When a quiet time turns into a post, this is what happens

Right now, I’m sitting in Starbucks in the Altstadt (old city) of Düsseldorf with Charlotte and CT. They’re my groupmates for our final project for the Düsseldorf class and Starbucks has the most reliable internet of... anywhere. This morning, we went to a German Protestant Pentacost church service. It reminded me of a Methodist church from back home, but I didn’t understand most of the sermon. It was still cool though, because our final project is over Pentacost, Easter, and Lent celebrations in Germany, and we have an interview with the pastor on Thursday. After church, they served eveyone beer and soup for Pentacost and the pastor’s birthday. I thought it was pretty hilarious that I walked out of church and one of the first things that happened was a guy came up to me with a tray and offered me an Altbier. And later tonight I’m going to the jazz festival! There’s surely many pictures to come of that- it’s a jazz festival and a celebration of Pentacost, which is a huge deal here.

And for the even more important things, the Lord has been teaching me a lot in a very short amount of time. I honestly don’t even know where to start! I’ll break it down by some huge verses that have been speaking to me the most. Maybe that’ll help me explain.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13

I mentioned in my last post that I need more of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible for me to have a pure desire to read Scripture or pray or serve or have fellowship with my classmates or be content with where I am or do anything good without the Lord. James 1:16-18 says: “ Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” Man is not naturally good by any means. It is solely by the grace of Christ that anything good comes from us. And the above passage in Luke is JESUS BEGGING His children to ask! To pray! To seek! I mean how awesome is that? Jesus wants me to ask Him for the Holy Spirit. But why is the Holy Spirit and God’s presence what I should want?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Just look at that first sentence. It speaks to me every time I read it. There are so many things I feel trapped by- especially by Germany. I know that sounds crazy because you would think freedom is being away from home and on your own, but as I mentioned before, everything I love is in Georgia. This week, I’ve let my mind slip into the idea that my desire to feel filled again could be satisfied by this world- by going home. But this verse redifines freedom, just as Jesus did. Freedom is not being able to do whatever you want or be near what makes you comfortable and happy. Freedom is NOT about being able to do what you, a fickle human, thinks is best. No. Freedom is having the ability to follow Christ, because He is the only thing to ever exist outside of the chains of sin. All else is chained. As said by John Piper at the Passion Conference I went to this past year, freedom is being chained to He Who is unchainable.

So for me, the meaning of this trip has changed quite a bit. I’m still homesick, but as my mom always says, I have to be patient with myself. I know that Scripture says to trust God in all that you do, but I think a big part of that is to seek out His purpose. And even if I don’t know exactly what that is, I do know that His purpose is always to bring Him glory and shine His light. So I’m still begging for more of the Spirit, because as I said, I can’t do this on my own.

Just as word of encouragement to anyone reading this- God answers prayers. You just have to look for the answers sometimes. It’s like a little kid digging for hidden treasure, hoping that it even exists under the ground. But once he’s found it, he appreciates it that much more because of how much work he put into the digging, how much faith was built in him in the process, and how much he grew without even fully seeing it.

I guess I owe those of you back home a brief explanation of what exactly I’ve been doing in the past week. It has been brought to my attention that not all of you can see the gazillions of pictures I’ve been posting on Facebook.

A couple of days a week, we have long classes at the Heinrich-Heine Universität:

After class or for an entire day, we usually have some kind of group activity planned. Here’s some of those:

Tour of Villa Hügel, where the Krupp family (steel industry) originated-

Zollverein coal mine... this place was enormous-

And an incredible tour of the Mercedes-Benz plant. Imagine the most high tech robot factory ever and this was it-

K21 Art Museum-

A day in Koln... the best part was der Dome- the huge church. And we hiked those 533 steps on a teeny tiny ancient spiral staircase (thought I was gonna die for sure)! Not to mention the Lindt chocolate museum-

And some more random photos of Düsseldorf-

Tomorrow we venture to Aachen, another pretty big city in the area. We have our first test Wednesday and next weekend we go hiking and tour a castle! I may have had a rough adjustment to Germany, but this place is pretty awesome.

This will probably be my last post for a few days because I have a test and lots of work coming up, but as always, God is good, and there is grace. He is worthy of everything! :)

Consider it joy

Where to begin... the first day of class at the university was Monday. I’ll start there, because it was insane. I was supposed to take 3 different buses to get there, so I left about an hour and 45 minutes before I had to get there because I knew something would go wrong. I got the first bus and went to the stop where the next one was supposed to come. See, in Germany, several areas are called “something-platz,” which basically just defines the area based on a region of town. However, bus stops are named “something-platz 1,” “something-platz 2,” etc. I got off at 3 and needed to find 1. I eventually did (they’re not labeled on any maps) and waited for about 23 minutes. Buses are supposed to come every 20. Eventually a nice old lady walks by and tells me in German that buses don’t stop there anymore. Perfect. I figured I knew nothing better than to start walking to where I was supposed to make the next transfer, so I did. And yet more problems... The bus map doesn’t have street names, only stop names. So, I had no idea how to get to the next stop. I essentially got lost in an area where I was surrounded by graffiti, a gas station, and the interstate. I had no idea what to do or where to go for about 30 minutes. It was so awful. But then I heard a voice yelling nearby, and there was my host mom, in her car going to work, pulled over because she saw me. She gave me directions and drove me to the next stop (which I never would’ve been able to walk to). Incredible blessing. God was seriously looking out for me and I am so grateful and need to remember what happened and have more faith.

After class Monday was a walking city tour, and Tuesday we had class and toured the Mercedes-Benz plant. Holy cow, it was awesome. And huge. And it had so many robots and machines. Imagine the most high-tech and legit car factory ever, and that was it. Unfortunately I got one of my infamous migranes. Dr. Cothran noticed I didn’t look good, and she went and bought a Coke to surprise me with... it was my first Coke ever. But it did make me feel much better.

Today we took the train all the way to Essen to see the Villa Hugel, or the home of Krupp. It’s like the Biltmore House of Germany. I learned a lot and the scenery was beautiful, but there seems to be a common theme among our group that we all become ravenously hungry around 11am. Then we rode all the way to the Ruhr area, famous for industry, specifically coal mining. We toured the Zollverein coal mine and manufacturing facility. It reminded me a lot of my grandpa’s old welding shop, but the kinda creepy version. I’m not sure why.

Tomorrow is class and then a tour of an art museum. Hopefully I’m actually tired when I go to sleep tonight. Stupid jet lag. :( If anyone reading this wouldn’t mind, I’d really appreciate prayers for my homesickness. I am so blessed to have people and a place to miss, but I need to be more content with where God has me now. Also pray for solid fellowship among our group, and that I could see the opportunites God lays before me and take them and let the Spirit work. I really need more of the Spirit, and more faith. I really really do. And a hug.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. 

James 1

nach Düsseldorf, Deutschland fahren

What an adventure the last 24 hours have been! 30 minutes into my overnight flight, the pilot announces that there will be bad turbulence for the next two hours. The girl sitting right next to me threw up... a lot. As if small spaces weren’t bad enough. We finally landed this morning (I’m 6 hours ahead of you guys) and I found my group. I got in a taxi to head to the host home, where I found a note on the door saying the family had left to go geocaching for the day and to call the neighbor to be let in the house. Guess whose phone doesn’t work? Mine. My taxi driver didn’t speak a word of English, so I asked him in broken German if I could borrow his phone. Eventually I got in so it’s all okay.

And then I decided to go wander the area since I couldn’t get in touch with other people from my group. I hadn’t eaten anything since a small muffin on the plane this morning, and the only place open was an ice cream shop... which didn’t take credit cards. And I couldn’t find an ATM. So now I’m back in my room and still haven’t met the people I’m staying with. This is starting pretty rough. But it’s going to be okay, because God is good, and He is love. And it's when every ounce of your comfort is stripped away that you can see the true sustenance of Christ.

Please be praying I don’t get lost going to class tomorrow! I have to make 3 bus transfers and I don’t even know how frequently buses come.

If you’re reading this, I probably miss you. :)