Friday, January 13, 2017

Cowboys, Christmas and Jared


What a wonderful time we had with Jared over Christmas break!  He was able to come for three weeks and was such a joy to us!

Hard to believe this amazing young man was once our "baby!"
We celebrated Christmas Dinner with three remarkable young men who are refugees from Iran.  It was wonderful hearing their stories and getting to spend time together.
We had Raclette, a Swiss meal that is grilled at the table!  It's delicious, as well as an experience!


We saw the New Year in with our House Group, having a "Cowboy Party", complete with Cowboy hats, BBQ'd ribs and line dancing!  (Kind of hard to do in a small living room, but there was no lack of laughter!)
Watch out for the tough Cowboys! But how can you take them seriously when they are all in slippers or stocking-feet!?!
And of course, Cowgirls!  And we had on boots!!
Our Pastor, Thomas, with his son, Noah, the roughest-toughest cowboy of all!!!
Of course, we had to spend time with Jared at the Christmas Market!  No German Christmas is complete without it!
View from the Feris Wheel
We also had the opportunity to spend 5 days in Switzerland.  We were there for the first snow-fall.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We stayed near St. Gallen and were able to tour their famous Library!
I imagine Gandalf from Lord of the Rings hanging out here!
Jared and me in front of the "selfie" background!  Notice the beautiful headband Emily knit me for Christmas!  It certainly is coming in handy!!!
What a great time with our boy!  We already miss him!  Thanks for coming, Jared!!!

Prayer Requests:
  1. We have a city-wide youth prayer night at our church tonight (Jan. 13).  Pray for the teens that come, that they will get a deeper understanding of God's grace!
  2. Pray for me as I hunker down to write my Master's Thesis!  It is due April 28 and I need to have the rough draft done by the end of March.
  3. Pray for the new students and the refugees we have coming to youth group, that they will continue to come and will be fascinated by a relationship with Jesus!
By the way, don't forget to check out our online Prayer Room!  I just spent an hour there this morning!  What an incredible experience!