Monday, June 11, 2012

Sunday in Germany... A Day of Rest!


It's about 9:00 am on Sunday morning as Uschi and I head out for church.
We are going to visit the church that we attended 21 years ago
when we lived here in Dortmund, Germany.  But before we go there
I wanted to show you the horse barn that is right outside of 
the apartment here.

Well, it is at least 1/2 of it.  

There are a lot more bicycles here than "motos", like in Africa.




Just as we arrived the church bells started ringing and 
I had to record them.  Hope you like seeing and hearing
from the Lutheran Evangalisch Church.
(Also hope it works, I've not tried this before.
The video copier wouldn't work so maybe this won't either, but i sure hope it will so you can hear the bells!)

Didn't quite get the picture of the whole church...but the shadows are cool

There might have been 40 people in attendance. 

The organist and the organ.

There was a baptism and it was almost 30 minutes long. The pastor
talked... several family members spoke and then the baptism.
The baby was dear and seemed totally engaged in the whole process.





After church we headed back home and it was about 11 when 
we arrived to all the creatures!

This is Pepper, Peppy... for short. 
One of Uschi and Reiner's cats.
And this is Molly!  Does she remind you of anyone?

This is the whole barn from the back.... 
with a huge manure/straw pile
from all the boarders cleaning out their stables.

This is Susie riding Freesia...oh, i'm not sure that was 
the horse's name but she is pretty!  They both are!

A little barn swallow on her nest.
One horse in a small corral and the other still in the barn.

All of these ladies were out exercising their horses.
They were taking them through side steps, backing-up and
all the usual gaits that horses do. 


I could have stood and watched them all day!
Heading back to their stalls.
Sitting on the ledge near the back door.
Reiner likes to cook and he is a great cook but he is also an artist!


This is one of his morning creations for Uschi and me.
See why it is so much fun to come here?


And this is another creation from Uschi, the artist!


After brunch we spent the entire afternoon and some of the evening in the
yard-- more accurately called the garden
with a lot of God's creations.  Michelle V.. this peony is for you!




And while we were sitting in the sun 
and soaking up the rays, 
Reiner brought out another of his
inventions! 

This little table on a long spike 
that you just shove in the ground and 
presto... you have a side table for your glass!
Clever and cute, huh?


So, we had a whole day of rest... going to church, enjoying nature and resting in the yard.  

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come unto me and I will give you rest"

The reading in Oswald Chambers today says this: 

" Watch how He uses the word 'Come'.
At the most unexpected moments there is a whisper of the Lord  --"Come unto Me"--
and you are drawn immediately.  Personal contact with Jesus alters everything.  Be stupid
enough to come and commit yourself to what He ways.  The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits all to Him.

...'and I will give you rest,'  i.e., 
I will stay you.  
Not---I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep, but --
I will get you out of bed, out of the languor (lack of energy or vitality)
and exhaustion, out of the state
of being half dead while you are alive; I will imbue (to inspire or influence thoroughly) 
you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity!"


He called and gave me rest today! 

 Go to Him if need rest... He will give it to you..
and you'll receive a whole lot more! 

love,
margie





Sunday, June 10, 2012

On to Germany...

Bruce drove me to the airport on the eve of Heather and Brian' birthday, June 7th to fly to Amsterdam and then on to Dusseldorf to visit Uschi and Reiner!  Left at 8:20pm and arrived in Amsterdam Friday morning at 7:00 am.  Yes, it was a long flight!  But this was
the view when i opened the airplane window!
 Sunrise from the air.. over Amsterdam!
 The Amsterdam Airport is Stunning!
First I discovered places to sleep and get "charged up".
 The library/ media center.... Lap tops, iPads, etc. even BOOKS!
 A place for even more relaxation. This was great since
I had made an error in planning my trip and had a 10 hour layover
in Amsterdam!  What a ninny!!!!  But this was a great airport
to be "stuck".  The day flew by!    
 The Kid's Forest they called the play area.
Foot/back/water/massages and even a fish tank where you
could have little tiny fish "clean" your feet!  No,
I just took pictures.
 The Dutch Restaurant but i forgot to take
pictures of the Tulip Store! 
Guess I should let you know that I finally bought a phone
(on sale at the airport) that I can see and hopefully use someday!  So I spent

most of the day trying to figure it out. 
Um..I still haven't quite done that.
 And then there were LEGOS!


After my 10 hours in the airport and seeing just about every corner but the 1st class
lounges, I was finally on my 25 min. trip to
Dusseldorf where I would meet
Uschi and Reiner.

They are our German friends of over 20 years now!
Uschi is like the sister i never had.
And Reiner is a great cook!
This area of Germany is fairly level... 
Everything is so green and growing right now.
 It looks like a rich carpeting.
 The Autobahn from the air.

Some of Uschi's Art Work!

On Sat. morning we took off on a walk.
These are some folks in the "barn yard" with their 4 dogs.
They also board 8 horses here at the barn. 
The little dog on the left is Barney, then Henry (the cutest one), 
and i forget the others.  Couldn't get good pictures. They never
stopped moving.  I miss my Barney.

Just on our walk...

                 A typical picture around Dortmund.. Girls out riding their horses.
                       A lot of them are boarded at the place I am visiting.

Favorite picture from our walk to the Hardward store.... like Lowes or Home Depot.

Can't you just smell these roses?

 The old and the new.... Autobahn on right,
our walking road on left.

 And then... I entered a shocking world compared to
what i have been accustomed to in Africa.
 It's amazing in just a few months how i could have forgotten just
how much stuff can be in one store.
 Including plants and beautiful flowers!
It actually was a bit of culture shock... I was surprised.

 This is Uschi and Reiner's part of the backyard where they live.  I took it because there is something in this picture that we rarely have in Kigali and you can't see it.  Only the result of it is showing... THE WIND!  It was so terribly windy yesterday and some of the trees were bending way over.

But the sun was shining.... in fact unlike Kigali where the sun goes down at 6pm every evening.. THE SUN DIDN'T SET UNTIL AFTER 10PM!  So my body rhythms are
a bit off.  But boy was it great to sit outside in the evening.... and on into the night!

Thank you Bruce, for sending me to see Uschi and Reiner!
Wish you could be here, too.
An even more shocking discovery for me was that the stores
don't close anymore before 8pm and some even until 10pm.

Tomorrow is Sunday... Usually a quiet day in Germany.
 The stores are still Closed on Sunday, at least!
It's so good to be here!!

love,
margie