So after lunch today, I found this disturbing object on my desk. Apparently someone really didn't like the frankies in blankies we had for lunch today.
I'm not sure if this is a code or just Greek gibberish. I can't make any sense of it…and is that a Euro symbol in there?
Can anyone help me crack the code?
And just in case you're wondering, yes I did eat the "murdered" frankie after documenting the crime scene. Da Licious!
My Bible study ended our semester with a discussion of Jude's epistle to believers. Most of this letter is spent warning his readers about ungodly people and God's response to them. Not good for the ungodly, by the way.
16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts… 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.*
This section hit home for me. I am a critical person by nature, which is good for discerning truth but not always good for people. How often do I fall into complacency, finding fault with people, seeking my own selfish desires? How often do these actions cause divisions? Divisions in community and in friendships. When I am worldly-minded and not being moved by the Spirit, this is where I am, and this is what I'm doing.
Instead of holding up my brothers and sisters with encouragement and prayer, I tear down with grumbling and selfishness. Instead of being filled with the Spirit, I am filled with arrogance and worldly cares.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.*
Too often I get caught up in trying to live my life and do God's work without God. Instead of building myself up on faith, I build myself up on my accomplishments or on how much other people like me. Prayer takes a backseat to busyness and lethargy. I do not always endeavor to act in and out with God's love, and am cynical and unkind.
But here is the key:
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy;*
It is never anything I do that makes me right with God. It is never anything I do that accomplishes anything for the kingdom of God. The solution is not to live a better life, but to trust that God can sanctify me. To understand that He keeps me from stumbling, He is the reason that I stand before His glory blameless. He is the reason I have joy.
As a Christian, I must abide in the love of Christ. And this means placing my cares and my focus upon Him. Not worrying about money or whether people like me, etc., but falling to my knees and fellowshipping with my Creator and Savior. The more this happens, the closer I walk with God. If I am letting God have His way with me, then my complacency and selfishness are dispelled and people are built up instead of torn down. When His love fills me, it is sent out to the world through me. This is the only way I truly love my brother.
Please pray that I will spend more time in the presence of God, and that I will be always full of His love.
*All Biblical references taken from NASB
The night before the Marathon I decided I needed racing stripes (left). So I got Natalie, the art teacher, to design them and John, my roommate, to carve them into my head. The most baffling question I got about them, and from more than one person, was, "How long are you going to keep them?" I didn't quite know how to answer this question. I mean, it's not like I grew out my sideburns…or a mustache. So I would look confused, and say, "I don't know…maybe a week? How long do you think it'll take my hair to grow out?" And it did take about a week…These things are good to know.
On the right you can see me pre-marathon in my cute running outfit and new wristbands. The wristbands were very handy during the race as running a marathon apparently makes me sweat a lot.
In the post race goody bag, mixed in with powerade and some fruit and crackers was a small container of goose liver pate. That's right, goose liver pate. Though my first thought was that it was included in case I needed to induce vomiting, I'm guessing I was supposed to spread that on my crackers. Sick.
So the school has a picnic every year on my birthday, or some would say, the date of Christ's ascension (40 days after Easter). Either way, this is a public holiday in Austria, and the school organizes a picnic in a park for the kids and parents and teachers.
This year we also programmed the Staff vs. Alumni basketball game into the festivities. And, as always, the staff won. The same thing happens every year. You get a few kids who talk smack about how they're going to beat their teachers at basketball. The teachers get the students to "bet" something (usually this involves shaving someone's head). And the teachers beat the students and shave the aforementioned head. It's great fun.
The day is a good time to hang out with kids outside of the classroom, meet parents, and enjoy some nice weather. When Mike realized that it was actually my birthday, he tracked down the bullhorn and made everyone sing Happy Birthday. Embarrassing, but fun.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of accompanying the freshmen class to Prater. Prater, a large amusement park, is home to the oldest ferris wheel in the world, or so I'm told. You may have seen the ferris wheel in a few movies, including The Third Man.
The weather was perfect for the freshmen to scurry around the amusement park calculating such things as velocity, accelartion, and G forces for various rides. They also enjoyed experiencing these things, and fortunately none of them tossed their lunch in the process.
Monday night our softball team had a game against the Mighty Barbarpapas. Yeah, I don’t know what that name means either. In addition to the game, we also spent a good amount of time swatting mosquitoes in the outfield.
I was told when I moved here that there were no bugs in Vienna. I learned very quickly that this is a myth. There are plenty of bugs in Vienna, as my arms and legs(which are now spotted with mosquito bites) can attest.
We jumped out to an early lead, lost it, then pulled ahead late and held on to run our record to 3-1. My performance in the field and around the bases convinced my teammates to chip in to buy me a pair of cleats for my birthday coming up. I have a nice bruise on my butt from trying to change directions on the slick outfield grass and a skinned up knee from slipping on 3rd base. At least I didn’t run into the fence this game.
Saturday our staff softball team had a game against Team Japan. We were 1-1 going into the game and had gotten absolutely hammered in our last game against the US Embassy team. Our team benefited greatly from their pitcher not being able to throw a strike. Seriously. Going into the bottom of the final inning, we were down 20-8 and at least half of those runs came on bases loaded walks.
With a couple more walkins and a couple dingers we tied up the game, which brought me up to the plate with the bases loaded and 2 out. They left a huge gap in right field, which I eyed lustfully. Previously in this inning I had laced a double into the right field corner. I took a first pitch strike, then received three straight balls. Though I really wanted to clobber the next pitch, I knew I wouldn't swing at it. Make the pitcher pitch. And I did.
Ball Four! completed the 13 run comeback in the bottom of the final inning to send Team Japan to a heartbreaking loss.
They say a marathon is 26.2 grueling miles of running. That's not really true. It's really about 20 miles of pretty normal running followed by about 6 miles of increasingly difficult running. And it's not necessarily grueling because you're short on breath, it's more because your legs start to get really sore and cramp up.
The weather was perfect for running: about 15 degrees C and partly cloudy. There was music blaring from from speakers placed along the course and live music at several other locations consisting of drums, cowbell, and acoustic whistle. At least that's all I remember. I will now make my obligatory "More Cowbell" quip auf Deutsch. "Ich brauche mehr Kuhglock!". I should also point out that the acoustic whistle is a vastly underrated musical instrument and is a key ingredient in any successful boy band. Also among my musical highlights were "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Eye of the Tiger." Nothing like a little Rocky music to keep you going…
I was feeling pretty good through the first 31km before my legs started to pain me. More than 2 and a half hours of running had taken its toll. It was then that I started countdown mode. Or rather tried to calculate how much time I had left. This created such complicated equations as: If a marathon is 42.2 km and I'm at 36 km running 5 min. km, how much time do I have left to run? This is the kind of thing I would think about for about 2 minutes before I would ultimately give up and decide to try again on the next kilometer marker. I did this for 3 or 4 consecutive kilometers before I figured it wasn't worth the energy I was expending trying to figure it out in my head. In case you're worried about my mathematical abilities, please note that the brain consumes loads of carbs to function, and well, my carbs were being used to run. I never was good at multitasking anyway.
Kilometer 39 was a gut check. My hamstrings started to cramp and I had to shorten my stride in order to keep the cramping at bay. Fortunately there was a water table set up at the 40K mark, which is just what I needed to kick through the final 2km. Well, kick isn't probably the best word, more like slug through the final 2k. Along the way I tried to encourage myself with such thoughts as "Only 5k to go", but these thoughts didn't actually help at all. Turns out there really isn't much that's motivating after running for 3+ hours.
The only thing that really motivated me that last 10k (besides some friends of mine cheering me on) was the 42km marker. As soon as I saw that I really did kick all the way through the finish. Once over the finish line I resisted the urge to sit or lie down, consumed large quantities of water, and met up with my friends before hobbling home.
All in all a good experience. Would I do it again? Maybe, but not anytime soon.
Schmerz is a very good word to know in German. It means pain. So if you are ever hurting, you can just say "Ich habe ein Schmerz" and point to where it hurts. Right now I could point to pretty much anywhere below my waist.
I am glad I had the foresight to take today off from school. Besides the fact that I am exhausted, I can barely walk from my bed to the bathroom to the couch today. I am dreading the staff appreciation dinner tonight for the sole reason that I will have to go up and down stairs.
The marathon was a good experience, I think. I'll write more about the marathon soon, when I regain better control of my physical and mental capacities. I will say that I finished just over 3.5 hours, maintaining my pace goal of 8 minute miles(5 min/km).
I am going to go soak my aching muscles now.
So it's the day before the big race, and I must admit I am a bit nervous. Missing a month of training due to injury right in the middle of my training program has me a bit apprehensive and frustrated. Apprehensive because I haven't gotten in as many long runs as I wanted and I pushed myself pretty hard coming off an injury, which usually isn't a good idea. And I'm definitely feeling it. Frustrated because after 4 months of training I know that I won't be at my best. The gaping hole in my training program has opened a hole as wide in my confidence.
Some of this I know is just pre-race jitters that will shake off with the starting gun. The rush of the race will shift me into running gear and the battle will begin. The battle against my adrenaline and my instinct to start quickly. Setting and maintaining a steady pace aimed at my goal time. Trying to scale the wall, and wondering where exactly it is.
It'll be good to have Mike and Lance to pace with and some crowd of people from school cheering us on from the sidelines. It'll also be good to know that I have people praying for me and cheering me on back in the States.
Ready…Set…Go!
