The Week at the Castle...

Today is a quiet day in the castle. Everyone left after breakfast this morning except for the leadership team staying an extra day for some meeting time. It’s been a great week in many ways, and a not so great week in other ways. I’ll start off with the not so great.

Just one day into the conference a flu bug began that made its rounds all week… some people dealing with it as they loaded cars or vans today to travel home. Ugh! Fortunately, I had my share of it earlier in the week that wiped me out for a day and a half. I’m bummed that I missed out on opportunities to connect with people, but there just wasn’t much I could do about it. It seems to take its toll in its short duration of 24-hours, so I still feel like I’m gaining back my strength. Hence, the lack of blog posts this week.

Just when I thought I was feeling stronger… last night I ran smack dab into a glass door in the castle. It’s a route I often take as I navigate the maze of stairs, hallways, and doorways in this old castle, and every time the door has been propped open. These solid glass doors are all over the castle, but this time, this one had been closed. I came down the steps, made a sharp turn to the right and planted a big ole’ smudge on the glass door with my nose! For a split second I was stunned and wondered what in the world happened before I came to my senses to realize I had just made contact with a door. Tears flowed as I held my aching nose… but several came to my rescue and after holding a cold ice pack to my nose throughout the evening service, I have no bruises or swelling whatsoever today.

Now, the great… we love our M’s! What a special week to connect with the team in its entirety (except for those on home ministries). We have amazing people filled with God’s Spirit, committed to serve in the cultures in which they live. We look forward to serving them in the months ahead. Other highlights:

• Learning together – each morning we had a choice of various seminars to attend. Great options from marriage to conflict resolution to post-modernism (my favorite) to relationship building skills. Good teaching and good participation.

• Worship & the Word – many of our M’s do not have an established church in their area, so having the opportunity to worship with a larger group of people was a joy and an encouragement to many. Jen Swift from the Heritage Wesleyan team had a gift of leading us into the presence of God in worship. I love her spirit. The times in the Word were both encouraging and challenging.

• Children – We had kids from just 2 months old to 19 years of age. It was fun to have such a range of ages among us. Heritage Wesleyan has been sending a team for several years now that have activities planned for the kids and teens during the morning and evening sessions. They came with great hearts and I know parents were very thankful for their service.

• Fun Night – a tradition that continues. Each team prepares a skit. I would venture to say that it’s a favorite. Lots of fun and laughter. Dennis and I did the “Top 10 Reasons Why We’re Excited about Being Area Director,” and you know with Dennis, we had props for all ten.

• Prayer Night – I missed this due to being sick, but I know this was a significant night in prayer for each of the fields.

• Great conversations – Dennis and I enjoyed meeting with so many… listening, sharing, investing, encouraging. Meeting one-on-one is what I love to do and there was plenty of opportunity for that this week.

And have I mentioned how beautiful it is here? We have had the best week of weather. Sunshine every day. Only one rainstorm that rushed in as fast as it rushed out. Every direction you look is postcard perfect.

Tomorrow we leave early for Munich traveling with some of our team by car. We’ll spend a few days in Munich with our M’s and then we have some days for just us :). A few pics below.

One of the skit presentations was a spoof on
"America's Got Talent," and of course they had to
get some of the home office people and Dennis up for it.
Though a bit dark, here's Dennis lip-singing
to I Could Have Danced All Night.

The kids doing their part at Fun Night.

With a few people leaving early, last night we were
able to move up into the castle. This is the view
of Mittersill from our new room.

And a few more castle pictures. Flowers are everywhere!

The castle from the town of Mittersill.

Schloss Mittersill

We arrived at the schloss (translated castle) that overlooks the town of Mittersill Friday afternoon. The views are breathtaking! It would be difficult to describe the scenes that surround the castle area. Pictures won't do it justice either. The day was a bit hazy so not as clear as I would like the mountains to be, but at least it gives you a sense of our surroundings.

All the European M's will arrive today (Saturday), beginning our time together at dinner. Our group of 100 is maxing this castle out. Because of that, a few of us are staying in a 400 year old house that once served as the servant's quarters. The castle goes back to 1098!

Our living quarters for the week.

The view from our 2nd story window.
Italy is just across these mountains.

Approaching the castle entrance.

Castle entrance.

Flowers spilling over window
boxes is a common sight everywhere.

We saw numerous waterfalls as we drove to this
nearby lake. It reminded us of Glacier National Park.
I could have soaked up this place for hours... peaceful, yet so invigorating.

We look forward to the times of worship, learning, sharing and laughter with our M's this week. The significance of building relationships with those we serve will be invaluable as we prepare for and already engage in this new role.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! God is good and faithful.

Europe...

(written Tuesday afternoon on the train) We are on our way from Munich, Germany to Budapest, Hungary via the Rail Jet. Quiet and smooth at 100 mph. Nice to relax and look out at the German countryside – passing towns, evergreen forest, farmers working in the hay fields, rows and rows of corn, rolling hills – reminding me a bit of my home state of Pennsylvania. Hopefully we will still have daylight to see the Alps as we pass through Austria.

We spent one night in Budapest a couple years ago without any thought of ever living there. I remember loving the city with hilly Buda on one side of the Danube River with a castle as its backdrop and flat Pest on the other side with stately government buildings and city life. This time we return with a different perspective and purpose. Tomorrow we will check out potential housing options, thanks to the Free Methodists friends we have yet to meet.

There’s a little boy behind me reading books out loud in his German language. So sweet. Having Evee with us all summer, I’ve been intrigued with how quickly children learn their native language, at first by imitation only. In less than three months it was fascinating how quickly Evee’s vocabulary grew and her communication skills developed. I’m looking forward to learning a new language. Perhaps Hungarian.

As we make this trip I am reminded of verse 8 in Psalm 32: The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. This I trust Him for.

(Late Wednesday night. First I could get online to post since we arrived in Budapest. We had a beautiful day in the city connecting with some great people that work with the Free Methodist World Mission. We must have walked at least 8 miles in the city today. Checked out an apt. that's a very good possibility. Budapest is a beautiful as I remember :).

Taken on the train through Austria

Entrance to potential new home...

I loved the stairs that went to this second story apt.

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Hungary - St. Stephen's Day. Lots of activities/events and most shops closed. We'll be meeting with the Europe Director for the Free Meth. missions and his wife for lunch. Then an afternoon train will take us to Vienna, Austria. More later.

Family. Anniversary. Birthdays.

All three happened in one week.

Our time in IL with Kari and Stella (and Kari's family) was great. After three days of hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, Josh booked a last minute flight (with frequent flyers mind you) and joined the rest of us on Sunday morning! A surprise to Kari.

Stella is such a sweet little girl... gotta love those
big blue eyes!

Something about a grandbaby...

And on the way home between IL and MI, we spent a couple days in Indy with Julie celebrating her upcoming 23rd birthday early since we'll be returning from Europe one day before Sept. 5.

Josh celebrates his 30th birthday today... how can this be?


...which means that Dennis and I celebrated 31 years of marriage two days ago. This, of course, makes us feel rather older (note I didn't say old, but older)...

Thanks to a wonderful honorarium we were able to spend a night away at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids and enjoy a pleasant and delightful dinner out. I'm so glad I married this man! Can't imagine life without him.

Now we're back for our last weekend in Grand Haven with Clint, Jamie and Evee.

Look for posts from Europe next week! We take off Monday.

Winding down...

With less than two weeks until we leave for a 3-week stint in Europe, the summer is winding down early for us. Clint, Jamie and Evee leave on the 17th, the same day we fly to Europe. The time has flown by. Too fast.

We had Dennis' brother, Doug, stop by a few weeks ago. So good to see him even if for a short time. And, Regina stayed with us for a week. Always good to have her!

Julie was up this past weekend... perhaps the last time she'll get to visit us in Michigan. The weekend was so full we forgot to go by our old house. Loved having her! Never long enough. We had the Buth family over for the Coast Guard fireworks, along with Ian and Danielle Swyers (friends of Clint and Jamie's... ours, too :) who were up for the weekend. The top deck off the condo was prime seating for some amazing fireworks. There's nothing quite like the CG fireworks!

This weekend we get to see Kari and Stella in Moline, IL while Kari is home visiting family and attending her high school reunion. That little girl is going to get spoiled with two sets of grandparents doting over her. Can't wait to see them!

Out for a walk on the pier.

The Buths - John, Jill, Koby, Gerrit, and Mason