living proposal of change

this weekend was one of those those times in life that i will look back on and call a turning point. a dramatic event. full of impact. it was a living proposal of change. i dont really know words that describe it, so i am using this title as a poetic metaphor and hoping people understand me. as if a proposal has been handed in, this time not a load of paperwork, but a living element, a form declaring the intention to act and asking for the needed support. i feel this moment very clearly. usually, the major steps go by almost unnoticed. or, they require a change on the outside. i feel this new wind comming, but it isnt visable. i cant really describe it, but its awesome. and i am soaring on it.
i guess when i tell the story of where i was and what i did, it doenst seem all that exciting. so i will cut it down a bit (i wrote quite a bit on my german side, but no one understood why..)
basically, i went down to hessen to falkos 30th birthday party. there are several winds blowing in this story.. the first is that i rode in a car with some russian-germans, who falko has been trying to get me to meet for months. and while his reasons are good, and also i think from God, i discovered a few more reasons God knew and falko didnt... when i saw sergei walking towards the cafe i was waiting in, i knew it was him. i had no discription or picture to base this on, but it just seemed clear, as if i had known him forever. my connecting to this group is sure to prove important, lasting, and interesting.. the car ride with the three guys was one long theological discussion. one is from a very conservative church, the other two more generic.
the party was full of people- christian, those that tolerate us, and those who cant stand us. and it was a good mix. we took a "time-out" of the party and landed at the jesus freaks marburg jazz concert. so, added bonus, i met up with a few friends i hadnt expected to see. all in all it was a great night of promising conversation. here a few images:








sunday we headed for buchenau, the town falko grew up in, to have coffee and cake with his family. (they gave him a flat screen monitor...sound familiar??) i really like his family, so that was a great add-on. i asked the guys on the way home to stop off in gilserberg, where i once lived and worked. it was on the way, so no problem. they didnt really understand what i wanted there, but they were curious and let me. one advantage was it has the last private bathroom for the next 500km... but the main reason to stop was prayer. there is something about this region and this town that feels like my german home, and i wanted to just stop and give some of these issues of the weekend to God, there, at "home."
i wouldnt make my train from verden to hamburg anymore (well, maybe with a lot of rush and stress, but who needs that?) so sergei called a friend of his, lena, to ask if i could stay at her place over night. this was one of those plans, i think God had in store for me, that no one could have planned. we had a really great conversation, because she has some of the same things going through her mind that i do, but no one to talk to about them.
monday was spent in hamburg. i was supposed to be filming for campus for christus and meeting with the leader there, but he had to postpone, and the weather was no good. instead i spent time at stefen korths (the german that visited me in dallas a few years ago) and had a great fish dinner. then made the evening train to bremen (my ticket was good all day, too, so i saved money).
i guess i wasnt very specific in defining the title.. but maybe some of you can decern. there are a few keywords: falko, verden, theology, russia, film, hamburg. hehe. God is opening doors.