Fresh

I think the best thing I have gained from this experience is the realization that I can easily feed a large group of adults. It's just a matter of planning and time really, but it's not hard. I can do it. I've been doing it, and I love it. It feels really good to host and feed people. I am so blessed to have the gift of time this summer that I can do this, that I can serve people in this way. I'm grateful for it. 

Pamplona was a total blast. I mean, what an experience! Everything you have seen in the movies and in photographs - it looks exactly just like that. I wish we had been there longer. We visited the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which I do believe is the most beautiful building I have visited thus far. Holy gorgeous work of art. I couldn't help but think, if man is capable of such a masterpiece, what then, oh what, is God capable of creating? We had some neat spiritual conversations, and it was a rich time. 

On Saturday we took a day trip to a German town (an hour and a half away by train) called Mainz. Gutenberg's printing press/museum and workshop are there, along with some of the very first printed copies of the Bible. There is a large city square with a public market, a large cathedral, and dark chocolate ice cream - yum!! There was a group of 8 of us, which felt like just the right size and mix. 

There are two young soldiers that just started hanging around the Festaburg the last couple of weeks - Isaiah and Tommy. I don't believe either of them are Christians. Isaiah is a real hoot. He's got this real sassy sense of humor and so I can't help but give him crap at every possible opportunity. They seem to really be enjoying the fellowship and festivities of the hospitality house and we are really glad to have them around here. 

Tommy and I made an interesting connection the other night. And actually, maybe you guys could pray about this specifically. I'd like that. 

Tommy nonchalantly mentioned that his sister's birthday was coming up and said that we should "say a prayer for her." This seemed like a peculiar thing for Tom to say, so I decided to dig a little deeper. "How old is your sister going to be?" 

"Well, actually, she died recently. From Leukemia."

"Wow, did she. I'm so sorry to hear that. My brother also died from Leukemia. When did she die?"

"Seven months ago."

Seven months ago is so recent, so fresh. Ouch. It turns out that Tom's sister had recently had a baby, too. Since I have lost a close loved one, I know that certain days are more significant and painful that others, so I asked when Tom's sister's birthday was. I want to pray for that day in particular and I want to be sure to reach out to Tom on his sister's birthday.
"When is your sister's birthday?"

"The 31st."

You're kidding me. My brother's birthday is the 31st. So Tom and I have quite a bit in common. We have both lost siblings to Leukemia, and our siblings' birthdays both fall on July 31st. I told Tom I would pray for him and his family, and he, acting very soldierly, said I shouldn't worry too much about it. I said, "Okay, I won't worry. But I will pray." Seven months ago for me was as fresh as last week. 

On Sunday the house was open to all. There ended up being about ten of us hanging around the house. We barbequed, played an intense game of Spoons, and watched a couple of movies. It was a great day. I've been on my own for a week now, and Brad and Debbie will be gone yet another week and a half. As you can see, it's been a very full last couple of weeks, and I feel full as well. Thank you for praying and checking in with me here. As always, love you guys. 

Fruit and Sniffles

We had a great Dinner & Discussion last night with a great group of people. We talked about an idea expressed in the book Strength Finder. The American culture values "against all odds" triumph stories, when someone overcomes their greatest weakness. The well-known movie, Rudy, is a perfect example of this. However inspirational a story it is, Strength Finder makes the argument that Rudy at 5'6" and 165 pounds was never meant to be a star football player. It simply was never in the cards for him. It took four tries before Rudy was accepted to Notre Dame. He spent thousands of hours practicing on the school's second string team for, what, thirty seconds of actual game time? Thirty seconds of game time when Notre Dame's win had already been secured, so it didn't even matter if Rudy or you or I played. Rudy wasted his time when he could have been succeeding at something he was good at and built for. Many of us were told as young children that we "can be anything we want to be as long as we try hard enough." But is this really true? Should we tell this to our children? The author shares his personal story of completely buying into this idea and trying with all his might to become the next Michael Jordan. He was serious about basketball, practicing  3-4 hours a day after school and attending basketball camps. This went on for years and years but in the end he couldn't even make the JV team. 77% of Americans believe that their children's lowest grades deserve the most attention. In general, we tend to fixate and focus on our weaknesses rather than encourage our strengths. The author and his team promote self-exploration in order to tap into our strengths and become even more of who we already are. Interesting stuff, huh.

Brad and the rest of the Burundi team will return on Saturday. A professional photographer on the team by the name of Thomas Cooper has been posting gorgeous photos everyday that really give a sense of what's going on down there. I encourage you to look him up on facebook and check them out. Thomas Cooper from Littleton, Colorado. Brad and Debbie will leave Wednesday for a busy three week stateside trip while I keep the house up and running here in their absence. Just a couple of days after their return I will be homeward bound. I'm not counting down quite yet, but it's hard to believe that my trip is 2/3 over. Less than a month's time to serve the house ministry here, but I'm still loving every moment. I have definitely been seeing the fruit of my labor, which I am grateful for. Lots of people give of their time and energies and don't get to see the results. But I do. I see that I'm lightening the load and providing some stability, and I feel appreciated and wanted. It's good to feel useful. 

I have been fighting a cold this week, but I am hopeful that I am on the mend now. A small group of us fly out bright and early tomorrow morning where we will spend the long weekend in Pamplona and Barcelona, Spain for the running of the bulls. It should be a really rich time of fellowship! Pray that nobody gets gored. And don't worry, I'm not running. I would definitely be trampled and killed. 

K, love you guys mucho gracias!! Jessica Susan

A Great Weekend

Brad and Debbie are back home, and I had a wonderful week running the house on my own. Regarding house meals, I pretty much did things exactly as I have seen Debbie do them and was amazed to sit back and watch how smoothly everything fell into place. It's a pretty awesome feeling when your house is clean and your casserole, salad, rolls, and drinks are all ready at the same time. Success! On Wednesday had a great discussion about manliness and explored ideas about what defines a man, where boys learn to become men, etc. Two new soldiers joined our group, Abby and Tom. Some stayed late to walk Sam and watch a movie. It was a great time. On Friday we started a new Bible study series and discussed being open to allowing God to change us into the people He wants us to be. Over the next several weeks we're going to be looking in depth at some spiritual disciplines (prayer and bible study are the most common examples of spiritual disciplines) we can practice that are not ends in and of themselves, but are ways that we can make ourselves accessible to God, ways that we can give God space and opportunity to speak and work in us. I was reminded that I cannot make myself righteous, even by taking an inventory of and limiting my sins nor by checking off my daily spiritual disciplines. No matter what I do or don't do, I can't earn God's good pleasure or appease him by my performance. He just loves me (and you too, by the way) and lavishes his grace upon us just because. We only need to take it in. I forget this constantly, that I don't need to do a song and tap dance. Oh my I can't wrap my head around this stuff enough.

Brad and a team of 13 other Christians from around Europe will leave Thursday for a 10 day trip to Burundi, Africa. This is Brad's third visit to Burundi. He is constantly reading and learning about Burundi, and sharing his facts and thoughts with us, which I enjoy. Burundi is a totally desperate place that has experienced mass genocide, killings, tortures, and other unbelievable atrocities as recent as seven years ago; it is still a very dangerous place to be. We have been talking a lot about Burundi around here and how well over 500,000 people were murdered there, and yet, have you heard anything about it? Yeah, neither had we. Why didn't Burundi's genocide make the U.S. news? Why doesn't anyone remember Burundi's pain? Brad and his team will be doing various things there. The specific reason for this visit is that the US ambassador of Burundi has invited our team to meet with the Burundi army and government leaders to discuss ethics and reconciliation amongst its people. Brad will be preaching and teaching about forgiveness and healing with a people that has seen unbelievable devastation. Literally everybody in this community has had members of their immediate family tortured and killed or they have been directly involved with the torturing and killing of their own community. I mean, whoa. Heavy stuff right. Debbie and I will keep the house open and running while Brad and the team are away. Please join us in praying for the people of Burundi and for our team as they go in Jesus's name to love the people there.

I am having a really wonderful time here, but today was an especially fun day for me. This wasn't anything like work for me, it was so easy. We went to chapel this morning, ate a delicious (fried chicken, mashed potatoes, a biscuits) lunch afterwards, went shopping at the department store on post for clothing for the children in Burundi, came back to the house with four great soldiers where we proceeded to organize, take inventory of, and pack all of the clothing - both purchased and donated - for the people of Burundi, enjoyed another delicious meal together (two of the soldiers went deep sea fishing last night and caught a bunch of mackerel), and then, as if this day wasn't wonderful enough, we watched Braveheart. Pretty great day, right? I'm off to bed now, but I wanted to leave you with some photos from the weekend. Enjoy! 

Still really grateful for you guys. Love ya.

 Saying goodbyes to Carrie & Ray and Daniel

 Checking out their signed picture frame gift

 Sam, enjoying the balcony on this beautiful day

 Hanging out and talking about all kinds of interesting stuff

 Some great guys

 Tyler and Debbie

 Getting the table ready for din-din (aka dinner)

The Festaberg