what's really sad...

...is when it's 1 o'clock in the morning, and for some reason you're craving orange juice, and you go to the kitchen, open the fridge, take out the carton of orange juice, pour yourself a glass of that delicious, golden sweetness, raise the glass to your lips, take a big swallow...

...and discover that the orange juice has been quietly fermenting in the fridge while you were away on vacation.

Blech, blech, and triple-blech!

And orange juice gives me heartburn anyway! *grumble*

;o)

out-of-office reply

You have reached thegermanygirl.blogspot.com. I am currently unable to take your call. Please leave your name, number, and a short definition of cheese relating to the meaning of life, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for calling!

*click!*

i am so confused......

So this morning, I had an appointment with Dr. Adler, the premier ear-nose-throat specialist in Chemnitz. He shares his practice with Dr. Kopp, who diagnosed me with chronic sinusitis in February and told me it's time for surgery. But Dr. Adler ist the one who actually does the surgery, and he likes to meet with each patient in person at some point before the surgery takes place. So this was my pre-surgery visit, even though I'm still on the waiting list and the surgery isn't actually scheduled yet.

Well, Dr. A looked at my X-rays, did an ultrasound / visual exam of my sinuses / nose, told me that there is some swelling of the tissues in my sinuses (which I already knew), and pronounced that there's no need for an operation at this time (which floored me) as long as I keep using my nose shower.

I was so surprised that I totally forgot to question him on why his diagnosis is so different from Dr. K's.

But in retrospect, I don't think I need to know. I've decided that, since I've gotten two conflicting opinions here, I'm going to postpone the whole kit-and-caboodle and get a third--deciding--opinion from a doctor in Oklahoma. I'm quite perplexed about the whole thing and really wish that I didn't have to deal with this. But, as we all know, if wishes were equines, I wouldn't have to ride my bicycle everywhere, either.

So there ya have it, folks. Modern medicine strikes again. Strike three, yer out! ;oP

fyi

destroyed for lack of knowledge

When my parents left the European shores for the Americas, they also left behind a copy of the magazine Gospel Advocate (GA). So I picked it up and read it. Just for the record, this was the first GA I've ever really perused, and I have discovered that I do not agree 100% with what the magazine presented in this particular issue (see issue # below). Or perhaps it's better to say that I don't agree 100% with the methods and the attitudes reflected in some of the authors' writings.

That said, however, I found the following to be accurate, illuminating, and disturbing. The trends which Renfroe (see below) presents in his article are realities of which the church today needs to take note. If we don't, we're in for some rather nasty surprises in the very near future.

"...I can't help wondering, in the midst of the current [technological] craze, if any room is left for God. Do the movers and shakers of the technological revolution have any place for a 2,000-year-old book? Indeed, does anyone even read anymore? In our quest to gain academic prowess through tech savvy, have we failed to instruct regarding the most important knowledge our children will ever need to acquire--the knowledge they need to save their souls (John 8:32; 1. Timothy 2:4)?"

"Parents naturally want their children to succeed, obtain advanced degrees, and secure high-paying jobs believed to ensure not only financial security but also the ever-elusive happiness that evades so many...

"During Old Testament days, parents were to teach their children about God and His marvelous works at every available opportunity (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19). Today, some parents are asleep at the proverbial wheel. We clamor for our kids to be in the best schools and taught by highly qualifed professionals. We expect them to play sports--the big three, at least--and would not think of their missing practice. (They might get a scholarship, you know.) But are we failing them where they need us most?

"If we could muster the same enthusiasm toward our children's spiritual education that we do for their secular activities, it would be far less likelly we would see a generation that, in many quarters, is 'destroyed for lack of knowledge' (Hosea 4:6 ASV)..."

--Brandon Renfroe
"21st Century Kids Are Wired"
Gospel Advocate, June 2007, Vol CXLIX, No. 6


Some of my thoughts as I read this:

Why is it so important to us that our children Get A Good Education?

Do we really believe that it's more important for our children to become Christians than it is for them to Get A Good Education?

Are we teaching our children to spend at least as much time studying the holy words of God as they spend studying textbooks written by humans?

We hear kids say, "When I grow up, I wanna be a teacher/rock star/fireman/astronaut/vet/police officer/etc."
We encourage them in these dreams. And rightfully so.
But how much encouragement do we give them in developing a dream that when they grow up, they "wanna be a faithful servant of God"?

I've never heard a kid say, "When I grow up, I wanna be what God wants me to be."
Why is that?

Are we studying the Bible with our kids and worshiping God with them at home? Every day?
Or are we leaving that part up to the "Sunday school teachers"?

When did Sunday morning Bible Class replace parental responsibility?

Renfroe says that we make sure our kids never miss sports practice.
Are we making sure they are present every time the church assembles to worship God?

Are we ourselves present every time our Christian family is together for worship?

Or are we ourselves skipping worship because this or that activity "is only this one time," which just "happens to be" during worship time?

Are we ourselves skipping worship in favor of attending secular activities?

Are we teaching our children to "go to church" because that means they're being good?

Or are we teaching them to be the church because being the church is the only scriptural concept? (After all, where in the Bible do you find the concept of "going to" church?)

Where are our own priorities? Yours and mine?

Is God truly the center of our lives?
The apex?
The only constant reality?

Or are we lying to ourselves?
And are we raising our children on a diet of these holy-seeming lies?

Are we teaching our kids, by our example, that God's word, the Bible, is not binding?


What do you think?

i need to get on the blogball...

...and answer comments and read other people's blogs. Haven't been doing much of either lately. Too much else going on.

In other news, I think I like Nickelback. I keep hearing these songs and liking them and then finding out it's Nickelback. The latest song this has happened with is "If Everyone Cared." Google it, the lyrics are really good.

I like Nickelback. That's so weird. When it comes to Nickel-anything, I thought I was a Nickel-Creek-only kind of girl. ;o)

/random

art genius

Hey, just thought I'd point everybody in the direction of Phil Hansen, whom I heard of for the first time just today. Really cool art, and I figure he must be a genius the way he creates his pieces. Absolutely amazing.

Check out the link here and be sure to watch the video: Phil Hansen.

reality is setting in

On Wednesday, my parents boarded their flight from Frankfurt to the U.S. I think I still haven't quite started to process that they have moved to Oklahoma. To them, Germany is home. To *me* Germany is their home, too. That new house that they build is gonna have a pretty solid German cornerstone to live up to.

Another bit of unpleasant reality..... On Wednesday, Ed and I let our landlady know that we are moving out by October 31st. She was really upset to hear this, and I thought she was going to cry. Which made me almost cry. And we haven't even been close to her, though I'd describe our "professional" relationship as a good one. It was still a sad moment, and all three of us agreed that there was no "good" time to break this news. At least she understood our reasons for leaving.

But telling her that we're moving...it's just one more step toward making it all seem real.

And I don't like it. I don't want to think about it.

___________________________________

*Addendum: Ed and I have been watching a lot of "Quantum Leap" online lately. At another time, perhaps I'll blog about how much I love this show and how I wish they'd make a movie of it or something. Anyway, I've been trying to figure out why my non-TV-loving self has been wanting to veg out in front of the tube so much recently.

And I think I've figured it out: I'm watching because I'm avoiding. I'm watching because I don't want to think.

this has *not* been one of those weeks...

...and even so, *twice* in the last five days, I have had to stick my hand down a toilet to retrieve an object that shouldn't be flushed. I wish I could turn this into an amusing blopgost about how everything that could go wrong *has* gone wrong...but other than unexpected double-WC-retrieval, I'm having a good week.

So...sorry for the lack of amusing material. Just picture me standing in the bathroom of the church building, wearing nice clothes, while pitching a fit about having to stick my hand down the toilet to retrieve a hapless toilet bowl freshener. For those who know me personally, this should strike you as rather funny.

(The other incident involved a 1 Euro coin. Just FYI.)

TWICE.

*sigh*

book comments 3

This'll be somewhat general instead of specific to one book. In my effort to decide which books to move with us to Oklahoma and which ones to leave behind, I've been re-reading quite a few novels in order to determine their move-worthiness. So far, I have a pile of about 50 books to give away (I haven't re-read *all* of these, only the ones I really wasn't sure about) and counting.

Included in all the re-reading are all of my Dean Koontz books. Yeah, I've decided to give away a few of his novels...but I find myself keeping most of them. The ones I'm giving away are those to which I haven't had a strong emotional reaction, or those which have left me feeling like this-has-been-done-before. Some of his earlier novels have left me feeling this way, so those are the ones I'm giving away.

I'm keeping all of his later stuff, though, plus a few older ones like "Dark Rivers of the Heart"; "Lightning"; and "Servants of Twilight," to name a few. But his more recent works are the ones I really enjoy. In my opinion, Koontz has been reflecting a great deal of spirituality in his works of the last 6 or 8 (maybe 10) years. Hints of that have always been there, but now he has moved from the hinting stage to pointing directly at the fact that there is something more than this world that we perceive with our physical senses. I highly recommend Koontz to anyone who is looking for serious philosophy and broadening spirituality packaged within the heart-pounding, stay-up-reading-under-the-covers action of an incredibly good read.

As a writer....if I could write like Koontz, I would be satisfied.

Here are some of my favorites of his:

Dark Rivers of the Heart
Watchers
Mr. Murder
Twilight Eyes
Fear Nothing
From The Corner of His Eye (might be my favorite; this is also the origin of the phrase "brighten the corner where you are," which I consider to be a very Godly concept)
Hideaway
Strangers
By The Light of the Moon
Odd Thomas

my "political" opinion

Two prefacing thoughts:

1. I don't enjoy politics.
2. I don't usually pay attention to the political opinions of celebrities.

That said, I'd like to comment on a brief interview with Ben Harper that I watched a few minutes ago. I have one album of Harper's and enjoy it quite a bit and have considered purchasing more of his work but haven't gotten around to it. Anyway, in the interview, he said something that I have thought for a long time. I can't quote him directly, because I don't remember his exact wordage, and I'm in too much of a hurry to go looking for the interview online again. But roughly paraphrased, this is what he said:

We shouldn't think in terms of Republican or Democrat. There is neither Republican nor Democrat. There is only the person who is right for the job. The labels are just meaningless buzzwords. And the person who is right for the job is the person who is willing to take the little American flag pin off his lapel, put on a T-shirt, and get his hands dirty.

That's the person we're waiting for. That's the person I'm waiting for. And that's all I have to say about that. ;o)

ruminations of the sleep-deprived

As I write, it is Saturday morning, 5:04 a.m. Even if you don't know me well, you probably do know that I am rarely awake this early in the day. Even as a new intrepid jogger, I do not get up this early. Just on general principle. Please note that this is 'principle' not 'principal.'

Anyway...so there I was, fast asleep and minding my own business, when I suddenly realized that I was wide awake. Instead of fighting it like I usually do, I decided to give in and get up.

Hear that wailing? That's night owls everywhere screaming, "Noooooooooooooooo!"

;o)

So here I am, blogging just after five in the morning. And rather slowly, too, as I'm sitting at Ed's desk, using his Mac and his Mac keyboard. (Would that be a MacKeyboard?) Just for the record, I love the Mac, but I hate its keyboard. I have to pound each key with something like vehement fury in order to get it to produce anything. I fIjust tyoe the wayI usually do, i get something like this. Oh,a nd didi mention that the keys are space somewhtdifferently than on my laptop?

In case you haven't already noticed, I have no particular reason for blogging at this time. Meaning, I have no particular subject in mind. I am simply awake at 5 a.m. and needed something to do but didn't feel like doing anything that actually needs to be done. Besides, it's Saturday.

I have a zit on my chin, and it hurts. When I was a teenager, I thought that adulthood was supposed to be free of such things. (Zits, that is, not chins.) Well into adulthood now, I have discovered, to my dismay and disappointment, that this is not the case. I feel somewhat hoodwinked by this.

My parents, who are living with us for the month of July, are currently in Greece. Part of their trip is a cruise, and I guess they must be on it now, because yesterday evening, Mama called and left a voicemail: "Hi, we just wanted to call and let you know that we're having fun," etc. I was amused, even through my envy. ;o)

Although I suppose that I shouldn't be too envious......considering that I get to go to Scotland in less than a month! Wahooooooo!!!! I am so excited about this! We were supposed to go with Clint and April when they went last year, but it didn't work out. So Ed gave me this Scotland trip as my Christmas present. Brief and very vague itinerary: One day in London/Corby with our friend Patrick; one day of fellwalking with Patrick in the Lake District (and maybe with Kevin, too???); then head to the Dundee area and see Dundee, Stirling, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Glasgow?, and hopefully drive to the highlands for a day. And we hope to see our friends Tristan and Leslie in Stirling! I have no clue if this is all possible in a 9-day trip (5-day, if you don't count London/Lake District/travel), but that's our current inkling of a conceptual hypothesis. I haven't had the time or the brains, so far, to study all the travel materials we've collected and look into specifics. However, Ed and I are going to sit down together sometime this coming week and figure it all out, so I'll keep you posted.

Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy, we're going to Scotland!!!!!!

Oh yeah, speaking of voicemail messages... Over the last month or so, Ed and I have received two phone calls to our Skype number in the middle of the night. Both times, neither of us woke up in time to get to the phone--although we *were* woken up--so both calls left messages:

Call #1: 4 a.m. Rustling, music somewhere in the background, then talking as though from a distance. No words distinguishable. More rustling. Then, a new voice talking, but this one sounds like a toy. And it sounds like several toys talking at once, overlapping each other: "I need a hug!" "What are we going to do today?" "(something-something-indistinguishable) hooray!" "I need a hug!" "What are we going to do today?" "(something-something-indistinguishable) hooray!" "I need a hug!" And so forth. More rustling. Then the toy voices start up again. The voicemail message continues in this vein for five minutes before stopping abruptly.

Call #2: 1 a.m. Rustling. Talking in the background. A kid's voice (real, not a toy), or maybe a toddler's. More rustling. An adult's voice, words indistinguishable. Then the adult says what sounds like "No, no, no!" More rustling. End.

Ed and I can't figure out who in the world is leaving these weird messages! The voicemails sound as though the person didn't know they had called, like they'd accidentally dialed the number or something. It's gotta be someone we know, but we can't figure out who it could be. Both times, the computer has been off (which is why our regular phone rang), so we haven't been able to see the number that was calling. It's just all very weird.

The first message reminds me of the time Ed and I (before we were married) used his talking Alf toy to leave a message on my roommate Tamara's voicemail, and she thought she was getting an obscene phone call. ;o)

Okay, it's now 5:45, and I think that's enough for one blopgost. If you read all of this ramblingness, you get a cookie. Enjoy.

Me, I'm gonna give the keyboard a rest from my vehement fury.

yay, i'm phoenician!

Your Score: Phoenician

You scored

You are the Phoenician Alphabet! Teacher of the Greeks and Etruscans, you are the one all languages bow down to. That is, until the Romans decide to wipe out your civilization. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak.

Got this one from Patricia, of course, who takes care of all my online random test needs. ;o)

Q & A

Q & A Procedure:

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like.

2. I respond by asking you five personal questions (in response to your comment, so check back!) so I can get to know you better.

3. You WILL update your LJ (aka blog) with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.

5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.


My answers to Patricia's Qs:

1. If you were to have the chance to adopt a sibling, would you pick a brother or a sister?

Oooh, that's a hard one! I've always liked the idea of having a big brother to stick up for me, and there have been a couple of guys in my life who have been like brothers.... Not to mention most of my guy cousins who are definitely like my brothers....and girl cousins who are like sisters......and girl friends who are definitely like sisters..... As you can see, I definitely have trouble pinning myself down to a concise answer here! I guess I'd probably have to choose a sister, just for all the late-night girltalk. ;o)

2. What is your favorite memory of us from college?

Do I have to pick just one?!?!??!!!? ;o) Okay, here goes, in random order:

(a) All the time we spent in Honors together. You made it fun and interesting and lively during the times my attention started to drift. All the craziness we had together just really made that time something special to me!
(b) The note you wrote me at the end of our freshman year, in which you told me how much you appreciated my friendship. At the time, I had no idea that my friendship meant so much to you, and it was good to hear that in spite of all my difficulties that year, you still liked me and accepted me.
(c) Doing artsy stuff together! I know we didn't get to sit down and draw together as much as both of us wanted to, but at least we had a few times of getting to do stuff as "art buddies."
(d) Getting to go home with you at the end of freshman year. As an only child, I was pleasantly amazed at how such a large family could actually work! ;o) You all made me feel more welcome than I thought I had a right to be. Even though I wasn't there very long, it's a time I'll never forget. (Don't tell Bec and Bradley this, but I still think of them as being the age they were when I visited!) ;oD
(e) Can we say 'Medieval Fairs'?! :oD

3. What book heroine do you relate to the most?

You do know how to ask the tough ones, don't you. ;o) Okay, the one I think of off the top of my head is Kit from "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare. Kit grows up in Barbados and moves to Puritan New England to live with her conservative aunt and uncle. The book chronicles her adjustment from one culture to another. She even seeks out the other 'misfits' in Puritan society to try to find her niche. Classic TCK behavior! Since that has basically been the story of my life, I can relate to Kit quite well, even though the book is written for a young reading level. (I've read this book every few years since I was 9 or 10.)

4. What Honors quote will stick in your memory forever?

Again, it's impossible to choose just one!

"Don't ask stupid questions!"
"She was all bust absent from history."
"Moses' Little Bake Shop."
"Nietzsche is bad for you anyway. Nietzsche will rot your teeth."
The essence of scarfness.
Dead Peasants Aren't Much Fun.
"Did I date your mother?"

Hmm...I might just have to do an all-Honors blopgost! ;oD

5. What is the funniest thing you've heard or read recently?

(a) Three-year-old Velony telling her parents in all seriousness: "Ich hab' geschwitzt wie Sau!" ("I was sweating like a hog!")
(b) Once again, I amused myself by watching the guy who webcammed himself dancing to "Dragostea Din Tei". In my opinion, this is one of the greatest videos ever made.
(c)Honors quotes. ;o)

weird...just weird

So sometimes, as I'm getting ready to "close up shop" at the end of the day (i.e. shut down the computer, because the last thing I usually do before getting ready for bed is check email), a peculiar feeling creeps up on me. It's one that seems to be of the melancholy variety...but it's always coupled with this sense of anticipation. I feel melancholy and almost as though I need to stay online *just a few more minutes* because I'm waiting for something. And then I find myself piddling around the Internet, looking at blogs and other similar sites and wondering about people.

I dunno. It's just weird. If you know me at all, you know that I don't like to read too much into feelings; meaning that I don't believe that just because I'm experiencing a certain emotion, it means that some cosmic event is afoot. I don't know why I get this weird feeling sometimes, but I won't claim it's because I have some kind of spiritual extra-sensory perception that something momentous is imminent.

Maybe I'm subconsciously hoping for something I know won't happen.

Or maybe I'm just tired.

Or maybe I'm just losing my mind. ;o)

a funny little cultural interlude

Earlier, as Ed and I were walking home from the Sullivans' (for those who are interested, please note apostrophe usage ;o), we heard a wedding party approaching. In Germany, the custom is to drive from the wedding to the reception in a long procession of cars, honking all the way. So wedding processions are always audible from quite a distance.

Ed and I decided to stop at our gate and wave at the cars as they passed. Pretty soon, we saw the lead car bearing the married couple. We waved at them as they drove by honking, and they waved back. The bride gave us a big smile, and we could tell that she was pleasantly surprised that we stopped to wave. (Very few people stop to wave at wedding processions nowadays.)

So we kept waving at the other cars as they passed, and everybody waved back and honked. Then the procession started slowing down as they stopped for a red light, and we turned to go into our building. As we reached the door, we heard a single loud honk behind us, and we turned around to wave again.

A older couple was leaning out their windows to wave at us. The man called, "Watch out! You two will be next!"

We both laughed, and I yelled back, "We already are!"

The two of them laughed, then kept driving. It was a cute, funny moment.

:o)

a great movie, and reminders

This week, I borrowed "Nicholas Nickleby" from Karen and watched it twice, once with April and once with my parents (who are here now, but more on that at a later date). This is the one that was filmed just a few years ago. I won't go into detail, but I have to say that I highly enjoy this movie! I shall purchase a copy for myself. Here are a couple of the fantastic one-liners I remember from having seen the film twice:

John Browdie to Wackford Squeers: "He said thee weren't fit to live with pigs. I said thee were!"
Wackford Squeers: "Thank you!"

Mrs. Crummles: "Let us use our bodies as instruments and quiver together until music comes out!"

I love that music line. ;o)

Change of subject:
Note to self:

--> blog about 'Jekyll & Hyde'.
--> blog about Scotland.
--> blog about parents.

health

So, guess what? I'm at home with a cold today. Actually, I've been mostly at home with a cold for the last two days. I'm feeling a lot better today, but I stayed home from worship anyway, so as not to contaminate the church. Since I have such a weak immune system and am susceptible to pretty much everything, I always get frustrated when others come to worship when they're sick. So when I'm the one who's sick, I suppose the least I can do is follow my own advice. ;o)

And this time, at least, I can pinpoint exactly why I have a cold: On Tuesday, Ed and I went to Dresden and hung out at the waterpark with the Dresdner Carrolls, the Oklahoman Andersons, and Jed the OCer. And, of course, I got water up my nose. But only twice! The first time, I forgot to hold my nose while going down the water slide. The second time, I was holding my nose on the slide but hit the water so hard that it knocked my hand away from my nose. The rest of the time, I managed to retain my vise-like grip and avoided anymore unwanted chlorine flushings.

Also, my whole system was weakened by a Tuesday-Wednesday middle-of-the-night bout with diarrhea. And, if you're at all familiar with my history of digestive and circulatory issues, you won't be surprised to learn that this middle-of-the-night incident was complete with an episode of almost passing out on the Carrolls' bathroom floor. Since these episodes no longer seem to be connected with any sort of heart arrhythmia, I'm starting to develop other theories about what might bring on the passing out or nearly passing out. But more on that some other time. Suffice it to say that Tuesday night, I had another episode which left me pretty weak for the next 24 hours. And made me more susceptible to cold germs.

I'm just thankful that it isn't a sinus infection this time! Wahoooo! Do you have any idea what a relief it is to have just a general, run-of-the-mill cold? ;o) Not that I'm relieved to be sick; but if I'm sick, I rather just deal with a regular ol' cold than a sinus infection complete with fever, dizziness, and achy joints.

For now, I'm stuffing myself with vitamins, flushing my sinuses three times a day, and sleeping a lot. April's gonna get onto me for not scheduling my surgery yet. ;o) I plan on getting it worked out soon, though! I'm aiming for the end of August, after Ed and I get back from Scotland. (Have I mentioned Scotland yet?) Either that or the end of the middle of July, i.e. after the 15th. But I doubt my doctor will be able to get me in that soon. We shall see. Updates shall follow!

bloomin' plants!

My aloe aristata are blooming!
I didn't even notice those nifty stalks growing until, suddenly (it seemed to me), there were these nifty bloomy thingies at the top.

Why is this event blog-worthy, you might ask? Well, because I, Faithful Readers, was once in possession of a rather black thumb.

Over the years, I've had steadily more and more success in keeping plants alive. But flowering plants have always been the bane of my existence. Especially succulents (of which the aloe is one). I also have a jade, which I nearly killed; and the aloe barely scraped by when I first got it. (It started life as a single plant and eventually grew into seven.)




I've known for a long time that the aloe were propsering (the growth from one plant into seven was a pretty good clue), but I had no idea they were doing well enough to bloom. I didn't even know that these plants could bloom!

So, I'm excited. It's official: I am no longer a bane to the plant world. I don't kill plants anymore. I have a green thumb! Yay me.







Yay for my aloe aristata! Aren't they beautiful!

the singing campaign

Last week, the Chemnitz church finished up our annual two-week campaign with the singing group from OC. As I mentioned in a blopgost from a few days ago, this is the campaign that originally led Ed and me and "a horn-shaped container filled with fruits and grain emblematic of abundance" (aka a cornucopia) of people to full-time and part-time work with the church in Saxony. When we were still living stateside, Ed was part of this campaign group for 8 summers in a row, starting in 1994; and I was part of the group 5 summers in a row, starting in 1997.

And, as I have also mentioned in previous posts, it's interesting to see how God's plans are often so very different from humans' plans. When Ed and I moved to Chemnitz, we thought our work with the singing campaign was done. Oh, we knew that we'd still be working with this group every summer, because Clyde and Gwen and their successors would continue to put the group together and come to Saxony every year. But Ed and I thought that from the time of our arrival in Chemnitz, our role would be solely a "native" one: helping coordinate and organize and encourage on the Chemnitz side of things; introducing the group to the church and to the city every year; offering our car (when we still had one) for transportation needs; bringing drinks and snacks to the gospel meetings at which the group would sing; things of that sort. We thought that as far as being part of the group was concerned, that chapter of our lives was closed.

But God had other ideas. Apparently, he still considers the Singing Campaign Chapter of our lives to be very much open, and he has been proving this to us over and over again during the past few years. I guess it started when in 2002, we innocently stood up with the group to sing with them a few times. Just for fun, you see. But that started a pattern of singing with them "just for fun" a few times every year. Shades of things to come!

Then, in 2005, for various reasons that would be too long to explain, the group wasn't able to come to Germany. Suddenly, the Saxon churches in Chemnitz and Oelsnitz were without a yearly summer campaign team. Chemnitz chose to focus solely on Let's Start Talking that year; but Oelsnitz wanted to go ahead with their gospel meeting, and they asked us for help.

And so, the "Chemnitz A Cappella Singers" were born. ;o) At that point, the group was an octet consisting of April and me (soprano); Amanda and Karen (alto); Alex and Steffen (tenor); and Ed and Larry (bass). Since then, we've added Jan on tenor, which makes our group a...what? A nontet?

Anyway, our Chemnitz group sang in Oelsnitz in 2005, and we've been singing together ever since. In 2006, Chad and Stefanie Anderson brought the singing campaign from OC, and they asked our group to sing with theirs. While they were in Oelsnitz, we sang with them as often as schedules permitted. While they were in Chemnitz, at least part of our Chemnitz group sang with them every day.

This year—as in, starting about two weeks ago—our Chemnitz group did the same thing as last year. So, in essence, we were part of the campaign team: not just in our “native” roles, but also as “full-fledged singers” in the OC group. And that’s why I say that the Singing Campaign Chapter of the Cantrells’ lives isn’t as over as we originally thought it would be.

Not that we regret this. It’s a lot of hard, challenging work and requires tremendous amounts of flexibility, but we consider it an honor as well as great fun to be able to sing with the OC group. :o)

Anyway…all of this leads into telling of some of the thoughts about the future that Ed and I have had recently. Recently, as in, during the course of the last year. In considering our move to Oklahoma, Ed and I have been very clear (I believe) in telling people that even though we are leaving Germany for now, this doesn’t mean we aren’t coming back! Either on a temporary or on a long-term basis. Yes, we are keeping our opitions open…and our hearts open to wherever God might lead us when. If he leads us to Africa or Brazil or Denmark, then that’s where we’ll go. Suffice it to say that we’ll go where he wants us to go, wherever that might be.

But as far as Chemnitz is concerned: We do plan on coming back, if it’s God’s will. At this point, he seems to be pointing us in the direction of……you guessed it……the OC singing campaign! It’s too soon to tell, of course, and I don’t want to count any unhatched barnyard fowl…but there’s a possibility that Ed might get a job in OKC which would allow us to have summers off. And if we had summers off, then we would be free to join the singing campaign and come back to Saxony with the group every summer.

NOTE: All of this is SPECULATION. We’re making no guarantees, and at this point we’re not going past the stage of merely hoping. We’ve talked with Chad and Stefanie about this, and they’re all for it. Ed and I are all for it, too, if it works out the way we hope it might.

My point in writing this isn’t to make some big announcement regarding our future plans. Although it probably seems like I’m standing on a corner, blaring out the news! ;o) No, my point in telling this long, epic tale is merely to show that once again, God is showing us so many more possibilities than we ourselves ever thought of originally. He always has something different and something more wonderful in mind than we do.

Yes, it’s an uncertain life we live, in the sense that we never know what’s around the next corner. BUT! it’s a *wonderfully* uncertain life, a grand adventure with the Lord as our guide, our protector, and our encourager. We have faith in him and trust that no matter where this grand adventure might lead us, it is all within the confines of his perfect plan, and his loving hand is sheltering us every step of the way.

My hat is off to you if you've read all of this. I don't believe in cutting my thoughts down to bite-size simply to satisfy a world with an ever-decreasing attention span. ;o)