take this world.

Signature of Divine

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:58:27 -0500

While walking through the Cathedrale de Lausanne, I was struck by so many thoughts. First at the awe-inspiring beauty and massiveness of the building. It is a place of peace, of worship, of refuge, and of discovering spirituality. I felt so incredibly small, standing there in the middle of the grandeur; it really is a humbling experience to think that man builds these places for the Lord all over the world. Which leads me to my next thought: when we are there, are we worshiping God or are we worshiping the place that was made to worship Him. Are we worshiping the living God or are we worshiping the images of him on the windows? It’s very easy to get wrapped up in so many things other than God.

Anyway, the place was amazing. I loved it. And while I was soaking it all up, staring around at the images of God and beauty of the architecture, NeedToBreathe’s song, “Signature of Divine” popped into my head. The first lyrics of the song are:

Cathedrals have tried in vain to show the image of your face. We are, by your design, signature of divine

WE are a signature of divine. We can try all we want to show the image of God’s face and reflect the beauty that is God, but we will fall short. Every time. So, so far short of anything that comes close to His greatness. We, however, as a people, are the only thing made in His image. We are his signature, his prized creations. Nothing we create can ever be as good as what he created: us. Talk about awe-inspiring. Looking at these buildings and knowing that they were created by man while we were created by the Creator. It’s reason to praise Him, sing his name.

Your ways are lovely, so high above me. Yahweh.

Signature of Divine - NeedToBreathe

France, Lausanne, and Montreux

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:00:46 -0500

Pooja, Mallory, Paige, and I started the weekend off on Friday by wandering over to France. The bus ride is less than 20 minutes, so the goal was to explore where we could in France and see what there was to see. After spending an hour in Geneva trying to figure out which bus to take and tickets to buy, we ended up across the border in a residential area with a few restaurants, shops, and the never ending supply of hair salons that seem to plague Europe (Geneva and this town in France, at least). We stumbled upon a crêperie and had the best meal that I can imagine - sweet and savory crêpes and wine. Très bon!

On Saturday, we headed to Montreux and Lausanne for the day for some sightseeing. These towns were so picturesque. In Montreux, we visited the Chateau de Chillon, a medieval fortress on the shore of Lake Geneva. It was beautiful! The history there absolutely blows my mind. Unfortunately, my camera died so I didn’t get many pictures, but it was incredible to think of the stories within those walls.

Channeling my inner princess.

Then we found our way back into town and had fondue. Fondue, fondue, fondue. It is so good here. We’d all eat it every week if we weren’t so broke from living in Geneva. But it was so worth it! Then we hopped back on the train and headed to Lausanne for the rest of the day, which was beautiful! The city is known for the steep streets leading up to the Cathedrale de Lausanne, both of which we experienced. So on a rainy, icy day, it was interesting; after the slippery walk up to the top of the city, the reward was great - the cathedral was breathtaking. Absolutely stunning, I could have spent all day looking at the stained glass and arched ceilings. We did some wandering around the city- the stone roads leading to the cathedral are carless, so we only had the icy sloping walk down to worry about. We did some window shopping on the way back and stopped by McDonald’s like the typical Americans we are for a warm place to sit while we waited for the train home. It was a successful day in Switzerland!

All Things Swiss.

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:28:24 -0500

The count’s up to 5! 5 days I’ve been in Switzerland and everything that we have done so far has felt … so Swiss. Even grocery shopping! I came back from finding the absolute cheapest food possible with 3 different cheeses, a baguette, and an armload of other goods with French labels. By the way, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world is a quick way to learn the value of a franc. The rule of being thrifty applies to everything from grocery stores to cell phone shops and boutiques, but that’s the way any college student would like it anyway, right?

Yesterday, we ended our Webster orientation with a trip to the mountainside to go sledding. The train ride there was like riding through a painting. Seriously, the snow on the trees could have been painted on, the mountains were almost unbelievably clear and the grass almost unbelievably green. All of the villages were picturesque enough to remind me of the Christmas miniature towns — they don’t even seem lived in. Once we got past the amazingly green grass dotted with cottages that got lost in the vast steepness of the mountain protruding directly behind them, we got to the snow. Snow, snow, snow, and more snow. It was at least a foot deep and pristinely untouched everywhere except where we were sledding, where it was marked from countless sled runs. We trudged up the hill just to the tree line and took pictures of the circle rainbow and perfection of the Swiss mountains before trying to sled down. The deep snow made it easier to fall off than sled down. Fun nonetheless. Then we hopped on the train back to the village of Saint Cergue (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/saint-cergue.html) for cheese fondue and white wine. I cannot even put into words how good this was. And even that is an understatement. Absolutely phenomenal. The waiter informed us that we were only allowed to drink white wine or hot tea with the fondue, which was ok because the wine was hands-down the best I had ever had. Which isn’t much, but still. It was so good. And so Swiss! Shopping around Saint Cergue, I found this awesome wool headband at this thrift shop:

It was a great day. Other than that, I’ve been learning to navigate the trams and busses and exploring this fantastic city. I am still definitely trying to figure out travel plans and who I will be traveling with. The adjustment to life here has been harder than I expected but I love that I can rely consistently on God to sustain me. Going to Scripture and prayer improves my outlook on the situation immensely. It is very much more personal here than it is at home but it has been really cool learning to do it on my own. I have had really sweet conversations with people about different views and religions. Things are off to a little bit of a rocky start, definitely not what I was expecting. But I can see it getting better. God is really faithful and is showing me that and more every single day. I am so glad to serve Him and have the opportunity to do it in this country.

packing for days.

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:55:50 -0500

packing for days.

Take this world. Take it, and give me Jesus. In 36 hours I will be in Geneva, Switzerland, starting...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:33:28 -0500

Take this world. Take it, and give me Jesus.

In 36 hours I will be in Geneva, Switzerland, starting the semester-long madness that will be my study abroad. As it stands, I am completely mentally prepared. At least as well as I can be before actually being there. Packing, on the other hand, is a different story. With all of the last minute details to be taken care of comes the late-night packing anxiety- am I taking too much? Too little? Forgetting some really important thing completely? The questions about money, phones, French, and flying come pouring into my head much quicker than I can answer them until I give all of these material worries over to the One who is all-powerful and in control. From the mouth of Jesus himself, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He has overcome the world and is certainly powerful enough to not only quell my fears but provide for me what I need to serve Him in the coming months.

Take this world and along with it, all of the worry and fear. Take this world and give me Jesus because it is in Him that I find comfort and refuge no matter where I am on this planet. This is a prayer as well as a command for myself: take this world on. Attack it and live boldly for the Lord.

I’ll keep this blog updated during the trip with pictures and posts, feel free to ask any questions or contact me!