new points of view

Yesterday my eyes were opened to a new way of looking at things. We are taking a German class, which is the only class with a teacher not from Lipscomb. She is a native Austrian and is a very sweet woman in her 50's. Somehow she gave me a new perspective on Americans, not a thing that I expected to gain from this experience. She asked the class how many of us spoke languages other than English. A couple people here and there raised their hands and said French or Spanish, but even those were not fluent in their languages. While this annoyed me and made me think of how silly Americans are for not learning more languages when we are children, she smiled and said, "I thought so." I was so taken aback and she then had my full attention. She continued to say that it made perfect sense to her that we did not speak more because we do not have the proximity to other languages as Europeans. While they are possibly 2-3 hours away from many different languages, Americans can drive for many miles before they find somewhere there is another prominent language. I was completely floored to understand this in a new light. Now, I say all of that to say, yes, Americans do need to teach their kids as they are young to speak other languages and new cultures, but perhaps we are not completely ignorant as I thought before. Also, this gives me hope that not all Europeans think badly of all Americans. I am so thankful to Frau Wertzl for opening my eyes to something that seems so obvious to her.

Wein

Today was my first day in Vienna and It was also the 1st day that I spent time just enjoying the city for what it is. I started out the day at the sweetest coffee shop where the people serving Emily and I did not speak a word of English. This meant ordering coffee in the 20 words of German that I know. However, I have found that the Austrians are usually very kind in helping me find places when I am lost and when trying to take my order. So we got our coffee and began to make our way to school. We ended up taking the "scenic route". But ended up fine. Headed to the bank to take care of our registration and got some pizza for lunch, which by the way successfully ordered in German. Very exciting! Went on a bus tour of Vienna and learned some interesting facts. My favorite part of the day was the art museum. I was so excited because it is not only a great museum but one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen! We walked some more and found street performers who were relatively good and went to the Prater (kinda like a carnival but it is permanent). Here we ate more good food and went on a swing ride that showed us all of Vienna. it was so beautiful! As an added bonus it was at sunset! First beautiful sunset of many I expect. Over all my feet are tired but my head is full of wonderful visions of Vienna!

Adventures

                                     

On Wednesday I leave for a whole new adventure. For the first time ever I will be calling home somewhere other than the United States. Vienna, Austria. I feel this like this opportunity has been a far off thing for the past four years, and now that it is actually here it doesn't feel possible. I have decided that this is so much more than just a trip to Europe. This is an opportunity to live a life that shows people in a completely different culture what the love of Christ is. BUT the biggest thing that God has revealed to me is that there is nothing that I could do as the human Erin Channell that could make any influence on anyone. That is God and He is the only one who deserves the glory. So, this is a story of me learning to lean on Him in the unknown and be a reflection of his light to those who are in the darkness. I am merely a tool. 

Waiting...

We all as humans wait for something. One of my hardest lessons in life that I am currently learning is I wait for God to show up.  The thing is that He is always there; however, sometimes I am waiting for Him to show up in this one particular way.  So, I often forget to look for Him in less obvious places.  Spring has sprung and there is no denying it.  When it is consecutively 80 degrees outside it's here, and it's great.  Simple days with friends outside are some of the best times I can think of.  Here are a few of the photos that came from that day.  Only God is good, not me.

Inspirational Photoblogs

When searching around for photoblogs I felt as if I were in heaven. There is not much else that I love more than looking at photos, especially very good photography. Although I must have looked at fifteen or so blogs the one I found myself looking at most was www.archerfoto.com.  I must have looked at this for an hour at the least. I was completely captured by the photos. There are many reasons that I loved it so much, but one of the biggest reasons was the fact that it felt as if her style was much like mine, or at least the way I would like mine to be. I found that she started the blog when she moved to Sweden as a way to keep her family updated on her photography. She still uses it currently. I also loved the fact that the majority of her subjects are macro flowers, travel locations, and portrait photography. The best part of her portraits is they all have such personality. I love looking at this blog because it gives me such good ideas for photos I want to take. I hope you enjoy it as well.

http://www.archerfoto.com/photoblog/index.php

Thanksgiving Traditions

Over Thanksgiving we were told to take pictures of what the holiday meant to us. I took many pictures of the traditional preparations of the turkey, family around the table and the lovely table spread filled with color from the food; however, I knew that was not the picture that I thought would be unique enough for me. I was taking pictures of my grandparents preparing the lovely meal in their kitchen and I turned to get out of the way because it is a very small kitchen. Then suddenly I saw this little sign I had seen many times and I knew this was what embodied thanksgiving and family to me. Both my mother and grandmother are wonderful cooks and every time I go to my grandparents house I am spoiled by wonderful food and love. This is what Thanksgiving is about: spending time with the family and simply enjoying the time relaxing together.