Stories for the Table: Horses and Chariots

Hello Readers! Happy 40th post!

Real Bull Horns = Drinking Cup
= No thank you.

Last Saturday I went to one of the biggest midieval fairs in Northern Germany. There was funky live music, awesome food, hand crafted toys, and a totally shocking amount of people that were well equipped with the suitable clothing. I went with a couple friends who told me that the entrance fee would be reduced if you were dressed up. I quickly braided one of those wrap around your haid braids and placed the end over my forehead. I received some pecuilar looks on the way from the parking lot to the fair, but I got my ticket for six dollars cheaper. Plus, once inside, I was instantly back to normal in comparison to a lot of other people.

Mmmmm....fried rat on a stick with a jalepeno pepper!!
It was suprisingly dry...just kidding it was chicken :D

We learned a dance! The first minute or two, they are
telling the audience the steps and we were supposed to
do the steps along.

See what I mean? Not so bad having my little scarf.

The rest of this blog entry, I want to share a story and revelation with a mix of pictures from the medieval fair.

Not apart of the fair, but typical siding for houses in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

As a child I found it easy to become captivated by the colossal trees in my back yard. With childhood amazement I imagined their roots stretching deep into the earth and kneading through the soil. I thought the trees were invincible. Shortly before I left for Germany in September, there was a hurricane. Although the storm only took a short time to plow through the east coast, the damaging effects proved to be long term. I vividly remember the sixty foot trees rattling in the wind, and swaying like weak seaweed in a tempest.

After the last wave of power wind and rain swept across our town, everything was silent. I was aware of the saying, ‘silence before a storm’, but that day I experienced that there is silence after a storm too. I walked to the end of the driveway to see massive branches laying on the ground, shattered into pieces. Trees teetered on power lines and laid across the street. A lot of them were split right down the middle. The mixture of downpour and high winds soaked the roots of the trees and they simply fell over. They lost their grip, their roots weren’t deep enough.

After Battle

It has rained the last five days here. To my knowledge, we are in no danger of a hurricane, but rain often has the power to replay the past in our minds. This exchange year has taught me a lot. One of the most significant is the realization of my source of strength. God always told the Israelites not to trust in chariots, horsemen, and iron. I can imagine the modern equivalent for an adult is a healthy bank account, a house, and a mode of transportation. But I do not have a house or a car to find my confidence or strength, so I had to evaluate what I relied on. A lot of my strength relied on my personal abilities. Abilities that seemed to flicker to nothing throughout this year. For example, I enjoy math because I can generally pick up on the theory relatively quickly. Unfortunately, I was not able to understand the mathematical terms and the lesson until this last month.

Asking my classmates was out of the question because they had to understand themselves first before they could explain calculus to me in simple German. It was a task I didn’t want to require of them. So I sat and tried to take notes in this class for seven months with somehow not being able to understand. Every lesson I was one concept behind, it felt like I was in a ditch with someone throwing the dirt on me. I do not need the credit at my home high school, but it felt more like a fight of principle. The teacher said if I didn’t need the grade, I could gladly read a book in the class. In fact, the last exchange student only wrote letters to her family. Nevertheless, I was not that student. I am Genevieve and I can do math.

Despite my efforts to flip as quickly as possible through my dictionary or German synonym book, I have yet to understand a lesson. This is something I really struggle with because it makes me feel incompetent. After excusing myself to go to the bathroom (and recollect myself), the Holy Ghost called this verse into mind.

‘Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.’ Psalm 20:7

A Medieval Rock Band

My ‘intellectual’ capability was a horse, my ‘memorization ability’ was a chariot. I found out in a short time not to rely on myself, because it was ineffective and unreliable. Here is a link to Dr. Jeffers, ‘I am a god’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZXHOf1ssk It revealed to me that in order to accomplish what Jesus wants me to do, I need His strength. I need to trust that He will come through with what He said, than to rely on my personal ‘ability’.

This brings me back to the ‘strong trees’. They seemed undefeatable, but proved to be weak. God told the people of Israel, that they would shame themselves after seeing what they trusted fail them. With time, the human loses many abilities. So rather than wait until I am so drained from using my own strength, I choose to make Jesus my strength. In Deuteronomy 31:8 He promised to never fail us. He always comes through with what He says. I have experienced a part of a song I always sung as a kid.