Sunday - Switzerland

I have had inquiries regarding a few things I mentioned in my blog, and since certain people are so very insistend upon finding out what is what :-): here is the explanation. The tool that Gisela is holding in her hand on the picture at her mother-in-law's grave is actually a hedge trimmer with a round blade, not a brush of any kind... With the trimmer we tried to cut down and shape the hedge planted on the grave.

With the phrase "Auf Wedersehen hier oder im Himmel" I said to Aunt Traude "See you later here (on this earth) or in heaven". Now for sure, I will see her in heaven and no more on this earth.

On Sunday morning, the three of us had breakfast and got ready for church. Quelle starts their gathering at 9:45 with coffee (of course!) and conversation and we joined them right on time :-)! Again, I saw lots of old friends during that time as well as later on during the break-out time and after the service was over... Daniel and Roosmarie Wunderli (they stayed on campus in 1996), Pierino (a pastor from Italy who will be visiting Coastlands in June), Susanna and Bernhard (both were interns more than 10 years ago), Thomas and Julia Zahnd and others. Of course my calendar for this week is now a little bit fuller than when I just got here! So much fun to see all those lovely faces! Kurt and Christine Kammermann were not in town this weekend; they went with Gunter and Cornelia to a young church in the Jura to help out there.

It was a great service (Vreni translated a few things for me) and I even started to understand a little bit of Swiss-German. At some point at the end of the service, the worship team was singing a song in Swiss-German, and I did not understand a word of it although I could see the words on the overhead. Nevertheless, I cried and I was wondering what that was all about. Then I looked again at the words of the song and all of a sudden I just understood what the words were: You are all I want, You are all I need, You alone... It seemed like my spirit spoke the language already; it was just my brain that needed to catch up!

After church we went home, had a quick lunch and we all went down for a nap. Of course we had been talking about the ash cloud that has been hanging over Europe and specifically over Switzerland in the last few days. Today we really noticed because the day light was just a bit different; it felt darker everywhere. After the nap, Fritz and I went for a walk to the river Aare. We crossed the fields with farms and cows and chickens and walked to the river... Fritz is a wealthy source of information and is in his element in this area. He told me about beavers that escaped from the zoo in Bern and that are now around the river and we surely saw the traces of the beavers' work: fallen trees with bite marks and the bark and leaves chewed off. We sat by the river and I even put my feet in the river! Very cold and fast moving water, that's for sure. We walked and talked for almost 2 hours and it was so refreshing to be out.

I find great joy in seeing all my friends and also at the same time it takes a lot out of me. Not everybody knows the story about Bob and his passing, and I tell them. I cry, they cry and then we wipe our tears and talk about the Lord and what is really important in life. It is remarkable what happens in a relatively very short amount of time. I can only say that the Lord has his hand in my travels and conversations, and I don't even try hard; it just happens and that is so wonderful to me, and comforting. It is comforting to know that He indeed goes before me and that He takes the words I say and lets them sink into people's hearts where those words are needed or speak to something that is deep and hidden.

When Fritz and I came home from our walk, it was pouring down rain all of a sudden! Strange light and strange weather, that's for sure. Fritz and Vreni's daughter Tabea came over and cooked dinner with her mom, which was fun to watch! We had a lovely dinner and evening and retired to bed by about 10... I still need to find out what "Baerlauch" is since I ate it for dinner...