Wunderbar!

It has been decided that there are three things to do in Schladming: educate, exercise, and eat.  Throughout the past two weeks I have been doing some combination of all three and enjoying every minute of it!


Education:

The lectures have been absolutely mind-boggling. Two weeks ago, Ridge flew in from California to speak to us about the Ten Commandments. He presented the commandments in a way I have never thought about before.  Here is a quick summary of the main points:

            Commandment #

1.      We acknowledge in God what is true about no other…He is to be held in awe and fear

2.      The difference between images that come from our imagination rather than revelation is those images limit our view of God

3.      God is HOLY, so don’t drag Him into our mud

4.      The day to refocus on God, to serve others, and to reaffirm that there is something more to life than what we have now

5.      Our faith is only as good as the behavior that expresses it

6.      God wants us to protect the sanctity of life

7.      “I will be true to the promise I made to you and to the one who gave you to me.”

8.      We are to be content with what we have. Also, do not embezzle what is God’s…TITHE

9.      When we lie we are connecting with Satan; we are speaking his native language

10.  When we covet we are placing these things over God; we made this thing our idol. We cannot love both God and things. Keep your life simple. Fix your eyes on Christ 

Last week, Derek came from England to enlighten us on the Holy Spirit. This was a very interesting and often controversial topic; our theme verse for the week was Ephesians 4:3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” In these lectures we covered a lot of ground, discussing who the Holy Spirit is, what he is like, how he brings us to Christ, how he makes a difference in our lives, how we can go wrong with the Holy Spirit, and of course the topic of spiritual gifts with a specific look at tongues and prophecy.  It was a full week, but I felt like the most important point that Derek was trying to get across was being filled with the Spirit is a daily occurrence. We constantly need to be seeking more of him in our lives. In doing so, we will be more aware of the sin in our own lives and the need to fix it. In other words, the Holy Spirit will make us increasingly unhappy with unholy living.

This week, the speakers are Sam and Joan Fiore from Milan, Italy. They came to speak to us about missions, and I am very much looking forward to what they have to share.

Another important part of the education here at Tauernhof are the outreach groups. I joined the musical outreach group. In this, we learn songs (many of which are in German) which we then sing in hospitals, elder care centers, and churches. Tonight we had a dress rehearsal for the outreach groups, and it went well! It was my first performance in a choir and I enjoyed it so much!


Exercise:

Hiking is the number one activity here in Schladming, and so far I have not found a hike that has disappointed. Last weekend we went on short hike up to a hutte (big surprise). It was a steep hike through thick forest, but every once in a while the trees would break and we had this amazing view. 

 

After the steep climb, we made it to the ridge. Above the tree line, we had a glorious view of the Dachstein, a glacier mountain.  We climbed down a little ways into a valley and found ourselves at yet another adorable hutte. This food had been raved about though, so I of course had to try it!

 

 

 

The small hutte at the bottom right of this picture is where I will be going for travel weekend in two weeks....so exciting!

I absolutely love the culture here in Austria and the high emphasis they put on enjoying God's creation.  Last Saturday, my roommates and I woke up early to catch the sunrise at the top of Planai, the mountain right behind my school. It was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen.

The river of clouds is covering the towns of Schladming and Haus. Not only were we able to see the sunrise, but we were able to get an amazing view of the full moon on the other side of the mountain at the same time.

 

AND, my roommates and I got our picture by the "I love Milka" sign...our favorite chocolate bar!

Every Wednesday afternoon is sports afternoon. Last week on Wednesday it was cold and rainy, but I signed up to play football (soccer) anyway. We decided on going to the full-sized clay pitch rather than the miniature turf pitch and it turned out to be the best decision. We had a blast running through inch deep puddles and sliding all over the place. We were all covered in clay by the end of the adventure but every bruise, scrape, and stained article of clothing was worth it.

All in all, the exercise here is absolutely wonderful. I love to see God's incredible creativity while exploring the Austrian Alps.

 

Eating:

Luckily Austrian culture is so keen on exercise because the food here is also amazing! For breakfast we usually enjoy yogurt and granola (sometimes even nougat filled chocolate cereal) and bread. Really delicious and fresh baked bread. With nutella. And coffee. It’s the best meal of the day.

Lunch and dinner are switched in this country, and so at lunch we enjoy a delicious and HUGE meal. Every day has been different so far and every day the meal gets better and better! We usually have traditional Austrian or German dishes, but every once in a while Lotar (the main cook) switches it up. In the middle of October (I know…crazy) we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, which was delicious. And today our wonderful speaker Joan cooked us an authentic Italian meal!

For supper we have leftovers and sandwiches--just something light. At first the North Americans were having trouble adjusting, but I think we are all starting to understand this new way of living.

In addition to the amazing meals prepared at school, I have found that the ice cream here in Schladming is divine, and I have made MANY ice cream runs with friends.

I am thoroughly enjoying my life in Austria, which makes it hard to believe that I am already a third of the way done! Time is passing me by way too quickly, but I am trying to make the most of every day!

If I had to sum life at Tauernhof up in one word, I would have to choose…glorious.