Sabbath

We are told to honor the Sabbath. Often times, people go to church on Sunday and say that it is that action which makes Sunday the Sabbath. The thing is, I don’t know if that is true. I know that we are supposed to honor the Sabbath in our lives in order to keep ourselves in optimal health, but I think that the Day of Rest is more than just going to church. I guess I don’t know that much about Sabbath, but from what I know, it is more like giving yourself one day a week to rest and do nothing else. That means no work; not even school. If that is true, then today was definitely the Sabbath. We did nothing. There were no events planned, other than meals and coffee break, so we spent most of the day just hanging out. I guess I should rewind to what happened last night before I talk about today. I got back to my room last night a little before I went to bed to find another guy in there. He was dropping his girlfriend off at the school, and he would be leaving the next day. He was German, and his English was limited. We spent most of the night laying on our beds talking to each other; he was speaking English, and I was speaking German. Neither of us was perfect, so every once in awhile, there would be a pause where the other person would fill in the correct word. It was great. He kept saying, “This is so funny: two guys from different countries speaking different languages while talking with each other.” When I woke up this morning, after he left, I found out that he had a little Frau Lehman in him, or maybe it’s just the spirit of Germans to give things to Iowans because I found 10 Euro placed under my computer. I can say that I’ve been treated very well since I’ve been here. It’s incredible how much hospitality I’ve received in just these short 5 days. People, including myself, could really learn something from the Germans I’ve met so far: be nice to guests. This morning, again, we had brunch. Castles have brunch. There were sandwiches and nuts. I guess that people eat mixtures of nuts with milk instead of cereal. I had oatmeal. During brunch, I learned more about Pick A Pocket, one of the ministries here. Every time I hear about it, it amazes me. You should check it out. Here are some websites: www.myspace.com/pickapockettour and www.pickapocket.net. They are planning on travelling around the United States later this spring to cities on the east coast while trying to raise awareness about extreme global poverty. It’s an amazing ministry dealing with people and places that most of us never think about. After brunch, I spent most of the day on the student floor getting to know the people more. There are a lot of interesting people here. Interesting, as in good, not bad. Nothing really happened other than telling each new person who you are and what you are. Dinner came and went, and nobody had any plans for the night until two girls came into the dining hall shouting, “We’re going sledding! Who wants to come with?” I was the only one who bit the hook, so the 3 of us headed out to the hill in the forest called Slow Death. It’s a really long hill that is really slow. It’s not steep, and it’s not short. Are spirits were so high on our climb up the hill, but we lost one of the girls because she was out of breath. So the 2 of us made it to the top, only to find out that it was too flat at the top to start off. Pushing ourselves down the hill slowly, we eventually took off after we had pushed ourselves halfway down. That little ride was great though. Lots of snow in the pants and very cold hands. It only took a couple rides down the hill and walking back up to wear us out, so we went back. I’m back here now, and the guys just left. I’m left alone on the student floor with all of the girls, so it’s time to head downstairs. Last night was a late night staying up talking with Matthias, so tonight will be early. Tomorrow, classes start for the DTS, so I will have to find something else to do. I hear that there is a giant tree swing somewhere hidden in the forest, and I also hear that there are wild boars out there that have attacked students before. I think I’ll try to find both. Forget about wolves, there are actually boars. Good night my friends, bis Morgen.