yesterday I met a new Korean. Before saying anything to him he said "You are Lara" and I said yes, and he said the other koreans had been speaking about me. I as usual, when around the foreigners was being hyper and speaking German, so jokingly I said "oh no, hopefully nothing too horrible..." and he said "You know Jesus.." I was surprised how much my heart calmed as I looked him in the eyes and smiled and said "yes, I know Jesus." Simple. The conversation is still swimming in my mind a day later. The two pictured do not necessarily know Father yet, but they are the two I'm closest to. <3 It brings my heart joy whenever I run into them as they get excited and run up to me to hug me. On a human level, it makes me feel loved, on a spiritual level I long for my heart to ache for their souls to know Christ. They are becoming dear to me, and I look forward to hanging out more with them.
I met a ginger from italy yesterday. We have the same hair color and the rest of our families have brown hair, so we are the same person from different countries. Although he's an italian ginger which is completely different. I also told him the english word for our hair color was definitely ginger. I think he believed me. woops.
Tomorrow I leave for Austria with teamham. I'm eager to see J from DD and others and simply the quality time with teamham. J and I will sing Sound of Music together. It will be money in the bank. which is nice considering i need some. <3 yay. :-)
The other day I took a test and it told me I was left libertarian. The real definition, not the American-Political system definition. I think it means I'm open minded but I still hold to my values. I just made that up, I really have no idea what it truly means. I also am planning on taking a course on The American Election this next semester. Yes, in Germany. Ironic? maybe?! However, it will definitely be interesting.
Well, I had plans to travel while here, but with the exchange rate getting worse every day, looks like others will travel without me. Which isn't too super, but I will get over it, life moves on. :( The USD is dwindling in value. Everyone here says it's Bush's fault. I'm not smart enough to know if that is true or not. I also hear things like "It was never supposed to be this way" from Germans, or I hear the exact opposite response of laughter and snickering at how unfortunate it is that I am suffering from the economic downfall of the dollar. I suppose we're living in a "Euro trumps everyone else's hopes and dreams" world. That is, if I let it. Perhaps later in life I can make a journey to England or elsewhere, but right now it seems I should stay in Germany, except for next week when I am in Austria for a week. I'm going to some conferences and classes and such, and maybe some skiing. It should be a nice time, without internet.
I'm learning that I love to laugh, and be goofy. Perhaps I already knew that about myself, but I'm re-learning it. I feel like I have been locked inside of a glass case of emotion (even though that's a line from the anchor man, that's somewhat how i feel...dorkyyyyy), and I am re-learning what it looks like to interact and to be with people on a daily basis. Yes, I've been social this past semester, and yes, I gained new friends from all over the world, but I also drew myself into my anti-social tendencies, but I did learn a lot in that time, so I don't regret it. I learned a lot about myself, my wants, my hearts, my sins, my joys, my passions, my longings, my present, my future... I learned about the Lord I serve and long to serve even more, and my heart began to fall in love with people and things and desires and literature and art and poetry and hearts of others more so than before.
Now I see that Father is giving me amazing opportunities to share my faith, not just with words, and i'm learning more about His Grace and HIS amazing qualities.
Well, I had plans to travel while here, but with the exchange rate getting worse every day, looks like others will travel without me. Which isn't too super, but I will get over it, life moves on. :( The USD is dwindling in value. Everyone here says it's Bush's fault. I'm not smart enough to know if that is true or not. I also hear things like "It was never supposed to be this way" from Germans, or I hear the exact opposite response of laughter and snickering at how unfortunate it is that I am suffering from the economic downfall of the dollar. I suppose we're living in a "Euro trumps everyone else's hopes and dreams" world. That is, if I let it. Perhaps later in life I can make a journey to England or elsewhere, but right now it seems I should stay in Germany, except for next week when I am in Austria for a week. I'm going to some conferences and classes and such, and maybe some skiing. It should be a nice time, without internet.
I'm learning that I love to laugh, and be goofy. Perhaps I already knew that about myself, but I'm re-learning it. I feel like I have been locked inside of a glass case of emotion (even though that's a line from the anchor man, that's somewhat how i feel...dorkyyyyy), and I am re-learning what it looks like to interact and to be with people on a daily basis. Yes, I've been social this past semester, and yes, I gained new friends from all over the world, but I also drew myself into my anti-social tendencies, but I did learn a lot in that time, so I don't regret it. I learned a lot about myself, my wants, my hearts, my sins, my joys, my passions, my longings, my present, my future... I learned about the Lord I serve and long to serve even more, and my heart began to fall in love with people and things and desires and literature and art and poetry and hearts of others more so than before.
Now I see that Father is giving me amazing opportunities to share my faith, not just with words, and i'm learning more about His Grace and HIS amazing qualities.
It's been four days since Sara and Sean arrived, and already I am learning a lot. A lot about myself and I am noticing many changes in me. I am still trying to distinguish some of them, and understand the emotions that rise up in me, some causing me to laugh and become giddy and other times the emotions that cause me to cry while Sara fans me and freaks out, causing me to laugh and cry at the same time... oddly turning into one of my favorite memories.
I've been reminded of much today. One being that we all have our own story. Just like no one is alike, no one has the exact same story -- in life, how they came to Christ, how they grew in Christ, and met more of Him and His glorious grace. I love that. It's a simple thought. Not a divine revelation, but it offers freedom... and is also another example of how we ought not to compare ourselves, while it is simply impossible.
even though life is crazy and sometimes stressful, i love it.
xx
Lara
xx
Lara
