i'm sitting in the coffeebar, sipping a nice cup of tea, wishing i could be outside in the sunshine.. but instead i'll post. i guess i have been updating on a very irregular basis.. sorry! life is busy, ne?

yesterday we made sheeps [i realize this is incorrect, but so much the 'funner' way to say it!] at kids club! it was fun. some of the sheep turned out soooo cute. the kids are 7-11 years old, and some of them are slightly less ambitious and/or perfectionistic than others. when i get pictures from my friend meli, i'll post them. :) think very large noses, crooked feet, wool clumped in various odd places, and eyes spaced further apart than the ears. so precious!

this semester has been pretty diverse as far as job descriptions.. from secretarial work as the registrar's assistant, to playing games and making crafts at kids club, to cooking meals [we made enchilada hotdish today!], working coffeebar, planning and leading outreaches, leading worship [at the Bible college, youth group and all over germany], overseeing housekeeping, traveling around a bit, hanging out with students, staff, and other friends, learning and practicing german, and being involved with the church. i guess there's probably more than that.. but that's all i can think of for now. it's been super busy, but so fun! i am so blessed to have such amazing fellowship here!

tonight we have a girls' worship night. i'm really excited to spend time with the girls, worshiping the Lord. He's so good to us!

hooray!

mit lieb.

die Sonne!

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts 

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7

It's amazing how even in the busyness and chaos of life, the Lord can speak in His still small voice, and still enable us to be used despite our preoccupied minds! Life here is so busy; lately it's bordered on crazy. And yet He saw fit to remind me after a super busy day this week that the joy of the Lord is my strength. At the end of the day, in our emptiness and exhaustion, we need not worry about tomorrow; we need only rejoice in Today- that God has used me as His vessel.

Yesterday I had a pretty busy schedule with all different responsibilities; I figured it would be a busy "doing" day, and not so much of a "people" day. Somehow in there the Lord combined the two, so it was entirely a people day while I was doing everything I needed to accomplish. I had SO many good, deep, encouraging conversations; I heard countless people's testimonies and was able to hear about their current situations and needs. I was able to pray with people, to share my heart with people, and really witness the Body of Christ being the Body! Fellowship is so precious!! I was reminded by a friend that the most important thing is being still and knowing He is God. And really, what else is more important? He's so precious. In abiding in Him, He abides in us, and it's a joy, not a burden, to keep His commandments and love His sheep.

 The sun has been out lately! I love its warmth and the joy it stirs up in my heart; it feels like life is fresh and new again! So true it is that the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has shone in our hearts, and made us new! Because of that light, we can be those fragile, little, cracked vessels in which God takes so much delight. We can spread abroad His light [through our cracks and deficiencies!] to this dark world. The power is His- because we really have none! In our busyness, we can find rest in Him. In our need, our lack, we can yet be used to His glory. In our weakness, He is strong- as He shines the light of Jesus through us. He left the 99 sheep to seek out the one lost sheep; and so ought we be willing to lay down our tasks and love the person in front of us, because of His all-surpassing and merciful love, with which He first loved us!

Amen.

for as long as the sun and the moon shall endure..

i love you chilanga!!!!!!!!

ich werde dich vermissen so ganz sehr.

black forest.

we are in the black forest, at black forest academy, in kandern, germany.

we have led worship 5 times already this week, and have 2 more sets tomorrow.

we= michelle, roelof, fabian, izzy, and me.

i am ein bisschen krank- throaty/cold junk. i took last night off, but still sang this morning. God's good.

we've visited Basel [Switzerland] and Freiburg [Germany] this week- nice cities. helped clean at CC Freiburg today.

tomorrow we have a long day- worship in the morning, hanging out at the school all afternoon [maybe going to German class!], then leading an extended worship time for the high schoolers tomorrow night. pray for strength and grace, and voice-endurance!

also please pray for the kids during this time- it's really a time for them to sit before the Lord, worship, pray, be prayed for, take communion, and enjoy His presence, as an end to their spiritual emphasis week. it's been a good week.

i'm off to bed! gute nacht!

i'll post pictures.. from lots of recent things.. sometime.

Lead, Lord, with unfailing love those that You have ransomed

And we will sing out as we go on: Our God is Faithful.

it's been really busy here! the semester has officially begun, and all the craziness therein.

I'll be gone for the next week- leading worship at CC Herborn's women's retreat this weekend, then leading worship with a team at Black Forest Academy's Spiritual Emphasis Week.

cool opportunities!

God is so good! oh for grace to trust Him more.

be still and know.

"When I cannot understand my Father's leading,

And it seems to be but hard and cruel fate,

Still I hear that gentle whisper ever pleading,

God is working, God is faithful, ONLY WAIT."

-Streams in the Desert

go!

my nephew's latest documented trick.

friends.

to celebrate our "last" day of summer [before semester work begins], my friends Andrew and Miriam hosted a barbecue yesterday!

about 12 of us enjoyed a feast of meats, salads, bread, apfelschörle, birne-melisse wellness getränk, and homemade banana bread and s'mores. so lecker.

afterwards with our coffee and tea we had a great time of prayer for the upcoming semester. it's such a blessing to be part of the Body of Christ, and especially to have friends like these! i love you guys. :) i also was awed by how the Lord put the exact same things on each of our hearts- twice i was going to pray about a specific thing, and someone else did it! sabine said the same thing happened to her. how cool that our God loves to bless us as we seek His face together!

here's a few pictures of the girls. [the boys were busy at the grill. go figure.]

love!

bini and miri!

the kathas!

dear deutschland.

It's been awful fun over here. Everyone is excited to see each other again.. our little "family" here is such a blessing!

Basically I've been hanging out with friends [and working on staying awake] for the past two days.

This weekend I head to Austria! Salzburg on Saturday, then head out Sunday to the Castle in Milstatt for the Missions Conference all week.

hooray!

And, if you haven't seen them yet, or noticed Jessica's blog, you should definitely check out 

The Official Madden Wedding Pictures at maddenwedding.michaelspotts.com. :)

p.s. Excellent German Find of the Week: they sell kefir here. amazing.

p.s.s. ich habe gelernt zu schalten! 

i made it.

i've safely arrived in Germany. thanks for all your prayers. the flight was thankfully quite uneventful, and my dear friends were there to pick me up. i am quite tired but can't really sleep, hungry but can't really eat, and i think rather dehydrated. but i'm here, hooray!

tonight is worship night at cc siegen. then sleep.

i'm thankful.