Christmas holds different things for different people...

Weinachtsmarkt.  Christmas pudding.  Hot weather and lots of cooking.  Sausages with potato salad.  Parade through town.  Christmas carols around the piano.  Goose.  Presents on Christmas Eve.  Presents on Christmas morning.  Sleep.  Candlelit service.  Friends.  Family.  No celebration.

These things are aspects of the Christmas season experienced by people from six different countries. One of the most interesting, enjoyable, and eye-opening things about spending Christmas in this new place has been to see the Christmas holiday through the eyes of friends.

People have talked about the fact that during this year of life in another place, "normal goes out the window."  Sometimes throwing things out windows can feel really fun.  It's exciting to experience whatever fills the spot that normal once held.  But that phrase can also feel like a fur coat in July-- I want to shrug out of it, and sometimes I begin to panic, because I'm pretty sure heat stroke isn't fun.

Though I'd be inclined to think Christmas would fall under the 'fur coat' category, that wasn't the case.

Normally, on Christmas Eve, I love to stand with my family in the pew of my home church, grasping a lit candle and singing "Silent Night."  I keep the blaze alive as long as possible, because this is my favorite part of the evening.

This year, I stood in the balcony of a 100-year-old German church, sang a song in Latin describing the coming of a Savior, and looked out at the faces of friends.  We sang carols on the way there and threw snowballs on the way home.

Normally, on Christmas morning, my sister and I wake up, throw on our robes, and make our way downstairs to the living room, where the Christmas tree glows and breakfast-- bread eaten every December 25th-- will bake soon.

This year, on Christmas morning, two miniature Christmas trees greeted me from my kitchen window as I gathered goods to make breakfast-- scrambled eggs and waffles-- at another apartment.  There, we piled presents under a Christmas tree fashioned from a green blanket and post-it notes.  It was truly one of the most special Christmas trees I've had.  And we cheered as we opened each gift.

Normally, for Christmas dinner, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents gather for dinner-- ham, butterscotch pie, and so much more.  We open gifts again, play my favorite card game, and stay overnight, waking up to my aunt's breakfast spread.

This year, for Christmas dinner, friends gathered for food-- porkchops and bratwursts, peanut butter pie, and so much more.  I met new friends, read about Christmas, and had fun conversation all through the evening.


I love the normal, and I love the new.  And I love the fact that the center remains the same.

On the U-bahn

Typically one does not talk to one's neighbor on the u-bahn, unless the neighbor happens to be a friend.  But riding the long stretch home from language class the other day was an exception.

Attempting to speak German with a friend from class, I fumbled articles, searching for the right one.  

"Die?  Das?  Der?"

In front of me, a girl around my age turned around with an amused look on her face to find me, the source of the butchered German.  And so I smiled, laughed at myself, and asked her which one was correct.  Now I can't remember what the word or the article was, but I appreciated her help.  

As I continued to attempt speech, now lost as to which conjugation was correct, a woman next to me spoke.

"You're doing fine," she said, smiling in understanding.  Turns out she's not from Germany either, and she too is learning the language.

After that, the four of us began a conversation in the train.  A conversation so enjoyable that one of our new friends missed two or three stops while talking, and we exchanged contact information in the end!

How fun to find common ground, helpful people, and good conversation.

This week, our team discussed John 14-17.  There's some great stuff there.

One of the things I noticed: Jesus kept talking about how when we ask for things in his name, they'll happen (Luke 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24).  God will do them.  Whoah.

You know those things that you believe in the sense that you know they are true, but at the same time you don't believe, in the sense that you don't live like they're true?  This is one of those for me.

I know that Jesus is telling the truth.  That's what he does.  But if I really believed him when he says, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (Luke 14:14)... wouldn't I be asking him for things in his name all the time??

So now I've gotta figure out what I can ask in his name.  Somebody said that asking 'in his name' means asking 'according to his will.'  Which can seem daunting, until I'm reminded that he tells me what his will is in his Word.

As I was writing this post, I started copying down things that I found in the Bible that I could pray... and then I gave up, because that would be a lot of writing.  There's a lot in there that I could pray.  One wise woman called the Bible 'our prayer book.'

I can't get over it... If I pray stuff in his name, God will do it.  There's so much power there.  I'm really excited, because think of what will happen!  (I almost wrote, "what could happen" instead of "what will happen"... just goes to show that I'm still not fully believing.)  

He will do great things.

I don't say 'thank you' enough.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

I'm thankful for these good and perfect gifts, all of which I don't deserve:

Christ's righteousness.
A King who knows who I am.
The love of the King, despite that knowledge.
My sister.  I really miss her.
The encouragement and assurance of my father.

The friendship and guidance of my mother.

My church home, which really is a home:  teaching, loving, building up, and sending out.
People who give so generously so that students they may never meet can have the chance to hear about the saving work of the Lord.
Students in Berlin who are willing to have spiritual conversations.
The chance to tell them about Jesus.
Friends.  Great, great friends.
Christmas lights in the city.
Christmas in general.
Card games.  Particularly ten penny, but others, too.
A heated apartment.
Snow, which makes the cold worthwhile.
The bakery next door.
That flowers still bloom in winter.
Skype.
Somebody who knows what will happen tomorrow and next week and the rest of my life, and will work things for good.
And hope, because this is true:

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."  Heb. 1:3

Here Come Holidays!

Whoah.

Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Have I really lived in Berlin through September, October, and most of November?  In some ways it feels so normal, but I also continue discovering new things.

For example... Weihnachtsmarkt.  Which means "Christmas Market."  I'd heard so much about how great the Christmas markets in Germany were, but now I've finally experienced one.  And I agree!  In fact, at the market I met a couple from Canada who told me that they traveled all the way to Germany just for the Christmas markets.  (You know how occasionally things are built up so much that on one hand you get really excited about it, but on the other hand you're a little afraid that it won't live up to its purported greatness?  I was worried.  But it totally lived up.)

As soon as possible, I'll post pictures of this.  But for now, a description:

Little stands, draped in Christmas lights, full of goods for sale.  Some of these goods are handcrafted, and sometimes you can even watch the crafting process.  We saw a man cleaning silver jewelry, and another man sawing names out of wood.  Food stands also beckon visitors... things like hot chocolate on a stick, pork sandwiches, roasted nuts, and even soup.  A stage, where various talents are exhibited... juggling, singing, and the like.  And it was cooold... but worth it, because it feels like Christmas!

But, before Christmas comes Thanksgiving!  Though it's not a German holiday, our team will celebrate it, and on Friday we're hosting a Thanksgiving party.  We've invited a bunch of students, and I'm excited to get to share this American holiday with them.  One of the guys on our team is going to roast a puten-- turkey (well... probably more like three or four turkeys!), and the rest of the team will cook various other traditional and non-traditional foods.  I can't wait.

More on Thanksgiving to come...

Warning:  this post is incredibly jumbled.  My brain has felt sort of like a seven-lane highway recently, so I suppose what comes out of it is bound to reflect.  :0)

Have you ever heard of Ikea?  If you want to furnish a home/apartment/dorm/etc... you can literally find everything you need, including food.  It's gigantic, it's cheap, and it's generally cute.  Or at least standard.  Because of this, we spent lots of time there in the first several weeks after moving into our apartment.

One of the best things about Ikea is the cafeteria.  Yep, there's a cafeteria inside a home goods/furnishings store.  You'd really have to visit to get the full effect, but it's hilarious.  And what they're most known for are the Swedish meatballs.  You get, like, 97 meatballs, AND cranberry sauce, and fries.  And then you shop.  You can also buy frozen meatballs, if you want to make them at home.  Which you might want to do, because they're pretty tasty, and you do get sick of Ikea eventually.

The Bundestag, a government building.  People stand in long lines to get inside, and from the top of the building, you can see across the city...  It's so cool.  Sights like the Brandenburg Gate look small from up there.  Several weeks ago, our team climbed the dome and spent some time in prayer for the city and the students in Berlin.

I've heard the Tiergarten (which I think means something like "Animal Park") described as the Central Park of Berlin.  It's near the Bundestag, and it's a great place to go when you need some 'outdoors' in the city.  This precious couple-- gray hair, jackets matching, holding hands-- was walking around the park, and I couldn't help taking a picture.  That's the TV tower in the background.

Last Saturday, we attended a conference for Christian students, put on by Christian student groups in the city, ours (CfC) included.  What a neat day this was, as young people in Berlin gathered together to worship the Lord and learn about how to serve Him.  Near the end of the day, we spent some time in specific university groups, and tears came to my eyes as we joined students of Humboldt University in prayer.  What a blessing that He has brought these students to Himself, and that they are a light in this city!

What I've been learning from the Lord:

He is so good.

Sometimes I try to live on my own.  I don't rely on the Lord, and I think I can do it.  I think I can get by.  I want to laugh as I think about it, because that's so clearly false.

He knows that I can't get by on my own.  He knows that I think I'm so great but I'm really not... and He loves me anyway.  That's big love, you know?

Sprachschule

Sprachschule= language school.  I have begun!

Last week, two of my teammates and I arrived at the language school office, learned our classroom number and the first name of our instructor, and received a red handbook with SOS written on the front.  It's a grammar handbook.  Haven't sunk yet, but we'll see...

Some of the things I've learned so far:

Wo wohnst du? = Where do you live?

Buchstabieren, bitte. = Could you spell it, please?

Wie, bitte? = Pardon/What did you say?

Ours is such an international class.  Of the eight students, three of us are STINTers from the US, but the other five are from five different countries.

In the last class, we began to learn numbers.  This will be really helpful to master.  Currently, I most often encounter numbers auf deustch when I'm at a checkout counter... and though I try to quickly translate in my head, I almost always resort to glancing at the number on the cash register.  Sometimes the cashier will even point to it for me, understanding that I have no idea what I owe.  And though this works for now, I really want to hear and understand.

So, ich lerne deustch.