Guten Morgan Helga!

It's been awhile since I've posted, but that is because this had primarily become a place to post pictures and adventures of our time living in Europe. Then I found that everyone wanted me to post the pics on Facebook instead, and I guess most just don't want to read the blogspot. Plus I can post more pics there more quickly anyway.

But now to get back to the original purpose of my blog, which was share thoughts about the desire of my heart... and the ultimate desire of my heart is Jesus.

So today offered just such a story. I'd meant to sleep in until 10am, having not finished packing to return to the U.S. until after 2am. But when the sun is up, it's difficult to sleep, and so I'd gotten up at 8:30am and hit the hotel breakfast bar.

It was there I met Helga “Rena” (Renate) Engelkel, a sweet slightly older woman who was enjoying some retirement time at the Ottobeuren Spa ParkHotel. She joined me at my table, in the European tradition of strangers sharing a table when the restaurant is crowded.

She practiced her English on me and I practiced my Deutsch on her. I was wearing my Oberammergau t-shirt and she asked if I’d been there. I confirmed that I’d gone to the “Passionspiele”, and it turns out she's gone for the last 30 years. That opened our conversation to Jesus and I discovered that she is a strong believer, and even thinks the same way I do about not wanting to claim any denomination, but rather to just claim to be a Jesus follower and not let any of the "politics of religion" come between us.

We talked about work and life, biking in Bavaria (which I proclaimed to be the best in the world), and about church and faith. She said she was so happy to meet me and she wished me a safe trip home. She thought I was from Great Britain, which made me wonder if I’d somehow slipped a little into my sister Melonia’s accent. Haha.

I told her I was from the Dallas, Texas area, and she talked about going to the "Uoo Ess Ahh" (USA) and visiting Denver. I told her about my daughter who had lived in Denver and is now a missionary in Argentina. I gave her my email address and Sharayah’s blog, but she’s not of this computer age. She thinks people today spend too much time on the computer. Hehe. So we shared addresses and phone numbers. She said if I was ever back in Germany to call.

It was a sweet time, and I later thought about how God had "awaken" me for this breakfast “appointment” with my sister in Christ. I think it's just cool to know someone named Helga! And now I'm gonna follow her advice and get off my computer.

King of Fishers

Woke up at 7 this morning to get down to the river running though Memmingen city center for the big yearly event: The Fisher King competition.

We’ve been feeding the fish almost daily: bread, honey nut cereal, tortillas, our ice cream cones (just the cones), and spicy Doritos. Those are going to be some interesting tasting fish.

I’d heard you had to get to the river early for a good spot to watch, but it wasn’t starting until 8am and the river winds throughout Memmingen, so “Surely,” I thought, “there will be plenty of room.” We walked down the block, rounded the corner to our favorite fish feeding spot, and were blown away by the size of the crowd.


There were hundreds of participants and thousands of onlookers. Who knew fishing could be such a draw? Brent Hamilton, I suppose.

In order to participate, you must be a male born in Memmingen or a 20-year resident, have your fishing license, and be part of the fisherman’s club. These fisher “men” come back from all over the world for this annual event. Karen, who owns & operates Marty's favorite café, said her boyfriend traveled back from China to participate.

Now I know that “male” part certainly wouldn’t fly in America, but in Germany, the women seem content to let the men be the ones foolish enough to jump into cold river water at 8 in the morning on a Saturday to catch a few fish for fun.

They were lining the river, waiting for the sound of the cannon that would announce the start. Scared most of us when it went off, even though it was expected. They all jumped in with a yell and began combing the waters with their nets, the only tool allowed for catching fish in this event.

It was fantastic fun! Every time a net came up with a fish, they let out a yodel-type call of “Alle Alle Alle!” and took it to their supporting family on the banks who quickly unloaded it into a bucket, so they could go back for more.


The bridge where we feed fish had at least 30 hanging out under it all the time, so there was plenty to go around. My favorite part was watching the young boys, whose faces would beam with excitement when they pulled a fish out of the water. You could hear them calling “Opa! Opa! I got one! I got one!” (partly translated from German of course) as they’d announce to their Grandpa that they’d caught a fish. There were many generations of fishers in the water.



Even when the fish appeared to be all caught, they stayed in the water celebrating. Several jumped off the bridge belly flop style. They splashed each other and laughed and hooted and hollered. It was quite a party.


As we wandered off to "catch" some breakfast at a local coffee shop, I reflected on how Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. I think it was meant to be a lot like this.

Preparing.

Taking along the family and friends for support.

Waiting in anticipation for God to say “Go” when the time is right.

Being just a little scared when the time IS right.

Jumping in with Joy!

Combing the waters thoroughly, so that none slip away.

Rejoicing with each catch!

Bringing it safely to shore where others take over.

And having lots of fun with each other all along the way, even when there appears to be no more to catch for the time being…

God is good. Let's go catch some “fish”!
;)

Heidelberg

On a tip from a coworker, we went to check out Heidelberg on Sunday. It was only a 2.5 hr drive north on a gorgeous day. It is supposedly America's favorite German town. And it certainly lived up to that reputation, if that is what it is, because it became our favorite. We arrived and took the funicular up the mountain to the castle.

Funicular is a word Marty has issues with. Everytime he relates the story of our visit to Heidelberg, he uses a different word for it. Trainicular, venicular, spikular, trinicular, vehicular. Makes me laugh! Ridicular!!

Anywho, here's some pics of one of the best romantic castles in Europe.


The grounds are huge, and it made for a pleasant afternoon stroll.


People were everywhere, yet it didn't feel crowded.


The green grass and multitude of shade trees invited visitors to picnic, layout, and read books in the cool breezes.


There was this one fabulous free-standing wall.


The view of the city below was lovely.


I especially loved the stone arch bridge.


There were amazing buildings and churches dotting the hillside.


In this courtyard below, we met an artist who was drawing Heidelberg city scenes.


We bought one of this view of the castle from below. You'll have to come visit us when we get back to the states to see the artist's interpretation of it.


We wandered through the town and ventured out on the bridge.


There were musicians playing, people dancing, and nice statues to enjoy.


We visited the Holy Ghost church and took the 4 spiral stairways, for a total of 200 steps, to the top.


and more spectacular views of the city.



Heidelberg: put it on your list if ever you are in Germany.

Biking Bavaria

There are hundreds of bike paths around Memmingen. We love it. These are scenes along one of our favorite routes. We took it Saturday on a 25 km trek across the countryside.



See that forest ahead? We're going into the heart of it.


This is my favorite part of our route.



We continued our adventure through more woods, spotting several deer along the way.



We arrived in the town of Kronburg, and these street signs serve as an excellent marker of where we were.


I love these little church in the Bavarian towns.


We walked up to the castle, catching scents of various flowers along the way.


The view of the castle is best observed from a distance as we rode on to Illerbeuren.


In Illerbeuren, we visited the Bauernhofmuseum, which has a collection of Bavarian houses brought in from all over the country to show building styles of the various periods. I loved all of the window flower boxes.


We checked out a few of the houses and barns.




This would give a whole new meaning to bell choir.


We enjoyed our bike adventure, though it was a little warm. We'd visited the Biergarten in Kronburg for lunch where the bartender seemed surprised by our order of 2 big mugs of WASSER. In Illerbeuren, we'd also hit up a little cafe for dessert, and we were surprised by this interesting dish they served us made of apples that had been whipped up and deep fried, coated in brown zucker (sugar) and served with vanilla eis (ice cream). Just thought I'd teach all of you a little German along the way. We made our way back home and crashed.

The next day we went to Oberammergau for the great Passion Play. Over half the town takes part in this multi-million dollar production that is performed only every 10 years. It started back in 1633 when the plague was sweeping Europe and the leaders of this town made a vow to God that if he would stop the plague in their town, they would perform the play every 10 years to tell the world about Jesus.

The deaths stopped, and the town's tradition started. Except for a few years when they were forbidden to perform it (forbidden! seems strange) and years of war, they have been faithful ever since. You can get more of the fascinating story if you google it.

It was a beautiful performance, filled with still life scenes of Old Testament stories that relate to the life of Christ. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but we bought the book filled with scenes from the play, so here are a few pictures from the book.
Cain and Abel

Abraham and Isaac

Moses and Pharoah at the Red Sea

Berlin - Day 2

The next morning we went to the Reichstag early and walked around the spiral ramp up to the top of the glass dome. Great views of the city.


Here I am at the top of the dome. It is open overhead and rain collects in the silver spout behind me.


A view from the top of the dome down into the middle where you see the windows looking into the gallery where the parliament meetings are held.


Remember past comments about taking pictures of yourself in mirrors when you can’t get someone else to take your pic? Well, it’s especially interesting with a set of overlapping mirrors.


Here’s the Brandenburg Gate from the roof of the Reichstag.


And a view of the river…


Next we went to the Pergamon Museum and saw the Ishtar Gate from Ancient Babylonia.


These lions were meant to scare enemies away, but I just think they look pretty,
especially with the blue-green color of the brick background.


More cool artwork from ancient Persia…


Here I sit on the rebuilt steps of the city. I just like the picture because of the two guys down front who are meditating on other statues in the room. Reminded me of the final scenes in the movie based on Jane Austen’s "Mansfield Park".


We visited a church building that has been converted to a museum, and the angel out front caught my eye.


The inside of the church was beautiful.


This was my favorite piece…


Next we met up for lunch with some students on mission in Berlin with Campus Crusade. Here’s Bryce Bowlin and Katie Holland at the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Their favorite thing was that we had a car to drive around in… Air Conditioning!


On our drive back home, God gave us a beautiful sunset. It was a great trip despite the warmer temps.