A Planted Seed

Hello Readers, Happy Spring!

View of passing airplanes over our town

I know that I wrote only a couple days ago, but you can believe me that I do enough to write three days later. The pictures I added have a short description beneath them but they don’t necessarily have a connection with the text. Sometimes I can’t connect the pictures directly to the content. So, I want to start this blog off with saying that I believe the Bible in its entirety.

Contrary to what I have heard in the last couple of weeks, I do not believe that the Bible is just a history book or has ‘further developed’. The Bible is many things. It is the Word of God, the history of mankind, and contains the prophecies that are being fulfilled to the end of mankind on this earth. I take it literally, Jesus said ‘blessed is he who is not offended in me’ (Luke 7:23). I have noticed many people are offended by the Bible. It tells them to change their ways, which makes them feel uncomfortable. Or they read a verse and isolate it so that they conclude the Bible is contradictory to itself and impossible to be taken literally in this modern 21^st century. One verse cannot be isolated because it has a second ‘reference’ or ‘key’ verse that opens more understanding and confirms the Word through His Spirit.

Windmill in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Countryside
I went for a bike ride that turned out to be twenty miles
and I drove into Niedersachen (nee-der-socksen), another state! Had to turn
back because I didn't have my Visa with me. Oöps!
Maybe I would have needed it, I turned around rather than find out the hard way.

The Israelites were oppressed for over four hundred years. God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand, signs, and wonders. They walked by a column of fire by night. Bread fell from the sky every morning, enough so that every man had his full. And as if that wasn’t a miracle enough, the people then had the nerve to complain to Moses. They accused him that he brought them into the wilderness to starve. The people cried for meat to go with their bread and because God is so loving, He blessed them with meat as well. They saw the patience, strength, grace, mightiness and fierceness of God firsthand.  I can’t understand why the Israelites walked after other gods time after time after time. I can’t imagine how they could disobey His Word, it seemed as if they had forgotten everything He had done for them. But Moses was wise to the heart of Israel, and warned them. He said ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons…’ (Deuteronomy 4:9).

Svenja's (my friend) dog, waiting for us to start our
Spring Vegetarian Barbeque
It was a BYOB party
Bring Your Own Beef. They're vegetarian!

I’m sure many Christians say to themselves when they read the story of Israel, ‘I would never disobey God’s Word if He did all that for me’. I’m sure some people shake their heads too when they read that Peter denied Jesus three times within a period of hours. But I realized if it could happen to the people of Israel, and to a personal disciple of Jesus then it could happen to us too, and it does. Too many times I have suffered through days with pounding headaches. The thought of laying my hands on my head and praying healing seems to fleet by, and I would trudge through the day. I act as if I had forgotten God has healed me from not only headaches, by Lyme disease as well. Somewhere in the human heart, we have the innate capability to forget.

Succesfully drove to Svenja's village, a good
eight or nine mile trail through the woods.
Also proudly wearing her moms wooden clogs

Here is how they stack their wood.
Not only does it help drying it out,
but is also decorative too!

In my deepest desire to be in perfect harmony with the will of God, at times when I fail, I remember I am human. Being human is not an excuse to throw everything to the wind, but to stand up and start the race again.

Spring is almost in full swing here. The flowers are all planted, and I myself planted spinach in our garden. I learned that if you want a truly good product, first you have to turn the soil then sift the rocks out. As I was kneeling down by the garden bed with my finger nails full of dirt, I realized that is what God does with us. He turns seemingly our whole life, or aspects of it, upside down and sifts the rocks out. His Living water feeds our roots, and with time and the Son we grow into a strong tree by the riverside.

Beautiful blooming trees on a trail behind my house

I hope you all have a wonderful week,

God Bless. Genevieve!

It's Going to Take Time



View from my window.

Hello Readers! Long time no see.
Grab a cup of coffee, this blog is going to be long. This last Tuesday I was in Berlin, which is why I didn't get to write. This week and a half was jam packed full so sit down, and enjoy it with me! The blog has pictures and an explanation will be given beneath or above.



Okay, here's a picture with a story. But first to clarify, that's my Class Teacher Frau Ortmann. Frau means Mrs. in German, so Mrs.Ortmann. Starting from the fifth grade I believe, each grade is seperated into three groups. Each group has  a 'Homeroom Teacher' that they can go to for problems or help until the year they graduate. When they go on field trips, the 'Class Teacher' is responsible for the students and the students know they always have someone in the school to talk with. I like that about the German school system. Another point, in the German school, you always have your main classes German, English, Math, and History with the same people. This creates a group of kids that you hang out with and can also count on. It's different than in the US where every class has different students.

Now the story, first you may be asking yourself why my school has banners hanging with grafitti and a band setup in the background. Every year the Senior Class has to organize workshops or an event that would inforce their 'A School of Courage, Against Racisim' motto. This year they had multiple people from the German Parliament and other social help orginizations. Students could sign up for the workshop they wanted to attend such as 'Can Israel be Cool?' or watch a play and have a discussion afterwards. It's one of the biggest days for seniors, except for their exams. This was on a Thursday. On Monday, Nadine, one of my friends in the senior class called me to ask if I could do her a favor and show a little presentation about the USA. I gladly agreed. Wednesday rolled around and as we were sitting on the bus she asked me if my project was done. I looked at her a little confused and titled my head back to look at her with suspicous eyes.

 'Done?' I said. 'I have until next week..?'.

'Nope, this Thursday.' she said as she waved and I got off at my bus stop.

I have done four or five presentations since I've been here and I do it gladly. I will normally bake something so my audience has something to munch on. So I looked up a turtle brownie recipe and began to melt the caramel. It took me three or four hours to sift through pictures in Facebook so I could show my home highschool. I made a twenty slide Powerpoint about my school, church, family, and me then picked out some slightly dressy clothes and went to bed. I was running kind of slow the next morning, my eyes were strained from staring at the computer screen so long the day before. My sister ran past my room to catch the bus and I grabbed a pair of shoes. As I got to school, I thanked God I grabbed heels. The front of the school was hung with banners and there were parking people directing the traffic of parents and people from our town. Before I could even get to the door, Nadine ran to my side and asked if I had everything ready. She brought me to a room to drop my backpack off, and then we flew up the four staircases to room 410 where my students were waiting. I opened the door. Forty-five seventh graders were all seated and staring at me. Simply by being looked at with ninety eyeballs I turned lobster red. I laughed and asked her if I was being punked.

'No you're not being punked. They are going to be split into three groups, three of fifteen. You will have one group for one hour and fifteen minutes then the next group will come. Try to be done around noon.'

I looked at my watch, 7:40. I still had to print something. I wouldn't say I was stressed, but as I walked through the hallways to the printing room, people were running by me. Running up the stairs, down the stairs, out the door, back inside, dropping boxes off and picking them back up. The franticness (is that a word?) began to rub off on me as Nadine found me and rushed me back to the room where my students were waiting. The first two groups went by really quickly, the kids were intrigued and asked questions. Did I mention I'm a ham? The last group was a little restless, but what can you expect after three hours of hearing different presentations?

It was noon and I had a headache. I opened the door and went into the foyer where music was litterally BLASTING. Think NFL Superbowl. I shut the door and pressed my fingers to my forehead. I took a deep breath, went out and found a place next to my friends. I kind of fell asleep with my eyes open while the hour long 'thank you' speech was given. I was almost in La-La land until I heard my name called. Lobster red again. The school and guests turned to where I was sitting on the balcony. I looked to the stage where my senior friend Jesse was holding flowers. I quickly ran downstairs and onto the stage, smiled, and waved while the audience clapped. They called out the next group. Flowers! As horrifying as the day was at first, I now had flowers. (See picture below.) The day was simple insanity, but I have learned not to let the situation affect my calmness. Praise God. 

In front of my school with flowers and my history teacher,
 Frau Obermeit.



The day after was Friday, Ivan's 18th birthday. We celebrated at his host moms house. He is from Colombia and is also going to our highschool. It was a suprise birthday which is why you can see me saying 'shhhh!'. I made him a brownie cake and wrote 'Happy Birthday Ivan!' on the top. From left to right; Tatiana from South America, Chiara, Me, Claudia, then an exchange student from Turkey (can't spell his name!) a host mom with her child, and way to the right is Paco (his nickname) also from South America. It was really, really hard to keep us all quiet!

We celebrated into the night with snacks, music, and pizza. While everyone was dancing I looked for someone to converse with. He was the boyfriend of my friend Kerstin, and he had just gotten back from Africa. I was fully intrigued, and he was fully passionate to answer all of my questions. The part in Africa that he went to was very poor. He expected that the family dynamics would be stronger than in Germany. He figured when they didn't have money, they would realize that family is more important quicker. But that wasn't the reality, the people would rather have a cellphone than shoes. He was the only white person in the village, and was asked everyday for money from the people. He said 'Their concept of money is totally different than ours. Because I was white they asked me for it, without thinking that they would have to work. It was all about the money for them.' Here is a picture of all of us at the dinner table. The conversation left me with a lot to think about. But I never had time to really think, because on Monday I was leaving for the class trip to Berlin.

Berlin was intense. The history is dark and I dare to say that the reality is sometimes too. The wall was built in 1961 and stayed for twenty-eight years until 1989. We had a city tour and also a tour of the Secret Police Jail center. Our tour guide was an inmate for eight days, he greeted us by saying that 'The freedom and liberty that you have now was given to you, it is a gift. My generation fought, and many died for it.' The three hour tour only got more heavy as the time passed and we walked through the cells. The picture below is of my left foot in East Germany, and my right foot in West Germany. The wall in West Germany was filled with grafitti and many people planted gardens directly to the side of it. Whereas in the East there was a hundred foot perimeter that was called the 'dead mans zone' where one would be shot immedeatly if trespassed. The wall was about a foot and a half thick.

Here is a picture of the Berlin Fernsehturm. It is a large tower that was the glory of East Germany during the time of their separation from West Germany. For many years it would be the tallest building in the world. Millions of East German dollars would be spent building this tower. At the same time many churches were demolished. A church was almost always the biggest building in a German village. A tour guide during my tour of Berlin last summer said that the government wanted to show that they had the most control, and that they had the most power. That is why they built this monument. To their surprise after the tower was done being laborously built, they saw that everytime when the sun began to shine..that a perfect cross would form on the reflecting plates. They tried many methods like differenet glass, or painting the glass over but everyday at around noon the large cross would reflect over the capital of Germany. What they thought would be their glory...turned to be God's. You can't see it in this picture because it wasn't sunny or noon, it would reflect on the ball part at the very top. Its made out of glass.

The second day in Berlin we went to see a musical in Potsdamer Platz. The play was about a girl who was seperated from her love because of the Wall. The play lasted about three hours, but was totally intriguing. Some of it was true, but some parts had to be fiction (like her brother floating over the wall with a balloon) so the audience would stay intrigued.

This picture doesn't really have a story, I asked a couple students from the 10th class to make some goofy faces with me. I am in the eleventh grade, but was invited to go to Berlin with the class beneath me. My school is really good with providing me with opportunities like that.

Here is our tour guide and some school mates in the newly built church monument. It was in honor of a church built in the early 1900's that was demolished in order to create room for the Wall.

Picture from the top of the German Parliment building. There always seems to be cranes and reconstruction going on in Berlin.

Germany has a very different style of art than the US. Almost all of the apartment complexes are painted with random pictures...like this astronaut.

And finally, we have a picture of donuts. I wondered when I was with my friends why they were beyond excited to go to Dunkin' Donuts. I would always stay outside when they went inside to order their drinks. I'm a Starbucks person, DD is not for coffee lovers but for milk and sugar lovers. If you want coffee, go to Starbucks. But this time I went inside, and LOOK! No wonder why. These donuts were insane. DD is an American owned company and we don't have these, but internationally they sell totally different products.

From left to right; Me, Chiara and Claudia. I have mentioned them in previous articles but rarely included a picture. Last week it was 65°F and sunny. I got a picture before we went roller-blading by the Elbe River that runs through our town. Just to clarify again real quick, Chiara comes from Neapel, Italy and Claudia comes from Slovakia. They are both exchange students with AFS, we are all staying until July 6th. I am so blessed to have exchange students nearby that I can share funny stories that only an exchange student would understand.

I am so blessed. Thank you for reading, and I hope your cup of coffee was a good one!

God Bless you today! Genevieve

I Don't Follow My Heart, and I Thank God I Don't Have To

Hallo Readers, I hope your last week was fruitful!!

This last week I spent a lot of time with the midyear stay students. One of my most particular favorite trips was a city tour of Hamburg.

Posing with French Fry Guy
on the Hamburg Harbor

Saying goodbye to my cello,
I couldn't find anywhere to take lessons!

Standing in the Hamburg traffic Tunnel
that runs beneath a river

Two particular parables that Jesus spoke in Matthew 13 have been on my mind since last week.

The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46).

Three things in particular spoke to me.

1.      The merchant sold all that he had

2.      He sold everything with JOY

3.      The merchant man was seeking goodly pearls.

The way the Lord teaches us is precept upon precept, one revelation after another. My relationship is not perfect with Him but I can have faith that His love is made perfect in me.  

Here are four scriptures describing perfecting love.

But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. 1 John 2:4-6

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:11-13

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:16-18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:17-19

The parables I started the article with, and the scriptures above go hand in hand. I learned from the merchant parable where I am lacking, and the scriptures promise that if I keep His word He will perfect His love in me.

View from our hill, now that's love

The merchant sold everything that he had. I didn’t realize that there were some things I was still holding onto, things such as ‘selfishness’. When I realized that I was selfish, I left it to buy Jesus’ ‘selflessness’. I have been put into a lot of situations here, I learn more about myself everyday…and it’s not all good stuff. If I am tired and traveling through the train station, I get seriously annoyed if someone bumps into me. I am not claustrophobic by any means, but I like my space. I thought I had gotten over my ‘bump’ issue, but it happened last week and I was shocked how angry I was. I was legitimately angry.

As I was sitting home on the train ride (after making it through the horrific mob of people), I prayed. Well first I sat in silence, kinda lookin’ at myself in the reflection of the window and saying ‘Genevieve, are you serious? Can you believe how easily you get agitated?’. Then I repented, gave it to God. I have been bumped since then, many times in fact (sometimes I think on purpose!) As said, I am learning a lot about myself and the content of my heart. It’s not all good in there, but I can have faith that if I keep God's Word He will keep perfecting me. I want to be just like His Son. Through every trial, even if it is as small as getting over being pushed in a crowd, I am one way closer to being like Him. Patience. Slow to anger.

The fact that the merchant sold everything with joy is not to be overlooked. We are to gladly give up anything that doesn’t please God. That statement may raise a couple eyebrows or some may think ‘If God really loves me, He should accept me as I am.’

Dersenow View - The Cloud Curtain pushed back for a moment of sunshine

If you have ever been in love, then you should see the hypocrisy in a moment. I have noticed when a man and women are in a legitimate and healthy relationship; they change to please the other. Girlfriends buy perfumes and clothes and the men wear it gladly because they know it pleases the one they love. My Dad turns the radio off when he eats breakfast with my Mom. People do it without thinking twice. Which shows us, when we love someone we change.

In my life particularly, I was a foot tapper when I was a kid. My Dad told me he didn’t like it because it made me look fidgety and stressed, so I stopped tapping my foot. In my mind I quickly balanced giving the habit up or losing a piece of his love, I chose to keep his love. Which is in a very simple sense, how I view my relationship with my heavenly Father. When His Word shows me how I need to ask Him to change me, I put it on the altar immediately so that I would please Him all the more. Oh, and we’re supposed to do it with joy. J



Dersenow Hill View

The last word that caught my attention was that the merchant was seeking. Those who seek after righteousness will find it. Those who ask, to them it will be given. Knock and the door shall be opened. All of those verses I paraphrased are familiar to us. They are easy, simple, and often overlooked (at least for me). I struggle and struggle and struggle, then realize if I would have come to God first for the answer He would have told me. (I'm amazed at God’s grace, that His love stretches over the fact that we make Him second, over and over again).

Last week at our midyear stay camp we played a group game. One person came into the room and sat in a chair eight feet in front of two volunteers. They said ‘it is you, this bottle, and us. You need to get this bottle but you can’t move the chair. You can move but you always have to be touching the chair’. I laid on the ground and stretched out my arms as long as I could. I pushed my finger up to the last centimeter my torso allowed me. I couldn’t get the bottle. I tied my sweater into a lasso and swung. Still too far away. I began to take my shoelaces off when I realized, I could ask for the bottle. I slowly got up, looked to the volunteers (who were grinning) and asked for the bottle. They gave it to me. A light bulb went off over my head.

Hail on the Dersenow horizon

I wonder how many times God has looked down at me struggling for days and weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if He pulled up a footstool and drank a cup of coffee.  I can’t believe how many times it has taken me to fall on my face without Him, before I realize I could just go to Him first. I wrote in my January blog that learning the language is a process. A lot of things are a process, but those who endure to the end will be saved.

Picture from Bad Honnef, waving at Cat in a tree!

As always, feel free to leave a comment or a question.

God Bless, Genevieve

Conversation and Conduct

Hello Readers!

One of the most evident things I am learning is communication and the power of words. Though I have read Genesis multiple times, until I studied speech and conversation from a biblical context, did I realize that God spoke the world into existence. We as His children have the power to speak words of life into our own lives. Both death and life are in the power of the tongue. We do not have to say everything that comes to our mind. Our words are a reflection of our heart, when someone speaks with an unbridled mouth I can know that their heart is unbridled too. A fool is known by the multitude of his words. The words that we speak have the power to justify or condemn us when we meet with God in the Day of Judgment. Our words are powerful and we are responsible to God for what we say.

View from my bus stop in my town

Now let me explain how I came to this revelation. A sentence, with correct German grammar, can take a long time to formulate. That means, I have to really think if what I want to say is worth saying or not, considering the amount of effort required on my brain. I am a gregarious person; some even call me a ‘social butterfly’. If you know me, you know that I truly enjoy interacting with people. The grammar hinders me from being able to speak with as many people as I want to, which has turned out to be a great thing. Instead of talking, I listen. James 1:19 says let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. The word ‘let’ implies that every man has a choice. YOU have a choice.

Some of my most treasured conversations are those with my Grandfather. He is a man of few words, so when he opens his mouth I know to listen. I hang on his every syllable. I have noticed during my experience as an exchange student, that when I raise my hand in class or begin to say something in a group of my friends, that the room falls to complete silence to hear what I have to say. So when I speak, I want my words to be righteous and just. I wonder how many people would be ashamed, if their conversations through the week were to be printed out and handed to their Pastor.

Old-fashion German car

Last week I met with twenty-five CBYXer’s in Bad Honnef for our midyear stay camp. The first day we visited Bonn, and the second day Köln. In Bonn we had a city tour, visited governmental buildings and museums, and ate dinner all together at a ‘typical German Resteraunt’. (It was hard to find something on the menu I haven’t eaten yet!) In Köln we visited the Cathedral, had a city tour and visited the Lindt Chocolate factory. I took over three hundred pictures and half a dozen videos during the first two days. 

This is the picture of the Catholic Cathedral (click here for a virtual tour).

It took more than six centuries to be completed. It is the tallest Gothic building in the world. I was beyond flabbergasted when our tour guide informed us that the sole reason it was built. The ONE and only reason, was to honor the bones of the Three Wise Men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem. Just their bones. After I found that out, I had yet another reason to be glad that Jesus resurrected from the cross and did not leave His bones behind.

Line of resteraunts in Köln (Cologne)

The Lindt Chocolate factory was cool, I read about the history of the cocoa bean and there was a room where you could feel the muggy climate where it grows, but they don't grow their own beans. I saw chocolate being poured into their forms, shaken by huge machines, then put through a giant refrigerator. I also encountered a large group of American students who were also visiting the chocolate museum. As you can guess, I struck up a conversation. They looked shocked when I spoke English, because they thought at first I was a native German. I didn’t eat any chocolate that day, but want to return again in the spring to visit again. In the Lindt Café, I ordered carrot ginger soup with curry mousse on top and an espresso. The soup was so spicy that I couldn’t taste the espresso that was so strong it almost gave me a heart attack. It was one of my most memorable lunches here. 

Chocolate Lady! The chocolate fountain is behind her.

Enjoying the soup with 2 CB'ers

In the Bonn museum we learned about the history of Germany after World War II. Berlin was completely totaled to ground level, the majority of the men were separated from their wives or died in the war. There is a saying that ‘women built Germany’, because they were the only surviving working force left. There were pictures of women stacking bricks into massive piles to survey how many they had then to begin rebuilding. Here is a picture of some of the signs people posted around the city to search for a lost family member.

Wo bist Du? - Where are you?

The youth hotel that we stayed at turned out to be more beautiful than I expected. Though it was a mix of fog and drizzle I explored the trails with a CBYX friend of mine. The landscape was gorgeous considering there were no signs of life. The floor of the forest was orange with withered leaves, and the bark was dark brown with moisture. The only color was electric green moss that covered fallen trees. This picture was taken from really far away, if you click on the picture you can see how high up the tree I’m sitting on actually was. I also want to return in spring time to wander through the paths again.

Overall, the week I spent with Americans went well. I learned, based on multiple actions on their part that I have left in many senses the stage of childhood. I spent the week listening to stories, watching movies, sharing jokes, and reflecting on how I have changed. I have not had time to think what it will be like being surrounded by Americans completely. The Monday I was back in school I found that we will have five midyear exchange stay students join us for two weeks. The contents of the day is always new and unexpected but what stays the same is the need for communication. God is challenging me to mean what I say, and teaching me to ‘keep my mouth’. To ‘keep’ means in the Greek/Hebrew dictionary to guard. Proverbs 21:23 promises ‘whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles’. The last thing I need is a self-engaged battle that I was never meant to fight in.

May God bless you this week and give you a revelation of the importance of your words,

Alles Gute (All is well), Genevieve