Would I Have Been Silent?

I (cannot) be silent.

Let me tell you, people get very incensed when a comparison is drawn between the modern-day Abortion practices and Holocaust. 

"It's a stretch!"

They say.

"You people who compare the Holocaust to modern day Abortion practices are a bunch of #!%@!*#!%*."

If you happen to be one of those individuals who would elect to describe people like me using certain four letter words (you know, like "cool?")

I have two for you:

Humor me.

Yes, I am no scholar, and I make no claim to be anything close to that. These thoughts written here are my own, and they come from the heart.

I've personally set foot in Auschwitz, in fact, I visited and toured four concentration camps last month in Germany and Poland. I blogged my experiences while there, which you can read about at length: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald: Day One, Buchenwald: Day Two, and Dachau. It's true that I have studied the Third Reich and the Holocaust extensively. 

And I am here to tell you something. 

There were entire villages and families that lived only miles away from where the site of the atrocities- what we have now come to know as the Holocaust- were committed over the course of years. In fact, the building in the picture below is close to the house where the camp Commandant of Auschwitz (Rudolph Hess) lived with his wife and children. He was adamant they live there, and is said to have told others that:

 ".....it (Auschwitz) was a perfectly fine place to raise their family."

This begs the question:

Were these people, living in the shadow of the camps, willingly ignorant? Or were they aware, yet simply turned a blind eye? 

Or, did they just not care?

Perhaps some were aware, yet genuinely believed that it was necessary for the "good of the people" to not be "burdened" with these "un-necessaries" any longer. 

I don't think we can know for sure.

I could quote Himmler or Goebbels, to show you what they thought of the "Non-Aryan" people groups, but  chances are, you are already aware of this. In short, the Jews, the Communists, Slavs, Gypsies, Gays, as well as anyone who opposed them- men such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of my heroes- were all deemed "unfit"  to live. The Jews, in particular, were bestowed with the special title of "sub-human" and "not even human."

Early Inmates of Auschwitz

How can we fail to see a pattern here? 

Whenever a group of human beings is considered "less than" in a society- that is, whenever they are considered to be somehow "sub-human" or "not fully human," we should pay very close attention. Or, you could unwittingly find yourself in the midst of a society that tolerates, or worse, promotes, atrocity. Most frightening of all, you might not even know it.

Deeming a people group or a class of people "sub human" or "less than" then gives ample grounds to justify either their demise, as with the Holocaust, or their enslavement, as with slavery. Some of the (many) labels for justifying abortions include:

"oh, it's not a human yet."
"it's inconvenient for me to have a baby now."
"if this baby even lived, the quality of life it would experience would be very low."

Are you blinded by what has been going on in our country?

Or, are we only enraged now that we see the evidence that the bodies of these babies are being profited from? This, completely aside from the fact that it is, in the first place, a murder that is not only sanctioned, but also funded, by our nation? 

Are you speaking out?

Are you afraid of the consequences of doing so?

Are you afraid of what others will think? Of losing friendships? 

These are also the questions I ask myself.

Or maybe I should put it this way. If you and I lived in Nazi Germany, would you have taken a stand for the helpless?

Children, imprisoned in Auschwitz

"Unfit for Work"

If you live in America today, will you take a stand for the helpless?

One exhibit I visited in Auschwitz displayed the clothes of some babies and children who were exterminated by the Nazis. I can still hardly bear to look at these two pictures, and at the time, I struggled to stay my shaking hands long enough to take them.

Tell me, what is different? 

Will we look back upon these years when Planned Parenthood and abortion-on-demand reigned supreme and wonder why on earth no one stood up for what was right? Just as we do now, when we look back on the Holocaust? 

May it never be. 

A Few Closing Thoughts (alternate title: The Grand Finale)

I feel as though a closing post, a "bookend" of sorts, is in order as I conclude these posts on my travels. 

First of all, I must say how extremely grateful I am for my time overseas, for the family that made it possible, for the beds that were given up for us to sleep on, the meals paid for even when we attempted to pay for them ourselves. I am nothing but thankful to have had this opportunity to spend overseas, and I'm especially thankful to have my Mother, who ran my baking business seamlessly in my absence along with keeping her many other responsibilities as a homeschooling Mother with eight children. When it comes down to it, she is the reason why I was even able to go on this trip.

One thing I realized about traveling is that you really can't see it all and do everything once you arrive in your location of choice, be it Germany or Europe or somewhere else. One cannot possibly do everything or see everything, and if you try, you're sure to drive yourself crazy, and, just like the clocks they sell around the area I visited, you will undoubtedly go cuckoo. Trying to "do it all" for the sake of doing it all will have that kind of effect. This can apply to other areas of life as well. 

(plane view of southern Germany) 

Namely, why is it that we grab for what we do not have while ignoring the many blessings which we already possess? Instead of chasing the "next thing" in life, always looking for more, how about we simply pause and be thankful? 

As such, I want to make the best of and the most of my time, wherever I might happen to be. I strive to uphold this principle, which is, in the words of Jim Elliot- 

"Wherever you are, be all there."

And I am. Haven't always been, but I am. I want to always live in that manner, no matter if I am at home, working on the farm, or traveling to a new place or culture as I did recently.

After all, the Enemy does not wish us to live this way. He wishes us to be discontent, living life in halves due to fear and worry.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." There is plenty of that being exemplified in our culture today. But thankfully, there is someone who wishes to help us live this life we have on earth to the full:  "....I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) More abundantly. I don't know about you, but that's the way that I would like to live.  Eph. 5:15-16 comes to mind when I think about spending every moment well: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (church, Esslingen-am-Neckar) And what is that "will?"  To love God, love People, and make Disciples. "....to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." (Flower boxes, Tübingen)

For many reasons, some personal, this trip was very therapeutic for me. I believe it grew me in different ways and also taught me some things that I am now taking to heart. It also made me aware of some things and attitudes about myself that are most clearly seen when you are taken outside out of your normal routine or "rut," so to speak.

(Yours truly on climbing wall, Köln)

When you get well outside your usual routine and mode of operation, it's almost as if the fog and shortsightedness that can sometimes surround our doings as individuals has lifted, and the patterns of behavior one has been unconsciously operating under are suddenly made clear. The dross rises to the surface, and then the changes can be made.

I feel so blessed to have had this amazing experience and to be able to share the written account here on my blog. For my part, I have certainly enjoyed writing and compiling the posts, even though there were a couple times I didn't think I'd be able to continue my writing streak due to one factor or another. 

It's true that I definitely had my fair share of late-nights spent lying in bed, typing up posts. But looking back, those late nights and the work that comes with putting things into words was absolutely worth it. I now have a detailed record of my time so that I won't soon forget my experiences for years to come.

(Church, Tübingen)

And all I have left to say is:

"The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad." (Psalm 126:3)

Travel Home to NC: Stuttgart-->Atlanta-->Charlotte-->Farm!

Today, I was running on about 5 hours of sleep. As much as I tried to get to bed early last night, it just didn't happen, too much packing and such to accomplish.

After hugging all the kids and saying our goodbyes to Arnheidur before they left for school, George drove Rachel and I down the Autobahn one last time, to the Stuttgart airport.

The path to get on the plane for our Atlanta leg of the journey was a process and we kinda thought we weren't going to make it at first. The lines to check in a bag were absurdly long, not to mention the security check. However, it was nice that they do not do x-Ray screening on everyone here in Europe (unless the detector goes off.)

And of course, I totally forgot about the small jar of honey I had stowed away for my Father. Apparently, thick creamed honey is considered a liquid. Whatever. At least I have my little single serve packs for him to try.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the security guy hadn't enjoyed teasing me about it. I had used my line about having two sisters and five brothers back home.

"Aber Sie haben fünf brüder!"

"Who will feed them?"

"I think he was flirting with you, just a little bit." said Aunt Rachel. 

(Sometimes I have trouble telling when people are flirting.)

"But he's old-ish, and that's creepy!"

This same chap tried to take Aunt Rachel's extra collapsible cane because it might be "used as a weapon." 

"Oh, you mean like this? *WHACK*

Thankfull she did not take my advice, listed above. We may not have made it home.

;)

Next, my laptop, my phone and yours truly had to walk all the way to this shady back room to be swabbed with strip of what appeared to be paper by a Polizei dude. (I was not swabbed, but I wouldn't have put that entirely out of the question. Anything is possible.) 

Though I really have no right to complain, because my bag (and Rachel's too) were not overweight, and the main thing that I was concerned about- letting my super cool yet rather big Deuter backpack pass for a "purse"- ended up being nothing to worry about. They let it on.

I think it was because I said "yes ma'am" to the check in lady and perhaps she thought that was cute. 

Do you recall the flirty Amsterdam border guard? No? Well, you can read about him. 

Apparently, the stamp that he put on my passport was so very wobbly that the Germany border guards had trouble reading my date of departure. Thanks buddy.

Since we boarded the flight rather late, and with me carrying all but one bag of luggage, and then the luggage struggling to fit in the overhead, let's just say that by the time I got to my seat I was just DONE. And still thinking about the jar of honey I had to leave. Oh well. Thank goodness they didn't bat an eye at my seventy bars of chocolate.

To set the mood, I plugged in my long-dormant "folksy/bluegrass/country" playlist on Spotify, clicked shuffle, and the first song I got was Charlie Daniels playing "South's Gonna Do It Again."

The guy I ended up sitting next to on the plane was reading a civil war history book and so I figured we'd get along just swimmingly. He kept very much to himself and went from book to movie to snack to movie to sleep.

I looked over the middle aisle to see Rachel sitting next to man with a little girl chattering away on his lap. When the flight time is nine hours, I think that I got the better end of the deal with Mr. Keep-To-Himself. I don't like sitting next to "talkers" on long flights, so this suited me just fine.

It was a very clear day and as such, when we took off, one could see all the way back to the airport and took the all too familiar route that most over seas flights go, over Schönaich and Böblingen and Esslingen and Sindelfingen and Vahlingen and all the other towns I know so well. 

You know you are flying high when you can see planes flying below you. Yeesh. We flew over some of Switzerland and France, which did not have the red and orange roofs I have become accustomed to. Spain's cities look like ugly glittering-grey gashes in the earth when seen from above. I also saw plenty of ocean, which, on a clear day, is almost indistinguishable from the sky.

During the nine hours, when we weren't eating the surprisingly good food served to us, I watched the Imitation Game (BENEDICT!!) and Unbroken (thankfully they had the edited version of that last one.) I have read the novel that inspired Unbroken, and the only thing I didn't like about the movie adaptation of was that in my opinion, it didn't give proper credit to his faith and his journey to the Lord after the war was over, but other than that, I thought it fantastic.

I also watched Cinderella, the new one with Lily Jones, along with Cate Blanchett as the stepmother, and Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother. Cute adaptation, and I do love a good happy ending. Well, I take that back. I like either happy ending stories or tragic/depressing story endings. 

The movies helped keep my mind off the slowly creeping plane icon on the modem that tells you just how far you have left to go (longer than you might wish.)

Then we had a rather frustrating time at ATL airport. Frustrating would be an understatement.

Our layover was so short that when I realized the time we had left before our next flight's take off, I had no idea how we'd manage to make it through customs, immigration, picking up our checked baggage AND get done with the second security check.

The wheelchair that was supposed to expedite the process was AWOL, and so Aunt Rachel had to walk all over tarnation with no assistance. By the time we got through all the aforementioned hoopla and found a wheelchair that I could push for her, I rushed like a madwoman through the airport only to arrive at the gate minutes after they closed the flight. We (well, especially me) were very frustrated at this point. How on earth does one manage to get through all necessary checkpoints within such a narrow time frame? Why even put that time on the ticket, if it can't happen?

Thankfully, a Delta flight going to Charlotte was leaving in an hour, so we were transferred to that one. 

By the time we got on that plane I was covered in sweat and we were worn out, but so happy to be finally headed back to Carolina.

At the time, it was extremely frustrating, but looking back, it's rather comical, the two of us rushing around the Atlanta airport on a Monday afternoon, with our poor biological clocks set at approx. 10 PM Germany time.

I had prepared myself for the inevitable reverse culture shock, and it may sound ridiculous, but one of the first things I thought was "wow, everything is written in English! No more constant decoding/ code cracking." Well yeah, no joke, it is America after all. Already said "Danke" and "Entschuldigung" by mistake.

Let me tell you, it is one of the best feelings in the whole world to see your Mom waiting expectantly for you at Baggage Claim. I waved to her and then ran up for a big ol' hug.

Having our checked luggage safely in hand, we headed to the van. Can I say how HUMONGOUS it looks to my eyes, which are conditioned to seeing small cars and minivans? 

We ate at Jason's Deli together and we enjoyed talking about the trip and what I missed on the home front, along with what's going on at home.

Mother drove part of the way home and then I did the rest. I walked in to a flurry of hugs and banners and FLOWERS and wild blueberries picked especially for me. I felt so loved, and I'm so grateful to be home! I missed everyone so much. Will blog my closing thoughts tomorrow.

Last Day in Germany: Rope Course and Zipline in Herrenberg, Evening and Dinner in Tübingen

Aunt Rachel and I began to pack up camp shortly after waking up this morning.

Scrimping for space in suitcases is our speciality, and I plan to leave no nook or cranny unused in mine, and I have my brand new backpack to use as my "purse."

By some miracle, all of my chocolate was able to fit in my carry on bag. If they give me any problems as to the (relatively obscene) amount I am bringing back, I just have this to say, Mr. German TSA guy:

"Ich habe zwei schwestern und fünf brüder bei Mir zuhause."

Or I'll just say:

"Pick your favorite and let me by, sonny!"

(Only, please do not take the dunkel vollnuss. Ich mag dieses art die beste.) 

Ok. Clearly I'm getting sidetracked here. I'm going to need to find someone to speak German with when I get home.

There were pancakes to be had this morning. 

"Oh no, don't get my underwear in the picture!!"

"Eh, I can crop it out, no problem. But it still doesn't change the fact you sleep in your underwear."

*giggles ensued*

However, for some reason, I felt like eating fish. I am one of those weird people who don't limit breakfast to "breakfast-y items" such as bread and cereal and such. I hadn't said anything, and Arnheidur must have read my mind, because she offered me some smoked trout I have yet to taste, fished from the lake near her family home all the way back in Iceland. It was gooooood. Oh man. 

Along with some sauerkraut, tomatoes, and butter on a pretzel and I'm good to go.

And go we did. But not before we got coffee and I got an espresso....with a scoop of ice cream. They don't do ice in coffee and thus, the ice cream. Arnheidur had the idea and got it for me. Great idea.

We drove a ways through the beautiful sunny countryside to what had vaguely been described to as a "park" of some sort, but to our surprise, it was a full-on ropes course, filled with treacherous courses and phobia-inducing runs full of tricky footwork. Not to mention the zip lines and other balance courses which were, all in all, enough to last much more than the three hours allotted to each group.

But boy, did we ever have us a good time. Embla and I did every course save one, and some multiple times. 

We didn't get many pictures because we were too busy jumping off of posts and flying through the wilderness, but we did get this picture, just go document how reediculous our outfits looked.

There was even a little course for Erla to do.

At this place, before you get started, they have you a required course how to safely clip yourself on and off each run. Once you are done with training, you are on your own and from then on out, you are the one solely responsible for clipping on and off the courses safely. 

In the states, they would never EVER EVER allow you to be this responsible, but here, things are different. One fella supervised the whole place, and he was rarely called upon to assist. It would appear that since they both teach you carefully, and then give you the full responsibility, the rest seems to take care of itself. I will admit more than once double or triple checking my line, wondering if I didn't have it wrong before I put my whole body weight on the two skinny lines of rope and then zoomed away, thirty feet off the ground.

I climbed to the top of one very, very tall tree on a skinny ladder and realized I was in the location of the free fall. 

When you have to clip yourself in a complicated manner onto a ring that looks entirely too small to hold your bulk in preparation to jump straight down fifty some feet below you before, if all goes well, the line catches you and you float to the ground, you must get it right 100% the first time.

I saw the instructions on how to clip in first in German, and then, to my relief, English. Even so, I still wasn't sure if I got it right and called down to the helper dude who looked to be a very small ant below me, and he could tell from the ground I had it on correctly.

I mean, it's all well and fine if you don't understand all of what you are ordering from a German menu and you end up getting Head Cheese or something instead, but this right here is CRUCIAL to get the English/German translation correct.

Of course I jumped.

Would do it again. It is just what I imagined jumping out of a ten story window would feel like.

We were all pretty hungry and worn out but we stopped in Tübingen for dinner, which was a lovely town about a half hour away from Schönaich. 

(Typical driving view, as seen from the backseat)

It was a picture perfect, quaint German town and a lovely place to spend the evening.

ARCHITECTURE! 

Of course, I couldn't have my last night in Germany without some traditional  Maultaschen, aka German "ravioli," which is what I ended up getting. (Mit Ei)

I also ate some of Embla's "pancake soup," which is like a savory pancake in chicken broth with seasoning.

I should also show you Spätzle, which is handmade pasta that is served all over Schwabia and beyond.

The drive home was lovely.

(But what do you expect? It's Germany!)

We had a slice of two of Arnheidur's banana cake when we got home and then Racel and I finished packing. Sleep is next. My biological clock, which is a very well-adjusted to Euro time, is getting ready to be all shaken up again tomorrow. We fly out for Atlanta and will be back in good ol' NC by Monday evening. I have some things to say as well as closing thoughts as I wrap this trip up, so look for those coming soon. Was going to post those tonight but we were having too much fun in Tübingen, ya know. :)