Vienna/Budapest

Tessa's mom and sister flew into Vienna last Thursday, and we spent some time traveling through Europe to see Vienna and Budapest. here are some highlights...sorry about the random order!

scarf shopping at the famous naschmarkt market in vienna

beautiful church in Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral

oh my gosh! a phone booth!

Belvedere Palace. breathtaking.

Hungary's old metro line!

from our hostel in Budapest

Heroes Square, Busapest

the only ones on the metro!

after finally finding a place to eat

Budapest is beautiful!

there's a church carved into that cave. we walked in as they were having mass.

confessions of a recovering legalist

le·gal·ism

 [lee-guh-liz-uhm] 

noun

1.

strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law orprescription, especially to the letter rather than the spirit.

2.

Theology .

a.

the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works.

b.

the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to preciselaws.

according to dictionary.com.

i, like so many christians before and after me, have grown up believing that what will one day get me into heaven and closer to God is following the rules of the Bible and the rules of christian institutions.

but it became pretty obvious to me a couple years ago that i'd never be able to follow rules. i can't even make my bed in the mornings.

it's been about 5 years since i discovered how i was bent towards following rules, and it's been five years (and will be the rest of my life!) of recovery.

the strange thing is that what God offers is so much better than following rules. i can't believe how often the church teaches legalism when God offers something so much more kind and beautiful.

what God says is that:

we are sinners (Romans 5:8)
but Jesus has saved us. He was sacrificed for our sins so that we wouldn't be separated from God anymore. He has made us holy, blameless, and innocent before God, and he has taken our sins on himself. (Hebrews 7)
and therefore, i can do absolutely nothing but accept this grace from Jesus and praise him for saving me.

the road to recovery is always long, and i still find myself responding to sin in my legalistic way. but God is greater than my legalism!

comparison bug bites

last weekend i went on an english camp team retreat. i had had no expectations for it...i had not a single idea what we'd be doing.

so i entered the cold parsonage where we stayed without knowing that a great weekend filled with prayer (and organization and games:)) was ahead.

learning about our gifts and the body

there was a great prayer room (with a nice toasty heater!) set up, where we could paint, write on the wall, and listen to worship music. someone was in that room praying the whole weekend, even at 3 in the morning. it was beautiful.

and Taby, our youth pastor, spoke to us a couple times. he reminded us of the spiritual gifts that God blessed his believers with so that we can work as one functional body.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12

reminding us of our differences
in how we glorify God

one of the greater struggles that i think women have is that of comparison. the comparison bug can attack when we're browsing facebook or pinterest, go to another person's house which is more "clean" and "nice," or just thinking about the people around us. in college it was common for me to compare myself as a Christian to those who seemed more spiritual than me, and it really hurt my self-esteem and relationship with Christ.

and the comparison bug still bites me sometimes. but as Taby was reminding us of these spiritual gifts, i remembered that these gifts are what GOD HAS GIVEN US. when i compare my gifts and come up short next to someone else, i'm totally neglecting what God's given me. it's like i'm telling him that what He's granted me with isn't good enough or not what i want.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

i need to SLAP that bug! it's ugly! it has no place on me, because I am God's - a result of God's grace. when i compare myself to others, i weaken the body of Christ, and it becomes more dysfunctional. God gave us these gifts to glorify him and his character. when i compare myself, it doesn't glorify God's grace towards me. an eye can't compare itself to the knee and try to be more like it, because that's not its place.

God has created us perfectly, and he sacrificed his Son so that we could be perfect. he blessed us with gifts to glorify him. let's not remove that perfection and glory through comparison.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good...All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7, 11

i can drive...really i can!

sometimes my blog is all seriousness. it's about time for a funny story (of which, by the way, i have many).

tessa and i have been learning to drive stick. i've been driving for about 10 years now (but oh, i remember the agonizing days of being 16 and i was, "like, one of the laaaast ones in our class to get my license!"). but i'd just never caught on to driving stick.

but when jimmie and hulda offered us the opportunity to use their stick car for six months while they would be away in america, we couldn't resist. jimmie kindly took us driving a few times, and after ruining the clutch, stalling out about a hundred times, and a quick trip to see the mechanic (oops!), we're driving by ourselves.

ten years of driving and i felt like my 16 year-old self just learning to drive again. i was nervous and clumsy. whenever i approached a red light or roundabout, my stomach would turn a bit.

but, we've been driving well. sure, i occasionally stall out still because i put the car in third gear instead of first, but that's a problem that's easily fixed!

in fact, i've grown so confident that two weeks ago i offered to drive one of my students home. we found out that we're both in Hradec Kralove on wednesdays nights because we missed the same train a few months ago (i missed it because i was too busy buying food at the train station; he missed it because his bus was late). now that i have the car, i drive to and from hradec, and i offered to drive him home too. so after i finished teaching, i went to pick him up. no problems...after he got in the car i put the car in reverse to back out of my spot. i backed up like a pro. and then i put it into first gear, and....i stalled out. i turned off the engine and tried again, and....i stalled out. i put on my 4-ways and in the meantime, i bumped the windsheild wipers. and so the windshield wipers were swinging away crazily as i continued to start and stall out the car. upon what was probably my fourth attempt, my dear student said calmly, "do you want me to drive?" i just nodded my head in shame.

but i can drive...really i can!

scripture that ought not be kept to myself

Sttrengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you."
Isaiah 35:3,4

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
Isaiah 40:9