Luther's Life

When my best friend Jamie came to visit me in Vienna over Christmas break, we took an incredible road trip throughout Germany, retracing the steps of one of the great heroes of the faith, Martin Muther. We got to see most of the places that he spent time, studied, lived, and taught. We went to his birthplace and place of his death, to Erfurt where he studied to become a monk, to Wartburg Castle where he translated the Bible into German, to Wittenberg where he lived most of his life as a monk, teacher and preacher, and where he nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the church. What in incredible life he lived, defending the truth of the gospel in the face of incredible persecution. If us Christians today had even a crumb of the same zeal and love for the gospel, our entire world would be turned upside-down.


Luther Stadt Wittenberg, and one of the thousands of books Luther wrote and translated


95 Theses door, and Luther's Statue in Wittenberg


Luther's birthplace, and his death house, were in the same town. The strange thing about it is that he only lived there as a baby! He was stopping there for a visit when he fell ill and died.


Main street of Wittenberg, and sign for Luther's place in Eisenstadt


Die Wartburg, the castle where Luther hid from the catholic church and translated the Bible into German. This was his writing table in his room at the castle.


Portraits of Luther and his wife Catherine. Really big books in the Wartburg!


Me in the hallway of the Wartburg, and Jamie and I in front of the Cathedral in Erfurt, where Luther studied to become a monk.

This was an amazing trip, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do it!

Medievel Eggenburg

The day after I went to Bratislava, I spent the day in the walled town of Eggenburg, Austria, where they had yet another Mittelalter Fest (Middle Ages Festival) that I love. A bunch of other VCS teachers came with me.


Yup, they actually cooked an ox over a spit! They served the meat on sandwiches, which were, to be honest, absolutely amazing! :) There were also tons of shops with medieval costumes and other items to buy - I was soooo tempted! But couldn't really afford to pay over 100 Euro for a dress!


The whole town participates in this major festival, and the events, from musical performances to dramatic reenactments to jousts, as well as all kinds of Austrian and medieval food, were scattered around the whole town. Especially with all the people dressed in period costume, it really did feel like we had stepped back through time.

There were many booths set up as well, throughout the town, and one of them was a booth with information about the Reformation. There were people dressed as monks and preachers, and one was Martin Luther! They had a copy of the 95 Theses in German, and a copy of Luther's Bible that he translated into German. It was awesome to see this tribute to the greatness of our God, even in such a spiritually dark society. God still has His lights shining here.

Medieval Bratislava

For the second time, I had the opportunity to visit Bratislava, Slovakia, which is a mere hour from Vienna, in September for their annual Coronation Festival. It's a weekend where the city relives the medieval era with costumes, a mock coronation of the Emperor, jousting matches, and other military reenactments. It's amazing to walk back in time for a day! There were many booths selling wares from various parts of Eastern Europe, and there are items here that I have not found anywhere else in Europe. The city itself is beautiful, with an impressive castle atop a hill in the middle of the city. In one of the main areas of Bratislava, there is a statue of Hans Christian Anderson, and I couldn't resist taking my picture with him!

We enjoyed walking across and along the banks of the Danube, which also runs through Bratislava.... and we had a lunch of Slovakian chicken sandwiches with unique sauces, and Kofola which is a strange carbonated drink somewhat similar to Coke.

The weather was beautiful, the company was great, the entertainment exciting. All in all, a good day.

My brother is hitched!

Well, it's done...my little brother is married! This past Saturday Seth married Laura Black, whom he has been dating since last June. Both Seth and I have known Laura for many years, as an acquaintance through Bible quizzing that we were involved with during middle school and high school. Since I was in Vienna throughout their dating relationship and engagement, I was very thankful to know her at least a little bit, instead of having my brother engaged to someone I had never met! It's been such a blessing to be home for the past month, and to have the opportunity to be involved in some of the wedding plans and get to know Laura a little better. I can now officially say that I have a sister now - a nice addition to my two brothers! They are currently on their honeymoon in Montreal, but they are returning before I leave for Vienna, thankfully. I look forward to watching them grow together, in their relationship with each other and in their relationship with their Father in Heaven. I know that God will do great things through them.

London baby!

The sights, the sounds, the throngs of people everywhere...the history and culture - it's London!
One of my best friends, Jamie, has spent the past few weeks as a missionary in Canberra, Australia. We had not seen each other for a year and a half, so she planned a two-day layover in London so I could fly there and spend time with her. We had a blast bumming around London together, but even more fun just being together. It was a really special time, full of fun and laughs and memories.

Pisa Pizza!

Another cheesy moment...Matt and Rachel eating Pisa pizza - pizza in Pisa! Any way you say it, it's fun. :)

Will it ever fall?

While we were in Cinque Terre, we took an hour drive along the coast to Pisa. Yup, I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa! :) It definitely leans! From what I recall, it leans about 18 feet off-center. So we decided to be super-cheesy and pretend to hold it up. There's nothing better than taking full advantage of your tourist-identity to be as idiodic as possible. It's the same effect as putting on a costume - it allows you to do things you would never do in normal situations.

Cinque Terre

Every year, Austria has a week off in the beginning of February for what they like to call "Energy break", or ski week. I had the opportunity to visit Italy with a few close friends (Tricia, Matt, and Rachel) from school. We went to a place called Cinque Terre, "the five towns", in Italy. We hiked from town to town along the rocky coast, through beautiful, remote, mountainy hills and along ridges dropping off into the sea. It's a place where mountains meet the sea, and a place where God showed me His unspeakable beauty in unforgettable ways. If this is what our present, sin-filled, fallen world looks like, I can't wait to see what Heaven will be! Beyond words, I imagine.

On another note, one thing I noticed on this trip to Italy is that Italians love cats! They were everywhere we went. On the trail betwen two of the cities, we actually came across a clearing off to the side of the path, laden with cans of cat food; posted beside this table was a sign reading: "Please feed the cats. Thank you!"
All of a sudden, five or six cats came out of nowhere and commenced a chorus of plaintive whining until we opened some cans of food and they dove in. They looked perfectly healthy, so we figured they must get fed pretty often. Wierd, huh?

A Life of Insanity

Well, if there's anyone who reads this blog, you're probably wondering if I'm still alive...after all, it's been nearly 3 months since my last entry - why else would I take that much time to connect with all you wonderful people????
My only excuse is this: my life has been the epitome of insanity for the past 2 and a half months. Hopefully that's enough to excuse my tardiness in writing. :)

Let's just break down my summer here, in a nutshell, Kay?

May: the last month of school was awesome, but pretty crazy-busy, with end-of-the-year programs and report cards, and then packing up my room for the summer.
June: When June hit, I had to have my apartment packed so that my things could be moved to my new apartment - of course God had a sense of humor in that arena; in one week I had to pack my whole classroom AND my whole apartment! I don't think I slept that whole week! Somehow God gave me the endurance to finish that exciting task. But my things were being stored in an interim place because I couldn't move them into my apartment yet...mid-June was the big move. Can I just say, the people I work and minister with are amazing! They not only helped me move into my new apartment, but they helped me move my stuff (or parts of my stuff) 3 times! Kind-of insane, but I appreciate them SO much!
End of June: things in new apartment, but still living in old place till July...kinda felt like I had one foot in each world for a while there. That's when my wonderful friends decided to pay me a visit, from all the way across that big blue pond. Andy, Greg, and Jenni came to Vienna for a few days to see my life here and the fabulous city I call home - it was so great to spend time with people that have known me basically forever. :)
Jenni and I toured Italy for a few days (Venice and Rome!!!) and met up with the guys in Ireland. It was a whirlwind tour of Europe in 2 weeks, but unforgettable as well. I'll add some pics on here of some of the places we saw. :)
July: My fabulous friends left to go home, and so did I - back to Vienna that is. The next week and a half brought the major organizing of my apartment (which my roommate Elizabeth was wonderul about helping me with! We've had tons of fun setting our place up). It's finally looking like a home now. :) I've been busy taking a German class as well - 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. Pretty intense, but I'm learning alot. I tell you what, it's HARD to learn a new language! Especially one that has about 10 different words for "the"! German is definitely an adventure!
August: I'm planning to be involved with helping the new staff get acclimated to Vienna before school starts, so the first couple weeks of August will be taken up with that. Then we'll start our Orientation and get our classrooms set up; all the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed students will arrive on August 23rd to start the new year of learning. :)

So that's my summer in a nutshell...busier than most any other summer (except maybe the last one!) but so rewarding. I'm looking forward to what God's got planned for the Fall! I'm sure He'll keep me on my toes....