Austria Day 10

Well this weekend was pretty fun!  We've gotten a lot of snow, and it's absolutely beautiful.  I'm not much for winter- definitely more of a summertime kind of girl- but I figure if it's gonna be freezing outside, there might as well be pretty snow!  I've gotten to run the past three days, and I'm three for three on getting super lost every single time.  Everyone else seems to be figuring out their way around town, and I'm not at all.  Surprise, surprise.  Directionally challenged.  Today I ran along the Mur River.  There were tons of little walking trails, over and under bridges, through all different parts of town.  It was quite the exploration!  The river is so pretty!

Friday night was my favorite night that I've had here yet.  There were six of us who made a "family dinner" together.  We all brought different foods, and got to try things from different countries.  So delicious!  We set the table, and made it look all cute, and I took a few pictures that I'll add onto here.  After the movie, we watched a movie together.  It was quite the process trying to set up the movie, but eventually we got a laptop hooked up to a screen, and had speakers near the couches, it was great! We watched Seabiscuit, and that little horse made me feel like I can conquer the world! So good.

Saturday night, we went to an Irish Pub, and then to another Irish Pub afterward!  I met a lot of new people there.  I met Heinricho from Venice, Gus from the Netherlands, Idre from Albania, Curtis from Canada, and then Toni (from Kosovo) and Stina and I all went together.  It was WONDERFUL to have the menus in English!  I miss that so much.  We ended up getting into some pretty deep conversation.  I loved it because nobody was drunk, they were just having a drink or two, and our conversations were so real.  We talked about philosophy, international politics, and what religion is like in each of our home countries.  Gus is a strong Atheist, and me and him were talking for a while about different beliefs.  I had the privilege of sharing my testimony with some of the guys there, and they had never heard anything like it.  They were asking me all sorts of questions about how my life has changed since I've started truly following Jesus Christ.  It was such an answered prayer to have the opportunity to share with them! I loved hearing about their beliefs as well, and what it is like to live in so many different places.

There is a famous celebration in Venice next weekend, called Carneval.  I think it's kind of like Mardi Gras, but celebrated differently.  I think we are going to take a bus for a day trip there on Saturday. It's only about $50 for the bus round trip, and we won't have to pay for a place to stay. My friend Sophie will come with us as well, and she speaks Italian, which is perfect!  I am so excited!

Today, a small group of us watched a church service together online.  Kate (from Russia), Oosma (from Turkey) and Toni (from Kosovo) had never seen anything like it before.  The service was very contemporary, with drums and guitars, and they couldn't believe the music.  The teaching was on "The Comparison Trap," which was very good as well.  It was cool for Stina and I to tell them about what church is like for us at home, and what it's like for them.  They really enjoyed it, and said they might continue meeting with us on Sunday afternoons to watch American church services!  I am praying that more and more will join us in the family room to worship and learn about Our Creator together.

I am starting to miss home a little bit.  Most of the time, I'm pretty busy and am very happy.   But I miss being able to just pick up the phone and call my friends and family.  I'm so thankful to have internet access though!  Yay technology!  Skype still amazes me, that we can see each other's faces, even though there's an ocean between us.  Crazy cool.

Well, time to go study some German- sick of being the stupidest one in my class.  Goal is to catch up to the Chinese girl in our class, Bayou.  We'll see how that one goes, hahaa...

Sending all my love,

Lyndsey

Austria Day 7

Well here I am, I've been in Austria for a whole week... wait what?!  Crazy!!!  I posted a few pictures.  The first are my friends Bella, Robert, and Four.  We're at a pub at a party for the international students.  There are students from all over the world, and so many languages were being spoken at that pub!!  If I closed my eyes, I would have thought it was the day of Pentecost!

The second picture is just a random Jesus that I saw while walking to the store yesterday.  They are EVERYWHERE.  There are statues of angels and saints, crosses, Catholic churches and cathedrals, it's really neat.  Although you would think by the looks of the town that it the people are very strong in their faith, it is the exact opposite.  Almost no one goes to church, although most would claim to be "Catholic" because their parents are.

The third picture is of my university, Karl Franzens Universitat.  Amazing or what?!  It looks so beautiful with the snow.  I love it.  I feel like I walk into a castle when I go to class.

The last picture is just the street that is outside my apartment.  The streets are narrow, and many of them are cobblestone.  The buildings are tall, and all connect.  The architecture is amazing too!  I love just walking down the streets, as they're so different from home.

The first week as a whole has been really good.  I've made quite a few friends, and from so many different places!  Here is a list of some of them, and the places they're from:

Austria-  Robert, Hannah, Christina, Sophie
Croatia- Egor
Kosovo- Tony
China- Bayou, Four
Australia- Kat
Scotland- Alan
Italy- Mara
Greece- Dimitra
France- Phillipe
Hungary- Esther
Russia- Daniel, Kate
Catalonia- Francina
Mexico- Saria, Tipita, Juan, Miguel
Canada- Colin, Marko
Finland- Eva
India- Uupma
USA- Stina, Rachel, Bella, Shelby

I love getting to talk with everyone about what it's like at home!  All of the international students are like a little group.  It's pretty funny when we try to communicate sometimes.  Last night, we were trying to play cards.  Daniel, from Russia, hardly speaks English or German.  He was trying to teach us the rules to this card game, but no one had any idea what was going on.  We were all just putting down cards when he said to!  Eventually, we played a game of cards that everyone could understand.  You throw the pile down, and make a "teepee" on top by balancing two cards.  You go in a circle and try to grab a card from the pile without knocking over the "teepee."  Whoever gets the most cards at the end wins.  Gotta keep it simple, hahaaa   :)

I've been running twice, which isn't very much for being here for a whole week!  But it's been hard to run because it's so dang cold.  The first time I went by myself, and explored some mountain trails.  It was unbelievable!  I had to cross frozen rivers, and ran through ice and snow, up and down hills alongside a mountain.  Awesome.  Yesterday, Stina and I went on the other side of town.  We stumbled upon a little trail that runs parallel to the Mur River.  It was so cool!  We eventually came to this famous clock tower, which you can go to the top of and view the entire city.  It was closed, but we decided to hop the fence and climb the million stairs to the top as part of our workout.  As we were climbing, we would get higher and higher, and couldn't help but be in complete awe of the view. It happened to be about 5:00 and the sun was setting.  You could see the snowy rooftops of the entire city, the mountains in the background, and the pink and orange sky as the sun was setting.  I wish I'd had my camera so bad, but I will just have to go back again.  Maybe tonight!  On the way down, the I started to notice how icy the stairs were.  The thought of slipping on the ice and tumbling down the stairs crossed my mind about two seconds before it actually happened.  Stina looked back, and there I was, crashing down.  Typical.  My butt's a little sore, but the bruises remind me of how beautiful the view was!  Hahaa. So I walked down the rest of the steps at the pace of a two-year-old, holding onto the railing for dear life.  Good times.

I registered with the city of Graz yesterday, so I'm an official resident!  Woo hoooo!!!  German class is very hard.  We have our first test tomorrow, and I really have to study.  There are so many people in my class who speak 3-4 languages, so it's a lot easier for them to learn a new one I think.  I feel like the dummy in class who has no idea what's going on, but I think it'll start to get better.  Just gotta practice.

Well that's all for now.
 Love always,
 Lyndsey

AUSTRIA Day 4

Sunday night.
Well things are going really well so far!  It definitely is still an adjustment, but Im getting more and more used to it.  There are three Austrians who live on my floor who are amazing!  Robert and I have become good friends.  He helps me out with a lot of things, and translates everything for me when hes with me.  Hes also teaching me German.  I´ve found that if you try to speak German, the people are very appreciative!

This morning, I walked about two miles to go to the only Protestant church that anyone had heard of in Graz.  There are many Catholic churches, as most people would say they are Catholic though they do not practice any sort of religion.  I havent met a single person that goes to church.  It was a freezing walk through the snow and ice, but I made it just as the welcome bells were ringing.  The service was very traditional and formal.  I couldnt understand anything, but followed along the best I could and stood up and sat down when everyone else did.  When they took communion, there were two separate groups.  The first group had a lot of people in it, and the second was small, maybe 10-12 people.  I dont know what the difference between the groups was.  It was confusing to me, but I didnt take it because I was too nervous and didnt know what to do.

A girl I met, Shelby, came with me.  She is an exchange student as well, who practices a mix of many religions.  She is kind of unitarian, has a parent who is catholic, goes to synagogue because she has many Jewish friends, sometimes goes to a Buddhist temple because she enjoys meditation, but usually doesnt go to anything.  She said she´ll sometimes spend quiet time by herself while canoeing back home, and that is kind of like her church for the week because she spends time thinking about things.  Shes a stand up comedian in Louisiana with so much personality.  We went and got coffee together after the church service.  Coffee shops are pretty much the only thing open here on Sundays, almost everything is closed. I like that.  It helps remind me that Sunday is truly the Sabbath. 

Later on, Robert took us to a nearby forest with hiking trails.  There was a frozen pond, with lots of people ice skating, and little boys playing ice hockey.  It was super cute!  We walked through the trails, but had to be careful because a lot of them were slick with ice.  He showed us around, and taught us German as we walked.  We passed by a lot of people walking with pet wolves and pet farrots!  They were all on leashes.  It was hilarious.  The babies who are dressed in snow pants and hats and scarves look so cute!  I always want to take pictures of them, but feel too creepy.  Robert jokes around with me that Im like one of the babies because I cant get around on my own, or understand anything around me.  Its kind of true, but Im getting better  :)

I met a girl named Bella who is super sweet, is a vegetarian, and runs a lot... jackpot or what?!  I met up with her tonight for coffee after dinner.  Coffee is so big here, it´s always what you do to meet up with someone.  But Im trying really hard not to become a caffeine addict!

Funny story:  So Im with this Canadian named Colin, and hes speaking in German trying to describe to this Austrian what pumpkin pie is.  She had never heard of it.  He is describing the color, taste, texture, whatever.  When he doesnt know a word in German, he just says the word in English  with a German accent and hopes they understand it.  He said, "it´s kind of like.... mushy," and all of the Austrians start CRACKING UP.  We´re all confused, and ask them whats so funny.  Apparently the word for "vagina" is pronounced like "mushy."  We were laughing so hard!

Tomorrow we have our official orientation, after whch I´ll be able to set up an Austrian bank account. Ths will be very helpful, because then I can get an ATM card.  I have a credit card that is supposed to work internationally, but no one´s credit cards work.  Also, pretty much nowhere accepts credit cards.  Everything is cash only.  Only the fancy places and train stations accept credit cards for the most part.  So Im gettng used to carrying cash on me, and learning how to say numbers in German!  Gotta be able to count my change! 

Alright, thats all for now.  Sending all my love! 

A Glimpse Into the Mind of Lyndsey Pa...

Austria Day 3

Well, its 10:15 am, day 3.  It´´s sure been interesting being here so far!  The city is beautiful.  Yesterday we walked around and explored a little bit.  The streets are narrow and the buildings are tall with lots of architecture.  Everything looks so old and beautiful.  We walked to the city center, and there were guys playing the accordian on the streets, vendors selling food (lots of them are Turkish), lots of cute little shops.  There aren´t any huge stores like we have- no Walmart or Target or place you can get everything, they´re all individually owned shops and such.  We wandered around trying to find stores to buy some of the basics that we needed.  The first night I didnt have bedding yet, and slept with a sheet and a towel and all of my sweatshirts and warm pants, and used a rolled up coat for a pillow (but at least I had George!), so we were definitely wanting to find somewhere to buy a  pillow and blanket.  Me and Stina only have one towel for the both of us, so we were wanting to find a place to buy a towel and washcloth, but didnt have any luck.  I bought a small pillow and a little blanket from a place that reminded me of World Market, but last night I was freezing so I guess I´m gonna have to buck up and buy a nicer blanket!  We stumbled upon a huge Catholic cathedral, and decided to go inside.  It was built in the 1700´s, and is so intricate and beautiful.  I was amazed as we walked around inside!  I will have to put up pictures later, but I cant until I get internet use on my laptop.  For now, we ´just have a public computer lab with computers that are veryyy slow.  It has been good for teaching me patience though!  It took me forever to sign onto the internet to post this!  But at least we have access.  :)  We walked around further, and my Austrian buddy, Sophie, helped us get phones.  We bought the cheapest go phones we could find, from a company called bob.  The phone has two choices for volume: on or off.  It has one ringtone, so that helps make the choice prettz easy.  It costs 6 cents per text message or minute of talking, so gotta be choosy who ya talk to!  Ive noticed that the people here are rarely on their phones.  You definitely dont see anyone talking on the phone as they walk down the street, or texting while theyre with other people. I was told that it is rude to be spending time with someone while texting other people. This makes sense, but is so different from the US where everyone is attached to their phone at all times.  Few people have cars.  Tons of people bike, even in this freezing cold.  They bundle up and use the bike paths.  The buses and trains are very clean and very nice.  Some of the drivers speak English, but not many, so thats a little tough.  Ive been getting by without knowing German because of Sophie, who has helped me out so much!  Definitely trying to learn it though!  Last night I ordered my food in German for the first time.  The waitress laughed but understood me, yayy!!  I was so proud, hahaa... I ordered a plate of mixed vegetables, sheep cheese, potatoes, and egg.  It was actually very good!  So far I have really liked the food here, just sometimes dont know what anything on the menu is.  I try to be sneaky using my german english dictionary... kinda hide it under the table, ya know.  Campus is absolutely beautiful.  The school buildings are white stone, and have beautiful windows. Along the streets near campus are lots of coffeeshops and cafes that students often go to.  I got my first stamp on the punch card for the coffeeshop yesterday- so good!  Austrians love their coffee.  They meet up and go to coffeeshops about once a day Sophie told me.  It is very person to person here.  I like it.  Day 3 and doing well!  :)

1st Post in Austria

Well helloooo friends!  Gosh, where should I start... my mind is so scatterbrained with so manz different things right now!  I made it safely to Graz.  We flew into Vienna, took a bus to the train station, and took a train to Graz, where my buddy, Sophie, picked me up.  I traveled with my friend, Stina, who I absolutely love.  Such a cutie!  We walk out of the airport to try to find the right bus, and both of us start to cough.  At first I thought someone around me was smoking or something, and couldn´t figure out why we were coughing.  But eventually we realized it was because the outside air was so cold, that breathing it in made us cough!  haha... yea it´s cold.  So, first story.  We´re on the train, and the conductor was walking by to check and make sure everyone had a ticket.  We had bought tickets together, so Stina went to grab them out of her wallet.  She looked for it and looked for it, and eventually realized it was gone.  Wallet, all of her money, credit card, passport, all that good stuff.  Gone.  And we had only been there maybe 20 minutes.  Shoooottt.  So we made friends with this awesome Spaniard named Rawul.  He translated what had happened to the conductor, and called the train station for us to try to see if they´d found a wallet. We still haven´t gotten it back, but I´m praying it works out!  Everyone here has been really nice so far though  :)  Well I am borrowing a computer to write this, and he has to go, so I´ll finish writing later!  Byeeeee

Free Will and a Leashless Pup

If God wants us to follow Him all the time, why does He give us free will?  Why doesn’t he just make us robots that are 100% obedient and are in a constant state of worship?  Wouldn’t that bring him more glory?

Last night I had a revelation as I was taking Pup Pup out for a run, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I continued to think about it!  I’ve been following these track workouts pretty close, because I’m going to run in a meet next weekend.  So yesterday, I just didn’t feel like running.  I kept putting it off the whole day, making up things I had to do to justify not doing my workout yet.  But about 7:30 pm, I figured I had put it off long enough, and needed to do at least a few miles.  I decided to run outside because I knew that Pup Pup wanted to come so bad.  It was cold, and there was a treadmill upstairs, but knowing how much he LOVES running with me, I decided to run a few miles around the neighborhood.  I put his leash on, and was talking to Michael for a few minutes, when all of a sudden I noticed he’d been chewing on the leash out of excitement, and he broke it.  Initially, I was angry, “Bad dog!” But he was so naïve, and still so excited to run, he didn’t even realize the leash was broken.  So rather than just going without him as a “punishment,” I decided to try to fix it.  I took a piece of rope and tried to tie the two parts together.  The knots were pretty tight, and I thought it might work.  So I took him outside, and within about 10 seconds he starts to pull and the leash is broken again.  Not much of a surprise.  Pup Pup tends to run away, and is very hard to catch because he is so fast.  But for some reason, even though the leash is broken, he stays right next to me.  I make him sit, and stay for a few minutes. Then we start to walk slowly, and he stays right next to me, looking up at me every few steps. Then I start to jog, nice and slow.  I hold my hand out and he stays right next to my hand. I can’t believe it!  He’s running right next to me, and not running away!  I’m still very hesitant, thinking that at any moment he will see a squirrel or a bunny and he’ll be a gonner.  But mile after mile, he stays right at my side.  He looks at me with these puppy eyes as I commend him, “Good boy Pups!” At one point, he sees another dog, and I see him look at the dog and look at me, not knowing what to do. Everything inside him wants to leave me and sprint over to the dog and say hello.  He starts to run, but I call him back to me, and he stops.  We pass the dog, and he comes with me.  The smile on my face is SO BIG as he stays by my side after passing another dog!

As we’re running, I start to think about free will.  The concept just pops into my head.  If God wants us to follow Him all the time, why does He give us free will?  Why doesn’t he just make us robots that are 100% obedient and are in a constant state of worship?  When I take Pup Pup running with me, and I put him on a leash, it doesn’t make me happy that he is staying next to me.  He has to.  I am in complete control of where he goes when I am holding his leash.  When he is no longer wearing a leash, however, he has the freedom to run wherever he wants to.  He could run so far away that I would never see him again. He could also stay right by my side. It’s risky because I don’t know what he will choose to do.  Here come the analogies:

1.  God Delights In Giving Grace

From the beginning of the story… I love Pup Pup and want to see him happy.  I am not looking for an excuse to tell him no and go run without him. Even when he breaks the leash, I still desire to give him grace and take him outside, because I want to see him happy. It brings me joy to know that he is having so much fun.  A lot of people have this skewed view of God, making Him seem like the Terminator.  He delights in giving us grace, in providing us with second chances. He wants to do good things for us!

2. Glory From Free Will

Next one… when Pups has the freedom to run away, but chooses to stay by my side, it makes me so much happier than if he were to stay by my side when he had a leash on. God giving us free will is risky, yes, because so many people decide to run far, far away from the one who allowed them to go outside in the first place.  This surely hurts God.  But for the ones who have the freedom to run away, and choose to stay right by His side, there must be the biggest smile on His face!  It brings God more glory to give us free will, because wechoose Him.

3. Temptations

Next part… when Pups would see a squirrel or see another dog.  These are like temptations in our lives to stray from God.  Why would God allow us to have such desirable temptations?  At the time, they seem so appealing!  What could possibly be better than going to play with the other dog?!  But the master tells him to stay.  Decision time.  When Pups stayed by my side even though it was so hard to withstand the temptation to run after the other dog, it made the smile on my face even bigger.  He loves me so much that he is willing to stay by me even when he probably doesn’t understand why I am commanding him to stay, and he has the free will to sprint away.  When we worship God’s Creation rather than the Creator Himself, it is like we are running after squirrels or other dogs on our walk.  God gets more glory when we are tempted, but stay faithful to Him anyway.  Our whole lives should be devoted to bringing Him glory. In this, temptations are great, because they provide us with opportunities to bring God more glory!  We get to make Him smile even bigger when we stay by His side when squirrel after squirrel goes by.  James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

4. Abusing God’s Grace

Pups knows that I love him very much, and that even if he ran away, I would still take him back.  Even if he ran away time and time again, I would still be delighted when he finally came back to me.  I would still hold out my arms and let him run into them, and hug him when he finally returned. I would still take him home, and give him his dinner, and love him.  God is the same way. We can run away, and know that He will still take us back. He created us!  He loves us with a perfect love.  But when we decide to run away over and over again because we know that He will take us back, and still provide dinner for us when we get home, it still hurts Him.  Abusing His grace is not ok!  The mindset, “He will forgive me anyway,” does not give us the green light to live however we want to!  Rom 6:1-2 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Free will is great because we have the chance to bring God glory, but it also means that we have the ability to grieve Him.  We want to live to bring God glory, and that means following right next to Him. 

5. Claiming the One we Love

I am thankful that this situation did not happen during our run last night, but I was thinking about it nevertheless.  Let’s pretend that Pups and I are running along, big smile on my face as he stays right next to me, when suddenly a man comes up from behind me and starts to beat me up.  What would Pups do?  He loves me dearly, and I know that he would attack that man- 100%.  He would do whatever he could to protect me, because he loves me!  But let’s pretend that I am getting beat up, and Pups is just watching it happen.  He decides it’s a good time to lay down in the grass and lick his paws. I would be thinking, “Pups! Don’t you love me?! Come fight for me!”  I think this is similar to the way it makes God feel when we disown Him.  Someone asks, “So you’re one of those Jesus freaks now?” and we say, “No, dude. I mean I go to church, but I’m not like super religious, ya know?”  Think of how offensive that is to God, that He claims US (wretched sinners, whose most righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him, see Isaiah 64:6) as His children, and yet so many times we are ashamed of HIM and do not claim Him as our Father. 

6. Every Tribe and Nation and Tongue

So I know this might seem like kind of a weird analogy, because I am so unworthy of being followed, but a vivid image came into my head while we were running last night, and I feel like I have to include it. Getting so much satisfaction from one dog following me, I started to think of what it would be like with multiple dogs following me.  Then I thought of all dogs, all breeds, all shapes and sizes and colors, following me and staying right by my side. When I turned, the millions of dogs following all turned that same direction.  This is what God says will eventually happen with people.  One day, every tribe, language, people, nation, will bow down before Jesus and declare Him as Lord (Rev 5:9).  One day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).  There will be no more running away, or disowning Him. EVERYONE will declare Him as Lord!  Amazing.  God gives us free will, but ultimately He is in absolute, complete control.  Yep, He is SOVEREIGN.  

Her First Snow

Between Christmas and New Year's, I got to be a part of an amazing experience with a good friend of mine, Monique.  She came to visit St. Louis to stay with me for a couple days, along with another coworker from our summer together in Tampa, named Katie.  Monique has lived in Florida her entire life, and had never seen snow.  I remember skyping with her in November, and her asking me the question of whether or not snow would be a possibility.  December's usually pretty cold, and I told her there would be a pretty good chance! I started praying that God would bless her time in St. Louis and provide snow, so that she could experience it.  As the days got closer, it was 60 degrees in St. Louis two days before Christmas.  I started to get worried that she wouldn't get to see any snowfall, but ultimately knew that our time together would be great no matter the weather!  We weren't expecting any snow in the forecast, and it was rainy the day I picked the girls up from the airport.  We went to dinner, and spent some time with my mom.  The next morning, I was asleep in the basement, and saw that Monique was calling my phone.  I answered the call in my raspy still half asleep voice.  "Lyndsey... it snowed," I heard her say.  A huge smile came onto my face, and I went upstairs to find her standing outside on the deck barefoot in the inch or so of snow.  She was making snow balls, and feeling it in her hands, and taking picture after picture.  She was absolutely delighted, and that delight was so contagious.  We went outside and made her first snowman.  We threw snowballs.  And crazy Monique made a snow angel, not caring one bit about getting her jeans wet.  The snow didn't last long; it was mostly melted by that afternoon.  But it was such a clearly answered prayer, it was like it was just for her.  Just a little gift from God that He knew would bring her such joy.  He loves to give us good gifts!  So many times, we think of God as this Being who is always condemning us and saying no to our prayers and putting difficult circumstances in our lives and saying, "Take that!"  We think of Him as a God of No, rather than a God of Yes.  Seeing the pure, innocent joy that Monique had from God's creation blew me away.  We can't get that kind of delight from the latest version of an iPad or television.  Nothing manmade can bring us the kind of joy that God does.  His very presence in our lives is what our joy is founded on.  All of His creation is just a tiny sliver of the goodness of Him, and the magnitude of how big He is.  What a sweetly answered prayer, a wonderful gift for my cherished friend!