Pushing Forward

Thanks for the encouragement some of you left after my last post. Obviously, I am in the midst of a storm right now. Storms come in life and some of them you are prepared for and some you are not. Sometimes the winds knock you over and you can immediately get back up and face the winds head on. This is the kind of storm I never could be prepared for and as much as I keep trying to get back up after the wind knocks me over, it is hard.

God has been so faithful in renewing my strength to fight this storm. There are times where I still feel like I have stumbled into some one else's life. This can't possibly be my life. This can't possibly be me having to go through this with everyone I love so far away. But it is me, it is my life, and I do have to weather this storm with my family on the other side of the world. I feel like by the end of this storm, I will be exhausted physically and emotionally, but that I will be stronger spiritually than I have ever been in my life. If that is all that comes from this dreadful storm, I will praise God. Please continue to lift me up in your thoughts and prayers, I appreciate it so much!

On a brighter note, I am not going to fill this with just drab ramblings of my storm. Our first day of VBS was today and it was the first time I have participated in a military VBS. It was quite different from back home at my home church. For one, it is organized a little differently so that we go from place to place and never really sit down with our group with just us. It is also sadly slightly less organized which terrifies me. Today after the closing music- my group just went in every which way and I was freaking out because I had stuff to give them and didn't know where they went or if they were with their parents. It was chaos and I do not do chaos well when I am in charge of children. So obviously, my group will be getting a talking to about staying with me until I see their parents! Ugh! Anyhow, we spent all day Saturday decorating and getting everything ready. I was the decorations coordinator and thus was running around like a chicken with my head cut off! In the end everything came together very nicely and I had so many wonderful helpers. Here are some shots of our decorations!

No Place Like Home

One of the biggest down sides to the army life is being away from family. I have always been close to my family and never imagined living on a completely different side of the world than them. I love my husband and I love the pride he takes in his job, so therefore I love supporting him and traveling around with him.

Lately, it has been really tough to be away from my family. I need their love and support now more than ever. I know they are sending me love and prayers from home but I want to be with them. I want to feel their arms around me. I want to feel their unconditional love!

I know I could find a way home if I really needed to, I just don't know if it is the right thing to do. Would I be running away from the situation? Would I be giving up? I don't want to have any regrets. Lord, please let me know what you want me to do!!

In God's Hands

I have never more reliant on God in my life and while I am not pleased with the circumstances, I am enjoying my time with God this week. He is the only reason I have been able to stay strong through it all. He is the only reason I have been able to hold on to the hope I have that He will glorified in this situation, no matter what.

There is one song I have been listening to a lot over the past few days and it has tremendously lifted my spirits every day.


Trading My Sorrows lyrics

[1] I'm trading my sorrow
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

[Chorus]
And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning.


[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/d/darrell-evans-lyrics/trading-my-sorrows-lyrics.html ]

Broken

I am not going to sit here and spill my guts to the world over a blog, but I feel like I need to write it out a little bit. There are things going on in my life right now that I am completely broken about. I am at a lost of what to do. I don't know what words to say. I don't know what actions to take. I just don't know.

It all came out of nowhere and I can't make it go away. I am fighting with every thing in me to make things right but I don't know how. Please just lift me up in your prayers and thoughts whenever it comes to your mind.

Saturday Shout Out

My hubby does not read this thing very often but I like the idea of every Saturday getting on here and sharing a few things I appreciate and love about that sweet man. This week:

1. I am grateful he brought me to Germany because I have made some amazing friends while we have been here. We are in the midst of trying to figure out what God has in store for us next, but I know whatever that is we will make friends.

2. I am grateful for how hard he works at his job and love to see the pride he takes in doing his job- even if he does not enjoy it all the time.

3. I am grateful for his goodbye kiss every morning that gets me started on a good note.

4. I love that he makes me laugh when I least expect it and I love trying to make him laugh.

5. I appreciate his honesty and being willing to open up to me.

Working hard

My sweet first true army friend is coming for a visit. I am so excited! They only live like 2 hours away so we see them every other month probably but I still get so excited when I get to visit with them because we are like two peas in a pod and I love her two little kiddos. Her hubby will be coming in a few days so we will have the whole crew! Well, I have to eat a little something before I leave for my workout!

Well, I am finishing my second week of going to the gym every morning with a friend who I just met a month or so ago. One perk about the army life is you constantly meet new people, and occasionally- those people are awesome! I would love to say I look this good but it is not true. I need to get back to running more but I am enjoying getting my body in better shape in general. I am not losing as much but I know that it will be slow coming since muscle weighs more than fat. I feel better about myself and it really helps to have someone to go with so I can stay motivated. 

Vacation Day 2- Cars and Castles

Okay, so Sunday morning arrived with well rested family members, sans my sister and brother-in-law who spent much of the night convincing their 2 year old when he went to bed it was not for a nap! Our original game plan was to drive to Stuttgart to go through the Wilhelma Zoo. We arrived to the zoo which looked quite impressive from the outside. However, due to a large storm that had come through Germany the night before, the zoo's opening had been postponed. So this was as much of the zoo as we saw.

We were not sure how long it would be so we decided to see what else Stuttgart had to offer. Luckily, my dad had a very handy guide book and we were able to locate the Mercedes Museum not far away that was very appealing given the rain that had begun to fall on us! Jack had more fun that I thought he would because he enjoyed listening to his headset tell him about the cars.

My husband enjoyed the Mercedes Museum much more than the potential zoo visit. He was happy to be surrounded by beautiful cars! It was definitely intriguing to see the progression of things and read about the part they played in providing vehicles for the war. This old style double decker bus was one of my favorites!

After walking through the museum, we piled back into the cars and headed to Fussen to see the King's Castles. We took a tour of the Hohenswangau and Neuschwanstein Casltes. Unfortunately, the Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle Snow White's castle was modeled after, was covered in scaffolding all on one side. It was sad but it was still very cool to walk through it. The throne room was the coolest thing to me because it was just as impressive as it seems in the fairy tales...minus the throne. :) Much of the castle remains unfinished but what little was done is very beautiful!

Although we had to walk through the pouring rain much of the way from one castle to the other- we tried to make the best of it. It gave the high altitude a very smoky, yet beautiful view.

After exploring the castles, we set our sights on finding a scrumptious place to dine. We drove towards a town not too far away from the castles. My dad's guide book came in handy again as we selected a seafood restaurant that claimed to provide quite a view! The guide book did not disappoint, the view was spectacular! My parents right outside the restaurant:

We dug into numerous different dishes. I had schnitzel with pommes! My nephew ordered pancakes with looked tasted more like funnel cake!! Yummm. After a long and wet day, we once again got back into the car and drove to Munich where we would lay our heads for the night. Sleepy crew ready for day three...

Sky High

I promise I will get back to blogging about the adventures we had while family was here soon! For now, I am up to my ears with things to do. I volunteered to be in charge of decorating for VBS at our post chapel. I am not sure exactly what I was thinking. I am extremely nervous now that I am going to screw it up royally but I am hoping for the best. I am planning out what we are going to try to do without knowing what resources I have to work with, somewhat stressful. I have to make my shopping list of things I need which is also stressing me out. :( I just hope everything works out for the best and I can get it all done in time. So, in due time the vacation adventure blogging will continue.

Family Arrives- Day One!

Okay, let the trip blogging begin! Last Saturday morning, we picked up our family from the airport at about 10:00, which was 4am their time! Needless to say, they were a little groggy but all in all glad to see us as we were glad to see them. It had been since February since we had seen everyone. I mentioned that this would be the first WHOLE family vacation that we would have since my hubby would be in tow this time, but I don't recall if I shared who the WHOLE is. My mom and dad (of course), my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband, and my sister's two boys- the best nephews ever! The boys seemed to do fairly well on the flight over and even got in a little rest.

The family showed up joking about how my dad left the rest of the family curb-side upon arrival to the airport, because he was already checked in by the time the rest got to the door. :) We teased him about it the rest of the week. Anyhow, due to my dad hustling and bustling everyone through check-in they arrived at their departure gate early where my oldest nephew got to meet the pilot who let him check out the works after landing!

So after they went through customs and got all their bags, they finally emerged from the doors! We were delighted! My nephews were particularly excited about coming to my house, as they have never been before. Every time we go home they would ask to come to my house and I would always have to tell them it was too far. They were also excited about seeing their furry cousins, Cash and Trooper. They have met Cash but never met Trooper before. My youngest nephew is much more a doggie enthusiast and gave lots of hugs and kisses! Anywho, we got the family and luggage loaded up and headed back to our house to let them all rest a little. The first disappointment came from the autobahn. A lot of people have this picture in their head of what the autobahn will be like. My brother-in-law pictured one particular road with a lot of lanes. Much to his disappointment, he discovered it was really just the name for the highways here. At one point he said, "This is the autobahn?" I replied, "Yep, we are going about 100 right now." 

After the autobahn enchantment wore off, we arrived on post to our house. Everyone was slightly hungry so we figured it would be best to eat lunch first and then let everyone rest before going to dinner. My brother and sister and their spouses as well as my dad all piled in the explorer eager to check out the commissary and make sure they got lunch pickings of their choice. It was very funny to hear all of them talking about how cheap things were. My sister-in-law was jealous that her favorite kind of yogurt was only 60 cents here, she pays 4 for $3 back home I guess. My sister got teased about bringing her camera until it came in handy when her silly hubby wanted to capture something funny from the "german" section.

If you cannot see it, the package reads, "putenburst" which my brother-in-law deemed poot & burst! He is a goof! After shopping and eating we all rested, our large sectional couch came in handy- despite the fact we kept offering beds for everyone to rest in!

After a nice long rest period where everyone took turns dozing, we took my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law to check into their room in the hotel, because they would not all fit at our house! We got them checked in and enjoyed dinner on post at our village grille since we would get plenty of german cuisine over the coming week. The nephews had been asking to go play on the large playground since they saw it when we arrived. They were delighted and it helped tucker them out so they could get sleep.

After playing we enjoyed getting an early start to bed to help fight off more jet lag. This was our first day. Look for the post about day two which includes: zoo (sort of), museum, and castles!!

Back to Normal

Well the family has come and gone and I look forward to updating you on all the adventures we had while they were here. We are doing five loads of laundry right now, the benefit of living in apartment style housing with shared laundry rooms! So I have to go switch all of those over to the dryer and then there will be a massive folding party followed by a procrastination party where all said folded clothes will go into the guest room until tomorrow! :)

I will leave you with a sampling of one of our pictures. Here is the whole family outside the Hohenswangau castle in the Fussen region of Germany.