Including Cold, Weight-Loss, Godfathers & Perspective / Including Smoke, Hatches, Numbers & Secrecy

to nobody in particular:

...here are some recent thoughts, followed by explanations...

..."more snow, God? are You kidding me?" -- i walked out of the house the other day and, much to my dismay, the 15-degrees-below-freezing-Celsius weather was accompanied with even more snow, just when the recent barrage was starting to give way to the sidewalks underneath -- i know it is strange for me to think the following, but i was looking forward to having decent non-slip sidewalks to run on in the early mornings/late evenings...

..."wow -- this is tougher than i thought" -- last year, i was part of a group of four who had a small contest to lose weight, and, even though it went well for that period of time, and i was able to lose 15 lbs myself, i gained a couple more over the last month or so (Christmas time is a killer) -- well, to continue my weight-loss, i started a new personal campaign, and i have a goal to slim down to a certain weigh-in (which i will not post here) before the opening kickoff of the World Cup of 2010 -- it is a lofty goal, but i am determined...

..."yes, these have been pretty good, but i don't think they are any of my favorites" -- i've recently watched the Godfather movies (i re-watched The Godfather and have watched Part II and Part III for the first time) and, although i find the arguments behind them being great movies valid and seeing their place in movie history, they are not personal favorites...i did really like the first one, the second one was pretty good too, and the third one is kind of meh -- overall well done and interesting, but nonetheless slightly disappointing, with a letdown in the third act (Part III)...

..."does it all boil down to the matter of perspective, or is that just my perspective?" -- we are encouraged to be joyful always, to pray continually and to always be thankful in all circumstances (I Thessalonians 5) -- but why?...think about it -- and after i did for a while, i've concluded that it comes down to the view that we have on our life, on our perspective, on how we interact with the happenings of our days -- to sharpen a correct perspective on life centers on these three intentional choices, i believe -- living with joy (not happiness), praying as central, and having a constant gratitude -- enormously tough, of course, but invaluably imperative...

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currently watching: "LOST" (yes, still)

Photos & Black Eyes / Pages & Images

to nobody in particular:

...the kids took part in a spontaneous photo session recently...


...yes, yes -- it's very cute...

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since i haven't posted in a while, here's a concise list of top choices from the last few months...

recently read: The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning (pretty good, but not as life-altering as i thought it could be), Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane (suspenseful and interesting), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (classic and spectacular), Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (charged and thought-provoking), excerpts from The Bible by God (awesome, of course)...

recently watched: Avatar in the theater (not bad, but not life-changing either), rented Star Trek (pretty good, but Star Wars IV-VI still rule), State of Play (meh, but intrigued to watch the English mini-series instead) and borrowed The Godfather Parts I & II (still haven't watched Part III yet -- soon) and Apocalypse Now (heard it's a classic, and thought it was fairly interesting)...

English Camp / Almost There?

to nobody in particular:

...here's the latest blog post from our family's site (www.xanga.com/thecareyjourney)...

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It was a wonderful experience for me (Ben) to spend the week up in Karchow for English Camp 2009! Thanks for your prayers and encouragement in preparation for it and during the camp. We had 24 teenagers and 14 staff (including me and Don from our team here, Katie who has taught three years now, Caleb our intern, two friends of the Jones family who helped cook and a team from Kenmore Alliance Church near Buffalo, NY) enjoy a week full of classes, activities, good food, fun times and, hopefully, spiritual encouragement! I served this year as Asst. Director for the camp and was able to see it all from a different perspective as last year. Next year I will be filling the Director role for the camp, and am excited about that. It was a fairly busy week, but we were able to enjoying moments of relaxation and genuinely spend quality time with the teenagers...

During the classroom sessions, they were able to develop their English proficiency, work their creative artistic juices through painting, baking apple pies/crisps and even doing Improv skits (think "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"). It was really fun to see how they all interacted with the different sessions...

Team and/or leaisure games and activities included Don't Touch the Can, Ultimate Frisbee, baseball, volleyball, "Kickerball" (Fussball, to Americans), 4-way Capture the Flag, Bandanaball, Intersection Races, and more -- and being fully-staffed this year (as compared to last) made it more flexible for all of us staff to join in or watch. All the students were separated into four teams, and throughout the week, all four teams were competing for points, which were gained from winning activities, saying the daily Bible verses (in English), receiving daily votes from staff for "Most English Spoken" or "Most Improved English", and more. In the end, the team I was on came in second, but all in all, it adds an element of excitement and motivation to it all...

Some of the teenagers come from a church-background, and that does not necessarily mean very much. However, several of the teenagers, when prompted near the end of the week, re-committed their lives to Christ, and that was refreshing and encouraging to see! You wouldn't believe how awesome the singing sounds during the worship/music time, and just the fact that several teenagers asked for us to have an extra praise time before the evening "Etwas Mehr" ("Something More") Bible session was encouragement for all of us...

God was truly working, and it was clearly evident -- but we're all praying that the teenagers would carry that encouragement on through these coming weeks and months. We're able to keep in touch with many of the students via internet/facebook and, when possible (but hard to come by) face-to-face visits, but are trusting for the extra bit of spiritual encouragement from the Holy Spirit to continue moving closer to Jesus, no matter where they are in their journey/relationship with Him...

Would you pray for them with us too?

Thanks!

Here are some pictures that capture a general feel for the week



...our main building...




...English Camp 2009!...




...us guys playing a traditional German kindergarten game...




...no, not any of the campers (although there was a hospital visit during the week)...




...what do us manly non-teachers do while everyone else is in class? why, pick berries of course!...




...me and Caleb photobombing Lisa Z.'s picture...




,,,"Etwas Mehr"...




...Jen's Beginner class...




...Laurie's Intermediate class...




...Katie's Advanced class...




...stretching their English through improv skits...




...4-way Capture the Flag explanations...




...bike trip to the gas station...




...volleyball...




...painting...




...Caleb, Dave (both staff) and Michel (camper)...




...playing Settlers of Catan...




...Adeline and Lisa E....




...Don and myself...




...and we had to give them even just a little bit more of American culture (and our generation) on movie night: The Princess Bride...

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..."you learn something new every day"...

seventeen days ago, i learned: book-smarts and street-smarts are oh so very different...

sixteen days ago, i learned: i can bike down to Alexanderplatz from Open Door church faster than the Straßenbahn can get there...

fifteen days ago, i learned: what a pastor shouldn't do...

fourteen days ago, i learned: English Camp 2009 is going to be awesome!...

thirteen days ago, i learned: these six years of marriage have gone by quickly but wonderfully -- so much has happened, and i'm eager for the next six and more!...

twelve days ago, i learned: i think i may have seen the best/funniest improv impersonation of Michael Jackson by a 16 year old German girl...

eleven days ago, i learned: to walk in to your room at camp and find flies mating on you bed is fairly disturbing -- "i sleep there, dagnabbit!"...

ten days ago, i learned: 4-way Capture the Flag does work and is fun...

nine days ago, i learned: the genius and wonder of The Princess Bride goes over many of the German teenagers heads...

eight days ago, i learned: slugs are cannibals...

seven days ago, i learned: English Camp 2009 was awesome!...

six days ago, i learned: i can play and sing an original song i've written in front of other people, including both friends and strangers...

five days ago, i learned: playing catch-up is not as fun as it sounds!...

four days ago, i learned: Hertha will be starting this season 33 million Euro in debt -- ouch...

three days ago, i learned: when there, buy it...

two days ago, i learned: Hertha tickets don't go on sale until the 10th of August -- bummer...

yesterday, i learned: men plainly should not wear short jean shorts, no matter how athletic or hairy their legs may (or may not) be...

today, i learned: my daughter is one smart cookie...

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recently watched for the first time but definitely not the last: Casablanca



...i'm not sure why i had waited so long to watch this classic, but i enjoyed it very much -- i think it's also my first Bogie movie, as well...

"Anything?" / "HOWZAT!!!!!"

to nobody in particular:

...i live in an age where it seems almost anything can be possible, anything can be believable, anything can be true, anything can be tested, anything can be comprehended, anything can be lived out, anything can be accepted as "right", anything can be denied and anything can be...

...i do question things, a lot, and in a few ways it can come off as a weakness, but overall, i believe it to be a necessary, sharpened strength...

...so, needless to say, i was recently encouraged by the following words:

"A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." -- Proverbs 14:15

...beautifully stated...

...don't inhale what you don't know, don't wear what doesn't fit -- take a moment to realize what is going on, and then move forward...

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..."you learn something new every day"...

...four days ago, i learned: always know which cafe you're going to meet the other party at...

...three days ago, i learned: nothing unlucky happened...

...two days ago, i learned: i love being married to someone that doesn't care if we do anything for valentine's day or not...

...yesterday, i learned: i miss cricket...

...today, i learned: bike-riding + snow + slushy-ice + below-freezing + two-and-a-half-year-old-on-the-kid-seat-on-the-back + groceries-in-backpack = EXCITEMENT!...

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currently watching: "Heroes" (Season One)

...i'm glad we're re-watching it before we start season three, because i've forgotten a bunch of the bigger details from the earlier stories...

...yes, i'm kind of a nerd, but when i only watch a handful of television shows, i am a little pickier, and "Heroes" has some fantastic elements to it -- elements that can definitely connect to everyday life, relationships, purpose, sacrifice, inner-change, intentionality and motivation...

...Peter Petrelli is the bomb!...

*spoiler alert!*(pun intended)*end spoiler alert*