting many other people (mostly volunteers) and just enjoying talking to them and getting to know them, I loved the whole atmosphere and I truly had a gread time being around all those people and knowing the Lord was among us.

One thing that really impressed me and made me so grateful was how it was made possible for everyone to enjoy the day - in their own language. Switzerland has four national languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh) and many foreigners (from 59 different countries!) were attending as well. So because Bern is in a region where both German and French is spoken, what was said in German on stage got translated into French and vice versa. People speaking either English or Spanish received headphones for simultaneous translation and most songs were sung in at least two different languages (mostly German/Swiss German, French, Italian, and English).

Though it might just have been because I love languages and different cultures :), I was deeply impressed by what an effort people put into this and how it really seemed to be important to the organizers to include everyone. On more than one occasion they addressed the foreigners and told them how we appreciate them and how they are a blessing to us Swiss...

I just loved that! ...During the last couple of months the Lord has shown me in many ways what it is like for a foreigner to live in Switzerland and what a challenge it can be. He also reminded me of some situations during my time in the US three years ago... Of how it feels if you don't know how things work or what people are saying. Or what it feels like to realize that people think you're stupid - simply because you don't know their language well enough...

And I realized how I so often did the exact same thing here at home...!! How I wasn't considerate of those people's circumstances and their challenges in a foreign country... How I made a difference in the way I treated and thought of them and they way I treated and thought of others (even subconsciously!)...

But the Lord has been gracious to forgive me...

And He's helping me love them the way He loves them. He shows me little steps I can take... And what a joy it is to get a reaction from those people and to see how they appreciate it...!! :)

I am learning to love and appreciate the foreigners in my country and I could almost say that

now, I like them more than the Swiss...! ;)

...

So to sum it up, "Christustag" was an amazing experience, opening my eyes to the wonders of God's family...

And, once more, Him showing me His presence and guidance through the peace and the joy I felt in my heart...

So beautiful.

P.S. The Lord even used a foreigner that day to speak to me in a very personal way... I guess that guy had no clue that his words actually spoke right to my heart and I just knew it was the Lord speaking through him... That was an even greater blessing that day!

Just one perfect and intimate moment as a gift from my Loving Father.

...Nothing else can come close to something as beautiful as that. :)

All pictures from www.christustag.ch

The Perfect Dessert . . .

. . . on a nice summer day!

Set-Apart Femininity

Last fall I started reading the book Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy. Like any other Ludy book I've read, it deeply inspired and challenged me like not many other books do... And because of that I really wanted to continuously put things into action that Leslie suggests. So somehow I got kind of stuck somewhere in the fourth chapter... ;)

...So yesterday I decided to continue reading. ;) But since it had been quite a while I had to first skim over the first couple chapters again to be able to associate them with the rest... Here are some parts from those chapters that really stood out to me and I felt most challenged by...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"If we rely on something that we possess to make us beautiful, we cannot receive the supernatural, transforming beauty of Jesus Christ.

This is the whole point of the Gospel; the whole message of what Christ does for us. We must lay down everything of self and be overtaken by a power, strength, beauty, and grace that is wholly not our own. That's when we find the ability to live out the supernatural, divinely beautiful, valiantly heroic Proverbs 31 life that He has called us to live as set-apart women."

"We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, not by struggle and effort, but by the impartation of that which is Perfect."

Oswald Chambers

(p. 45)

"If a soul has any beauty, it is because Christ has endowed that soul with His own, for in ourselves we are deformed and defiled! There is no beauty in any of us but what the Lord has worked in us."

Charles Spurgeon

(p. 46)

"When we come to Jesus, we exchange our desires to be noticed and appreciated for the desire that He and He alone would shine gloriously through our beings. Maybe no one will ever notice us. But that makes no difference as long as they notice Him shining through us.

(...) Now I know what kind of beauty I want to seek with all my heart. Not a beauty that can be found within my own soul, but a beauty that is entirely otherworldly in nature, a beauty that flows from the only One who is truly beautiful."

(p. 48)

"Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 16:14

(p. 49)

"When it comes to pouring out all we possess in radical abandon to the King of all kings, there is no such thing as being too extreme. Nothing we offer to Him out of a heart of loving devotion is ever a wasted sacrifice."

(p. 71)

"How much of my time energy, money, and attention can I possibly give to the Lord who died to save me?"

(p. 75)

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Last fall (while reading Set-Apart Femininity) I started examining my life and the habits I had allowed to become so normal in my everyday life. I knew they were keeping me from deeper intimacy with my Lord and it was myself who was standing in the way - me and with that the habits I was so strongly sticking to. I wrote down areas I felt the Lord showing me that needed my attention. ...And above all, His transformation & grace.

I had been SO used to those habits that at first I didn't even notice they were there!

Then, while looking at what I'd written down, I knew I wouldn't be able - never in my life! - to change them in my own strength and willpower! ...I remembered very well how I'd tried to do it in other areas but miserably failed over and over again until I could only cling to the Lord and His grace to change me and remove the ugliness inside me. I knew it wasn't going to be any different this time. (Well, this sounds like since I learned this lesson I've never struggled with that issue again... Which is not true... He is NEVER done doing His work in me!)

So that day to every bad habit I had written down I wrote what I chose to do in that area from that day forward. For example, when I went shopping for clothes it used to be normal for me to yield to inner voices telling me "I need this piece of clothing! I'm sure I'll never find any other shirt as cute as this one again! I have to buy it!" etc. etc. I just was unable to say no to thoughts like that and often ended up buying things (and it wasn't just with clothes) that I didn't need and that ended up not being all that great. A lot of times I wasn't able to enjoy just looking at things at a store, I often felt like if I did, then maybe I would be missing out on something great (and I know this was connected with fears and the feeling of insecurity)...

So as a first step in the direction of change in this area I wrote down: "I choose to always have in mind, whenever I go shopping for clothes, that I want to follow the Spirit of God rather than the messages of the culture when choosing what to buy/wear." "I choose to, if I am not sure if I should buy a certain piece of clothing, walk out of the store and first get an answer." ;) "I choose to not worry about my clothes."...

Maybe I need to add here that I never was a shopaholic or whatever you might call it. I think, to most (even close) people I know, if they'd have seen how I spent my money, they wouldn't have been alarmed or even concerned in any way. It was a habit that, to most, would really have seemed harmless and not worth worrying about.

I believe the Lord showed me, with every habit I brought before Him, what steps I needed to take to change. For every choice I made I asked the Lord to retrain me and to help me get rid of the selfish ways I was living my life. And I asked for His grace.

I believe He enabled me to stick to what I determined.

Maybe my choices of "not listening to the voice of the culture" or of asking God what I should buy (isn't He busy solving bigger problems?!) might seem silly to you. But looking back over the last couple of months I am amazed at how much they helped me focus on the right things - especially in "crucial" moments (like at a store). And I strongly believe it wasn't only that, but the LORD taking my prayers seriously and gladly answering them! Answering a prayer like that is something He loves doing! He delights in us asking Him to help us overcome our ugly ego and put Him, and only Him, first in our lives!

What an awesome thing this is! Nothing given up for the God of the universe is ever a wasted sacrifice. How unbelievably beautiful is that?!

Putting these things into practice and letting Him retrain me wasn't a grim thing at all! Not that it was easy (at least not in the beginning), but I knew I was doing the right thing and I could feel this joy inside me confirming it!

Now shopping is so much easier and relaxing than I was until just a couple months ago!! I love it that way and I love how I am free to not buy anything and just walk right out of a store again!! And if I watch people around me I now often start wondering how they can be so caught up in shopping - all they see is this stuff and they seem to be looking for fulfillment and contentment in it...

It makes me thankful to the Lord who loves me so much, he doesn't want to leave me in the state I am. He wants to enable me to soar above the world and it's bondages... (An more and more it saddens me to see people chasing after empty things, when I know that peace and joy are not found in this world, but in God...)

Habits might seem harmless... But I believe they're not it. It's not harmless to obsess over your clothes, you money, or they way others see you if you're a child of God and you desire to live each moment for God Almighty and you want your life to reflect Him...

And that's what I want. It is my deepest desire and the dream of my life. To honor my Savior and Lord with everything I do... Everything.

I know (from firsthand experience) that in living and dying for Jesus Christ (and it starts in such "small" ways like letting Him decide how to spend my money - which is His anyway!) is the only way you actually become alive.

You find fulfillment, joy, peace, pleasure, security, love - everything; if you lay down what maybe at first you seem unable to give up.

He is enough!

It's true.

(And if I ever knew anything to be true it's this.)

Beautiful Springtime

The Aare River in early April

Montreux

Montreux at Lake Geneva

Nünenen & Gantrisch in late April

Crocuses in the Gantrisch area

Wow... What a view we've got!

Tremble & Smoke

This morning I read Psalm 104 and one particular verse stood out to me:

He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke.

Psalm 104:32

...I immediately thought, the earthquake in Haiti & the volcano in Iceland!! This is pretty accurate right now!
How amazing...

If you read the whole Psalm you can see that even though we don't know the reasons these things happen, we can be certain our Lord is in control.

And no matter what - He is worthy of our praise!

Two Babies on the Way...

My two pregnant sisters!
...And I'm so excited!! :) :) :)

Hear His Voice

Quotes

The following are quotes that currently hang on the wall at the top of my bed or lie on my nightstand right next to it (that's where I get to see them over and over again):

Saying Yes to happiness
often means saying No
to yourself.

Elisabeth Elliot

It's not what you gather
but what you scatter that
tells what kind of life you live.

Author unknown

Du darfst Gott erzählen, wie gross deine Probleme sind.
Aber danach muss du deinen Problemen erzählen, wie gross dein Gott ist.

You may tell God how big your problems are.
But then you need to tell your problems how big your God is!

African saying