October 8th: Working and Lecture

St. George stained Glass in Haus Edelweiss patio

A case of the Mondays surfaced today with many people in our work group and hopefully the students are doing much better.  Mornings are getting much harder to get out of bed now but I think that may be because of the weather and the colder temperatures outside.  It is always harder for me to get up when its cold outside and your laying in a nice cozy warm bed.  I can feel the fall weather hit me as I head to breakfast in the mornings and even when we start work later in the day.  The chilly fall days only mean that winter is just around the corner which I am excited for.  It is so beautiful here in Austria in the fall and getting to walk out the door and seeing the green hills around, the grass, leaves changing colors and just the landscape that God has blessed us all with.  The winters here are so pretty and I wish I could see snow again here and how it blankets everything in the small Austrian towns in white and looks like a cozy little town.  Only 4 more days left of work and we are all praying for strength from God in this “sprint” as they like to say as short term workers continue to prepare meals, clean rooms, maintain the grounds and other tasks to keep this place going.  Its more than just work though but the fellowship with one another and the blessing it is for the students to be able to come to a place like this and learn more about Him enabling them even more to take the Word back to their home church and country and people there.  Some people say this is like coming to a 5 star resort for them with the service, clean and warm rooms, and hot meals every day.  It is hard to realize how some people live when they come here because they are so on fire for Christ and just so nice and happy to be around that all they need in this world is God.  It is hard for us as Americans and the Western culture to experience this sometimes as the material things consume our desires and needs.  We always are on schedules, busy with work or whatever we can find to consume time, and the best technology.  It’s so great to be able to work with a smile on your face seeing the students here from all ages and cultures just praising the same God and knowing that one day we will all be together where there will be no cultural or language barriers preventing us from understanding one another easily.  I continue to build relationships with others here and maintain my devotion time of running and taking care of my body, reading God’s word and writing my thoughts down each day which I hope to continue when I return to the states.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” - Romans 3:23-25