Und Video ist sehr gut!

This year, it seems, can not go any slower. I've been waiting all my life to meet the woman who God has created for me, and now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of that wait. I know her now. That feels so crazy to say, but I believe it is completely true. I believe God has brought her into my life with a purpose, this purpose, and that it is the other way around as well. It is so hard then to go day after day, talking on the phone, without being able to be near each other. But, now, we can see each other. As torturous as that is sometimes, it is so much better than just talking on the phone. I can see her smile, and I can read the way she creases her face in laughter. This is all so good.

We are using Skype for this. A friend is lending her his laptop and web camera sometimes, and then we are able to talk and see. It's sehr schoen! Oh, how I am thanking the Lord for this friend of hers through whom He is allowing this to be!!!

So, until we can actually meet, this is the best we can do. And, it is pretty good. It makes me wonder how my great grandfather, Eugene, and his wife, Julia Lake, went 6 years with only letters between them before they could be together again!! He called it his acid test. I can see why. I could never be that patient! I can barely stand the idea of a few months.

If you are ever in such a position as this, you will know that everyone tells you that you are absolutely crazy! To declare and proclaim that a person is the one you've been waiting for when you have not met that person in person is completely insane, right? I would totally agree.

The difference here is that God has been behind it 100% of the way. This is more than some strange feeling. It's a mixture of who we are, what we like about each other, the things we have felt God tell us concerning each other, and the way that Christ is the center point of our relationship day in and day out that confirms to me each day that she is the einzigartig reisebegleiter for me. There's a faith involved in waiting through each day until we meet that is like an acid test of its own. That, whenever I tell her that I love her, I know that that statement is reinforced in me through God Almighty. And, when she says it back, I know that it is reinforced in her in the same manner. This is wunderschoen.

We've only seen each other live, via web cam and Skype, a couple of times now. Each time for several hours. There's something so wonderful in her smile that makes me melt at the sight of her, and my heart leaps for joy everytime I see her eyes looking my way. This is why video is so sehr gut! If not for this video, I would not be able to see any of this until we meet in person. Now, we can see each other and learn each other's reactions before we are even close enough to hold each other's hands.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." [see: Isaiah 29:14]

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,

- 1 Corinthians 3:18-21

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:8-11

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

- Luke 11:5-13

[Marcus notices that a preoccupied Ivanova isn't really listening to his status report.]
Marcus Cole: And they have much to be concerned about. There's always the threat an of attack by, say, a giant space dragon — the kind that eats the sun every 30 days? It's a nuisance, but what can you expect from reptiles? Did I mention that my nose is on fire, and that I have 15 wild badgers living in my trousers?
[She finally looks at him, annoyed.]
Marcus Cole: I'm sorry. Would you prefer ferrets?

- Babylon 5