KARNIVAL 2006!

The MM's and I braved the snow and the million other people and got a front row viewing of the festivities!

Koelle Alaaf!

VIVA COLONIA!

ROSENMONTAG PARADE!

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL!

Germans are serious about their beer! Kindove hard to find a coke....

KARNIVAL!

Koeln is the biggest Karnival destination in all Europe. They are infamous for their street parties and Rosenmontag Parade which was today! I could completely do without the street parties since for me this involves people banging drums outside my window until 4 a.m., blasting sirens, layers of broken beer bottles to avoid along with puddles of vomit...But it was worth it for the parade today! Good times!

Bono Quotes

I have read many different perspectives and opinions on Bono lately. Some wierd stuff he has done at his concerts where people left thinking he sounded like the Antichrist.. that sort of thing. I guess you could say that some of his quotes could be taken as "flirting" with pluralism. And we all know how uptight some of us can get about that. But I like Bono. He is in your face. He disdains religion over relationship, he has a really unique spirituality. And I kind of like the way he bashes the establishment and makes people feel really uncomfortable. I think in that respect he is a lot like Jesus. He is also Irish, and wears cool sunglasses, which only ups the cool factor. So here are some quotes from a book called "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas."

"There's nothing hippie about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes divisive love, but love it is. I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross."

"But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled… . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven."

When the Hard Rains Come

Is it wrong to count the cost? Even if it takes only a moment? I cannot sleep and my mind is a jumble of emotion and turmoil. I was laying in my bed only a moment ago, aching for my best friend. She sent me a text message at 3 this morning (my time) asking me to call her because it was an emergency. She had just found out that her father had died. She is in training for the same type of work that I do here, she is in Virgina. Far far away from Oregon.
I lay there aching because she is now without an earthly Father and a brief moment later I was rejoicing because her earthly Father is now with her Heavenly One, and I KNOW my best friend has God with her right now. I am so thankful that in the midst of her grief that she has Him. As I lay there and tears soaked my pillow, selfishly I started to go over in my mind what I was not going to be able to do because I can't be there with her. I answered a call to come here over a year ago and this is the first time the full impact of what exactly I gave up in my obedience has hit me. I could not give her a hug when I heard the news, I did not get to say goodbye to Sheldon. I am not going to get to visit him when he was going to visit her here next year. I don't get to walk with her in person through these next few hard weeks as she deals with arrangments, settles his estate, and...grieves. I can only pray and ask that my friends that are still there give her a hug from me. I love my friend so much. So much so that at the times when she is hurting it is like my insides are being twisted too. But is it wrong to count that as a loss? I am not sure yet. Is it wrong to grieve it? I am not sure of that either. I don't want to have a sense of martyrdom, in fact I would despise feeling that way. Sheldon is with Jesus. My friend is flying back to Oregon. I am here. I am supposed to be here. God knew that this was the way it was going to be, and he planned it this way. I don't need to know why. I don't even feel like asking. I just know that what he gave up for me is what he has asked from me. Nothing less or more than myself. Maybe it is ok to count the cost, if only for a second. Maybe that is what helps us to appreciate and have a deeper understanding of how much more he gave up for us. I hope that you will never hear me say that this grief for her and for her Father, this aching to be with my best friend, and this sadness that I did not get to say goodbye to Sheldon was not worth it in the end. Sheldon, will you give Jesus a hug for me? Julie I love you, and I am so so sorry. Jesus, thank you that I am here, and thank you that you are with us all.