Flight Day!

I woke up this morning and went down and used the women's locker room for a little T-Tapp action. I dearly hoped that no one would walk in while I was working out and, what do you know, no one did til I was totally done. Cool. 

It was a rather rainy and chilly day from my view out the window as I packed my bags. The ceremony that all travelers go through known as the Stuffing of the Suitcases didn't take quite as long as we thought it would, and we fit everything comfortably in our luggage.

DEAR CUSTOMS: please do not take away my homemade dry shampoo. It is not Cocaine. I need it. My hair needs it. I also need my lacrosse ball. When it comes to rolling out sore muscles it can't be beat. And my Mag Citrate. And my trail mix. Thank you.

Aunt Rachel looked all snazzy in her new hi-lo skirt and matching jewelry and I wore my super comfy dress. I'm glad that I'm with someone who doesn't think traveling is an excuse to dress sloppy. You can wear sweatpants if you want, but no,

we will be stylin'. ;)

After stopping for a caffeine/sugar fix (not for me, I was drinking on kombucha) we drove to Arlington national cemetery which is very near to the airport.

We were slightly appalled to discover that you have to pay to park at Arlington. We only wanted a short go round through the place. But, having George with us, we found the Henderson Hall Base, which borders Arlington. 

It was a Marine base, because as you know, the Navy couldn't be the Navy without the Marines, who are a key component and the "boots on the ground," so to speak. 

Gotta love the ol' military base. When I visited George and his family in Hawaii I really enjoyed it. Reveille played every morning over the loudspeaker at 6:30 AM. 

Its like a little town: you've got the Commissary or PX and other stores, soldiers everywhere, a chapel, military housing (which was lovely old houses at this one.) Sometimes they even have their own blowing alley. 

So, we cruised on up to this particular Marine base and George handed his ID to the guy at the gate.

He looked at it.

"Yes sir! thank you Commander"

Heh ;P

We drove through the base to the entrance to Arlington, but found out you had to get a pass from the MP to get in there, so we drove for a while on the edge and were able to get a good look. It is sobering to see the price of war, yet it was hauntingly beautiful.

I was slacking on taking pictures cause it was raining and the car windows were all weird, but this is my evidence I was on the base:

We arrived at the airport and the check in was seamless, after which  the three of us got to relax at the USO lounge (for millitary folks) which had lots of comfy seats, snacks, and drinks.

George had our tickets on TSA Pre Check, so it took a lot less time to get through security than usual. He parted ways with us there, as he was going on a different plane and route:

Boston-->London-->Stuttgart. 

DEAR TSA AGENT GUY: being just a leetle bit too attentive/friendly with me and then having the metal detector go off on me (oh, whaddaya know!) causing me to have to go through another scanner was highly suspect on your part sir. 

Anyway. We boarded our plane and Rachel found her seat. I was across from her, but turns out, she was on the row next to the exit door, so we swapped seats. 

That put me sitting next to a sharp dressed, fine lookin' young businessman (aaaand he was reading a Dave Ramsey book.) ;P It was a full flight, but turns out Aunt Rachel hadn't been sitting in the right seat to begin with. Thus, before I could even talk to him, I was whisked away to a seat next to this sleepy looking Indian guy listening to the Jackson Five.

Dang it. 

The flight to Detroit was a little over an hour and went quite well. You could even see some of the Great Lakes outside the window! When we arrived, we had about a half hour to board our plane to Amsterdam. The flight was a little late getting off the ground and as a result, we had about a half hour before our plane would be boarding. The gate was undetermined, or so the ticket said, so we were a little bit concerned about finding that gate and getting there quickly enough. 

Thankfully, George had arranged a wheelchair escort for Aunt Rachel and the attendant met us as we disembarked the plane. When we asked him about the gate, he immediately whipped out his scanner and scanned our tickets to find out, and he showed us the way. I gave him a pretty hefty tip, because he was infinitely helpful. If he hadn't wheeled her to the gate, we would have taken a while to get there on foot. 

We boarded our plane and were in the middle of a row of four seats.

I was sitting next to a sweet older lady from the DC area who was headed to Budapest for a Viking River Cruise. Aunt Rachel sat next to a retired gentleman who was very intriguing. He is a retired attorney who attended both law school AND medical school at the same time. Whew. He is also recently retired from a competitive sailing career and he's going on a Viking cruise as well. 

Thanks to the blessing of a tailwind, our estimated flight time to Amsterdam got shortened by an hour and 20 minutes, so now our total flight length is 6 hours 30 minutes. 

As I write this, typing like some sort of digitized woodpecker on my phone, the rest of the plane is watching movies. Two people adjacent to me are watching Food Network, which is a potent form of torture when you've barely eaten anything all day. Helppp.

This is a gigantic plane, so big you barely feel take off or turbulence or anything. We are chasing the sunrise right now as we fly over the ocean. In Europe, I will be 6 hours ahead of you folks in the states, so that means my evening posts will reach you earlier in your day. 

Which is why I am publishing this while I'm on the plane, since *technically* you are at your end of the day in the states.  Gotta love time differences, eh?

But anyway. To translate: that means at 2 AM this morning when you are snoozing away, Lord willing, I'll arrive in Amsterdam and we will fly to Germany from there (at which point I will be a proper Zombie, cause I'm too excited to sleep on this plane.)

But anyway.

Bis bald! ;)

DC: Day Three

We had a leisurely morning after staying up so late last night. I haven't said much about our hotel, but it is very nice. It's a suite, has a fridge, and the beds are very comfortable. There is a pool here but we haven't gone it yet because we've been rather occupied. 

This is the only thing wrong with our hotel room: 

(Can someone tell me what a slidding glass door is?)

We ate a very late breakfast as our lunch at the Royal Cafe across the street from our hotel. Somehow, we got on the topic of quirky family stories and thus I enjoyed hearing little bits and pieces of family history from Aunt Rachel.

I will relay a bit of the highlights.

Way back when, when Howard Lee (who we saw last night) was a little boy, Rachel's family got a telegram that someone had died, and they assumed that it was Howard's Mother. Much of the family travelled down to Dillon for the viewing, which was held in Howard Lee's family home. 

The viewing was held in the house. When they saw the body, Cousin Anise said aloud what everyone was

thinking: "@&#%, she really suffered!

As they exited the viewing, eyes red, who should they see but Kate, Howard's mother, standing by the door, the woman who they were supposed to be mourning and who was supposed to be the one who died. It had been HER mother that died (Howard's Grandma) not her. Dr. Phil Ray, Rachel's father sent a telegram to the very confused mourners:

"Sorry you were disappointed." (Only Dr. Phil could get away with such a wry remark) :)

Ah, the stories of Dr. Phil. I may have to do a whole post on that sometime. 

But anyway. We walked part of the way to King Street, but opted for a cab mid way there. The following is an accurate description of what I feel like when I ride in a cab:

#swanky

We explored King street, and did our version of shopping: look look look, but don't really buy anything, cause we don't have room and we cheap (well, just savvy.) Those lululemon workout capris might look fabulous, but are they $120 fabulous? Methinks: NO. 

We did buy some blueberry Black Tea and such at the Tea and Spice exchange. Also worth noting was that a fellow Anthropologie shopper mistook me for an employee, which was kind of a compliment? ;)

Went to the Presbyterian meeting house where George Washingtons funeral was held and is the final resting place of John Muir, the Scottish Bishop that preached that funeral. It is also where William Hunter and James Hunter are buried, two men that Aunt Rachel said may, in fact, be our relatives. We didn't get to go inside but exploring the grounds was worth it.

We grabbed another taxi back to the hotel and then made a quick supply run to the grocery store across the way. 

Aunt Rachel stayed at the hotel while I walked down to the Braddock Metro Station and rode it down a few stops to MEET MY FRIEND MAURYA!! :D 

I met Maurya (pronounced: ma-ri-ah) at the shindig we attended last September. As I recall, we met during a rather crazy game of musical chairs, during which I may or may not have sat on her by accident- don't remember exactly, but I probably did. ;) But anyway, we really hit it off, and have been keeping up with each other since then. 

She heard that I was going to be in DC for a few days and very kindly offered to have me over to her house for dinner with her family. It was wonderful! I had such a lovely evening spent with likeminded folks. We did a lot laughing, that's for sure! They just blessed my socks off between the awesome food and the great fellowship. Thank you, Petrick family, for opening your home to me!

They even drove me back to my hotel! No more metro for me again today. ;) Again, thanks y'all! 

As I type this I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the big day! This is the last night I'll get decent sleep for 24 hours (oh boy!) We fly out at 3:10 from Reagan, then Detroit, then Amsterdam, then Germany. I'll be six hours ahead of you US of A folks, but I will continue blogging, so stay tuned!

DC: Day Two

"So, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

*laughs*

This is how our days here have started out, and it's a great way to start: open to all possibilities, 

no schedules, and no rush. They have gone quite seamlessly for "not having a plan," so we have decided that our secret is: Don't Have A Plan. Then, you you aren't upset if the set "plan" doesn't work, and best of all, it's fun and totally surprising.

Being the curious minds that we are, we set our sights on the historic district of Alexandria, VA, namely King Street. Armed with nothing but a map and our wits, we set off on foot.

The Alexandria historic district was lovely, full of old row houses and more historical buildings than you could count. While we walked, we passed by the Lee family home where 7 of the Lee family members lived at different stages of their lives. 

We were walking around a corner when a lovely church spire took us by surprise. We explored the graveyard and then saw the plaque: Christ Church. 

The tour guide gave us a nice long tour. It had been an active church since 1773. I had no idea that this church was the church that Robert E. Lee grew up and brought up his family in. And that George Washington attended there as well. 

Me:

"OH MY GOONDESS this is where Washington went to church!

"OH MY GOODNESS this is where Robert E. Lee attended this church since he was a baby and had 2 of his kids confirmed here!"

Both E. Lee and GW are some of historical figures I admire greatly (hence the pet names.) ;)

I sat in the same pew as George Washington y'all (see above.) Back then you reserved your pew with a plaque. Pews rented in boxes, and had a little gate with a number, and you shut yourself in them. Originally, all the pews were in literal boxes, facing both towards the preacher and away from the preacher, because church back then was not necessarily about watching the preacher, it was more a listening and a pondering experience.

The church was spared from destruction during civil war since it was known as "Washington's church," and during the occupation of Alexandria, the Union army used it as a chapel. 

I took pictures of some of the tombstones outside the church. One stone said that "Elanor, the wife of Daniel Wren" died when she was 134 years old. That would be remarkable, if a solider during the Union occupation of Alexandria hadn't added in a "1" next to her actual age, 34. Graffiti: Civil War Style.

After our tour, we explored Old town Alexandria along King street. After a quick stop at Chipotle for some tacos, we took advantage of the free trolley and rode all the way to the Potomac Waterfront. We were pleased to discover that there were indeed waterfront tours running to the monuments and Georgetown and back. We had the good fortune to arrive there 15 minutes before the next charter was leaving. Perfect timing!

There were barely any folks on the first leg of the cruise. There were, however, a group of Russians, who were busy taking photos of themselves with an entire (half-empty) bottle of white wine. Yeahhh.

After putting down their multiple bags of NASA merchandise (*insert joke about Russian/American space race here*) they relocated themselves to the bow shortly after their wine bottle photo op.

The cast of characters on our vessel also included a ship attendant dude that kinda resembled Hawkeye from the Avengers. Heh. Was gonna get a covert picture to prove it, but that's creepy, ya know. ;)

On our way to the monuments, we cruised by the Pentagon as well as the Ronald Reagan Airport. That was was fun for two reasons, for one, that's the airport we are leaving from on Thursday, and two, watching planes take off just never gets old. 

We had a splendid view of the Washington monument and the Lincoln memorial from the water. It was a lovely day (with cool clouds!) and my pictures turned out lovely.

On the journey back there were much more folks boarding, the people mostly consisting of a giant herd of school kids. 

There was one family that I was suspicious might be British, and when the oldest son pulled out his passport out to get to his wallet, it confirmed my suspicion. (one of the quickest ways to identify where someone is from) British folks have purple passports with a cool gold insignia on the front. They were very well-to-do, at least from what I could tell, and the wife had the biggest diamond on her wedding ring that I have ever seen. 

We hopped off the boat and noticed a very tempting sign that read: "Leadbeatter Apthoecary-tours $5" Considering I'm a herb nerd and herbalism/old time pharmacy stuff fascinates me, we just had to go in for a tour. If I had half my herbs and tinctures organized as well as this place did, I'd be doing good. 

Along with all the original bottles and devices lining the shelves, we saw the bloodletting instruments and the guide mentioned that George Washington's doctors were customers here, as well as Robert E. Lee himself.

I felt like I was in my element,

as I love herbs/tinctures/remedies! Our guide said they give Harry Potter themes tours every year, because the shop looks a lot like Snape's workspace: vials, glass bottles, mortar and pestles. Their collection of herbs also include Dragon's Blood and Wolf's Bane. During the Harry Potter tour, they would let each attendee make a toothpaste with Dragons blood, Orris root and cloves. 

I indulged in as much history as I could handle today and it was just fantastic. 

Howard Lee Clark and his friend Betty took us out to dinner. He is related because Aunt Rachel's grandfather and his Father were brothers, and they were very close. 

Howard is just about the most charming 79 year old gentleman you could ever meet. He enjoys the symphony and opera on the weekends, is a train/locomotive enthusiast, and is a huge Clemson fan. It was a fun game to play "I spy" the Tigers, orange, or purple when we toured his apartment later on in the evening. He grew up in Dillon, SC and attended the college later on. His friend Betty, who he has been dating for 2 years, was charming.

Tell me that is not the sweetest picture ever. If both their Fathers could see them now, they would be smiling.

At the restaurant, I ordered the  "Lighthorse Harry Lee" (how could I not?!) which was a crab cake with fries and tartar sauce.

Since most of the party had consumed wine (except me) I was voted to drive their fancy Lincoln town car to see their apartment. I was a tad bit nervous having been given the task, but Betty sat up front and told me when to turn and such.

We got to tour their retirement complex and see their apartments. Let's just say that it is such a nice facility that I wish *I* was the minimum age of 65. They can even see the entire Washington skyline from the rooftop veranda.

(Betty, Howard, and Aunt Rachel)

We arrived home quite late, and we were all worn out. 

I leave you with this sign we saw in Banana Republic today. Fitting, no?

DC: Day One

We had a relaxed start to our day. George had to get up very early to go to his conference, so Aunt Rachel and I were able to leisurely make our way out the door at our own pace. We had in mind one of those tours where you can pay a fare and then hop on and hop off a trolley service at your convenience. A quick google search showed one such place around 4 miles away or so.

The trick was this: we don't have a car, so we would have to ride the free hotel shuttle to the nearest metro station, decipher the system, and make the rest of the way on foot to the ticket plaza for the bus tour.

All this barring any unforeseen disaster and provided we we got off the metro at the correct location. 

But, thank goodness for Google maps, which makes any poor confused soul look like a proper genius, even if you are walking around the DC metro station with the look that says"I HAVE ZERO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING" written on your face. Thanks to the kindness of our shuttle driver and the ticket attendant, we managed to stumble our way onto the metro platform and then make the right transfer. I think my prior experience using the Tube proved handy,

as the DC metro is similar (but definitely not as pretty) as the Tube. Sorry DC, London has you beat.

Finally, we were able to find our way to the ticket station which was located across the street from Ford's theater. We bought our ticket, and while waiting on the trolley to arrive, we stopped at a coffee shop, where Aunt Rach got an ice coffee. I got a bottle of Pellegrino, because I was pretending to be a Euro snob. 

The trolley gig was awesome, and well worth the money. It allowed us to relax as the driver took care of the navigation and enjoy the flexibility of hopping off or on  whenever we liked. 

We covered a lot of ground: Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, American History Museum, etc. We rode by all the major buildings of importance several times: the Surpreme Court, Archives, Senate, House, Smithsonian, Jeferson Memorial, Washington monument, WWII memorial, you get the idea. We also saw the Capitol building (which was currently under renovations.) Our tour guide took the liberty of saying "you know, at least they can fix the outside." 

We ate lunch at the U.S. history museum. As we walked in, I noticed that the flight simulator was placed adjacent to the cafeteria. Is it just me, or is it a rather brilliant marketing scheme to go cafeteria---> flight simulator? Especially considering the food was on the expensive side. Just saying.  #conspiracytheory

Our lunch, while overpriced, was delicious. While we were eating, a nice older man came up and complimented Aunt Rachel's cane which yes, is cute, and has a purple floral pattern. He said he was asking because he wanted to get one for his Mom. Uh huh. Suuuuure. 

We hopped back on the bus and rode one last pass around the city. We met some nice folks on the trolley throughout the day: a sweet lady from Oklahoma, a British couple, cute babies. 

There was also this lady from Japan with her Seahawks jersey. I just hope she didn't buy her jersey thinking it said "Wilson" on the back. ;)

Just as it began to rain, George met us with the car at the last trolley stop. He had a long day attending a conference where there was much coffee and boredom to be had. We ate dinner at a really good Asian restaurant down the street near Independence Ave. I chose Asian salmon salad and Thom Kha Gai soup (coconut lemongrass soup.) Soo good, especially after walking all over tarnation.

After our meal, the rain subsided and it cooled off a bit. On the way home, we stopped to take a few pictures at the Marine Corps Memorial which looked just lovely in the setting sun. 

(This picture was taken shortly before five gazillion Canadian teenagers converged. You should see the before/after pics!) 

We also visited the Pentagon memorial which is located adjacent to the area of the building that was struck by a plane in 2001. At first, the little bench-like things with reflecting pools looked quite random, but once the symbolism was explained, the intricacy and thought that went into preparing the memorial became apparent and it was very moving. 

George was in his full Navy fatigues during our dinner and evening trips (and burning up too, since it was in the 80's and those uniforms aren't exactly breathable!) As we left the Pentagon, a little boy who was visiting the memorial with his school group approached George and shook his hand and thanked him for his service. This set off a chain reaction which led to many of the teenagers and middle schoolers to do the same as we exited the memorial.

"Thank you for your service, sir."

"Thank you sir."

"We appreciate you sir."

(as you can see above, yes, he did look really spiffy) :)

After making a supply run at the grocery store down the street we settled in for the evening, the good kind of worn out.

Pre-Amble: Traveling to DC

Today I practically sprung out of bed (eh, not exactly normal for me) and got to work finishing my packing and making sure I've got all the necessary accoutrements for my trip. I said goodbye to the little kids, one of which was wearing only blue pajama bottoms and another who, at the early hour of 8 am, was already attired in her full princess dress and accompanying regalia. 

I drove, and my Mom and I enjoyed our last little sliver of time together. We made it to my Aunt's house in Eden, NC in record time (who, me? Get a little pedal happy cause I was excited?) Naa. 

Once we arrived, my cousin George and Aunt Rachel were waiting for us. We said our respective "hellos" and then "goodbyes", took some pictures, and then once my Mom left we began to load up the car with all of our suitcases. Then Hunter and Donna arrived and we all went to lunch together at Chaneys. If you do not know Chaneys, it's the place to go in Eden. ;) When you go to look at the menu and the lunch fare is written by hand, you know it's gonna be good.

Side note: TURNIP GREENS ARE DELICIOUS AND AMAZING. 

The conversation during lunch was mainly centered on travel tips and such as well as some random pieces on what to expect in Germany from George.

"Sauerkraut is so popular that they have a whole section at the store just for that."

{I'm the sauerkraut queen, so *internal happy dance*

"....oh, and beer is actually cheaper than soft drinks."

".....cash is king, so make sure you've got some on you at all times, a lot of places won't take cards."

".....every so often when they are cleaning up around our base in Stuttgart, they'll find undetonated bombs from WWII."

After Aunt Rach and I dropped off some things for Aunt Lucie at the retirement home, we headed back to get the house ready to leave. Around 1:30 we three set off in the cute little fun sized rental car (seems small because I drive a 15 passenger van!)

I love traveling through VA. Since I have it on good authority that at least part of my bloodline comes from the NC/VA border area, it is only fitting that I should admire this lovely area of the world so much. We stopped in Charlottesville for a snack and coffee break. And somehow, Aunt Rachel and I managed to stumble into a Barnes and Noble which was located close by enough to tempt us. Heh. We are suckers for book stores. Good thing I don't have much room in my suitcase just now or else I would have had to make the very difficult decision of "this giant bag of yummy homemade trail mix, or this awesome looking Ulyesses Grant bio?" 

The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful, save a crash we passed by. A car had completely flipped over and was sitting there upside down. The only occupant (barefoot and sketchy looking, I might add) was totally fine and pacing about nervously whilst talking on his phone. I imagined the contents consisted of: "MOMMY! MOMMY! I had an accident.") As I turned to look at the car as we passed by, through the back window of the car, I spied an enormous Costco-size box of Cheez Its, sitting upright in the upside down car. Moral of the story: dear reader, Cheez Its are dangerous. do not consume them whilst driving. And dear sir in the accident, I do not know you from Adam, but you are henceforth known to the three of us as the Cheez It Man.

Anyway. We arrived here in DC around 8 pm. We've got 3 days here in DC until flying out this coming Thursday morning, the 21st. Detroit---> Amsterdam---> Stuttgart. Gotta love the crazy way they schedule flights! As such, my luggage is currently sitting at a 99.879% possibility of being hopelessly lost, yet I still retain a moderate level of faith in the airline's abilities to reunite me with my bags successfully. But anyway. Here's hoping. 

P.S. Typed all of this out on my iPhone with half a brain, that is my disclaimer. My fingers are falling off y'all! But it's worth it. :)

A New Chapter....and My Next Adventure

It's been a while since I blogged!

Much has gone on.

My younger brother recently got married (YAAAAY!!!)
























{above photo courtesy of Meredith Sloan Photography}

The farmer's market that our family does every Saturday from May-October will be starting back up once again this Saturday.

{above photo by Maggie Goodman Russell}

And, last but not least, I am no longer in the relationship that I so fondly blogged about at length back in January. I debated with myself as to whether or not I should mention it, because I thought: "Yeahhh. Well, that's super awkward." But no, not really. That's just my pride talking, and I'm not going to allow that to get in the way of sharing what God is doing in my life. Because you know what? There is no shame in releasing something that began to appear....shall we say....NOT right. At all.

I'm the type of girl that doesn't date around. I entered this relationship because there appeared (note, "appeared") to be real potential in it. I'd never even been in a relationship before this one. But it ended quite badly, and the last conversation I will ever have with him ended abruptly when he hung up on me. Classy. This was just last week, it's all still very fresh. I shall spare you the details, which are no secret, but let's just say I am so very thankful the true colors of this guy were made apparent and were clearly shown in the end, with his behavior and parting shots to my parents making it easier to walk away.

Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I confess that I don't understand it all, or understand "WHY?" this had to happen to me, or why I was so deceived. But I don't have to understand. Nor do I need to go and wallow around (though yes, wallowing can sometimes be fun, and the mud is good for your complexion.) What I do understand is that my God works all things for good {Romans 8:28.} He is giving me a new and fresh understanding that every day, in the truest sense, He is really all I need. {Psalm 125:1-2} and {2 Peter 1:3} My *faith* will not pull me through, but my faith IN God will pull me through. He is teaching me and I want to be a good student.

But before all the above changes and bumps in the road, a couple months ago, out of the blue, I was handed the opportunity to travel to Germany with my great Aunt Rachel. She would be visiting her son, my cousin George and his family.

Over the years, the Navy has had him living all over the place. I visited them when they lived in VA and when they lived in Oahu. They currently live in Stuttgart, Germany, and when I heard that they were moving there, way back two Thanksgivings ago, I took it upon myself to start learning German via a free iPhone app, thinking that maybe, perhaps, the time may come when I could visit them.


















This May, that time will come. My Aunt and I get along just famously, and so I am quite thrilled to have three plus weeks as her traveling companion, and we shall be seeing sights, eating stuff, and I heard a rumor about someone saying something about AUSTRIA?! The timing couldn't be more perfect for me, and I owe it all to the Lord. He knew I would need a little get away after the recent drama.


And so, starting May 18th, just as I chronicled my last adventures in England, Scotland and Paris, so shall I chronicle my Germany trip here, on my blog. And if you have not read those, and wish to blow a few hours with some ramble about English culture, the inner working of the London Underground, Scottish oddities, how I did something that could have gotten me kicked out of Westminster Abbey, and the story of how we missed our flight to England, then feel free. :) (Just select September 2013 from the blog archives on the sidebar.)

Let's just hope my German holds up. Right now, I know enough German to carry me through a few select chit-chat scenarios (provided they don't speak too fast), order myself a latte, say "Don't hold it against me, I'm American" and tell the tour guide that his hat looks nice. All very useful, right? And thanks to reading The Book Thief last year, well, let's just say that I've got a few *choice words* memorized. I should be all set. ;)

His girl,

~Margaret

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Christmas

I recently finished the masterpiece that is Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I thoroughly enjoyed this skillful and lively accounting of Bonhoeffer's life, work, and faith, in which he stood firm to the end of his life on this earth at the hands of the Nazis. Even in his beloved country's darkest hour, his faith stood firm in the One who is above all principalities and powers. 

Being thus inspired, I set out to get my hands on books and sermons written by Bonhoeffer. Happily, my quest coincided with Amazon's 30% off book sale, during which I picked up a few of his works.

Currently, I am savoring a little gem of a book called Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Stories,
a collection of the sermons he gave from the pulpit over the course of his life, whether that pulpit happened to be in Spain, London, America, or, his beloved country of Germany. 

All that jabber aside, I now present you with a powerful snippet from one such sermon that perfectly showcases the true meaning of Christmas, and, thus the gospel of Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer rightly saw the incarnation as the very epicenter of the gospel, and his sermons are replete with this theme. I hope this blesses your soul and the soul of whoever you may share it with this season.

"The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christians rejoice!"

 "....God is not ashamed to be with those of humble estate. He goes into the midst of it all, chooses one person to be his instrument, and does his miracle there, where one least expects it. He loves the lost, the forgotten, the insignificant, the outcasts, the weak, and the broken. Where men say "lost," he says "found;" where men say "condemned," he says "redeemed;" where men say "no," he says "yes." Where men look with indifference or superiority, he looks with burning love, such as nowhere else is to be found. Where men say, "contemptible," God cries, "blessed!" When we reach a point in our lives at which we are not only ashamed of ourselves but believe God is ashamed of us too, when we feel so far from God, more than we have ever felt in our lives, then and precisely then, God is nearer to us than he has ever been. It is then that he breaks into our lives. It is then that he lets us know that the feeling of despair is taken away from us, so that we may grasp the wonder of the wonder of his love, his nearness to us, and his grace."
  
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, December 17, 1933