my family will be so proud.

so Thanksgiving stands right before my face... what to do. what to do? it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving at all! it's all icy and snowy outside... mom's autumn decorations aren't out... i'm not even sure what food i'll eat... i'm not even in America for crying out loud!... but you know what. haha. i'm still thankful. i'm so thankful that i get to experience the beautiful changes of the season-something i've always wanted to do- i've gone sledding, had a snowball fight, and seen snowflakes fall on my mittens. i get to eat really good food everyday, and a banana today! AND i get to spend this amazing holiday in a foreign country... the first foreign country i've ever been in! with some pretty amazing people that i've had the privilege of getting to know over the past 3 months. God is so good... and in just a couple days i can start listening to Christmas music. :) but while on the subject of being thankful, my roommate Melissa and I made a thankful tree to surprise our 2 other roommates (Laura and Sabine). 

...and yes, it says that i am thankful for "my dog". cause when i finally do get one i'm going to be so thankful. and the verses that I used on the tree stump is Psalm 100. (read it...) Anyways, Thanksgiving dinner is Friday at 2:00 p.m. and we're going to be taking our class photo. so we get to dress all shnazzy. 

I can't believe it's only three more weeks until I leave... it's gone by so fast. I'm really excited to go home, but it'll be bittersweet.... like always. it'll be good though. 

so I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! remember to truly give thanks to our God, 

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." 

rain. sleet. snow.

well, it started snowing yesterday. so pretty much it was my first time "experiencing" snowfall. super exciting. i thought it would have to be a lot colder in order for it to snow... not that i'm complaining. haha, it's pretty cold here. but i just didn't really know. it's a 50° difference between here and home. can't wait to go back. (:

and once again blogger is being retarded aaand it won't let me upload more than one photo. sorry you can't really see the snow in this one that i decided to upload first. :/ but it looks lovely outside! 

i suppose there's lots to update on... can't really think of anything right now. hmm. Thanksgiving is only a week away! my favorite holiday and i get to spend it in Germany... sweet. 

I started my apologetics class this past week... it's been interesting. intense. i don't know. it's on DVD and it's a lot to take in... kind of. sort of? yeah. it's a lot. haha, but hopefully i'll pass and not fail. i don't plan on it so hopefully it'll all work out. we have some new rules.... kind of funny considering there's only one month left of school. but whatever. so far they haven't been too difficult to abide by. guess you just gotta submit. i think the days are going by faster and faster... it's cwazy. i know i'm going to be home before i know it. that'll be cool, but i'm sure it'll seem super surreal. hmm, my brain is so shot right now...

anyways, haha... i'm going insane. (:

26 more days!

this is just the beginning...

...and i'm nowhere near the end.

God, He's so incredibly big. Sometimes I feel strange writing updates on here... seems like i never know what to put into words the amazing things that He's doing in me. This past week was speaker's week, a whole 5 days that we as students get off from class and have the opportunity to sit in lectures by guest speakers. The speaker's this week were, Gayle Erwin, Heather Mercer, and of course, the Holy Spirit. Gayle spoke to us on servanthood, "The Jesus Style",  a book I recommend to everyone to read. Whether you're a believer or not, he paints an amazing "out of the ordinary" picture of who Jesus really was when He came to the world as a man. It was challenging to read it, in ways I didn't expect... but such a blessing. Heather is a woman with a powerful testimony of God's sovereignty and how even in the midst of a hopeless situation He gives hope. She's a missionary and in March 2001 she was a part of a team of eight people who went to do ministry in Afghanistan. She was there for four months before she was arrested by the Taliban a month prior to the attack of September 11th. She was held in 5 different prisons in the area of Kabol until her rescue on November 13, 2001. What a sweet opportunity to listen to what these two speaker's had to say about the amazing things God has done in their lives and who He is, not only to them but to all of us.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts that your thoughts." 

Isaiah 55:8-9

what a comforting thought. I know that as human, I am finite. but God is infinite. I'm a fickle pickle... but God never changes. He's God- He knows all. but sometimes.... I'm really stupid... and i don't trust Him. but how could I not??? He's proved Himself faithful, in the past, in the present, and i know that i know that i know that He will be faithful in the future. 

So yeah, just a thought... God has shown me some incredible things this past week, life-changing i believe. and yeah, that's a bold statement. but you know what? that's what God's into... changing lives. :)

I hope anyone who is reading this is encouraged, thanks for checking up. I'll try keeping up with the updates... it's just been super busy this past week. but anyways, i love you all and i'm thinking about you. 5 more weeks and i'm home. cwazy.

 

back to where we started...

so today was a rainy day... boo.

BUT, so far it's been a very lovely rainy day. i thought it was a bit cold so i sat next to a heater all morning... mmm. that was nice. now i'm just sitting inside the cafe'... getting ahead on certain homework cause i'm avoiding doing it for other classes. Oh, Bible College. 

it's always like this around this time of the semester... Conor reminded us this morning that we're right at the top of the mountain and here comes the decline. sounds like something Jacob would say, it was encouraging. Just keeping in mind that yeah, i miss my family, yeah, the excitement that we all had at the beginning of the semester has faded away, and yeah, maybe i'm feeling more like i want to "get it over with"... but I need to keep my eye's on Jesus-always. and never become complacent with any area of my walk or the wherever He has placed me... now i must take heed.

on monday morning i was invited to be a part of the breakfast crew. it was exciting indeed. we made pancakes, one of the interns shared his pancake mix and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup. it was delicious! his parents just visited last week and they brought it for him. so it was pretty cool. so it was Izzy, Zach, Tamiko, and me... and the pancakies were so tasty. and i think i was able to perfect my flipping skills, which is pretty cool i think. i didn't take any photo's but i stole this one from Zach... just so you can see the deliciousness!

I also went to the store today with Lish. i had a craving for some gummies... i haven't bought any in almost a month! and then i had to buy some oil so i could make the dressing packets my mom sent me in the package. i'm excited about that, cause i love the dressings she sent me. :) and then i bought some bananie's! i was excited... they always motivate me to get up and go to breakfast. 

i felt like i had more to type about... guess not. it's hard trying to keep this thing updated consistently. most of the time i feel like i'm rambling on and on and on. that's why i like adding photo's... it factors in the excitement!

oh! i know something exciting to share! Caleb bought me the new Copeland cd. ♥ it's amazing. he's amazing. I can't wait to listen to it with him. Copeland, Caleb, and perhaps a cup of coffee or cocoa... sounds delightful.

the sun was shining...

today was a marvelous day... i wish i had photographed it. but that's ok, because the warmth of the sunshine will keep my heart comforted for many cold nights to come. 

yes, it was a beautiful, glorious, wonderful sunny day. although this morning it was a bit chilly... i wore the Amelia Earhart hat that Val Pal sent me in the package i received yesterday... but i'll talk about that later. anyways, i was FREEZING this morning but then by the time classes were out the sun was shining and all the clouds were gone! so after lunch i sat outside with Tamiko on the bench and we played some guitar and sang. it was so warm. :) i took off my hoodie and just basked in the sun. it was marvelous. aaand then a puppy appeared out of nowhere! a super cute dog too, aw it was so happy and playing with everyone. i wanted it to be the new school mascot, but no such luck.

So yesterday, I received my third package of the semester. pretty much the best package ever... i was excited to open it, i knew some of the treasures that were inside. but at the same time i was oblivious of the treasure trove that laid before me. she individually wrapped every little object so i carefully unwrapped each one in wonder... more surprised as i pulled back each piece of tissue paper that revealed something more and more marvelous. it arrived at the perfect time, i've been feeling a little homesick lately so it was really nice to have that.

well, i'm hoping tomorrow is nice and sunny again. that would be superb.

ugh. and blogger is being retawded right now and it won't let me upload any photo's... oh well.

1000 times a day...

well,  this past week has gone by ridiculously fast... it's quite overwhelming but at the same time it's been pretty chill.  I'm not sure how t o describe it... thinking back to Thursday-ish i remember being really busy with homework and i felt like i had a million things to do ... then i pretty much got them all done before Friday night. So then this weekend i didn't really have anything to do. but it was nice cause i was getting over some horrible bug... i won't go into details but it was very unpleasant. but anyways... but one of the girls here gave me some hardcore german something or other medicine and it made me feel uh-mazing. haha... and of course i drank lots of water, no tea, but lots of water. i also ate a significant amount of chocolate... i think that had to do a lot with how fast i was feeling better. anyways, over the weekend i did sooo many stinkin' chuck tracks. they were all really good though! in all honesty, i really enjoy them... i really enjoy getting them done too. 

Today i learned how to say "tangerine" in Japanese... that was exciting. except i'm pretty sure i kept saying it wrong. oh well... there will be more lessons.

it's open week for the Bible College so i have two temporary roommates. they're really nice, both from The Netherlands. and they brought a ton of sweets and snacks... so far they haven't shared but i know it's only a matter of time... just kidding. haha, but i wouldn't be opposed. ;) next week is speaker's week... Gayle Erwin is coming for the first couple days. that'll be pretty rad, i'm expecting it to be busy. it sounds like we have a pretty full schedule. we'll see how it goes. it's crazy cause it seems like the weeks are going by sooo fast. six more weeks, really? seems crazy to me... 

haha, first semester feels like it was forever ago... things were so different then. cwazy.