Kaiserslautern, Zurich, 2 Thanksgivings and 2 Interviews

Coming back from KTown

As you can tell from the title of this post, the past few weeks have been anything but uneventful. But due to several “hints” to write more often from our family and friends, we realize that we may have already let some of you down 🙂 So, to fill you in…
Two weeks ago, we took a trip to Kaiserslautern for Rob’s drill weekend with the Army. Rob has been assigned to the 457th Civil Affairs Battalion as their 1st Chaplain. They are headquartered in Kaiserslautern, but also have companies in Wiesbaden, Bamberg, Grafenwoehr and Vicenza (can’t wait for that ministry visit). Overall, the unit seems very excited to have us both involved and we have met several wonderful people (including his commander). During our meeting with the commander, we found out that the 457th is actually being deployed in 10 months…but they don’t have a spot on the roster for a Chaplain. Even though I am not sad to be keeping my husband nearby when everyone else deploys…I must admit that it makes me sad knowing how much Rob desires to be down range with his fellow soldiers – building respect among them and giving them encouragement. But, I know that the Lord has a perfect plan for Rob as a Chaplain and right now he is asking us to have patience and to care for those left behind during the deployment.
Two days after returning from “Little America” as Rob would call it, we went on a trip to Zurich with Markus Michnick. Just a little side note — Markus is an elder from the FEG church. He and his wife have been so kind to us these past few months…taking us to the Konigsee, having us over for dinner, and letting us spend the night before leaving early in the morning for Zurich. Needless to say, we have really enjoyed getting to know them — Ok back to Zurich. We left for Zurich around 6:45 and took a rather scenic route (through the alps – not too shabby) to Zurich. When we arrived, Markus dropped us off to tour the city while he had a business meeting. So, for 6 hrs Rob and I enjoyed our time walking around the city. As you can see from the pictures, we found several churches to walk through and enjoyed a stroll by the river. It was wonderful to look at the pulpits of Zwingli and Bullinger and to walk the streets that Calvin and others walked (especially for Rob). We saw more Reformed churches within three city blocks than we have ever seen before. Every now and then we would pop into Starbucks since neither of us had winter jackets and it felt as though it was 20 degrees. And…we ended the trip by visiting a chocolate store that makes truffles filled with champagne (where we did make a little purchase, of course). Not a bad day…
Since Germans do not get Thursday off to celebrate Thanksgiving, Rob and I were invited to Thanksgiving meals on Friday and Saturday. Matthias and Sarah Lohmann (the pastor and wife from the FEG church) invited us over for lunch on Friday. We had such a nice time with them and were able to meet Matthias’ parents. Then, we came home to bake two pies (Raspberry Ribbon and Apple) for the next Thanksgiving meal hosted by the Henderson’s. Steve Henderson is the pastor of MICC (the English speaking church). Unfortunately, I was too sick to go to that Thanksgiving meal…so Rob delivered the pies and enjoyed that meal while I stayed in bed. Even though we weren’t able to be with our families during Thanksgiving, it was such a blessing to have the Church. I can’t imagine how different things would be here if the Church (their hospitality, care, etc.) did not exist.
And for more recent news – this past week I had 2 job interviews! My first interview on Wednesday was for a nannying position (but only 8 hrs a week) and the second on Thursday was for a day care/kindergarten. The first interview went well. I really enjoyed the family, but I also knew that I needed something more than 8 hrs a week. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about working at a day care/kindergarten, but my interview on Thursday went really well. In fact, I went back earlier today to observe one of the classes (to make sure I liked the atmosphere). Hopefully, I will get an email on Friday or Monday with the job details…
I guess the last piece of news would be that I am taking a short 2 week intensive German language class. So far, I would say that I spend 30% of my time understanding what is going on and 70% trying to figure out what the teacher is telling us to do. All I can say is thank goodness for body language! Hopefully over the next two weeks the ratio will change a little 🙂
Finally, we should say that these past weeks have also been spiritually stimulating. A new country, a new culture, and new challenges have caused us to confront our sin and the God that we serve. While it may sound like life is roses and beer (for Rob) here, we have had to bear one another’s burdens, and have grown closer doing so (even as imperfectly as we do). The Lord has shown us what it means to rely on Him, and we are thankful. Until next time…