Prost!

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*Note: Cate wants me to point out that this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago at my Musankisha's parent's house, and not here in Bremen at the Hope House because there is a rule about having no alcohol here at the Hope House (Yes, I'm in Germany, land of beer, and I am not allowed to drink!! So depressing...)

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

- excerpt from "Beautiful Day" by U2

Newsflash: Wir haben einen wunderbaren Gott

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Where do I begin?

I haven't even tried writing this before now, and, yet, it's been about 2 weeks. Maybe, if I ever had regular readers, they are no longer reading now. Hehe.

Germany has been a lot of fun. I wrote previously about how cool it was to finally meet my Musankisha. The truth is that meeting her and knowing her is too cool for me to fully communicate in words. After one night here in Bremen (the same day we were in Gilserberg), we left the following night and went to my Musankisha's parent's house near the small town of Pritzwalk. Cate was saddened by our departure so quickly after I had arrived.



This was how Cate looked when we left.

We were there from Friday night until Wednesday afternoon. During that time,

this happened.

Yes, we are now engaged.

Since we got back to Bremen after going to her parents, we have been so busy that I haven't done almost any work. For several days, I couldn't even do any of my work because I didn't have power for my laptop. Even having it though, seemed to make no difference. I have been introduced to more people in the past two weeks than I can count. It's been so hard to keep up. I'm very lucky because so many of them speak English well enough that we can communicate! Meine Deutsch ist so sehr schlecht. I've got plenty of stories I could have told in the last couple of weeks, but I haven't even had time to write the most important one until now.

As you can hopefully see in the picture above (hold your mouse over the link entitled "this" up above to see the picture), we are engaged. After talking in Gilserberg, I realized that God was totally honoring our faith in Him that all of this is His will. After spending a day at her parent's house, I put the rings in my pocket, and we went out on a long walk after dinner. The sun was just setting.


The Sun setting from where we were

We walked and we talked for a while. I suddenly found myself distracted because I was suddenly looking for places to ask her the question that was now weighing so heavily on my heart. I was kind of figuring I wouldn't be able to ask her because I really wanted a clear sky with stars in it, and the sky was overcast on this night with clouds.

We climbed up into a deer blind. Well, I've been calling and thinking of it as such. It's really a kind of small wooden tower. We must have been up there for hours. We talked. We prayed. We would start praying and then stop in the middle for a few moments to talk before continuing again. It was during one of these moments that I knew that the time had come. Even though we had talked about marrying before, I had always been careful never to accidently ask her in a direct way! Now, I asked her for the first time! She didn't realize my seriousness.


The "Deer Blind"

It wasn't until I told her that I actually had the rings on me that she realized how serious I was. She said "Yes". It was such an amazing thing to hear her say that. We prayed a lot more. We sang. We even danced up there in that little tower, and then, after an unmeasurable amount of time, we did all of these things in the grass below, too. It was so beautiful that night. As I said before, the sky was overcast with clouds, and the moon was illuminating them from above. I really wanted stars though, and we had been talking earlier about how pretty it would be if the stars were out. Then, God parted the sky for us. Suddenly, the sea of white above our heads split open, and the moon crawled out. The whole field lit up with it's brilliant light. The moon brought some of the stars with it, too.

We sang and danced and prayed under this magnificent setting for hours. We didn't get back to her parent's house until at least 1 or 2 AM. (We must have been gone for at least 5 or 6 hours!!!) It was so beautiful. Es war so schoen!!

So, it's been about two weeks since then, and, only now, am I really able to write it down. I love my Musankisha so much, and seeing her each day convinces me of that more and more and more.

Maybe now, I'll be able to write more on here again. lol. I hope you enjoy the news as much (although I doubt you can!) as I enjoy telling it!!! We have a wonderful God who loves creating such cool and awesome stories as ours has been thus far. I feel it in my heart that there is much more yet to come...

~ Guten Nacht!

Localtime: 3:59 PM
Dallas Time: 8:59 AM

Gilserberg

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I am now here in Bremen, Germany

Things are going well.

I don't have a lot of time right now to write a really long post about all that has happened so far, but it's been totally cool. Security and customs was a breeze. My Musankisha and Cate were waiting for me at the airport. My Musankisha and myself were both a little nervous at first. Finally, we stopped in Gilserberg on our way to Kassel, which was on our way to Bremen), and Cate ran off to find some friends she had there. While she was away, My Musankisha and I both sat down back to back. We talked and then we prayed. It was relaxing. I can remember when, as we were about to pray, we took ahold of each other's hands. We were back to back. The contact of our fingers was electric, and the warmth of her back was so beautiful after all these months of having no contact at all.

After praying (pray-peration is so good and important!), we turned and faced each other. It was only a few moments later that we kissed for the first time. A few minutes later, Cate took the picture below. Prayer and reaffirming before the Lord the joy in our hearts at seeing each other made all the difference.

If any of you all are praying out there, you can just know that your prayers are being heard as are ours!!! When God is answering prayer, we should so shout about it. So, this is my shout, and my YAWP!!!! unto the world!!!

"It's the most wonderful place on Earth.

Sometimes."

- Cate - (speaking of Gilserberg)

It's time to go...

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It's 7:48 AM local time, and it's the last time I will have internet access for many hours. The last time I will have internet access before I meet meine Musankisha.

I am currently at my parent's house. In a few minutes, I will be leaving here for the airport. My brother is bickering at me about traffic being horrible. I don't know. All I know is that I just woke up, my nose is running, and now everyone is yelling about traffic. My poor cat, who will be living at my parent's house for the next few weeks, doesn't really realize I am about to go. He is sitting next to me, giving himself a bath.

I've never traveled internationally before. I've never left the ole' U.S.A. Not even for Mexico or Canada. Today, that will change. I'm a bit scared, but I know that God is with me. Even if something crazy happens, God will be with me. So, let's please all pray that everything runs smoothly. Let's please all pray that all of my bags can travel as they need to. Let's please pray that nothing is oversized or overweighted. Let's please all pray that nothing is lost. Let's please all pray that I an on time, and that I make it through security okay. (I have not flown since sometime before 9/11) Let's please all pray that I can make my connecting flight in Canada, and get safely through the Canadian and German customs.

Even more importantly though, let's please all pray that, after I get through all of that, Cate and meine Musankisha are both waiting for me at the other end.

Most importantly (to me!!), although it requires everything else also going smoothly, please pray with me that, when I meet meine Musankisha for the first time that God will be with us and bless that meeting. We're both so nervous, and with good logical reasons.

Our faith is in the Lord though. Our faith is in our savior, Jesus Christ. Our faith is in our Heavenly Father, who gives good things to His children, and whom loves us very much. Our refuge is in His strength, love, and goodness. Nothing is really in our hands. Everything is under His control. Absolutely everything.

It's now 7:58 AM, and I need to go change and leave. What will be one of the most important events of my entire life is ahead of me. I'll see you guys on the other side...

Screen Door

It's about as useless as
A screen door on a submarine
Faith without works baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your left hand
One is your right
It'll take two strong arms
To hold on tight
Some folks cut off their nose
Just to spite their face
I think you need some works to show
For your alleged faith

Well there's a difference you know
B'tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow
The other one just make you sleep
Talk about it
But I really think you oughtta
Take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine

Faith comes from God
And every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart
So you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice
Otherwise....

It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine
Faith without works, baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your right hand, one is your left
It's your light, your guide
Your life and your breath

Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine

- Rich Mullins

Dead at 44.

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It's rare that a celebrity death makes me go, "Whoa!"

But, here one is:

The Crocodile Hunter

Dead at 44.

There are so many deaths in the world everyday that it almost makes it seem wrong to note one while not noting another. However, I can remember watching some of his shows, and I enjoyed them. I'm saddened to think that he won't be around for more.

I'm more saddened when I find myself wondering about the state of his soul. It's one of those questions that will probably not be answered to me until I myself am in Heaven. It pains me everytime I realize that someone, somewhere, has probably just died and gone to Hell. There's too many for me to ever know. Yet, I know that the Father knows. And, He knows the state of their souls (and ours) better than anyone.

I pray that he was a follower of Christ so that someday, in Heaven, we can all laugh at his crazy antics again.

"Crikey! That was a close one! See the jaw SNAP down! WAMMO! Whoooo!"

— Steve Irwin
(1962-2006) Australian zoo director and TV host - known as wacky host of nature series Crocodile Hunter (1996-2006) where Australian wildlife is profiled; movie released in 2002.

Steve Irwin: I am here with Dr. Dolittle, who can actually talk with animals. We're here about to capture this alligator right behind us, The trick to capturing this guy is to put your arms around his neck...
Alligator: Hey Dolittle, What I'm doing is letting Steve think I don't hear him, when he comes for me, I'm gonna turn around and snap his arm off.
[Steve is still talking to camera]
John: Steve, I think he knows we're here.
Steve Irwin: Quiet, I don't wanna spoil the element of surprise, NOW!
[Snapping noise]
Steve Irwin: Crikey! Me arm!

- Dr. Dolittle 2

Secrets Revealed...

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So, now, I can finally talk on my blog about what is happening this coming Wednesday. I've been wanting to talk about the various pressures and struggles in getting ready for it for a couple of months now. It's been tough, being silent. Originally, it was supposed to be a secret from my Musankisha. But, after awhile, she figured it out, and then we just tried to keep it a secret from Cate because she wanted to suprise my Musankisha with it. What's the big secret then? Well, on Wednesday, I'm going to get on a plane and fly first to Toronto, Canada, and then to Frankfurt, Germany. I will be able to meet and see my Musankisha in person for the first time on Thursday morning. (local time) I've been going crazy getting ready for this. Now, it's almost here, and I'm scared. This will be the first time I've flown on a plane since before 9/11, and the first time I ever leave the country. It will almost certainly not be the last. (Especially if my Musankisha has anything to say about it!)

It's all about trusting in the Lord though. I'm going to be gone for three weeks, and I'm not sure entirely how it will all play out. I've got to work from over there, I've got to have Rajah taken care of, and I will be meeting my beloved Musankisha in person for the first time! This is probably crazy, ja?

All day at work today, clients were calling me up, trying to get last minute changes and preparations into their programs. Some of these were simple. Most were not. But the worst part was that it would swap back and forth between a couple of our clients, and I never really got a chance to get most of the stuff done!!! Now, I have to go into the office on Labor Day. When am I going to find time to pack? There's still so much to do!!!

Heck, we're still not sure how I'm getting from Frankfurt to Bremen. I believe that we are talking about renting a car, but nothing has been finalized yet. We're going to have to do this soon!!

Once I am finally in Bremen, I will have to post something here with a picture or three of my Musankisha, myself, and, if she wants to be in it, Cate also. Oh, I am so looking forward to this trip. I'm not looking forward as much to the travel part itself.

I'm worried about all the crap that is now involved in travelling. I'm worried about customs, security, baggage, etc. It's totally foolish of me to be worrying about this stuff because it's all in God's hands, but that doesn't mean I don't find myself worrying about it anyways. There's not much use in that though, so I'm trying to stop.

God has all of it in His hands. Everything is under His control, including all the hassles involved. It's so easy to imagine things going wrong that I sometimes forget how amazingly things can go right. The will ultimately work out for good. I believe that.

So, I don't want to write a long entry here tonight. I'm all sorts of tired, and this is normally my night to catch up on my sleep. Of course, I'm waking up early tomorrow anyways to go shopping for clothes. Yippee? Krass, I've got so much to do!

Gotta go now.

~laters!