Spring Is Coming!

Updates updates updates.....

Let me think......

Spring is coming... I can feel it. I can see it. Ahhh.... how I am longing for warmer weather again. I don't dislike winter, but I REALLY like spring. :-)

A new semester has begun (three weeks ago). My new German class is hard. Seriously. Hard. I am blessed to have a handful of former classmates in the same class with me again. Being together provides us each with a touch more confidence. I really like all my new colleagues, too. We're already having a lot of fun together- everyone struggles and everyone laughs through the struggling. The class meets everyday and on Wednesday's we have a different teacher than the other days of the week. This guy is so funny. When he was learning our names, he had no guesses in pronouncing mine. Of course, I probably wouldn't have either for the first time when it is mixed within all the Slavic names. After clarifying my name, he smiled and stated in German, "That's really very American sounding!" What better reply could I have than, "Well, I'm really very American!" :-) He calls me "Cree-Amerikaner" or "Cree-Indianer". The other teacher is good, too. However, the teaching method is a struggle for me. I guess in a couple of weeks I'll adjust better.

We had another Advanced School a couple weekends ago and it was amazing. The topic was leadership. I've taken a number of leadership courses and even have helped design some leadership development programs, so I was looking forward to the topic. The presentation was beautiful. I know what you're thinking- "how can a school on leadership be beautiful?" First, you should know that BLAST Ministries is really a family. Franz and a brother, Randy, from Texas did most of the teaching and American Steve (now living in Slovenia) did a couple sessions. The opening session was the "Ghandi Session" as I like to call it. "You have to be the change you want to see in the world." was the true gist of the introduction. The remaining sessions, though, were incredible. Our teachers were vulnerable as they shared their hearts- their successes and their failures -with us. This school had me processing so much the entire duration. The spiritual aspects of leadership were so directly addressed as well as the character of a leader. I can't do justice in explaining the weekend to you. If you're interested in the teaching, I can send you an mp3 CD for $20. Actually, if you are at all interested in any of our topics, I can send you the CD's for $20. Recent topics include- Kingdom Relationships, Kingdom Finances, How to Find the Right Partner, Kingdom Marriage, and now Kingdom Leadership. There are also a variety of teachings on Spiritual Warfare, Spiritual Gifts, Discipling and Spiritual Fathering, The Church that Jesus Builds, Tent of David... and so on. Comment or email me if you have any questions or requests. Jason- I'm still working on getting a better list together for you but this should give you a groundwork.

Things to come-
April 1: Class trip to Vienna.
April 3-6: Worship rehearsals in Zagreb.
April 29-May 4: Women's conference in Sarajevo (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR MY PROTECTION AS I GO INTO THIS CONFERENCE!).
May 5: My birthday.
May 13-June 3: Clearthur comes to visit.
July 22ish: Mandy comes to visit.