Today as my mind wandered during countless study breaks, I connected a few dots from lessons I've learned in the past 4 months, to facts I've known forever, to what might be common sense. Tonight, I just wanted to put into writing something that has really struck me in the past couple days that I would like to delve further into.
So about a month and a half ago, I was desperate for some leisure reading, and a friend had suggested the book, The Shack. I didn't know much about the book other than it was a Christian book, so I ordered a used copy from Amazon Germany and dove in. Now, I understand some people find this book to be extremely controversial, and I am fully aware that it is a novel, that it is not an account of any specific happening. However, whether you agree with what William Paul Young has written or not, many points come to light in his story that are simply undeniable and very thought provoking.
One of these facts that is drilled from every Christian's mind from the get-go is the idea that we are all God's children, and he loves us all equally. No matter our skin color, no matter our gender, no matter our age. Good or bad, happy or sad, in sickness and in health. Even as young children we hear of God's unconditional, unfailing love, and as children I feel it might be easier to understand or believe this. For me anyway, as a soon-to-be adult, this idea is really hard to fully wrap my mind around. A particular scene that takes place in The Shack, and our last Amsterdamian church service on Sunday have given God's unconditional love a firm foundation in my heart.
Just for some background on the story, the main character, Mack, has faced an unthinkable tragedy. His youngest daughter has been kidnapped and killed. While struggling with his "great sadness" for quite some time, he receives an anonymous invitation to the cabin where the only remains of his daughter were found, for the weekend. Hesitantly, Mack decides to lie to his wife and make the weekend journey out to the shack.
Okay, so I don't want to give the entire book away, just incase you want to read it for yourself, but in the scene I'm referring to, Mack is struggling to understand how or why evil people can exist, or still be loved by God. He is told that it is Judgement Day, but he will be the one doing the judging, not God. He is then told that of his 4 living children, he must decide which one is the most worthy of Heaven, and whom is to be condemned. Devastated and confused, Mack begs for another option. He simply cannot come to terms with the fact that he must choose between his children, his own flesh and blood, his heart and soul. Desperate for away out, he passionately requests that he be taken instead. Mack asks to sacrifice his life because he cannot be made to choose from the lives of his children.
The Ultimate Sacrifice.
As I was going back through some notes I made in the book while I was reading, I found that this idea really hit me like a rock. Many people, including myself, struggle with this idea that God loves us all. That we are all LITERALLY his children. But then as I recognized this metaphor representing the Ultimate Sacrifice God had to make, by giving Jesus in order to save us. He had to give the physical form of himself because he loves us all so much, every single one of us, that he couldn't possibly choose which ones could be saved and which not.
Just that idea that God loves each of us that much, completely blows my mind. In the midst of all the tragedy our country is facing today, the love between a child and his parent has been made excruciatingly apparent. While watching videos of parents whose children survived the massacre, I have cried along with them, unable to imagine even having enough love in my heart that parents hold for and give to their children. And then on top of that, to have to sever that bond, to see the miracle that you live for, hope for, dream for, wake up every day for, just taken? It's heartbreaking. It's astounding. And I for one can't believe God did that for us. And on an infinite scale. What have we done to deserve that love, that sacrifice?
We are his children. That's all we had to do, and he did it for us, by creating us in his own name.
Tonight I pray first for everyone involved and affected by the Sandy Hook Shootings. My body aches for the lives lost, the innocent souls taken. I hope that this message has reached some of you, and that I personally will remember this truth every day of my life. Finally, that each and every one of you might know what it's like to feel that unconditional, undying, sacrificial love, today and for all of your days.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Christmastime in Germany
You're probably asking yourself, "How does Jessie have time to be blogging when it's finals time?"
...well 2 reasons..
The first is that our finals are next week, and the second is that I don't really feel like studying. So there's that.
On Tuesday, Emily and I returned from our last European excursion-- Munich, Germany. We spent 3 days perusing authentic German Christkindlmarkts, drinking yummy German beer, scarfing down bratwurst, exploring the Austrian countryside, and freezing our tail feathers off in the below freezing blizzard weather.
Aside from the frigid temperatures, Bavaria was a very charming place, and I loved every minute of it! We had many awesome opportunities that I'm excited to get to share with you, so here we go:
For this trip we decided to try out the night train. Aside from taking a Megabus to Belgium, we've flown to all of our other destinations, and taking the train just felt like the right idea. Even though a flight would have only been about 2 hours compared to an 8+ hour train ride. Expecting reclining chairs, we were very confused when we entered a 6 person sleeper cabin, with a middle-aged Dutch woman who explained that she had ridden in one similar to this in the 1960's. We just laughed and decided to take the top bunks as we were the most able bodied to do the necessary maneuvering. Falling asleep wasn't as difficult as I'd assumed as I had Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince making me feel like I was just dozing off on the Hogwarts Express.
We arrived in Munich around 7:30 AM, about 2 hours too early to check into our hotel as the receptionist so rudely informed us, so we found a McDonald's and grabbed some breakfast and a hot chocolate before heading back to check in and take a little power nap. And what a well deserved nap it was! Feeling refreshed we headed out to explore the Munich Christmas Market, filled with hundreds of festively lit booths, each boasting holiday specialties from Glüwein, to intricate paper lanterns, to handmade ornaments, to wool socks and gloves. Anything you could possibly want to find at a Christmas market, we found... and bought.
Following the Christmas market we headed for dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus, where Oktoberfest is held each year, and enjoyed some actually really good beer and the most incredible au gratin potatoes I've ever tasted. We took in the sights of the historic beer hall, the sounds of the traditional Bavarian band, and the smells of fabulous brew. It was such a fun experience!
On Saturday morning we had to rise early to catch our train to Salzburg, Austria, as we had booked 2 seats on The Sound of Music Tour through Salzburg and the famous sites from the most popular musical. After nearly missing the bus because we (surprisingly) had no idea what we were doing or where we needed to be, we found our extremely enthusiastic tour guide and embarked on a very informative, beautiful, and song-filled tour. Even those who aren't huge Sound of Music fans (GASP) would have enjoyed this tour, as we saw such beautiful sights, all covered in sparkling snow.
After the bus dropped us off at the station we hopped on another to an Austrian Christmas market we had passed on the tour, and spent a few hours picking up little gifts and treats. Eventually the intense cold and fierce snowfall got the best of us, and we headed back into the city to grab some dinner and take some pictures of the Christmas lights before getting the train back home.
Now just to put things into perspective real quick.. when I say cold I'm saying it was below freezing, like High teens/Low 20's, windy, and snowing like crazy. Our faces were chapped, our toes numb, and our bodies bundled. Please take that into consideration when you see some of these following photos..
Once we arrived back at our hotel in Munich, we popped in a movie and quickly fell to sleep, excited for our next day of adventures on Sunday, which would bring us to the town of Dachau, Germany. You probably recognize this as the name of a Nazi Concentration Camp from World War II. In actuality, Dachau is the name of the town this camp existed in, which still keeps the same name. This fact, like many we learned on our tour of the camp, put many harsh realities into perspective.
Our tour guide, Gordon, was very intelligent, and made sure to remind us that these camps were operating before the start of the Holocaust. He wanted to help us realize the diversity of prisoners held in the camp, the first of which were ALL German prisoners. As we walked through the memorial building which holds a museum, survivor exhibit, and theatre, we learned so much about the camp in the town of Dachau, the first of the Nazi Concentration Camps.
As morbid as it may sound, visiting a Concentration Camp has always been something I've been interested in doing. World War II and the Holocaust are just such devastatingly real tragedies that can't ever, and shouldn't ever be forgotten, and I always thought physically being where so much of the action took place would put it all into perspective for me.
This being said, while I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, my visit to Dachau wasn't it. Maybe it was the harsh weather, or the memorial atmosphere as opposed to a "living history" point of view. Our tour guide also pointed out that many times visitors expect everything to be the real thing, or just how it was at the time. Not only was this not possible in the camp because of the retched infestation of disease, but the survivors of Dachau have turned the site into more of a memorial, a commemorative burial ground for so many things lost during such a horrible time in history. What the guide said really stuck out to me though, as I have felt this way with many historical sites we've seen since being here.
Even though it's impossible to keep the Coliseum from crumbling, leave the Anne Frank house exactly how it was found by the Nazis, or preserve the construction of Concentration camp barracks, I have found myself feeling like things are less real if they aren't exactly how they were originally intended. I know this is a silly, naïve thought, but when you haven't seen even an ounce of the history to be uncovered in one square mile of Europe, it's hard to know how to let all this history effect you.
After our somber day in Dachau, Emily and I went home for some rest and then headed back into the Christmas markets, and dinner at lovely beer hall where we enjoyed delicious pretzels and ... more beer! Not having to check out until noon on Monday, we slept in nice and late and then re-visited the Hofbräuhaus for lunch, did some MAJOR souvenir shopping, and after being completely snow-logged and weighed down by our treasures, we decided to relax and go to a movie before catching our late train at nearly 11 o'clock back to the Dam.
All in all I'm a big fan of Germany. In fact, if you got me back there in the summertime I'm not sure you could get me to leave! The language is a symphony of funny sounds, the people are very friendly, and they LOVE Christmas. What else is there? :)
Now, as the clock has struck twelve in Amsterdam, I have exactly 1 week until I will return home. While it feels necessary to say it's a bittersweet feeling, which it is!! I have a feeling the sense of sadness over leaving will hit after I've been home for a little while. So, just in case I don't find the time to post again before I leave, thank you all so so so much for following my adventures, encouraging my plans, and praying for my journey.
...well 2 reasons..
The first is that our finals are next week, and the second is that I don't really feel like studying. So there's that.
On Tuesday, Emily and I returned from our last European excursion-- Munich, Germany. We spent 3 days perusing authentic German Christkindlmarkts, drinking yummy German beer, scarfing down bratwurst, exploring the Austrian countryside, and freezing our tail feathers off in the below freezing blizzard weather.
Aside from the frigid temperatures, Bavaria was a very charming place, and I loved every minute of it! We had many awesome opportunities that I'm excited to get to share with you, so here we go:
For this trip we decided to try out the night train. Aside from taking a Megabus to Belgium, we've flown to all of our other destinations, and taking the train just felt like the right idea. Even though a flight would have only been about 2 hours compared to an 8+ hour train ride. Expecting reclining chairs, we were very confused when we entered a 6 person sleeper cabin, with a middle-aged Dutch woman who explained that she had ridden in one similar to this in the 1960's. We just laughed and decided to take the top bunks as we were the most able bodied to do the necessary maneuvering. Falling asleep wasn't as difficult as I'd assumed as I had Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince making me feel like I was just dozing off on the Hogwarts Express.
We arrived in Munich around 7:30 AM, about 2 hours too early to check into our hotel as the receptionist so rudely informed us, so we found a McDonald's and grabbed some breakfast and a hot chocolate before heading back to check in and take a little power nap. And what a well deserved nap it was! Feeling refreshed we headed out to explore the Munich Christmas Market, filled with hundreds of festively lit booths, each boasting holiday specialties from Glüwein, to intricate paper lanterns, to handmade ornaments, to wool socks and gloves. Anything you could possibly want to find at a Christmas market, we found... and bought.
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| A not-so-great shot of our train cabin |
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| An entrance to the market! |
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| Christmas trees! |
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| Glüwein in cute little mugs we got to keep! |
Following the Christmas market we headed for dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus, where Oktoberfest is held each year, and enjoyed some actually really good beer and the most incredible au gratin potatoes I've ever tasted. We took in the sights of the historic beer hall, the sounds of the traditional Bavarian band, and the smells of fabulous brew. It was such a fun experience!
 |
| The more recognized face is under construction.. |
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| Inside the beer hall! |
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| Better believe I finished that bad boy! |
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| Maybe that's why those potatoes were so good... ;) |
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| The back of the Von Trapp house |
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| Beautiful Austrian fortress |
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| Front of Von Trapp house |
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| 16 going on 17 gazebo! |
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| Our tour bus :) |
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| Snowy view |
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| Wish we could have went skiing! |
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| Church in Mondsee from "Wedding" Scene |
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| Crisp Apple Strudel! |
 |
| Sound of Music Cow |
After the bus dropped us off at the station we hopped on another to an Austrian Christmas market we had passed on the tour, and spent a few hours picking up little gifts and treats. Eventually the intense cold and fierce snowfall got the best of us, and we headed back into the city to grab some dinner and take some pictures of the Christmas lights before getting the train back home.
Now just to put things into perspective real quick.. when I say cold I'm saying it was below freezing, like High teens/Low 20's, windy, and snowing like crazy. Our faces were chapped, our toes numb, and our bodies bundled. Please take that into consideration when you see some of these following photos..
 |
| Inside the Austrian Christmas Market |
 |
| Beautiful Christmas tree! |
 |
| Salzburg by night |
 |
| THE most delicious pretzel ever. |
Once we arrived back at our hotel in Munich, we popped in a movie and quickly fell to sleep, excited for our next day of adventures on Sunday, which would bring us to the town of Dachau, Germany. You probably recognize this as the name of a Nazi Concentration Camp from World War II. In actuality, Dachau is the name of the town this camp existed in, which still keeps the same name. This fact, like many we learned on our tour of the camp, put many harsh realities into perspective.
Our tour guide, Gordon, was very intelligent, and made sure to remind us that these camps were operating before the start of the Holocaust. He wanted to help us realize the diversity of prisoners held in the camp, the first of which were ALL German prisoners. As we walked through the memorial building which holds a museum, survivor exhibit, and theatre, we learned so much about the camp in the town of Dachau, the first of the Nazi Concentration Camps.
As morbid as it may sound, visiting a Concentration Camp has always been something I've been interested in doing. World War II and the Holocaust are just such devastatingly real tragedies that can't ever, and shouldn't ever be forgotten, and I always thought physically being where so much of the action took place would put it all into perspective for me.
This being said, while I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, my visit to Dachau wasn't it. Maybe it was the harsh weather, or the memorial atmosphere as opposed to a "living history" point of view. Our tour guide also pointed out that many times visitors expect everything to be the real thing, or just how it was at the time. Not only was this not possible in the camp because of the retched infestation of disease, but the survivors of Dachau have turned the site into more of a memorial, a commemorative burial ground for so many things lost during such a horrible time in history. What the guide said really stuck out to me though, as I have felt this way with many historical sites we've seen since being here.
Even though it's impossible to keep the Coliseum from crumbling, leave the Anne Frank house exactly how it was found by the Nazis, or preserve the construction of Concentration camp barracks, I have found myself feeling like things are less real if they aren't exactly how they were originally intended. I know this is a silly, naïve thought, but when you haven't seen even an ounce of the history to be uncovered in one square mile of Europe, it's hard to know how to let all this history effect you.
 |
| "Labor Frees" Door of the entrance to the camp |
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| Room where prisoners were initially taken, where documents, belongings, and dignities were taken |
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| "Shower room" |
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| Held boards between pillars to hang prisoners in order to break their arms |
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| Artistic memorial from the prisoners |
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| Each color/shape represents a different group targeted by Nazis |
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| An original watch tower |
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| Beds which held hundreds of prisoners by the end of the war |
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| Plots of ground to signify the barracks that once stood |
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| First crematorium of Dachau |
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| Gas chamber of Dachau |
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| Disinfection chambers |
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| Second crematoriums |
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| The gas chamber of Dachau |
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| Agricultural term meaning shower/bath |
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| Memorials to prisoners... |
All in all I'm a big fan of Germany. In fact, if you got me back there in the summertime I'm not sure you could get me to leave! The language is a symphony of funny sounds, the people are very friendly, and they LOVE Christmas. What else is there? :)
Now, as the clock has struck twelve in Amsterdam, I have exactly 1 week until I will return home. While it feels necessary to say it's a bittersweet feeling, which it is!! I have a feeling the sense of sadness over leaving will hit after I've been home for a little while. So, just in case I don't find the time to post again before I leave, thank you all so so so much for following my adventures, encouraging my plans, and praying for my journey.
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