Nine of the J

For those of you just now joining in the fun, or those folks who've been around since the beginning, here are some "Best of's". These reveal a little more about who I am, where I've been, where I am, and what God has brought me through...and there are some fun things thrown in there, too! Just to give you a heads up, these are from my Xanga blog.

1. Cream of the Crop
First Impressions of Chemnitz
Boot Scootin' Germans!
Becoming Like Christ

2. Getting to know me, getting to know all about me
Answering My Own Questions
Top 40 [Blessings] List
5 of My [Many] Idiosyncracies

3. Authoress in the Bud
I'm a Princess (short story)
Ephesians 1
On a Hill

4. God on the Move
Speaking in Jena
November Update
Winter Clothes!

5. Mountain Tops
Freizeit in Friesau
I Turned 4 Years Old Today
I Turned 24 Years Old Today

6. The Valleys in Between
Faith Course
Feeling Lonely
Pre-Birthday Sadness

7. What Was I Thinking?
Acting Like An Apostle
Smile, You're a Christian
Ramdom Rambles

8. Are We Having Fun Yet?! I'm My Own Grandpaw
More Random Rambles
Idioms and Paralanguage (read the comments!)

9. Life as I Know it in Chemnitz
How Not to Get a Christmas Tree
From Saturday to Sunday
Chili and Pumpkins

Extra Cross

Hello, all!

I'm exhausted, but it's a good exhausted sort of feeling. The speaking went well tonight, I thought. I was maybe a few minutes short (probably 27 or 28 minutes - Deanna told me I could go 30-40), but I think it's better to be a little bit short than long...I've been through long at Extra Cross before, and yeah, short is better than long! I basically just shared my testimony and how I came to the decision to come to Germany for a year. I think my German was pretty good, and I think they understood what I said. I've definitely noticed how much better my German has gotten since moving here. Of the 35 students there, I think that there were several (5 or 6) pre-Christians there, so that's good. I had my testimony pretty solidly worked out, and had three note cards with some cryptic notes to help me through it, but I didn't have as much time to prepare the second part. I just had some general notes of things I wanted to touch on - but I wanted to give the Holy Spirit enough leeway to lead the talk. Since Deanna called me last night to ask me to speak, I've been praying that the Holy Spirit would speak through me, and I pray that the students were spoken to.

Anywho, I definitely learned how much more time it takes to prepare a message/speech in a foreign language!!! Wowza! But it was a great experience. And because I knew that I was relying on the Holy Spirit, and not on my own abilities, I wasn't nervous! That is HUGE for me! I (previously) have ALWAYS gotten nervous before speaking before a group, even if I knew them, but I wasn't tonight. Props to the Holy Spirit! He really can give the power of speaking in tongues :)