we had a good week, dissolving into a good weekend.
dinner at a former bvs couple's house on friday and fun ice skating with the congregation's kids on Sunday.

A New Beginning

My blog title this week is called "A New Beginning" for a sound reason:

At my workplace (The Talbert House) a new "Nurturing Fathers Class" has started, which means that another group of approximately 30 to 40 guys will be coming in every Tuesday from 6:00pm to 8:30pm for the next ten weeks trying to become better fathers and learn lessons for their future life.

But also Jamie came back from Kansas, what also felt to me like a new beginning in terms of getting acclimated again and so on...

And not only this, it is also the month of January, which means we just entered a brand new year!

We three are really looking forward to the BVS retreat in March in Elgin, IL! For Jonathan and me it is going even further, directly after that we have also a retreat from our German organization on Jekyll-Island.

So far I really enjoy having more responsibility at my position and have really great visions for the upcoming months! I just hope that it is going to be the same for Jamie. I don't really worry about Johnny because I know that he is doing a great job and he has a lot of stuff to do. Even though he gets snow days quite often recently...

But anyway, thanks for listening (or reading)
and I greet everybody who's following our
progress here in Cincinnati,

Thorsten

devil, may you burn in hell

I'm sick of the devil stealing my joy! Tonight I am not going to give into him. This week has been full of volunteering and blessings! Monday afternoon a 2-year-old fell asleep on my lap. Tuesday morning I was able to help care for an 8-week-old. Tuesday afternoon I was at Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship to help prepare their community meal. Wednesday morning I was at Open Door Ministry and it was awesome to see everyone again! Wednesday afternoon I troubleshot and ended up walking to the WAY Program to volunteer. It actually felt good to be outside. Last night I stayed with a friend and had a girls' movie night; that was really fun! Today I started at the daycare again but they did not need me for the full time which led me to come home and have a breather.

Sharing the car is an adventure. Thorsten can come to the house for lunch and then I can take him back to Talbert House.

Tomorrow morning I am supposed to talk with Dan; I hope he has some insight. It has been a whirlwind of a week. I'm trying to be content/satisfied with God's "Plan B" but that, I am finding, requires a daily death to self.

Jamie left the house for two weeks. She will be with her family.
Thorsten and I are getting ready to hit the road via Atlanta, Georgia. We will stay at Bahirah's House and spend New Year's Eve with her.
Good Bye 2010.

Christmas Time!

Hello dear blog-followers!

A new week has begun and everyone of us has been so busy yesterday:

Jamie, Johnny and I have been at the church at around 9 am to prepare the children for their skit and bake pancakes for all the hungry stomachs that have been there. Jamie spent more time with the kids and Johnny and I just fulfilled our destiny as being chefs as we have already been at the Halloween Bloc Party :-)

During the worship the three of have been honored and thanked for the things that we do in Cincinnati in the name of the church and also Katie and Parker, the student pastors.

During the skit you could really tell how well the group of kids interacts with each other and how great they work as a community of children of all kinds of age. This was very nice to see and it made the entire play even better.

After church, we three split up to just do our own things, but we quickly gathered again in our community house and it was a very pleasant time. I made a whole lot of cookies and set up the Christmas Tree and Johnny prepared our community dinner and tried to decorate our house from the outside.

This week is going to be really packed with things to do, and there is just one aim: Make it save through the Christmas Time :-) Jamie is leaving on Dec 26th and Johnny and I plan to leave on the 29th for a road trip to Atlanta to visit another BVS volunteer.

I hope everyone has a wonderful time and keeps on reading our blog!

Greetings from Cincinnati,

Thorsten

Christmas time is here

I can hardly believe Christmas is next week! Tomorrow is the big pancake breakfast and Christmas Program at church! I hope there are at least 80 people there! Bob Mentzer and I distributed flyers on Friday instead of Thursday due to the snow.

I have a pretty busy week ahead. Monday morning I’ll be at Open Door and in the afternoon I’ll probably volunteer at Krohn Conservatory until The Polar Express starts at the library at 3:30. Tuesday I have left open incase Open Door needs assistance preparing their Christmas meal. If they do not need me I’ll go to Krohn. That evening I’m going to Awaited (a Christmas program) with Michael, Mandi, and Ezra Hutchins! :) Wednesday morning I’ll either help serve the meal or distribute money and food for Open Door. At 1:30 there is a gift-making session at the library I hope to attend. Then at 4 I go to Lighthouse Youth Services WAY program. When that ends I’ll go to Joel and Abbie Miller’s house to watch their daughters while they have a date night. Thursday during the day I’m going to hang out with the Millers and at 5 I’m going to volunteer at Awaited. Friday I’m going to volunteer at Krohn all day. Saturday morning I’ll pack and that afternoon the guys and I are going to Rhonda and Christy’s house for a late lunch! Sunday I’ll teach the older children at church and then head to the airport! It will be such a blessing to spend time with family!

Please pray for my upcoming decision! I pray you all have a blessing-filled Christmas!

The Winter Finally Made It To Cincinnati

Fairly quick I had to admit to myself, that most of the people(technically everyone, except for Thorsten) within my environment are not as eager about this topic as I am and this is why I want to write about it. Maybe You share my excitement:
Last week we eventually were blessed with one/two inches of snow. It wouldn't sustain for more then a couple of days even though it was freezing cold. Soon rain made the little leftover vanish gracelessly.
Fortunately, we received a lot more last night, today and continuously tonight.
I love the crunching sound of snow, it makes when You step onto it. Watching the big snowflakes drifting down from heaven paralyzes and calms me in a gentle way. Utterly contrarily I enjoy the rush of snowflakes being pushed and bumped around by the wind. Also the moment, when the cold air slaps You right into the face and yet the reflection of the sun in the white makes all cold bearable.
Just recall one of those the first real winter days - You wake up, You open your eyes, You discover that Your whole world is covered in plain, white snow and You wrap Your cozy blankets thigh around yourself ,stay in bed and enjoy the look of it. Well, let's tell our imagination to make it a Sunday.

Regarding the houses' activities, last week wasn't that busy. We went to Xavier University on Monday, because Jamie had a caroling performance. On Friday we've been invited over for dinner to Shannon and Joe's house. Saturday we spent the day at home, to make cookies and other Christmas candy and in the afternoon we went to the Megachurch "Crossroads" of Cincinnati. It was an absolutely stunning experience for Thorsten and me. We've never experienced a worship with 5000 people in a huge hall with a stage, a band, two balconies and a pastor, wearing a red sweater, spiting and drooling from excitement and yet entertaining beside his qualities as a fountain.
This would be the time to talk about my work, but apparently I am too tired and somnolent right now, so let me catch up with that on my next post.
Peace out,
jonathan