Looking Back…

So I know I've been absolutely pitiful at keeping all of you updated on everything, however I have kept a journal, so this week/weekend I'm planning on going back through and trying to publish the good stuff :) It's kinda neat for me to go back and see what's happened, and what I've been learning! So here is a small beginning... (I might try and throw in Spring Break earlier too so you can know what has just recently happened :))

January 26

            The Lord is teaching me about the reality of the spiritual realm, here is a kind of revelation/prayer: “…People are longing to be told that they are worth something. We long for love but we settle for counterfeits, and worse, we are deceived into thinking that the chains that trap us are setting us free: the choice to sleep with whoever, whenever you want, to watch dirty movies, to read dirty books, to listen to sex-infused music, to look at porn. God, how your heart must break for your creation! So lost! Lord, you know that ever since I was a little girl I’d have dreams of being a hero, but I think more importantly, of saving people, friends, family, even strangers, whether it be in a natural disaster, or sharing my faith. I would long for a life like Lord of the Rings, with this huge battle between good and evil, fighting for the right and good, not just an war, but a justified cause. And I realize that there is a battle; a battle for the souls of men. With an enemy far more evil, powerful, and deadly than Sauron; who knows he has lost but who is determined to take as many people with him to hell as possible. God, this is the fight. And I have a part in it? I don’t want to waste my life. I realize I’ve got to fight with all my might for these people who don’t know you. Their salvation is an urgent and eternal matter. Father please, show me how to fight, to pray, to use scripture against the enemy. I need you! Teach me! Please change my heart, fill it with compassion, with love for the spiritually dying! Show me when to speak and what to say; let them know it is real! Take away the scales from their eyes so they can see truth!”

January 27

            Epic Adventure Day. Our snowshoeing trip! First of all, Victoria and I walked to the train station (and to make sure we didn’t get lost, we literally walked as close as possible to the train tracks…) First we got to tour some salt mines! The best part was riding in on an old mine car, and getting to slide down slides to get to various lower levels! SO FUN!!! On the train I imagine this outing to be a stroll on level ground through a picturesque woods. Boy was I wrong! When Alex, our guide, pointed out our route, I quickly learned that we were going to be snowshoeing up a mountain! Oh, typical situation that happens to me, as we were just setting out, one of the girls had to stop and fix her snowshoes, and I waited with her as she got them on the right feet and tightened. Right as she finished, I looked down and realized, lo and behold, my snowshoes were also on the wrong feet! How embarrassing! I had just stood watching this other girl fix hers for about ten minutes, completely oblivious to the fact that mine were on wrong too! (I didn’t really want to point that out so I endured the awkwardness for a bit until I got far enough ahead of the group that I could stop and change them without making anyone wait for me :P) The day was beautiful, and for some reason I was feeling particularly driven, so when we got to the start of the steep hills, I pulled out my ipod, turned on my motivational music (epic orchestra/rock from the intense sounding band, Two Steps from Hell…) Basically I power-snowshoed up the mountain, not really sure how, I know it was the music though! After a little break at a café on top, we realized that going down would be an altogether new challenge! Apparently it was usually acceptable to basically slide down the mountain on our backsides… Thankfully I chose a powdery area, but I still picked up a good bit of speed coming down the first hill. Unfortunately for some of the others in our group, they hit an icy patch and literally flew (rolled, tumbled, bulleted) down the mountain, completely out of control, and all landed more or less in a heap as the people going up on the ski lift and skiing down the mountain watched in amusement! Oh yeah, and that was only the first little descent, we still had basically the whole mountain to descend. So that was slow going for most of the group, although I did find it to be a harrowing/exhilarating challenge… I tried several different methods, the most successful being sliding down on my butt, splaying arms and legs out to try and reduce my speed! Thankfully made it down in one piece. J Our adventure wasn’t over yet, we ended up missing our bus to the train station, and got to wait another hour in the cold… Then, when we got on the train, it was a later train so we didn’t have any compartments reserved. I loved that we walked through the hallway of every train car, our bedraggled group, everyone was staring, and everytime the train shifted I slammed into the various windows and compartments- me and Joanna busted up laughing at the comical situation! In the end, we couldn’t find empty seats, so we all crammed into the end of the train car by the bathroom… it was hilarious!

January 28

            “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” ~ 1 Peter 2: 11-12

            “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone…” ~ Colossians 4:6

            [verses to live by…]

            3-way skype with Jacob Tinklenberg, Asaf Moreno and Rusty Butler!!! So fun!!! :D

            Also got to talk to the girls!!!! J-stew, Ken and Amanda!!! Love being connected to those back home!!!

January 29

            Funny moment in German: I was having trouble recognizing a picture of a vegetable… after someone identified it as a kartoffel, (potato) Konrad made a snide remark about how that’s what potatoes look like when they aren’t French fries… kinda without thinking, I immediately shot back, “Is that supposed to be some kind of dig at Americans?!” He busted up laughing and was chuckling a little even after we had moved on to the next thing :P

            Got to attend my first Hockey game! Rusty and I were the only ones who ended up going, and it ended up being a great game! We stood right up against the glass for part of it, players slammed into our faces and everything! It was quite thrilling :P And Salzburg won! Apparently they hadn’t been doing so great… I think I brought some luck ;)

January 30

            Got an email from my Salzburg University buddy… he told me to add him on facebook. Quite the shocker, when I found his profile, there was a picture of this swarthy, bearded man, in a tight white shirt that showed him to be pretty ripped! My first reaction was like, “Oh my gosh!! This isn’t a student, this is a freaking man!!! He’s like 30 years old!!!” Not quite the nerdy, academic buddy that I had imagined… Come to find out he was actually 29 and had already graduated… I was pretty intimidated… needless to say we haven’t talked since haha.

            Got to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for Mozart Week! At the end of the first piece, which apparently had been unfinished by Mozart, the composer who had finished the piece actually came up on stage! That was pretty neat! It was a very nice concert, and we had great seats! I did end up thinking Mozart started sounding the same after a little while though…

January 31

            First clear day! I looked out of my window and saw for the first time towering, snow-capped mountains, woot woot!

            Took a German class excursion to the market! It was a glorious day, and I was thrilled to be able to spend a big part of it outside! I ordered some bread in German!! “Ich brauche zwei Brötchen!” (I need two small break rolls!)

            Met Allyson for choir practice! Lots of firsts- the music was in Latin, the director spoke in German, and I haven’t sang in Choir since 7^th grade… haha. But it was fun! I enjoyed seeing Salzburgers in an everyday environment; I think they seem a lot friendlier!

February 1

            Field trip!

            First stop: Mauthausen- a work camp during WWII

                        It was definitely sobering to see this place. It’s incredible to try and begin to imagine the horrors that human beings subjected fellow human beings to… and then the millions of people who were silent. Interesting/scary thought stuck me- if it were happening now, would I protest? I hardly know what goes on in the world… what about killing in Africa? Do I even take notice? Convicting thoughts.

            St. Florians

                        Beautiful monastery! Loved the library… but the best room by far was the great hall!

                        Funny moment: Some of us had to use the restroom but there was a long line, so Konrad directed us to one outside! He also went into the men’s, found no one in there and said we could use it. So Megan goes in and tries the door in the back and it was locked for some reason. I went in the ladies’ room, and when I came out, I noticed Megan laughing… apparently there had been a man in the men’s room the whole time! Konrad hadn’t checked thoroughly enough… AWKWARD!!! Haha

            Hallstadt.

                        Adorable, timeless, quaint, picturesque, romantic, preserved little village!!!! Most beautiful setting, in between mountains, a lake, and more mountains!!! Absolutely gorgeous, and fun to do a photo shoot. J

            ***Victoria and I started watching LOST…. SO GOOD!!!! :D

February 2

            Skiing day round 2!!!

                        - First success: put on my boots right, no pant wrinkles to cripple my legs! Pain free at the outset thank the Lord! Over the course of the morning I was overjoyed to find that I wasn’t in any pain from the ski boots, and that I had control over my legs once more! In fact, my right leg (the previously broken one) almost felt stronger than my left! After getting used to the powder I was able to mostly get my rhythm back! Tried some new runs, practiced my cutting, tried to imitate Melody! ;P I did some hilly parts on the sides, occasionally getting some air and occasionally eating snow. :P Even did a pretty big jump and landed it with a whoop! Toward the end, Alex joined us and we decided to go in the really deep powder off the beaten path… Craziest, hardest, most tiring, most hilarious, most fun thing ever!!! Face-planted quite often, but started to get the hang of it… I had a blast! All in all the day was 100 times better than the last time and I’m stronger and have a lot more confidence! Oh, the best moment was on the last run, I was going to try the powder one more time, and as I was skiing over from the run into the powder, my skis got stuck in the ridge lining the run, and I came straight out of them and literally face-planted! Haha I’m sure it was the most comical thing to watch! Caught up with the wonderful Mrs. Jeanne over skype. J

February 3

            Thoughts from a Francis Chan sermon. In regard to evangelism, we are called to go and make disciples. When we are obediently doing this, that is when Jesus promises his presence, and his power- the purpose of power is for us to be his witnesses. So when I’m not his presence or his power, the question is, am I being his witness? Am I talking about Jesus? Proclaiming the gospel? Also, Jesus doesn’t promise revival, on the contrary (2 Timothy I think) in the ast days, people will only want to hear messages that “soothe their itching ears.”

            Suffering for believers can come in the form of rejection of us and our message, but we still have to be faithful. Also, believers will get to experience God and unity with one another. Witnessing is uncomfortable and frightening. That is why early Christians gathered and prayed for boldness, and then the Spirit of the Lord came upon them. Paraphrased verse? If you aren’t willing to lose everything for Jesus, you aren’t worthy of being his disciple. Need to witness so that what happens in their lives is totally dependent on God. If God doesn’t come through, the Christians will look like fools… exercise in faith!

            Application: How can I be a witness here? How can I intentionally share the gospel, and live it out? Lord, it’s scary and uncomfortable, I don’t like rejection either… But being a witness answers my questions about how to experience the reality of god’s presence in my life. I feel like when I go back to OBU I’ve gotta have some interaction with unbelievers, witnessing, or my soul is gonna dry up… don’t wanna be trying to substitute something for God’s presence. Lord, I want to be obedient and to experience your presence, but it is scary and especially when I feel kinda alone here. Maybe I’m just afraid to ask the others to be radical with me? I have to trust You first and foremost.

            Times God has come through in the little things J

-       Me and Tori getting to the bus stop and the bus coming within the next two minutes (timing the bus stop perfectly is rare!)

-       Answered prayer about finding my misplaced snow goggles

-       Answered prayer about finding my misplaced concert ticket (it was in the front cover of my Bible… ironic?)

-       Always eventually finding my way after getting lost… (happens more often than you might think!)

-       Peace and courage in conversing with different people

Met my distant relative Lilian Backstrom and talked about going to Sweden to meet her and her family over Spring Break!!!

Dinner adventure: After Victoria and I had a very American dinner at McDonald’s and BK, we were taking our time when we see a bus coming up, and Victoria jokes, “What if that was our bus?” Haha… turns out it was! Of course, and we are still a ways away from the bus stop, so Victoria yells, “RUN!” and we do! Take of sprinting in the middle of town, arrive at the bus breathless and doubled up with laughter, but on time! It was even worse when I asked, as we were sitting on the bus, “You’re sure this is our bus?!” Truth was, as soon as I started running I started laughing and my eyes squinted shut and teared up- I could barely see anything! Thankfully, it was! :P Classic…