Happenings

Hey friends! So today I managed to successfully make it to the office by myself on public. Woo-hoo! I've had friends and co-workers keeping careful tags on me which is comforting, but there is a great feeling of achievement when you can say that you've mastered (lies) public transport in a different language. Siiiiigh ... my head is growing as I type.

Yesterday I went to an international church in downtown Vienna with a couple from the office. It was quite the experience. The church is mostly Filipinos, Africans and only a handful of Austrians and Americans. A Filipino man gave the sermon in English and then a Swedish man translated it into German! It was a fascinating cultural explosion! On top of that I went to a Turkish restaurant following and ordered food in German. My brain was so scrambled when I got home.

Today in the office I mostly typed up interview transcripts and then edited them for publication. I hate cutting good quotes, but the word minimum was 600-700 and I had about 2,270! It was a great interview too - I was really touched when I listened to it. I also got to tinker (I'm not sure why I ever use that word, but I do quite frequently) around with the office camera and get familiar with it so I can use it when I travel. I was able to take some beautiful pictures of Perchtoldsdorf, but when I went to upload them the digital cord was missing! I was hoping to get some pictures up of the area, but I'll make sure to take plenty when I go into Vienna with my own cam.

Right now I'm literally chilling in my apartment. It's about 50 degrees out and rainy and windy. And of course (since I'm quite smart) I didn't pack any warm clothes except for a few sweaters and only one pair of closed shoes (which don't match anything so I look hilarious). My supervisor saw me standing at the bus stop today when she was leaving work and gave me her jacket and scarf. I don't think that was good enough for her because she drove me all the way home on the other side of town. It meant so much to me and as I was thinking about it later, I remembered the verse in James 1 - "every good and perfect gift is from above."

So many people have made me feel warm and welcome here and it is such a blessing to my soul, but I forget that those blessings are ultimately from my heavenly Father. Every good thing that I'm experiencing here is a special gift from Him and I am so grateful for His care and provision in my life. He is a good and gracious Father and that alone is more than enough motivation to glorify Him.

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11).

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).