We Walked in Fields of Gold

Today we went for some much needed shopping to Europeanize our bicycles and to buy a kirschentkerner (cherry pitter tool). You know those cool little bells, not the honky-donkey bike horns but the little round metal bells that go "br-r-ri-i-ing br-r-ri-i-ing!" when you push the little button, those are the kind of bells we got our bikes. We also have to get mud flaps for our tires because it's wet here most of the year and, if I plan on riding my bike everywhere as much as I hope to, I'll need those mud flaps. We then proceeded to lose ourselves riding on some bicycle trails, although Paul says we were never lost, and we had a blast exploring the area surrounding the town of Sennfeld nearby our Gochsheim. Truly, we never did have any problems getting home, so I'm glad Paul knew where he was the whole time, or at least the direction in which to go, and I am thankful for the opportunity to practice joyful trust :)

There are wheat fields everywhere right now and as we looked out over them on our ride home this afternoon, I couldn't help but think how literally they looked like "fields of gold" as described in that classic folk song. We parked our bikes on the side of the bike trail at a brown bench and decided to take a walk among the fields. I was looking at the complexity of the wheat up close, and it doesn't even look gold, it's just straw colored with all these sheaths and dry, pokey, sticky pieces on it. It reminded me of the 'Desiring God' blog we read about the mystery of God...the closer we get to knowing Him, the more we see there is to mystify us! Even though it takes a while to get through the outer shuck, the wheat tastes pretty good, we tried some a couple weeks back when Eric and Lisa Becton were here visiting.

Well, when we got home earlier this afternoon, we decided to use our new kirschentkerner to de-pit the fresh 20 lbs of cherries we picked last weekend in Wurzburg. I'm hoping to make some preserves, but I never have before, so we'll see what happens...but of course a cherry pie must ensue.

Ah, so (as the Germans say) this evening we are off to a Mozart Fest in the Hofgarten at the Residence, which some call the Versailles of Germany.

May we continue to have the perseverance to keep peeling and picking away the layers, to "taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

Much love to all!

Heidi

To The Ends of the Earth

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you…Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your (spiritual) descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not keep them back! Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; everyone who is called by My Name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.




Isaiah 43:1-7




Hello Family and Friends. I have started a blog. With this Smith homepage known as the Smith Haus, I desire to do a couple of things. One, open up our lives to you and share the power and the presence of God. Two, in keeping up with the blogging generation, I've found this is a simplistic solution to informing family and friends of our updates, news, and happenings while being so far from home. To pretty much sum it up....I'm jumping on the blogspot band wagon!




I've chosen the name 'to the ends of the earth' for this post because of the verse up above. We are called by His name to love others, to make such friendships and live out such lives that exude Christ and bring others to Him. My prayer for me and Paul, and for all who come to know Christ, is this, "Whatever it takes Lord, may we always be passionately pursuing You and Your glory."



So I begin a blog about the life of the Smith Familie as we, by His grace, pursue a joyful life that loves, and lives.



"To live is Christ, to die is gain..." Philippians 1:21