Cle Time!

Having Cle here has been amazing and painful all at the same time.  I think his visit is killing me slowly via exhaustion.  ugh... but so worth the lack of sleep!

Let's see... so far we've had some GREAT adventures.  Here's a day-by-day run down of why I think I might not live past June 2nd....

Cle arrived on the 14th ...

15th: I introduced Cle to Graz, Temmel Ice Cream, and his hosts for his stay.  Later, we introduced him to the Schlossberg and Kebap!  yummy!

16th: we introduced him to Exousia!  Whooohoooo!!!

17th: we went to Wien (Vienna) for the day and had DELICIOUS Ice Cream!

18th: Sula and I introduced Cle to SAX Ice Cream, the Mur Insel, and Tribeka.  We spent a lot of time just chilling in the girls apartment waiting for such nasty weather to pass.  It was, by far, one of the best days I've ever had in Graz.

19th: Julia introduced Cle to palatschinken....mmmmmm....

20th: we visited Uschi at the Kindergarten!  We went to Verdi's Nabucco at the Graz Opera House!

21st: we had a big lunch with many good friends then had house group!

22nd: we spent the day in upper Styria!  We visited Eisenerz and the Leopoldsteiner See.  We introduced Cle to Tötdling Ice Cream.  We went to Denise and Nevena's jazz recital thing.

23rd: we hiked with Didi and Karina, had a classic Austrian lunch, then went to church.  

24th: we went to Salzburg and Doris joined us!  Of course, we had ice cream there, too.

25th: we slept in.  :-)

26th: we relaxed in the evening, then had our worship thingo.

27th (today): Cle's running errands with Julia and I'll entertain him for a short time this evening.

28th (tomorrow): Julia will take Cle to Zotter while I spend the day working my butt off.

29th: Cle comes to my house for lunch, I'll introduce him to Blast Hill, and he'll probably meet Yahoo for a walk.  Sula and I've planned a "crazy, fun jumping, no stress worship meeting" for Friday night.

30th: Pfingsten (Pentecost) service for church.

31-1st: Budapest

2nd: the Ami's host the Austrians for lunch.

3rd: Cle leaves us.  :-(

I'm not sure if it is all the traveling, walking, staying up late, or ice cream eating that is going to kill me first.  Surely, it's not the ice cream!

means for a break

Every Monday and Tuesday, I leave my house just before 6am and travel into the city, where I waste 30 mins waiting for the next bus that takes me back OUT of the city, in the opposite direction of where I live.  During those 30 mins, I usually eat my breakfast, drink some coffee, and read my Bible.  This Tuesday, I was in my own zone with my iPod running my thoughts when, all the sudden, THWACK, something hit the back of the bus-stop-hut.  I turned in time to see it was an eager pigeon trying to be first in line for a dropped piece of bread.  Well, he didn't win.  

I did so well with writing here for the last week and now I am writing to defend why posts will likely be scarce over the next weeks.  Clearthur arrives tomorrow evening!  I am sure that I will have PLENTY to blog about, but I am not so sure how much time I will have to do so.  Cle and I will be hosting a Mexican dinner/lunch party at some point (in honor of my birthday).  Mostly, he will be witnessing our normal, day-to-day lives here, but we've also planned some great excursions.  I'm sure that between all of us, SOMEONE will remember to take pictures.  You can look forward to those.  So, what's on the docket for May?

-Wien

-Opera (Nabucco, Verdi)

-Parschlug/Kapfenberg

-MAYBE Salzburg

-Budapest, Hungary

Das Einfache Leben

Just a couple of pics from some great times here in Graz!  The whole album is on Facebook.

Samoel invited a group to Blast Hill for lunch a couple of Sunday's ago.  We had a GREAT meal and shared a lot of laughs.  The work on Blast and with BLAST Ministries is truly very multi-national. . . 

Sula(Ostrich) and Frannie(English) dancing.

Sandra(Serbisch), Sula(Ostrich), and me(Amish).

Everything at Blast Hill is a bit... different.  :-0  We speak something of a mix of languages and somehow still call it "English."  We also have circulating nicknames and jokes floating through the whole team of us.  When we are all together and feeling patriotic, we address one another by our "nationality'- Serbisch, English, Ostrich, and Amish.  When Sula and I are working hard in the office or for one of the schools, they call us both Sveznalica (wise-guy/boss).  Other times, we teach each other rather useless words and phrases in our respective languages and the funniest of those words becomes a nickname.    For example, most often they call me Vel(i)ka (big).  

And we're off...

I bid your company on my proverbial exploit. Where are we going? On a hunt for my English. Some where, in my overfilled, underused brain, I have an education in English. There is an abundance of vocabulary with a distinguished grasp of syntax hibernating in the, what I like to call great, annals of my mind. Before they decide to migrate, I deem important the utilization and production of such skill. *Note: Proper use of complex grammar will return with further exercise.

In a former day, I often wrote. I wrote well. Where has my writing motivation gone? Laziness cannot be blamed, nor can a lack of intellectual meditation. Simply not having adequate capability to most precisely depict that which has been floating in my heart has reserved my yearning to pontificate. Perhaps, my over-excogitating nature paired with an obvious fear of failure has been cause enough to diffuse my prose. Angst, be no more! We launch forward today! We, being my inner-author and me.

I need to write more in every sanction of life. I need to journal more. I need to write the deep revelations the Spirit shows me. I need to write the lessons He puts on my heart. I need to write of the comical, cartoonish stories from my daily life. I need to write in my blog more frequently. I need to write music again. I need to write about a million emails. I need to write more.

delicious feast

Oh how I love the Balkans... mmm.

We had a great weekend feasting in Sarajevo. Thank you, all my intercessors, for covering me and the conference. I'm not really ready to post a whole lot of reflection, but I can say that it was an awesome weekend. There was an abundance of excellency and also a great deal of hard work. If/When I'm ready, I'll give you more details about what I witnessed and experienced.
Some focal points from the conference and from my personal experience there:
- Arising
- Trading in old garments for new.
- Speaking/Living the Word.
- Being Deborah's and Jaal's.
- BREAKTHROUGH
- Unity.
- Joy.
- Vision RESTORED.
- "Seko" relationships.
- Laughter.