happy

Yesterday I got a few things that made me happy:
1) Two (2) one kg bags of Haribo gummi bears. They are huge. Jamie thinks that you could knock someone out with one.
2) A jar of cocktail onions and a jar of olives. One of the many random quirks to being a part of the greater Eakin family, and my mothers daughter :-)
3) Plane tickets home! and back to Germany in the fall. As I told Amy (one of my dear ex-housemates) I am excited for all the living I have to do between now and when I get home, but I am eager to be home. So, I come home May 12th and fly back to Germany the 17th of September--I am just shy of Gitta's birthday in May, and Tressy's in September. Okay, I am off to update photos so that you can see a bit of Brackenheim!

Brackenheim/Stuttgart and Upcoming outreach

On Saturday I left Herrnhut for Lydia's house in Brackenheim, about 50 minutes north of Stuttgart. It was a long, but good travel day (nowhere near as long as it would be to come home...) and now I am enjoying being in a home and preparing for Christmas!
Today we wandered, briefly, through Brackenheim, looking at shops and architecture and running into friends of Lydia. We ventured through a home/kitchen store and it felt like home :-) I love kitchen stuff--it's just fun. I also realized that tool departments smell similar (I know, I'm crazy!) Having grown up making runs to the lumber yard or hardware store, there is a special place in my heart for the merchandise and it's accompanying scent (apparently.) It made me smile.
This afternoon, Jamie, Lydia and I will take the train down to the city, meet with one of the other YWAMers (at a Starbucks, no less!) and hopefully find some last minute Outreach (not Christmas) items, before we connect with another of Lydia's friends, and her sister in Ludwigsburg for dinner.

If you will remember in your prayers all of my DTS classmates and leaderships, this week, that would be great. It is hard for some to be home, and hard for others to be away from home, during this holiday season, and especially after three months away and in anticipation of another three (or more) to come.
Merry Christmas,frohe Weihnachten!

It's Christmas time in Herrnhut

I can't believe what a frightfully negligent blogger I am ! Well, that's not entirely true--I've never been that good about taking the time to put life into writing, and with the busy schedule of a DTS and life in a foreign country, there is all the more to distract from updating everyone.
I track the passage of time by the phases of the moon. It has waxed swiftly over my nightly walk home, and reminds me of how time flies. I have been here just over two months; I have but a matter of weeks before I leave (crazy weeks filled with a Christmas adventure to the home of a friend, near Stuttgart; New Years and only a little more preparation time and lecture!) It is a continual battle to stay present as we are called to look through the things of the past, and as I look forward to what is to come.
Some of my plans for the future are to travel to Scotland with my mum, dad and brother at the end of March, spend time at home with my wonderful family-Tressy graduates from High School this spring!, possibly/hopefully get back to Manitou and work for Summit, and then come back to Germany! as a base staff person, join Julie (nearly 23 year old Canadian) in the cafe ministry that we want to have here, and probably staff a DTS or two... that should keep me busy for the next few years (or the rest of my life! if it's where God wants me.) I am really excited to continue learning German, and gain some practical experience in business as a ministry! Please be praying for God's continued guidance in all these things.
My struggle through all of this is balancing relationships. As with each new place and group of people I have the joy of living with people who are awesome: who love God and want to serve Him in everything. We have great adventures, and get to learn together. However, it's hard to take the time to continue to delve more deeply into sharing together, especially as I need to process for myself. I have been reminded today of how imperative it is to live intentionally in our community-this is as safe a place for it as any- and be encouraged and challenged by those I am living with. Wow! What an opportunity. I know that when this time ends, this time will be it's own in my mind and heart, even as I continue to grow and staff other schools.

Köln

We got back to Herrnhut last night around 8:30, after a long day of traveling across snow covered Germany. It's still snowing here, and I am very glad that the weather waited until after our mini-outreach to get so cold and wet.
It has been a good week of outreach. We spent time praying in the streets, in the Dom (Cathedral), taking with, praying for and giving hot coffee to the homeless and the prostitutes.
We stayed at the same church that our leader had stayed with when he was there last year-the community there has gone through some drastic change since last year--they had become a Christian cult. Now they are in a place of seeking healing, and a biblical foundation in Christ. It is hard to see the pain and brokenness of some of the people we met with, but it is also good to know that God is working in that community. I get excited at the prospect of knowing that we can send future teams there, and that they will be able to share in the change that will continue to take place in that church. It was good to be able to serve and pray for them, as well as share a meal with them this last week.
We have only a few more weeks here--three or four of lecture and outreach preparation, then Christmas, and a few more days before the teams head out! I know these weeks will go by more quickly than I want them to, and it will be a hard transition to be with our seven person team for the ten weeks we are gone.
God is continuing to work on my heart through all of this--I'm learning more about who I am and what I want to do in the next couple of years. I am thinking and praying about coming back to Herrnhut to join a ministry to open a cafe here, continue learning German and who knows what else! I am excited for what is to come, and definitely appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I wrap up my time here in the German portion of the DTS, and determine what will happen in the spring when I am done.

Adventures

Leah and I had a sweet adventure to Prague-we had an interesting ride with the Quick Bus (nauseating,) a trek up to the castle, the Lenin Wall, and a cozy hostel. Prague is a big, beautiful city, and I am so glad that Herrnhut isn't a big city...

I'm really struggling to put into words the things that I am thinking, feeling and experiencing. I don't know that I am 'learning' anything that is especially new, but there are good words that I hear that help direct my thoughts and actions. What is more challenging for me is simply being in a place of waiting and expectation on the Lord. It's hard. I don't know what more I can do, or how to move forward.

Our speaker this week has been calling us to lay down our rights at the foot of the cross. I know that I have so much, that I love the life, family, friends and things that He has blessed me with, and I know that I need to offer all that back to God. What will it look like to give everything over? To hear from Him and know where to go and what to do? All I can do is pray for the strength, courage and faith that what He has is perfect.

...

We have mini-outreach next week. It's going to be a crazy adventure. Ten hours across the country by train, worship, evangelism, and the guidance of God. Please keep my team (and all of our teams) in your prayers, and I'll do what I can to share what God does with our week of ministry with you all when I get back. Oh! and I'm missing Thanksgiving this week- I hope that it is a sweet time with family and tasty food :-) We will be celebrating the following week.

Main outreach locations:

Please join me in praying about where I should spend January-March for our main outreach time. I will be submitting my top three choices to our school leadership team on Friday. Thank you so much for remembering me in your prayers, and please feel free to share with me if you hear anything! :-) I let you all know when I find out more!

Mini-Outreach

We found out our mini outreach teams today! I am part of the group that will be headed to Koln (Cologne.) This was one of my top choices, and my friend Leah is also a part of the team.
Koln is actually the only mini outreach location that I have actually visited before. I spent my 17th birthday in the city. I am eager to visit it again under such different circumstances than my high school exchange trip. I am also pleased that I am staying in Germany: I was really interested in trips to other countries, but it makes much more sense to serve and evangelize in a place where I can actually understand some of the language :-)
I'm not sure if Gitta will manage to get here-but I am praying that she makes is safely, or that we both won't be too crushed if it doesn't work out. I think I could cry.

Life is good

Today was a beautiful day in Herrnhut! Our scheduled speaker for this week was unable to to get a visa from South Africa, so today we did some individual and group processing—I really needed, and enjoyed spending some time quietly sitting on a bench in the sunshine, listening to the wind in the trees. It has been wonderful watching the autumn colors swell to a vibrant peak, and now to watch the leaves blow away. I almost feel bad for those who's work duty is to rake leaves: it seems so futile while there are still leaves on the trees.
My time has fallen into a daily routine; morning lecture with a coffee break, lunch, work, and whatever is on the schedule for the evening. I am a part of the local outreach team that will be focused on connecting with residence of Herrnhut—I felt the most drawn to this group as I live in town, and I think it makes sense to develop relationships here. I am also pretty curious about the town's perceptions of the constantly changing hordes of students that swell the small towns population. Are we more of a blessing or a curse?
I have just realized that I neglected to share a bit more about the historical background of this place. Herrnhut was the location for the beginning of the Moravian church, and started the missionary movement. This community dedicated to spend one hundred years in 24/7 prayer. All of this was more than a hundred years ago, and the East German village, while still known for it's heritage of the Breudergeminshaft (Moravian church) the church is not as vibrant and active as it once was, and the local community still remembers the abuses of communism. For example, there as an anti-Nazi rally in Dresden this last weekend, which would undoubtedly have drawn the retaliation of the Nazis if not for the heavy presence of riot police. It is hard, as an outsider, to contemplate what it must have been like here just 18 years ago. Or to imagine this place devastated for years by war. The beautiful via duct, bridge that I have already posted pictures of is the only structure that I can see was effected by the war (the two center spans were destroyed to keep the reds from crossing via rail)-it was repaired by the next year.
Tomorrow we hear the mini outreach locations, and I am curious to see what the leaders have on their hearts, and where the Lord directs my heart for that time. Next week we hear more about Outreach! My heavens, time goes quickly.
...
I can never seem to complete a post when I sit down to write it. So it is already tomorrow (the 21st of October) and we've been given about 24 hours in which to pray and list our top three choices for mini outreach locations. There are several locations within Germany and the Czech Republic, and also trips to Poland and Hungary. I wish that we had a little more time...
One of my housemates, McKenna, has started Tuesday night dinner at our house, so when everyone finishes our small group/local outreach connection and prayer times, the now-quiet kitchen will be a mad house.
The main point that I have taken from the times of teaching thus far has been an emphasis on relationship. Our main focus should be on pursing a greater understanding of God's character, plans and love for us. It is through this dynamic relationship that we grow more like Him, develop the gifts He has given us and reflect Him to those around us. None of this is exactly news to me, but it is one of my main reasons for being here. Of course I still face the same challenges, of setting aside time to be with God in the word, and waiting on Him.
Okay-the pack is here now, and one of the Germans, Lukas, who also has an Eee PC fixed my internet-so I can just put this in the blog!!! You have no idea how excited I am about this! I love you all, and have you in my thoughts and prayers.

A very few photos

Please check out the photo link at the right to see a couple pictures from my time here so far.

Every day I will walk from the house in town to the Wasser Schloss (Water Castle) It is a beautiful walk and includes woods, a stream with many bridges and a field with a long gradual sloping path. When i first walked up this hill, the girls I was with called it "long, slow, death." I thought this an absurd name for a walk that I found very enjoyable, especially relative to the walk I used to take in Seattle. Yesterday, however, when I had a bit more time to enjoy my walk, I read the sign: "Langsamer Tod"-slow death! The walk was actually called that and I didn't realize the girls had only added long. The name derives from when the Ruppersdorf residents had to carry heavy loads of linens into market in Herrnhut.
I am pleasantly surprised at my use of German, but know that I am still very limited in my knowledge-but at least I get to use what little I know.

I'm here!

Hello again! I just wanted to write a quick note to say that I am in Herrnhut-it was a long trip, but not as long as some others :-) I am living in a house in town (Fischer Haus) where there will be 20 girls sharing 2 showers and WCs! Welcome back to community living... It's a 2km walk to the Castle, and we'll be walking there and back probably 2+ times a day-thank the Lord for exercise, but it's going to be pretty miserable when it rains and snows. I'll post pictures when i take some, and find someone else's computer to upload from. Thank you all for your prayers!

So close!

I have a lot of things to get done today and tomorrow before I leave on Thursday (such as packing, helping mom with the house, sewing a long skirt, and putting together grad application stuff so that mom can send it off for me eventually...) I'm planning on writing more while I travel on Thursday and so should have some info posted ASAP when i get to Herrnhut on Friday evening... Loves!

One last month in Washington

Hello All!

I've decided that it would probably be a wise idea to have a space to share what is happening in my life as I will have limited communication over the next six or so months. For those of you who don't know, I will be attending a Discipleship Training School through Youth With A Mission in Herrnhut, Germany. This adventure begins on 2 October, when I fly to east Germany for ten weeks of lectures in a bilingual-international setting, and preparation for Outreach (the second three months, spent in a location doing things and with a team that will all be determined in Germany.)

I had the awesome opportunity to work for Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado (just west of Colorado Springs) for nearly two months this summer and enjoyed it immensly. I worked on "Domestics," drove 15 passenger vans to set up for sports time, and led small groups during each session, and generally had a blast getting to know and work with people who have fun and seek after the Lord. As a sweet close to my time in CO I got to go down to Pagosa Springs and get the lodge there ready for Summit Semester, which was full work, fun, and beautiful scenery. It's always hard to leave a place that holds people we love, and good memories, but I am hoping to get back to Summit next summer.

I've been home for just less than a week, had my wisdom teeth removed, and am now in the process of wrapping my mind around the work that I need to do before I leave. It will get done--eventually. I am struggling with the idea of graduate school, and not sure if it's because I just don't want to do the hard work of applying, or if it's the bigger picture of the end results of a PhD in I/O Psych. What do I really want? and more importantly, what does God want with me?
Mom and dad have also accepted a contingent offer of sale on the big house in Ferndale, so nearly all my possessions are boxed up in the closet, and we have the joy of exploring though various homes and neighborhoods in Bellingham trying to imagine my parents there and someday (when we might all be in the same place again) the whole family. We live in a beautiful place, and it makes it a bit hard to leave knowing I won't have a home that has been mine to return to. Thanks for not moving until I'd graduated from college, mom and dad :-)

I appreciate all the love and support that I have received and that I know will follow me across the world this year. Thanks bunches!

Hugs, kisses, and prayers,

Libby, Sniffy, Libs, Lu-Bunny, etc...