Sheep!

Yesterday while I was cleaning the girls rooms in my new dorm, I looked out a window and what did I see? Why, a street filled with sheep of course. After standing in awe for a second I yelled to the other RA in my dorm to look out the window and then got my camera. These were taken from the upstairs window of my dorm.


You can see the farmers before and behind them and their sheep dogs. The woman at the back was carrying a little lamb which was adorable.

And there they go. It was picturesque and surreal, one of those moments where I catch myself thinking, yes, I'm really in a foreign country.

I've had many of those moments lately. On Sunday I went out to a local Chinese restaurant with some friends here for lunch. At one point I was just struck by how unreal it all seemed. The little street we were eating outside by. The window planters. The people from the town speaking a language I can't understand a word of. In these moments I'm reminded of how faithful God has been. What seems like it can't be real to me is a reality. God has taken me beyond where I ever really pictured myself being and made it a reality. This amazes me.

The final picture I'm posting was taken on a walk on Sunday. This is about 2 minutes from my dorm, up a very steep hill. My dorm is just to the right of all the buildings in the valley but this is my valley.


I'll be spending the next two years living in Marzell, Germany in a dorm called Blauen. Follow this link to see a picture of the dorm on the BFA website. By Monday night all 13 girls will be moved into the dorm and school will start on Wednesday. I am so excited for the girls to get here!

Just a few quick prayer requests:
- Safety as all the boarding students will be traveling on Sunday and Monday
- Health for the students as they're traveling. There is still a lot of talk about the H1N1 virus (swine flu) here and it could have huge affects on the dorm if a case shows up.
- We are still missing a set up dorm parents. Sonne, a boys dorm across the street from mine, is waiting for the dorm parents to have enough support to travel over here. It's a huge stress not to have this pivitol part of the dorm not in place.
- Continued personal adjustment. The other day I told someone that I didn't understand why was so tired. She told me I was going through a major life adjustment and it's okay. I know these next few weeks are going to be full of ups and downs as I continue to adjust and get used to a new life. Pray that it will be smooth.

I have arrived!

So, I'm here! After 24 hours of travel and very little sleep I arrived in Germany safe and sound on Saturday afternoon. That, however, seems like a lifetime ago. Since then I have been immersed in busyness. I have German classes in the morning, driving lessons all afternoon, then some kind of evening activity. I'm learning not only how to drive stick but also directions to the major places I will be driving kids. Today I had my first drive on the autobahn which was really exciting for me. Because of all this activity, however, I won't have a whole lot of time to update in the next two weeks. Tomorrow I should find out what dorm I will be in which is exciting but I would appreciate prayer that the leadership would have wisdom in this decision. Next week I will move into my new dorm, finish up orientation, and get ready for the kids to arrive. I can't wait! That's all I have time for for now. It's going on midnight and I have class in the morning. Thank you for your prayers!