"I like you better in person."

That's what Jonathan said to me tonight, as we sat downstairs working out some worship songs for Friday's Bible study, and it struck me as a curious statement. We have been e-mailing back and forth for about a year now, almost every day, short little blurbs about life or curious thoughts or pretty much anything. As time went on, the approaching end of the deployment became a more frequent topic, and the idea that "see you soon" was dwindling from months to weeks to days, "talk to you later" was about to become actual talking rather than typing. Now, "see you soon" means the minutes between hanging up the phone and driving to base to pick guys up. They're finally back. The Festaburg is full again, even with so many gone home on block leave.

This is why we're here - we're here to be family for those who have none to come home to. We're here to be a home away from home, to be friends, to share life. In II Thessalonians 2:8 Paul says, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." We share food, trips, talks, games, projects, walks, music, movies, our stories and our struggles and ourselves. And really, sometimes I think that's exactly what it's about - God shared Himself with us, and we can't share Him with others without sharing ourselves, as well.

Long Weekend

Thursday
Thursday, Brad and Debbie and I loaded up the car and set off for Bamberg, to visit another Hospitality House while the carpets dried after their shampooing. Our first stop was Heidelberg, for some sightseeing. We hiked up to the castle (and it is a very steep hike!) and toured the ruins and not-so-ruins. After walking back down, we stopped and thoroughly enjoyed the elusive Starbucks - one of the few places here that will give you free ice-water! It was a very warm, sticky day, hotter than it normally gets here in Germany. After finishing our deliciously cold drinks, we got in the car and headed towards Wurzburg, where we stopped for dinner. We also walked around the gardens of the Residence there, which were quite lovely. After dinner, we drove to Bamberg and stayed up late talking to Matt and Tina Huisjen, the House directors there.

Friday
Friday-day Brad and Debbie and I went in to Bamberg to see the city. Bamberg is in Bayern (Bavaria) so the culture is a little bit different - I really enjoy the cities here. Friday night was Bible study at the Bamberg Hospitality House - it was so nice to be in a Bible study with so many people again! Bamberg is a larger base than Baumholder and has more than one brigade, so even though some of their soldiers have recently deployed, others have just returned or are even between deployments. The House was full, and we enjoyed good food, worshipping through music, a good lesson/discussion (lead by our own Brad), and lots of fun time in fellowship.

Saturday
Saturday was spent just enjoying time with the Huisjens. They have four children, ranging from 4 to 10 yrs old - Madeline, Jesse, Toby, and Bridget. We had a LOT of fun with them (and with the dog, Sandy). We took a drive out to a nearby lake to go swimming and playing with the inflateable rafts. Dinner that night was delicious - steaks and ribs and corn on the cob! Mmmm, it doesn't get much better than that!

Sunday
Sunday we said goodbye and headed back to Baumholder, with a stop on the way in Sinsheim at the Auto-technik Museum. We were checking it out for it's feasability (and desireability) as a Saturday trip for the House. It was fascinating - two huge buildings full of old classic cars and trains and planes, and a whole heap more outside. We climbed up to the cockpit of the Concord (or, since it was Russian, the sign called it the "Concordski"), and through an rickety old Bulgarian plane, and one like Indiana Jones flew on, and then slid down a kind of monster slide from the roof in a plane to the ground floor of the building below. We also checked out the IMAX 3D theatre there, and while it was pretty cool, I got rather motion sick. After leaving Sinsheim (the weather changed abruptly from bright and sunny when we went into the Concord to dark and stormy by the time we got back out), it was really very nice to come "home" and to sleep in my "own" bed.

Thinking about that made me realize - I only have a week left here!! AHHH. Then I really do get to go Home and sleep in my Own bed. Yay! I know I'm going to miss it terribly and wish I could come back (especially when I realize that Phoenix is a really brown and hot huge city and I start missing cool, green German countryside), but I'm very excited to start school again. Speaking of, please pray for me, that major decisions that have to be made SOON about school can be made - and according to God's will, even if not my own!

Bike Trip and Birthday

WHEEEEE this last weekend was AMAZING!! We went on a 4th of July bike trip up the Mosel and Rhine Rivers with 20 people from this (Baumholder/Festaburg) House, the Spangdahlem Hospitality House, and the Heidelberg House. It was incredible!

Thursday
Thursday night we all met at Roger and Sheila's house in Spangdahlem, The Hanger. They bought an old Pension (like a little privately-owned inn) and fixed it up to be their Hospitality House - and it's amazing. There are 10 bedrooms! After everyone had arrived and had a chance to sort of get to know one another, we were given our rooms and went to bed so as to be well rested for the next day.

Friday
Friday morning we ate breakfast at the Hanger, then loaded up the vans and trailers and set out for Wittlich Bahnhof, where we unloaded the bikes. Debbie and Gloria were driving the chase van (which didn't really chase us, as it beat us to every destination) with the trailer. The Spangdahlem folks didn't join us the first day, since they had a 4th of July bbq planned, but would meet up with us the next day. So, away we went! We had gorgeous weather, sunny but not too hot. (I managed to get rather spectacularly burned, but fortunately it turned to tan by the end of the trip. However, I do have a white strip down the middle of my back from my braid!) We rode from Wittlich all the way to Cochem, with a couple stops along the way for water or ice cream. In total, we road 85 kilometers on Friday in about 6 1/2 hours (that's 52 miles!). My bike battery lasted the whole way, which was AMAZING! It's supposed to last only 40-60 km in a day. :) The only problems we encountered were with Jonathan's bike, which seemed determined to break repeatedly, though each time we were fortunately near a town that had a bike shop. At the end of the day, we set up camp in Cochem, then Vincent and Jonathan and I went off to go swimming, which was a wonderful end to the day. I shared a tent with Brad and Debbie, and I froze. It was SO cold. I was in a mummy bag, on the ground, and normally I'm fine, but I didn't hardly sleep at all because I was so darn frigid. But it was great to be sleeping in a tent again!


Saturday
Saturday morning, Diane saved us all from Brad's idea of breakfast. Instead of dry rolls and jelly, we had fresh, crispy bacon, wonderful hashbrowns, and cheesy, bacony eggs. After our morning devotion and packing up camp, we set off again. Our ultimate destination today was Koblenz, a slightly shorter ride than the day before. Along the way, we stopped to hike up to Burg Eltz, which had most of us panting by the end. Once we regained our breath, we took the tour and ate lunch atop the castle. Back down the hill to our bikes, only to discover that we had several inexplicably flat tires (probably just from over-inflation after sitting in the sun). Change the tires, set out again on our journey. A while later, Jonathan's bike broke once again, but some kind man at a gas station drove home, got some tools, and fixed it for him. Tragically, it was not long after that that my bike broke - and not so reparably. The handle came off - the handle which controls the throttle and the battery. There was still a little bit of assist left, but an 80 lb bike is hard to ride up hills. I did make it to the next meeting place with the van, thanks to Brad pushing me for a while. Once we got there, my bike was loaded into the van and I rode the last 15 km to Koblenz with Debbie, Gloria, and Brad (who was driving in order to negotiate the impossibly narrow and steep ways.) We got stuck once, but Brad is skilled at backing a trailer down narrow, curving alleys, and eventually we made it to our hostel - which just so happened to be inside a 19th century fortress.


After showering, we all felt much more alive and headed over to the nearby restaurant for a delicious dinner. We ate outside, enjoying the view overlooking all of Koblenz, including the Deutsche Eck, where the Mosel and Rhine meet. When it got too cold, we moved inside for dessert and coffee. Slowly people headed back over to the hostel for bed. Vincent and I took the opportunity to take some really cool night shots of Koblenz. Then it was off to bed, to be ready for the very last day.

Sunday
Sunday morning dawned cloudy, but not threatening rain, and still pleasant temperatures. Since my bike was not functioning, I was a little sad about having to ride in the van, but riding with Sheila and Brittany was fun. Before we left, though, everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. I'm 20 years old!! I'm finally not a teenager anymore! So, the bikers left, and we took off down the hill to meet them at the next stop. When we did meet them, they were exhausted from riding against a vicious headwind for most of the way. We set off again and met in St. Goar, under the shadow of Burg Rheinfels, my favorite castle. We ate lunch and wandered around a bit, until it was time to leave. However, the clouds looked a lot darker, and Jim decided that the Heidelberg group was going to get on a train here to head back to Wittlich instead of waiting until reaching Bingen, the original end of the trip. Not quite ready to give up, the Festaburg and Hanger crews decided to ride for about another hour until we got to Bacharach. My wonderful friend Jonathan even let me ride his bike so that I could finish the trip. We set off, and I survived riding 'the demon bike' as it had come to be known for all it's breakages. It didn't break this time! We made it successfully to Bacharach, where we loaded up the vans to head back to the Hanger so the trailers could all get the right stuff loaded into them. Steve was the only person to ride the entire trip - my bike broke, Jonathan gave me his for the end, Brad had to drive the van in tricky spots, Spangdahlem joined a day late, and Heidelberg stopped early. Only Steve went the whole way - and he'd been on a bike the least! Go Steve!!

So, back at the Hanger, we unloaded Heidelberg's stuff from our trailer, had a few minutes overlap with them after they arrived from the train station, we said our goodbyes, and headed off for home. The trip was really, really great. Nothing went drastically wrong (although a bee did get stuck inside Laurel's sunglasses and manage to sting her), and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. We got to make new friends, or make old friends closer, and get to know people in relatively the same situations, just different locations. We saw Germany at its most gorgeous, and just overal had an amazing time. It is certainly my most memorable birthday!

Going Back!

Well, after an almost-2-month hiatus, I'm back - and with exciting news! Yesterday I received my acceptance as an intern with Cadence International, heading back over to Germany next wednesday to work for Brad and Debbie for the summer. This all got set in motion about 2 weeks ago, and God has had His hands in everything, from getting my application in on time, to references coming in, to finding a cheap flight. I fly over next week and will spend all summer helping out at the Festaburg before coming back home in August just in time to be bodily - if not mentally - present at orientation at Southwestern.

I'm thrilled!!! Just in case you haven't picked up on that. I'm working on sending out prayer/support letters, and hopefully by the end of the summer will be able to raise the $5300. I'll be keeping this blog going while I'm gone, but I'll also have an e-newsletter to send out. If you'd like to sign up, just send me an e-mail at laurakcardy@aol.com.