Today we went to the congregation that meets at the former EEM (Eastern European Missions) building in the suburb of Inzerdorf. As Amanda wrote last time, the connections again were renewed with those that we had met before and created for those that were new to us. But I won’t expand on that since Amanda has covered that thoroughly last time, this will be some randomly generated thoughts as we wrap up our last night in Vienna.
 

There is something about kids that give a congregation energy and life. For those of you that don’t know, the Inzerdorf congregation has an active refugee and refugee children’s ministry. As we waited for everyone to arrive (we were about 45 min early because apparently the public transportation in Vienna did not base their arrival times on the scriptural hour to start church – 10:15) we made small talk and met some of the members as they came in, but the place came alive when Reggie Hiller and the children came in. Immediately the room was full of running, laughter, and play. You get an understanding of why Jesus rebuked his disciples for not letting the parents bring the children to him. Their sense of innocence and joy is completely contagious. Of course a church service just isn’t the same without the shuffling of books, quiet giggling, and serious shushing. We had a great time and yes for all of you that were wondering if we left for the kitchen (no not for a quick chicken wing, in the kitchen is where they translate the sermon into English), no we did not, we stayed and I tried to pick out as many German words as I could, 2, I think was the last count.
 

So here we are, our last night in Vienna, and we are so tired we are spending it relaxing in our flat, recalling all the information we gathered, contemplating the plane ride home, trying to forget the faux pas of the trip that involved me and a very distinguished Austrian, and what a blessing everyone has been! We have been truly blessed this trip and are reminded again that God has put people in Vienna not only to do His work but to help those who are coming after.
 

So we’ll try to get some pictures uploaded to the blog if our web dictator er…I mean administrator will allow it. Just kidding, our web designers are doing a great job, lets give them a hand, and everyone write a comment about what a great job they have done!!! Of course I have only sent one picture in but hopefully more soon.

One more final thought…You are always amazed at how much you can NOT fit in your suitcase when packing for a trip, as well as how much in CAN fit in when coming home. Tschüss!

Today, Jake and I had the opportunity to worship with brothers and sisters at the Mondscheingasse congregation here in Vienna.  While the gathering was small, about 16, the meeting reminded me a little of a family reunion.  You know the kind, where you don’t really know anyone, yet somehow feel connected to everyone.  You all stand around greeting each other, trying to connect the dots, “I knew your mother when she was a little girl,” or “I remember when your dad and I played cowboys and Indians in Granny’s back yard.” 

Today, the conversations before and after the service similarly attempted to form the picture you get when all the lines are connected.  “Originally, I came from Romania…”  followed by “Oh, we have friends who were missionaries in Romania…” and the like.  So I started thinking about the connections we have now with our family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ.  I wonder how these connections will change.  Invariably, they will.  Some of the friendships that have been such an integral part of our daily life will fade, while others will span the ocean and back again.  Parents and siblings may not be as close physically, but the connections we have been building our entire lives will mean more than ever.   Prayers offered by them will have an even sweeter aroma to the Lord, who will grant us ALL a peace that only he can provide.  Finally, those of our church family, we have all been molded by those who have taught us in Bible class, preached sermons, hauled us around to youth rallies, counseled and mentored us.  We will no longer fellowship with them at dinners and Halloween parties or baby showers, yet we will hold a piece of that connection with us. 

I have to admit that one of the most difficult parts of answering this call to the Lord’s army in Vienna has been my own fear of losing the connections to those mentioned above.  I have spent many days and nights anguishing over how sad it will be to be so far away from family and friends.  However, I have been comforted by one thing over and over again.  The Lord is with me all the time.  He never leaves.  This connection will never fade.  Not only do I know he is always there, but I take comfort in knowing he will always do the best for me, according to His glorious plan.

Hello, from Wien! Amanda and I are in Vienna, enjoying the finer things of life such as jet lag and Kebab! We came over for 12 days to find out some more information about schools, apartments, visas, taxes, and anything else we can until they kick us out of the consulate. Speaking of planes, the ride over here was really not too bad, we flew
Austrian Airlines from Washington DC to Vienna (United from DFW to Dulles). Hopefully your are acquainted with airline jargon or that last statement in the parenthesis will mean nothing, which as with most items stuck between to curved lines in a sentence are worth anyways! Back to the story...the food wasn't bad, the service was great, and everyone had their own individualized screens for viewing movies, games, or cameras located at the front and bottom of the plane, as if the views out the 37 windows already weren't scary enough (for those who are scared of flying - see didn't need it again). But I'm not one of those so the ride was fairly enjoyable, except Amanda does not always make the best human pillow so finding a comfortable spot to stretch out and get my beauty sleep was a bit challenging. On this note the airlines have found the magic weapon to get you to upgrade your seats from the tail section (where we were) to business class. Here is how, when you first get on the plane they board you BEHIND the business class so as not to disturb those that have already been seated and served their cocktails. But when exiting the plane with messy hair, red-eyed, cranky, and breath smelling like you have been on a 7 hour flight after they fed you onions for the in-flight dinner, oh yea and they wouldn't let you take your toothpaste on because the tube consisted of 4 ozs of white powdery ooze, back to the story...they walk you THROUGH the business section with the pillows and KING sized linens thrown about in a taunting fashion as if to say, come on, that $500 extra charge each leg per ticket plus $50 processing fee and $2 dollar dealer charge is worth the full size feather pillow and fold out King Size water bed with Enya playing softly in the background. Of course upon peering out of the red caverns that used to be beautifully blue oceans you think, $552 is a good deal!!!
And that was the end of our trip, to start off with we met a very nice Romanian man from Arkansas (no not Phil) which we never caught his name but we have dubbed "our little Romania friend", witnessed an incredible moving site as a battalion (perhaps less or more not sure, it was just a bunch) of army soldiers arrived, presumably from Iraq based on the desert fatigues, all of the travelers, not family, friends, or relatives, just travelers that happened to be in the airport at this time, all stood up and started clapping as they came off the plane. And they all kept clapping until the soldiers were all off the plane and down the corridor, if that doesn't bring you to tears, I don't know what will! Anyway, we need to figure out what we are doing for supper, we met today with some people at the VCS (Vienna Christian School) about re-location, apartments, taxes, visas, cars, etc. yeah it was a lot so anyway, I’m hungry, Tschüss!

Football is the most popular sport in America. In the fall and winters months, football is a Thursday through Monday event. Football is exciting! The strategy, the athleticism, the hard hits, the long passes, the trick plays. There is nothing quite like American Football. Still, I can't think of a single event in any sport that is better than the World Series. Baseball is an experience. You go to the arena for basketball and hockey, to the stadium for football, but for baseball you go the park. The experience of baseball is a day at the park: the hot dogs, cracker jacks, the bratwurst, the peanuts. It's not something you go and watch, it's something you experience.

I remember my last year of college at Oklahoma Christian--it was the 2001 World Series (Arizona versus the Yankees). I worked nights at UPS and was unable to watch more than the first four or five innings of a given game. I didn't get to see Game 7 (at UPS, the work week starts on Sunday night) when Randy Johnson came out of the bullpen, after having thrown 104 pitches in Game 6 (on the previous night), but I saw the replay on ESPN. I LOVED the way the crowd screamed when Johnson ran to the mound, and some how you knew, you just knew, that those sorry Yankees were about to get dealt, baby! Of course, I saw it in replay, so it wasn't the same, but some plays in sports...some of them keep the electricity and you feel it every time you see it.

My roommate that year told me he thought the baseball season should end in September, that in October the weather is too cold. But I like October baseball. I like to see the boys of summer shiver and blow hot air on their hands as they try to make all that summertime effort worth it. But, as I wrote a few weeks ago, I just love October. I love it when the weather gets cooler. I love it when baseball gets cooler, and more serious. There is nothing as serious as a pitcher staring down a hitter as steam shoots from his mouth and nostrils like a bull preparing to attack an overmatched matador--kind of like Adam Wainwright last night.

Yes, I am a diehard Cardinals fan.

There has been a lot of talk lately about North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Il. I know that he hates freedom and everything (just like Hurrican Katrina and those birds with the bird flu), but I also think that Kim Jong (or, as I like to call him, Il to the K Jongy) has some redeeming qualities.

Number one, of course, is the hair. Not many heads of state have the nerve to do much more than your classic right-side part, comb forward, or comb backwards. And, then there's the classic cut-it-so-short-I-will-neither-need-to-comb-forward-backward-or-sideways. But such traditional hair styles won't work for Il to the K Jongy. He is doing for international politics what Madonna did for pop music: offering an atypical hair style coupled with a bizarre and twisted epistemology, which translates into world domination within his own bubble. (Just cause you own a cape don't mean you can fly--Just cause you run North Korea don't mean you run the world...or do you?)

Number two redeeming quality (and perhaps most important): Il to the K Jongy keeps the United States from winning the award for "Most Delusional Head of State." Now, a lot of people may criticize me for placing G.Dub ahead of Castro, or even Hugo Chavez (on a side note, I recently told a guy I was moving to Vienna and he was really concerned because Vienna's president recently accused our president of being the devil). And these guys probably hold their own level of delusion, but at the end of the day, Castro is president of CUBA! And, he knows that. He's not fooling anyone. Meanwhile, G.Dub is doing everything possible to make us long for the rights and benefits of citizenship in that island nation to our south. The United States is right to be concerned about N. Korea's nuclear situation, but it is a little over the line to call for K Jongy's removal. Without him, The U.S. gets the award.

Well, there's two good reasons why Il to the K Jongy isn't so bad. Maybe you can name a few more.

October has always been my favorite month of the year. I've always loved Halloween: the pumpkins, scary movies, costumes, candy. I love the festive atmosphere of Halloween. I've always loved the fall. I like the way the mornings are cold in October, and the way the temperature warms to a gentle warmness in the afternoons--the type of warmness that still requires a jacket or long sleeves, but isn't a coldness that freezes your fingers.

Yesterday at the church building, the heaters were turned on for the first time since last spring. I like the smell of the dust burning off the heating coils (I wouldn't want to smell it all the time, but I like it because it's a part of that change from summer to winter). Last night, Alisha and I, along with Alisha's younger sister Christy, went to Ron's cafe and I ate a bowl of chili.

This is my favorite time of year.

Well there's alot to say about being a first-time mother, but because of the immense sleep deprivation there is also some brain stallouts.  I could talk about my horrible pregnancy, the difficulties of having a baby in NICU, the difficulties of breastfeeding, or being tied to a breast pump every three hours. 

However, the most amazing thing about being a mom is that there really is an amnesia about the above things and all you think about is the sweet little angel who you watch sleep.  I fall in love with Zaden more and more each day--although the poor little guy is subject to mine and Ira's inexperience as parents, but you learn as you go.

You know, I love the little guy so much.  He is completely dependent on Ira and me for everything and he doesn't have much to offer us back at least right now.  So I figure God loves us just as much--not because of what we have to offer Him, but because we are HIS.  His children, His Creation, and He just likes to take care of us even when we make a mess of things, or fuss and cry at what life is handing us at the moment. 

So, dear friend the next time you stop to ponder what this life is all about--

Remember that there is a loving father who wants to be with us because he has adopted us as children and he has made it possible for the imperfect to be with Him (The perfect) through the blood of His son.  May the joy and struggles of parenthood bring all of you closer to an understanding of our Heavenly Father's love.  

Kari

Well,

Another week into September and I am already enjoying the cooler weather and rain.  This last weekend marked a significant milestone in the life of my sister-in-law Kaci.  She got married!!! Congrats to her and her new beaming husband Mikel Hoppman.  It was a great event and of course Zaden was there dressed in proper wedding attire.  He was given the job of honorary ring bearer, but he didn't really have to do that much.  In fact, he just slept, and that was okay with me. 

Weddings are a very special time and should be honored and celebrated with family and friends.  The mark the beginning of one of God's best gifts, Marriage.  And for all of you guys who make the joke about weddings being more of funeral than a celebration, you know you wouldn't be who you are today without your wives.  Needless to say, there weren't any somber faces at Kaci's wedding just one sleepy one....not me....Zaden.

Anyway, in addition to my sister-in-law's wedding, today (technically yesterday since this is so late) was my Dad's birthday.  Happy 55th birthday Dad!!!  I have no fear writing anything at this point about him since I know that he will never sit down at a computer and read this blog.  He has a rare condition known as compumonia which causes him to moan and groan with gastrointestinal pain anytime he is near a computer.  He also comes down with the condition when my Mom sits down at their computer.  But I do wish him a happy birthday and I am thankful, now more than ever as a dad myself, for all the effort he put in over the years to raise us kids.  It can be tough work being a dad, even if my dad managed to avoid those dirty diapers.

In closing, I will leave you with a picture of sisters.  The photo says it all, let me know what you think of Zaden's tux in the comments. 

Friends and Family,

It has been awhile since our last blogasation.  Needless to say a lot can happen in a few months. For example, we just recently became parents for the first time.  A little earlier than I promised at my last writing, but everything is going well since Zaden's homecoming.

From the pictures, you can see that we have quite a handsome little man for a new son.  Everyone tells you what being a mom and dad feels like, but I have found that it really requires experience to fully comprehend and appreciate the gift of parenthood.  I am sure this is only the beginning of all the learning experiences I will have in the coming years.  Zaden has already been an incredible gift and blessing from God for our family.

Even as I write, life is rapidly changing.  Not just with being a new parent.  For many, school is starting up, or football season if you prefer.  For other political gurus, the coming elections will mark a time of change.  For our team, this fall will be the end of our secular jobs and the beginning of our work in ministry.  This is a rite of passage that all missionaries usually take at some point, and I would say it is a very challenging step.  Most of us have worked at the same job since graduating college.  We are comfortable there, we have friends, and for the most part, we enjoy our work.  I would ask that you pray for our team as we make the transition, and if you have ever completed this rite of passage yourself, feel free to leave some advice or encouragement for us in the comment section. 

Thanks for all your prayers for Zaden and Kari.  As you can see, he is already starting to work on some athletic moves.  I can't figure out if this is the stiff arm, freestyle stroke, or his version of the macarena. Talk to you soon......