Schlaf im Stroh

Today is the final day of my first weekend off. When I found out that I would have a weekend off this soon, I wasn't sure what I would do with myself. Fortunately, I found some other RA's who had the same weekend off and we made plans. Little did I know what I was getting myself in to.

We decided to go visit Berner Oberland, a valley in the Swiss alps that's a 2 hour drive from school. Although the weather was overcast most of the 2 days we were there, it was still absolutely beautiful. Below is a picture from a waterfall we hiked to by the lake we stayed on.


And this is a picture out the front "door" of where we stayed. We were in the little fishing village of Iseltwald right on the lake.


Now one might be thinking to oneself, how could this possibly be affordable? Such a beautiful place, right on the lake, in the middle of the Alps. Well, in order to travel without spending much money we decided to "schlaf in stroh" or in English, sleep in straw. It's common in this area for farmers to rent out the stalls in their barns to tourists in the summer months, while the cows are grazing in higher pastures. One of the girls I travled with found Heidi and Christian, two friendly Swiss farmers who don't speak any English, and we stayed in their barn. I stayed in Elena's stall for the night as seen below.


This is a picture of the inside of the barn and our beds for the night. Though it was fairly clean it still smelled like manure, not quite like waking up to the smells of breakfast in the morning.


And here is our barn. The joke of the weekend, "Were you raised in a barn? No, but I slept in one!" Hilarious, I know.


All in all it was a great time. Heidi made us a wonderful and very Swiss/German breakfast the next morning and minus having "barn breath" in the morning, we all had a great time.

As I write this I am still in disbelief that this is my life. I took a walk on Friday in my hills and valley in Marzel, and was just blown away at how well God knows my needs and how He meets them. When I think about where I was last year, at Moody studying, I am so thankful to be where I am. I loved Moody and miss my friends more than I can say, but being here is so good for my soul. The beauty that surrounds me is healing and just what I need after four years of school. I am convinced that though it is hard to have faith in where God is leading, it is the best place to be.

If you couldn't tell, I am doing well here. I am also enjoying my "job". I'm almost positive it is the best job there is. My girls are absolutely wonderful and I am enjoying serving them in every way I can.

A few things to pray about....
-Adjustment both for me and the girls. We're all kind of coming out of the "honeymoon" period and really settling into life.
-Building relationships both with everyone in my dorm and other staff in the BFA community.

Thanks for all your support and prayer. Peace.