Spills & Stains

Jojo and I were lying in bed reviewing church holidays for her religion class. We started talking about Martin Luther and I was telling her how amazing it was that he stood up for what he believed to be true about God, even though everyone around him said it was false. I asked her how it would feel if everyone in her school and all her friends and family told her God wasn't real and would she still be able to believe in Him? She thought for a few seconds and then replied, "Yes, I would still believe in God."

Gereon likes to scare me while I'm doing dishes, or walking into rooms, etc etc. He's quite good at it, and yesterday when I walked into the bathroom he came looming out of a corner and yelled which made me yell back. I then tried to explain to him why it's so easy to scare me since I get lost in my thoughts and in the end, this was all I came up with as a pathetic excuse! - "When I don't think about people and then there's people, it's freaky." My English skills are seriously deteriorating.

Miss Johanna asked me, "Karly, what does the word 'possible' mean?" I told her, "It means 'möglich.' Like, is it possible or impossible?" She looked at me for a moment and then smiled in understanding and replied, "Kimpossible!!!" Well, close enough.

Okay, kid stories are ended. I need to step back to the time that my mother was here blessing me with her presence and share a few of our times together. First of all, seeing mom in the midst of my life here was so strange that I actually let a few tears slip! There was one evening right in the beginning when I had to go to the kitchen and wash some dishes so I could be alone to think because it was hitting me so strongly, all the emotions. My mom, who I hadn't seen for 14 months, was now sitting in the living room with the kids, talking and laughing with them and I know it sounds silly, but it felt like I had 2 lives and they had suddenly converged. Oh man, and was she ever hilarious!!! Here a few of my stand out moments with her:
1. We walked into a shop in a town called Erkelenz and the woman at the desk said "Guten Tag." I replied the same back to her and then mom copied me, very confidently. As soon as we walked by her, mom leaned over and murmured to me, "What did I just say?"
2. Mom and I are deciding how to start our first day in Salzburg and how to spend our money. She looks around the city streets for a few seconds, then turns to me and says, "Let's not even eat anything. Let's just drink until we can't stand it anymore."
I missed her humor big time!
3. We're walking along the street in Salzburg and I stop and take a photo of the building in front of us. Mom: "What are you taking a photo of?"
Me: "Whatever I want."
Mom: "Honey, we need to put some liquor in you."

Needless to say, I was laughing a lot!

The past few weeks have been slipping into Christmas mode. The air is cold, snow has attempted to stick a few times, and the lights, music and joy is spreading through Wegberg. It's rather magical. In fact, it's extremely magical. I love the dark mornings and dark evenings. This morning The kids and I received a boot filled with loot from St. Nick. They were standing outside the door waiting for us. It was cute! Jojo's favorite gift was a robot barbie. Gereon's was a James Bond film. :) They are so darling. I drank my first Glühwein of the season last weekend while Jojo sang in her school choir. We walked down with her in the charm of the evening to the city square where they'd set up a stage, a tiny Christmas market with treats and drinks, and a big skating rink for the kids. She stood proud and tall while she sang all the songs she'd been obnoxiously singing in my face all week. Somehow, it was still adorable!
Since a month, I've developed a new friendship with a woman from my school. She comes from Ukraine and is married to a German guy. She lives in Wegberg, so we've been biking to school together and studying together twice a week. It's been a huge blessing to me. She doesn't speak English, so I've sky rocketed my ability to communicate! And it's the first time I've developed a friendship only based on the German language. It's odd and exciting.

You know that section where Paul talks about his flesh taking over him? Sometimes it feels to me as if my sin is spilling out of me, even gushing out of me, and staining my life. Oh grace, you are too good. Grace that is somehow greater than all my sin.