Ole Ole Ole!!!

Germany just won against Portugal in the quarter-final (Portugal was the favored team for this game) to move on into the semi-final against either Croatia or Turkey!!!! Outside I can hear the horns already blowing away in celebration. GO GERMANY!!! And I can imagine the flags are flying proudly tonight!

In fact, since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Germans have loosened up about their national pride and fervor. It is great to see them move beyond the guilt and shame of their national history. For the longest time, no one waved a German flag in fear that they would be labeled as too nationalistic or worse be associated with a past that everyone wants to forget. But today, I saw so many German flags waving, painted on faces, wrapped around shoulders, hanging from windows, flying from car windows(ok, I admit, we do have a German flag flying from our car window also, hehehe - hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans)! Awesome to see German nationalism restored to what it should be!

GO GERMANY - ALL THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN VIENNA ON 29.JUNE!!!!!
;-)

Royal Rangers Troop 393

This past Saturday we had the opening celebration of Royal Ranger Troop 393. For those who don't know what Royal Rangers is - they are a like a Christian Boy Scouts. It started in the US back in the 60's and has now spread to over 75 countries. In Germany alone, there are over 16,000 kids who are part of this program. We as a church had been praying about this for over a year now and have finally gotten a 'green light' from God to start a troop ourselves, the 2nd troop in Freiburg. We are officially known as Freiburg II, Troop 393.

Our desire is to reach the kids and youth of Rieselfeld, the neighborhood where we are currently living. As I mentioned in a previous post about Rieselfeld, there are now about 9000 people who live in this neighborhood, and over half are kids under 18! So this is a great way to reach these kids - the troop meets just down the street from our house in the neighborhood park, right next to the elementary and high school. At the opening celebration, the city even sent a representative to come and give a 10 minute speech on how the city is behind us, how they are excited to see us reaching out to Rieselfeld to 'give the kids and youth of our neighborhood orientation and direction in life' (something to that effect). And that is the ultimate goal of Royal Rangers - the 4 red points of the RR emblem represent the 4 basic teachings of RR - i.e. Salvation, Baptism with the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, Rapture of the Church (can you tell this was started by the Assemblies of God?); while the white background symbolizes sanctification.

The five troop leaders are young students from our church - the main leader was saved through the Royal Rangers when he himself was a kid and his heart burns to see Troop 393 grow and reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. At the moment the troop consists of mostly kids from our church who live in Rieselfeld (Jesaiah and Taliah included) and a couple kids (originally from Texas!) who we don't know, but who somehow heard about it and joined. And they want to bring other kids from their schools!

So pray for us, as we reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. Here are a few fotos...

PS - you can learn more about Royal Rangers at their website.

Royal Rangers Troop 393

This past Saturday we had the opening celebration of Royal Ranger Troop 393. For those who don't know what Royal Rangers is - they are a like a Christian Boy Scouts. It started in the US back in the 60's and has now spread to over 75 countries. In Germany alone, there are over 16,000 kids who are part of this program. We as a church had been praying about this for over a year now and have finally gotten a 'green light' from God to start a troop ourselves, the 2nd troop in Freiburg. We are officially known as Freiburg II, Troop 393.

Our desire is to reach the kids and youth of Rieselfeld, the neighborhood where we are currently living. As I mentioned in a previous post about Rieselfeld, there are now about 9000 people who live in this neighborhood, and over half are kids under 18! So this is a great way to reach these kids - the troop meets just down the street from our house in the neighborhood park, right next to the elementary and high school. At the opening celebration, the city even sent a representative to come and give a 10 minute speech on how the city is behind us, how they are excited to see us reaching out to Rieselfeld to 'give the kids and youth of our neighborhood orientation and direction in life' (something to that effect). And that is the ultimate goal of Royal Rangers - the 4 red points of the RR emblem represent the 4 basic teachings of RR - i.e. Salvation, Baptism with the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, Rapture of the Church (can you tell this was started by the Assemblies of God?); while the white background symbolizes sanctification.

The five troop leaders are young students from our church - the main leader was saved through the Royal Rangers when he himself was a kid and his heart burns to see Troop 393 grow and reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. At the moment the troop consists of mostly kids from our church who live in Rieselfeld (Jesaiah and Taliah included) and a couple kids (originally from Texas!) who we don't know, but who somehow heard about it and joined. And they want to bring other kids from their schools!

So pray for us, as we reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. Here are a few fotos...

PS - you can learn more about Royal Rangers at their website.

EM Fieber!!! (Europa Meisterschaft Fever)

All of Europe is totally worked up for the European Championships in soccer at the moment. It's going on for all of June. You have to realize that here in Europe soccer is the 'only' sport, or so it seems. Whole countries are geared up to support their national team in the playoffs.

Here in Germany, they take their wurst (sausages) and fussball (soccer) very seriously. As you can see by the fotos below. Becks stopped at the butcher to get some meat and they packed it up for her in an official (I think) EM Fussball package/meat wrapper! It even has the schedule for all the games up to the championship game. Now that is taking it seriously! Although I have to say, we have kinda caught the EM fever this year also ;-).








Loose translation of the bag - 'it's all about sausages'
















Game schedules on the back














Germany has to at least tie against Austria (second entry from bottom) tomorrow (Monday) to move into the quarterfinals.

GO Germany!
DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND!!!!

EM Fieber!!! (Europa Meisterschaft Fever)

All of Europe is totally worked up for the European Championships in soccer at the moment. It's going on for all of June. You have to realize that here in Europe soccer is the 'only' sport, or so it seems. Whole countries are geared up to support their national team in the playoffs.

Here in Germany, they take their wurst (sausages) and fussball (soccer) very seriously. As you can see by the fotos below. Becks stopped at the butcher to get some meat and they packed it up for her in an official (I think) EM Fussball package/meat wrapper! It even has the schedule for all the games up to the championship game. Now that is taking it seriously! Although I have to say, we have kinda caught the EM fever this year also ;-).








Loose translation of the bag - 'it's all about sausages'
















Game schedules on the back














Germany has to at least tie against Austria (second entry from bottom) tomorrow (Monday) to move into the quarterfinals.

GO Germany!
DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND!!!!

Quick update

Hi all! Just a quick update to let everyone know we are still here and doing good! We have been out of touch now for a few days due to our internet and telephone being on the blitz...AGAIN! David isn't the in office as much any more and it isn't very easy for me to be here so I am using the opportunity while I am here!
We are doing well. Very busy at the moment, but enjoying every opportunity to get together with people that we have!
I will try to update in more detail when our internet is working again (hopefully this weekend). Right now I am off to the women's Bible study.
Anyone who wants to get ahold of us can use our handy numbers, those still work for now! ;) Other wise I guess you'll just have to be patient like us!

Quick update

Hi all! Just a quick update to let everyone know we are still here and doing good! We have been out of touch now for a few days due to our internet and telephone being on the blitz...AGAIN! David isn't the in office as much any more and it isn't very easy for me to be here so I am using the opportunity while I am here!
We are doing well. Very busy at the moment, but enjoying every opportunity to get together with people that we have!
I will try to update in more detail when our internet is working again (hopefully this weekend). Right now I am off to the women's Bible study.
Anyone who wants to get ahold of us can use our handy numbers, those still work for now! ;) Other wise I guess you'll just have to be patient like us!

Where in the World is Waldo??

For those of you wondering 'where in the world is the Phamily going next?' - we have to admit we really don't know! Seriously! We are totally open to going wherever God wants to take us, doing whatever He wants us to do. But we do have a couple places on our hearts - well, lots of places actually, but these 2 are at the top. I bet you're dying to know those top 2 huh?

Well, maybe I'll talk about the weather first - rainy here in Freiburg. Or maybe about the Europa Meisterschaft (European Championships) in soccer that started tonight (sorry to the Swiss - bummer loss). Or maybe I should talk first about the falling exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro. Or maybe the American election - naaaww, too controversial.

Ok, just take a gander at the maps below. Those are the top 2 'places' we are praying about right now. That's right - Africa and Asia - they've been on our hearts (that's right, I said 'our') in the last few months. I never ever wanted to go to either of these places, but this year, I have been thinking a lot about these 2 continents. Now, that doesn't mean that we'll end up anywhere on those maps. But we are praying for those continents. And seeking God's face in this. So pray for us and with us.

But first to sunny SoCal!!! (And Mexican food and shorts all year round and In-and-Out and and and ....)

Where in the World is Waldo??

For those of you wondering 'where in the world is the Phamily going next?' - we have to admit we really don't know! Seriously! We are totally open to going wherever God wants to take us, doing whatever He wants us to do. But we do have a couple places on our hearts - well, lots of places actually, but these 2 are at the top. I bet you're dying to know those top 2 huh?

Well, maybe I'll talk about the weather first - rainy here in Freiburg. Or maybe about the Europa Meisterschaft (European Championships) in soccer that started tonight (sorry to the Swiss - bummer loss). Or maybe I should talk first about the falling exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro. Or maybe the American election - naaaww, too controversial.

Ok, just take a gander at the maps below. Those are the top 2 'places' we are praying about right now. That's right - Africa and Asia - they've been on our hearts (that's right, I said 'our') in the last few months. I never ever wanted to go to either of these places, but this year, I have been thinking a lot about these 2 continents. Now, that doesn't mean that we'll end up anywhere on those maps. But we are praying for those continents. And seeking God's face in this. So pray for us and with us.

But first to sunny SoCal!!! (And Mexican food and shorts all year round and In-and-Out and and and ....)

Prayer - 'Stick' With It!

Saw this cool little 'stick-man' video on Corby Stephens' church blog, (Corby is pastor of The Exchange Church in Forest Grove, Oregon). It really hit the nail on the head for me. That's exactly how I feel sometimes with prayer. Thanks Tim and Corby for sharing the video. Love it!

Prayer - 'Stick' With It!

Saw this cool little 'stick-man' video on Corby Stephens' church blog, (Corby is pastor of The Exchange Church in Forest Grove, Oregon). It really hit the nail on the head for me. That's exactly how I feel sometimes with prayer. Thanks Tim and Corby for sharing the video. Love it!

Roughin' It

We are coming down to the wire now - only 7 and a half weeks left until we fly back to America. Just a quick update on the moving plans. We have basically given away all the furniture that we can - all we have left are mattresses on the floor to sleep on (the 2 younger kids still have their bunk bed, but that goes away in a month also), a garden table and folding chairs to eat off of and an old laptop and monitor for the kids to watch their Veggie Tales on! So it's down to the bare minimum.

We were blessed that some people from the church 'sponsored' shipping boxes for us. As you can see in the foto of the living room, there are also about 7-8 cardboard boxes that will be shipped - mostly clothes, fotos, a few of the kids toys and some other stuff that we can't bear to give or throw away. Makes you think - on the one hand our last 11-12 years here can be stuffed into 5 pieces of checked luggage and 7 cardboard boxes. But on the other hand, all the memories, friendships, love, care, provision, relationships - they would never fit in any moving boxes. The only place they fit (and belong) is in our heart. Naja, I am waxing poetic / sentimental - gotta move on.







Living room













Our bedroom (notice the throw-together-with-whatever-wood-you-have clothes rack!)








Kids' bedroom (yep, all 4 kids in 1 room - you can't see the bunkbed for the 2 little ones, but it's in there!)









Playroom / Workroom - living out of suitcases. No more dressers for the kids' clothes - instead each kid has 1 suitcase of clothes.

Roughin' It

We are coming down to the wire now - only 7 and a half weeks left until we fly back to America. Just a quick update on the moving plans. We have basically given away all the furniture that we can - all we have left are mattresses on the floor to sleep on (the 2 younger kids still have their bunk bed, but that goes away in a month also), a garden table and folding chairs to eat off of and an old laptop and monitor for the kids to watch their Veggie Tales on! So it's down to the bare minimum.

We were blessed that some people from the church 'sponsored' shipping boxes for us. As you can see in the foto of the living room, there are also about 7-8 cardboard boxes that will be shipped - mostly clothes, fotos, a few of the kids toys and some other stuff that we can't bear to give or throw away. Makes you think - on the one hand our last 11-12 years here can be stuffed into 5 pieces of checked luggage and 7 cardboard boxes. But on the other hand, all the memories, friendships, love, care, provision, relationships - they would never fit in any moving boxes. The only place they fit (and belong) is in our heart. Naja, I am waxing poetic / sentimental - gotta move on.







Living room













Our bedroom (notice the throw-together-with-whatever-wood-you-have clothes rack!)








Kids' bedroom (yep, all 4 kids in 1 room - you can't see the bunkbed for the 2 little ones, but it's in there!)









Playroom / Workroom - living out of suitcases. No more dressers for the kids' clothes - instead each kid has 1 suitcase of clothes.

Hamburg

David already said a little about our trip to Hamburg, so I will just a little more. :)
We had a great time with Zachy's auntie. We were able to stay with her in her flat which was a lot of fun! We sat up and played games and ate junk food after the kids were in bed, it was great!
She also showed us lots of fun stuff in Hamburg, which I have to say is a very beautiful city. We went on the ferry and saw the harbor with the HUGE contianer ships (very cool!). Then we went to a tropical aquarium. It looked like disneyland with animals the design was great! Of course the kids loved that. We saw turtles, fish, lizards, snakes, sharks and many more!
So that was the first day...
The second day we went the mini wunderland (see the last post) then to the North Sea, about an hour and a half away. The North Sea is very unique in that when the tide goes out it leaves 'dry' (mud) ground. The tide goes so far out that you can't see the water any more, there is just a big mud field. There is actually a sport/hobby called watte wanderung, which is simply taking walks in the mudfield while the tide is out. (But beware the tide comes in quickly!) It's pretty cool to walk out a ways when the tide is out, it really is more like mud than sand. The kids found clam shells, and jelly fish and even a few dead crabs. The had a blast playing in the sand on the beach too.
For our last full day in Hamburg, we took it easy. Eva had to work so we went into town on our own and just walked around a bit, had lunch and headed home. Eva and I cooked stir fry for dinner (her request) and we had a nice meal together before putting the kids to bed and playing phase 10 again (which I lost).
So it was a very good trip and we wish we had had more time, I think we could have spent a month there and still not have seen everything. But we got to see the most important person there! And best of all spend time with her! Thanks Auntie Eva!
(Now we just need to round up the aunties here in Freiburg and coup them up in small quarters with all 6 of us for 4 days so it'll be fair! ;) )

Mini Wunderland

I have tons of pics from tons of trips so here's the first few. While in Hamburg we went to a place that has landscapes in miniature. And of course there is a model railroad that runs throught the whole thing. It was in a 3 story building and was amazing! I have to admit that I am a fan of model railroads, airplanes and minuatures in general. I find it fascinating, but could never do it myself because it would drive me INSANE to place every tree and rock by hand with tweezers. But I love to admire the work that others have done!
I think there were more adults than kids in the place, and the majority of those being men. It was fun the kids thought it was pretty cool too, except that it isn't to touch. ;)
I have to admit I took alot of these shots with my dad in mind. In case you're wondering where I got my love for model railroads etc.... ;)
So here are the pics, some are blurry, sorry. And some were taken by the kids so...
I don't know how well the detail will come accross in the pics, but it was unbelievable! And keep in mind that lots of the cars moved as well as other parts of the 'scene'. There were buttons to push in order to make something in the scene happen. The technology behind it all is beyond me! Just click on the picture to go to the album. I did it this way this time because there are so many of them!

Miniature Wunderland

Hamburg

David already said a little about our trip to Hamburg, so I will just a little more. :)
We had a great time with Zachy's auntie. We were able to stay with her in her flat which was a lot of fun! We sat up and played games and ate junk food after the kids were in bed, it was great!
She also showed us lots of fun stuff in Hamburg, which I have to say is a very beautiful city. We went on the ferry and saw the harbor with the HUGE contianer ships (very cool!). Then we went to a tropical aquarium. It looked like disneyland with animals the design was great! Of course the kids loved that. We saw turtles, fish, lizards, snakes, sharks and many more!
So that was the first day...
The second day we went the mini wunderland (see the last post) then to the North Sea, about an hour and a half away. The North Sea is very unique in that when the tide goes out it leaves 'dry' (mud) ground. The tide goes so far out that you can't see the water any more, there is just a big mud field. There is actually a sport/hobby called watte wanderung, which is simply taking walks in the mudfield while the tide is out. (But beware the tide comes in quickly!) It's pretty cool to walk out a ways when the tide is out, it really is more like mud than sand. The kids found clam shells, and jelly fish and even a few dead crabs. The had a blast playing in the sand on the beach too.
For our last full day in Hamburg, we took it easy. Eva had to work so we went into town on our own and just walked around a bit, had lunch and headed home. Eva and I cooked stir fry for dinner (her request) and we had a nice meal together before putting the kids to bed and playing phase 10 again (which I lost).
So it was a very good trip and we wish we had had more time, I think we could have spent a month there and still not have seen everything. But we got to see the most important person there! And best of all spend time with her! Thanks Auntie Eva!
(Now we just need to round up the aunties here in Freiburg and coup them up in small quarters with all 6 of us for 4 days so it'll be fair! ;) )

Mini Wunderland

I have tons of pics from tons of trips so here's the first few. While in Hamburg we went to a place that has landscapes in miniature. And of course there is a model railroad that runs throught the whole thing. It was in a 3 story building and was amazing! I have to admit that I am a fan of model railroads, airplanes and minuatures in general. I find it fascinating, but could never do it myself because it would drive me INSANE to place every tree and rock by hand with tweezers. But I love to admire the work that others have done!
I think there were more adults than kids in the place, and the majority of those being men. It was fun the kids thought it was pretty cool too, except that it isn't to touch. ;)
I have to admit I took alot of these shots with my dad in mind. In case you're wondering where I got my love for model railroads etc.... ;)
So here are the pics, some are blurry, sorry. And some were taken by the kids so...
I don't know how well the detail will come accross in the pics, but it was unbelievable! And keep in mind that lots of the cars moved as well as other parts of the 'scene'. There were buttons to push in order to make something in the scene happen. The technology behind it all is beyond me! Just click on the picture to go to the album. I did it this way this time because there are so many of them!

Miniature Wunderland

Road Trip!

We are in Hamburg in northern Germany this weekend (after a nine hour drive from Freiburg to Hamburg with 4 small kids in the car!). Never been to the north part of the country so here we are to visit Zachie's godmother who moved here last summer. We are having a blast - will post some more fotos after we get back to Freiburg next week. but here are a couple to tide you over until then...

Here we are in Hamburg in the Speicherstadt (customs warehouses?? - don't know the English word, but it's the place where all the freight is unloaded, inspected, logged and stored until pickup/delivery).

2nd foto of me in Buxtehude is kinda an inside thing, I think only the Germans would understand. ;-)

Road Trip!

We are in Hamburg in northern Germany this weekend (after a nine hour drive from Freiburg to Hamburg with 4 small kids in the car!). Never been to the north part of the country so here we are to visit Zachie's godmother who moved here last summer. We are having a blast - will post some more fotos after we get back to Freiburg next week. but here are a couple to tide you over until then...

Here we are in Hamburg in the Speicherstadt (customs warehouses?? - don't know the English word, but it's the place where all the freight is unloaded, inspected, logged and stored until pickup/delivery).

2nd foto of me in Buxtehude is kinda an inside thing, I think only the Germans would understand. ;-)

One Day at a Time

We really are taking it one day at a time right now. I look around sometimes and if I think too much about everything, i.e. what still needs to be done, what we will do in socal, and how it's all going to happen, I just shut down! Instead of getting up and doing something towards the goal. When I get that 'overwhelmed' feeling I have to stop and go to God and ask Him to help me take things one day at a time and not look too far down the road.
We are blessed to have so many helpers here, I couldn't have as much done as I do without them. Mixed feelings are beginning to appear for me now. I am excited, sad, scared (not knowing what is next, but I know that God already knows).
We moved more furniture out today. The apartment is slowly but surely becoming more and more empty. I am glad for that. I need to be able to see what we still have when all the big stuff is gone, so that I can better judge what still needs to be done.
We will be taking one last road trip this weekend. We get to go to Hamburg to visit Zachy's auntie Eva. We've never been to northern Germany so we are looking forward to it. Then we will stop in at the Calvary in Siegen for a couple of days for a confernce. We will be able to say some goodbyes there.
After that David does one last wedding and then we only have 8 weeks before we fly!! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! I knew it would, but I still can't believe how fast.
Anyway, enough rambling, I just wanted to update anyone who's interested! I have a ton of pictures and fun stuff I want to post about but the boxes are calling my name!! Maybe another time :-).
In the mean time, please keep us in prayer, it is a pretty stressful time for us all. Thanks!

One Day at a Time

We really are taking it one day at a time right now. I look around sometimes and if I think too much about everything, i.e. what still needs to be done, what we will do in socal, and how it's all going to happen, I just shut down! Instead of getting up and doing something towards the goal. When I get that 'overwhelmed' feeling I have to stop and go to God and ask Him to help me take things one day at a time and not look too far down the road.
We are blessed to have so many helpers here, I couldn't have as much done as I do without them. Mixed feelings are beginning to appear for me now. I am excited, sad, scared (not knowing what is next, but I know that God already knows).
We moved more furniture out today. The apartment is slowly but surely becoming more and more empty. I am glad for that. I need to be able to see what we still have when all the big stuff is gone, so that I can better judge what still needs to be done.
We will be taking one last road trip this weekend. We get to go to Hamburg to visit Zachy's auntie Eva. We've never been to northern Germany so we are looking forward to it. Then we will stop in at the Calvary in Siegen for a couple of days for a confernce. We will be able to say some goodbyes there.
After that David does one last wedding and then we only have 8 weeks before we fly!! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! I knew it would, but I still can't believe how fast.
Anyway, enough rambling, I just wanted to update anyone who's interested! I have a ton of pictures and fun stuff I want to post about but the boxes are calling my name!! Maybe another time :-).
In the mean time, please keep us in prayer, it is a pretty stressful time for us all. Thanks!

Thank God for Godmothers!

Well, I finally got a moment to sit and post about a couple weekends ago when Becks went off to the Women's Conference in Siegen. And I was home with 4 kids. Somehow that weekend was really chaotic. But thank God for the kids' 'patentante' (German for godmothers). They helped out a lot that weekend - that kept me somewhat sane. Well, as sane as I normally am, which really isn't that much. ;-)

Dariah's Auntie Doro took the kids out to the construction sites near our house. They loved it - playing with cinder-blocks, pieces of broken up concrete, boulders and junk from the building sites. Why buy toys when your kids love playing with trash?!?! Amazing what a child's imagination can come up with - they had built a whole 'city' from trash, replete with yellow insulation foam for cornfields.

Then the next evening the 3 older kids got to spend the night with Zachie's Auntie Simi and her husband. They had a blast - I'll post some fotos of that when I get them. So I only had Dariah at home that night, which was good because I still needed to finish preparing for Sunday's message.

On Sunday morning, Auntie Merle helped with the kids, which freed me up to focus on the teaching. A big thanks to all you Aunties (and 1 uncle)!

Here are a few fotos of the troop in the construction site...

Thank God for Godmothers!

Well, I finally got a moment to sit and post about a couple weekends ago when Becks went off to the Women's Conference in Siegen. And I was home with 4 kids. Somehow that weekend was really chaotic. But thank God for the kids' 'patentante' (German for godmothers). They helped out a lot that weekend - that kept me somewhat sane. Well, as sane as I normally am, which really isn't that much. ;-)

Dariah's Auntie Doro took the kids out to the construction sites near our house. They loved it - playing with cinder-blocks, pieces of broken up concrete, boulders and junk from the building sites. Why buy toys when your kids love playing with trash?!?! Amazing what a child's imagination can come up with - they had built a whole 'city' from trash, replete with yellow insulation foam for cornfields.

Then the next evening the 3 older kids got to spend the night with Zachie's Auntie Simi and her husband. They had a blast - I'll post some fotos of that when I get them. So I only had Dariah at home that night, which was good because I still needed to finish preparing for Sunday's message.

On Sunday morning, Auntie Merle helped with the kids, which freed me up to focus on the teaching. A big thanks to all you Aunties (and 1 uncle)!

Here are a few fotos of the troop in the construction site...