Montag, 31. Dezember 2007
2007/2008
it always strikes me how quick a year passes!!
i'm back home from the ship for over 2 years now...really scary thought!
i love the reviews in TV where they show all that has happened in 2007! i would love to see some kind of review like that from my own life...maybe God will show each of us a movie one day that sums up the highlights and lowlights of our life...who knows?
yeah, it's New Years, a good time to look back and make plans for the future.
when i look back at 2007, i can really say that it was a good year! i'm thankful for many nice memories, meeting old and new friends, saying good-byes and hellos, seeing new countries, visiting people and having guests, learning new things about God, about myself, getting the chance to develop some skills in my profession, seeing our cell-group growing together more and more, being involved in ministry and seeing people getting saved, ...
Thank you dear Father for every single minute of this past year! You are such an amazing and faithful God! Thank you for loving me and loving every person who reads this! This New Year 2008 is yours!
May we all get to know you better, love you more, serve you more faithfully and experience your love and goodness in a fresh way!
Bless us and use us to fulfill your purpose in this world!
Many blessings to all of you! Stay in touch!
Donnerstag, 27. Dezember 2007
a letter from hell...
Dienstag, 27. November 2007
abundant life!







Montag, 22. Oktober 2007
amazing thailand!
i don't know why i was worried so much about this trip to thailand before...it was just great! i mean really great!
my friend eva and me did this group-travelling-thingie, which i don't like in general, but we were lucky to have a fun group of people!
we travelled about 3000km in 2 weeks, spending time in Bangkok, travelling up north to Chang Mei, visiting different national parks, sleeping in the jungle, trekking through the rainforest (by foot and by elephant!), driving around in TukTuks, doing boat-trips, riding bikes through villages, eating tons of yummieh thai-food (and learning how to cook green curry!), getting massages every other day, drinking Mai Tai every evening....finally we went to an island, Ko Chang and crashed at the beach before we had to go back home....
man, how i love travelling!
here are some pictures:
kids playing in the canals of Bangkok
rice fields in central thailand

beach on Ko Chang
on a lotus-farm near Bangkok
in a speed-boat on the Kwae River
i am really grateful for an awesome time, stunned by the beautiful nature in thailand!
aaaand i also have another reason to be thankful: my new flatmate Sara moved in while i was away and she is really a great person! it's fun getting to know her better and see that God has really brought the right girl along to share this flat with me! :-)
tomorrow i have to go back to work, but i'm actually looking forward to it...and the best motivation is anyway that i can start saving money now for my next trip.... :-)
Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007
32 things about me
32 Things You May or May Not Know About Me
Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. worked at at supermarket
2. waitress (very short experience cause i didn't do a very good job...)
3. washing dishes on a certain ship for one year...;-)
4. international-night coordinator (whatever that is! ;-))
Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Harry and Sally
2. Bridget Jones
3. Love actually
4. Lost in translation
Four places I have lived:
1. Heidelberg, Germany
2. Cape Town, South Africa
3. Pretoria, South Africa
4. MV DOULOS
Four TV Shows that I watch:
(not regularly though)
1. Auf und davon (german documentary-soap about german au-pairs and their struggles in other cultures.....very funny!)
2. Popstars (like the IDOL-show in other countries)
3. TV Total (german comedian with a very black humor)
4. Türkisch für Anfänger (daily soap about a turkish-german patchwork family)
Four places I have been:
1. New York, USA
2. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
3. Stockholm, Sweden
4. Khartoum, Sudan
Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chinese and Thai-Food
2. all kinds of cakes and sweet stuff
3. fresh german bread with nutella
4. müsli and joghurt with fresh fruits
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. visiting friends around the globe
2. for example: Canada
3. Holland
4. South Africa
Things I am looking forward to in the coming year (2008):
1. Travelling to the US or Australia
2. Finishing my course in leadership (as a unit nurses leader)
3. taking my mum to Ireland
4. having old friends here to visit (that's an open invitation!)
by the way, i'm heading to thailand on saturday for a vacation with a friend...I'm a little nervous due to the political issues in burma and all the horrific stuff about plane crashes and hurricanes in the news....i KNOW that everything is in God's hands and i don't have to worry about a thing...but i'd still appreciate your prayers for us two girls! thanks guys! :-)
Montag, 17. September 2007
LIFE
i really love LIFE....just the miracle that i am, that i breathe, that i see, that i smell, taste, experience new things...the beauty of nature and seasons, the wonder of birth, the gift of friendship and love! it does amaze me often...especially in the last few weeks, since i came back from a dutch wedding of my friend mirjam from SA Training...i thought a lot about friendship and how important and vital my friends are to me! even though i don't see some of them often, due to the fact that a lot of my dearest friends live hundreds, even thousands of miles away--- the moment i see them again, like at the wedding, or talk to them at the phone...i am so blessed and thankful for each one of them! everyone is so unique and different from each other, but each of them touches me in a special way and i can just thank my God for them!
so that's something i realized and i wanna just let you know when you read this: i love you and even though i don't see you very often, you are soooooo important to me! :-)
unfortunately most of my time and energy is not spend with the things and people that i love the most...i feel so drained and tired at the moment!
i love my job, sometimes so much that it hurts, but it is challenging and hard and in the last few weeks i've had not much time off...and the little time i had was spend with other responsibilities and dutys...or crashed on my couch, not able to do anything but sleep...
i don't want to complain, i know each of you knows what i'm talking about: LIFE is not only fun and beauty and bliss...
but sometimes it seems like there is a balance between duties and fun...and sometimes there isn't...
and while i'm writing this and thinking about my LIFE and LIFE in general i wonder again what Jesus means when he says that he wants to give me life to the fullest? my life is full indeed...but i still feel like i am missing out on what he actually wants to give me, cause i am so freaking busy!
do you know what i mean??
Sonntag, 5. August 2007
what does "normal" actually mean??
| You Are 55% Normal |
![]() While some of your behavior is quite normal... Other things you do are downright strange You've got a little of your freak going on But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself |
i know that these little blog things are mostly for fun....but it kind of strikes me when i read something like this....cause i heard that before? or cause that's what i think in my heart? i know you shouldn't compare yourself with other people...but who doesn't do it?? of course i "feel normal" inside...but am i really?? :-)
okay guys, this is a serios question: do you think i am weird??
(if i don't like what you say i will simply delete it from my blog (and memory!)....so, don't hesitate to tell me the truth! ;-)
i am a cappuccino!
| You Are a Cappuccino |
![]() You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please |
Freitag, 3. August 2007
the flat-mate issue...
I found a really nice girl, named Sara, who will move in with me in october! Praise God! :-)
it really was a "God-thing"....many people looked at the room (and me) in the last few weeks and i couldn't really see myself living here with any of them. they were all nice, but i just didn't have the peace about saying yes to any of them. two weeks ago i decided to give it a last try and wrote an email to all the churches in my city and let them know that i have a nice room available for a girl...two days later sara called. she came and looked at the room and we chatted naturally and both decided very spontanously to sign the contract right away.
she had exactly 4 days to find a place to stay in heidelberg, cause she had to fly to Taiwan last wednesday already to work there for two months. that is quite a short time to find something, especially as she was also looking for another christian to live with. she called a church in heidelberg if they knew someone that looks for a flatmate. they said no to her, but shortly after that they received my email and contacted her.
she is 24 and a lot like my recent flat-mate ina. i think we will get along very well and i'm really thankful that everything worked out at the end, as it always does... when you trust ther Lord for it! :-)
so, problem solved....thank you to all who were praying with me!
Sonntag, 22. Juli 2007
hot hot summer

my cousine and her family

christiane and me drinking caipirinha

family pitz

my friend from heidelberg who came with me to dresden
i realized that i really need to get away once in a while...it was so good to see different places and people and do other things than you usually do...i feel refreshed and enriched by these weeks and friendships.... ready to go back to work tomorrow! :-)))
p.s. still looking for a house-mate though...please keep on praying with me!
Sonntag, 1. Juli 2007
what's new?
i just returned from a retreat for cell-group leaders...
it was so good to go away for a few days with a small group of people and concentrate on other things than everyday stuff, like work and shopping and insurances and cleaning...
we had a great time of sharing, worshipping and praying together. i feel refreshed and got new ideas for our cell-group, a new passion for the people in our group and how to serve them in a better way!
one thing that still sticks in my mind is that we always view the world and the people around us with glasses made of our personality, experiences etc... there is always more than one side of looking at something. every coin has two sides. when i am impatient, that also means that i have a clear focus and i am working towards something.
i also understood that i am not able to meet everybodies needs and expectations around me...and that i don't have to!
and that we have to have a clear vision for our cell-group. otherwise we are going nowhere!
a lot of things are on my heart and mind now and i am excited to see what God will do with all of that....;-)
change of topic:
i am still searching for a new flat-mate!!!
some girls were here already. with two ladies i knew instantly that it wouldn't work and with one girl i am not quite sure yet...
it is such an important decision for me to make, so i have to be careful not to rush into something, for money or safety reasons...which is difficult for me, cause i like to have things over and done with, so i don't have to worry about them any longer...
but the longer i am looking for someone i realise how important it is for me to share this flat with another believer!
please pray with me for God to send just the perfect person! :-)))
hope that all of you are alive and kickin'!!!
Donnerstag, 31. Mai 2007
put God first
the first year at home was a "piece of cake", which was good, cause i really needed some rest...but in the last few months a lot of stuff happenend and i can really see that God put me back on his work-bench...
i'm learnig so much about being a leader...being a leader at work it is different from being a group-leader in the alpha-course, which is again different from being a cell-group-leader...but i can see that God wants me to grow in this area, take on responsibility and serve people... and i love it! there are a lot of challenges and i discover a new area of weakness every day, which is humbling....but it is also a lot of fun!
nothing new with the "flat-mate-situation"...still looking for a nice girl to move in with me...but i am not stressing about it anymore...i'm sure God will work something out that fits perfectly...i experienced His help so many times that i'm able to relax more and more and simply trust Him...
" PUT GOD FIRST"
"Put Trust in God first. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspiciuos, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be - absolutely perfect and right.
Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God."
Good stuff, ey?
Montag, 14. Mai 2007
never pray that....
i prayed that the other day and i regret it already....i guess what I think is exciting and God's perspective of it is different from each other!!
the first thing that happenend is that i got an offer from the hospital i work, that they would send me to get a special qualification as a leader...i would be away from work for months to get a special managers training which they would pay for me....sounds like a no-brainer, but of course there are some conditions attached: i would have to make a committment to the hospital for three years after the training, or i would have to pay back the money this course costs....10.000 Euro!! (about 15.000 US Dollar!!!) okaaaayyyy.... i really need to pray about this, cause i want to be open to whatever God wants me to do...I'm having a hard time though to committ to 3 years....waht if God wants to me to to missions again next year?? you see, i really need some wisdom here....got any advice???
the SECOND thing that happend was that Ina, my flat-mate, just told me today that she will move out in september, cause she found a cheaper place to live...we got along really well and i am a little crushed, cause now i have to start searching for someone else to move in here....it is way to expensive to afford it by myself! and it has to "fit" of course.... i would appreciate your prayers guys!!
so, the moral of the story is: never pray for more excitement! ;-)
Samstag, 28. April 2007
sunshine in my heart

Samstag, 7. April 2007
good times!
Samstag, 31. März 2007
...i hate being sick!!
it's not the physical part of it that i hate the most---of course i don't like that as well--- but i just hate being unable to do the things i like to do...instead i have to lie around at home and just wait until i feel better...
maybe it's also the realisation that i'm not much of a deep thinker...i just take life as it comes usually...now that i have much more time- i start thinking about every little detail and that is scary! i really wish i was more of an introvert, cause as an extrovert like me, being all by myself for a longer period of time (like half an hour!) is NO FUN!
the funniest thing is...i'm 31 years old- but when i'm sick i just wanna have my mummy around! guess what: she is not here!! :-((
so, i'm in a totally depressed mood...
but hey, next week is going to be great! my good DOULOS-friend from canada is coming over for a few days to visit...i just have to survive this serious illness!! ;-)
Sonntag, 11. März 2007
wedding bells!!

I just came back from Andrea's and Arun's wedding!!! What a blast!!
It was a beautiful ceremony, really really God-centered and really really "Andrea-style"... :-)
It was soooo cool to be there and of course to meet some Ex-Douloids again and catch up!! Some got married in the meantime, some have children now....so many stories to tell!
What really amazed me (again) was how GREAT it is to meet up with ships' people! It does not even matter if they were close friends back then...this experience was so rich and intense, it just binds you together in a way that i haven't experienced before...i so enjoyed this weekend, sleeping on the floor in the church, chatting all night, meeting new people and of course seeing Andrea and Arun finally get married!!!
yeah...still sitting here and smiling...
just wanna say to all of you Ex-Doulois out there....i miss you guys!
Dienstag, 20. Februar 2007
....finally!!
| Your Hair Should Be Orange |
![]() Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices. |
Sonntag, 18. Februar 2007
Follow Me
the last weeks have been really busy and.... i dunno...kind of "dark"...maybe it's the horrible weather we have here these days...
normally i'm a very extrovert kind of person, but the last few weeks i enjoyed the times alone very much and i didn't go out as much as usual...
okay, and now there's the text that inspires me today...i always like the challenging stuff i guess:
"We can take God's presence for granted. We can assume that because Jesus said He would be with us ALWAYS, He will follow us wherever we go. Jesus does not follow us. We are to follow Him. Jesus said: "You did not choose me, but I chose you" (John 15,16) Following Jesus requires absolut obedience. He does not seek our counsel about which direction we think is suitable. God already knows what is best without ever having to consult with us.
Following Jesus will lead you into experiences you never dreamed of! You will be with Jesus as He weeps over those trapped in sin. You will feel the pain that Jesus feels. You will see those who were spiritually blind experiencing the joy of coming to see God for the first time. You will see lives that were broken made whole. You will see marriages restored; those in bondage released; and those who mourn comforted. At times it will be easy to follow Jesus. At other times you will be tempted to abandon Him. Following Jesus can mean going through a storm or standing on a mountaintop.
He is God, and you are not. Are you willing to follow Jesus anywhere, at any time, under any condition? That is the only way you can follow him."
yesterday i watched the movie "blood diamond" about the civil war in africa, corruption and how people kill each other for money....there's this reporter girl in the movie that wants to fight against all that...sometimes i'm so sad when i see how comfortable i got, being back from the mission field...i know God called me to be here and it is the place where i am supposed to be right now...but when is see how desperate the situation is at other ends of the world, i could cry and i'm about to pack my bags and go and do something about it...
Freitag, 2. Februar 2007
...no worries!
actually i think i haven't posted in a while BECAUSE i am alive and well....too much is going on...i really enjoy work, church, friends....life in general i'd say! :-)
i thought i'd let you know before you start wondering what's going on...
:-)
i hope i have some more meaningful things to tell you next time...but that's all for now!
have a good one!!!
Donnerstag, 11. Januar 2007
I am rich!!!
| I'm the 295,843,479 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >> |
Dienstag, 2. Januar 2007
"God says: See, I am doing a new thing!
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself,
that they may proclaim my praise."
Isaiah 43, 19-21
well...i like these verses a lot! maybe because i like "new things"... ;-)
no, i don't mean "stuff"...i like new beginnings and the feeling that something new is about to start...this feeling of expectation, anticipation! awesome! :-)))
so, a new year has started...2007! wow, that almost sounds like science fiction, don't you think? (actually...the other day i stood at the gas-station and while i was putting the gas into my car they showed me some commercials and video-clips on a screen...i was quite stunned at how "futuristic" stuff became in the last few years...anyway...)
I wonder what will happen in 2007! when i read the verses above i feel like a little kid, all excited about what its' father is going to do...
and the adult in me says: what's going to happen in 2007??? nothing! don't be silly...everything's going to stay the same, there's nothing new under the sun!
but i'd rather trust the little kid in me and i want to trust God who promises that HE is going to do something BRAND-NEW for ME!
and what does ossi say to this topic?
"Have you been asking God what he is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do- He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?"
To all of you a great 2007!!



