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.