Eating dessert and drinking coffee the way Americans do it. :)

David loves his Pops and Uncle Martin!

David celebrating his 1st birthday!

China...Denmark...Texas...Denmark

So on my trip home to Texas over Christmas, I realized that there actually were people who followed up on my blog, little did I know, so I guess I do need to keep it updated more often. :)

The trip to China was amazing. Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our trip. The Lord went ahead of us and prepared the hearts of so many people. I learned not to put boundaries on what you think the Lord will do because he's always got much more in store when you are walking in faith! I was able to teach an English class at a Sports University for students who were just beginning to learn English and it was a blast. We also did some sports camps, English corners, Earthquake relief work and helped to encourage other believers who were living there. I have a heart for another part of the world that I never thought much about before. God is doing amazing things there and I just pray for more!

I was pretty much sick the two weeks between China and Texas. The jet lag was worse than ever, and I was exhausted and had a cold plus I started right away with a very busy schedule the day after I got back. I did not slow down again until I got home. After about 2 days in Texas with my bed, good food and my family I was feeling much better!

Martin and I had a great time in Texas! It was SO good to spend time with my family and friends. Of course, I don't feel like I got to spend enough time with people, but I guess that will always be the case when you are traveling. But, it was a blessing to be home! I spent a lot of time with my parents and my brothers, Yvette and David. I think by the end of the trip, David definitely remembered who his Aunt B was and I'm sure he's missing me like crazy already. :) We did lots of wedding planning and got to celebrate David's first birthday with him, so that was special.

The plane ride back to DK was great! It went by so fast (probably because I slept the whole way) and we had no complications until we got to Hamburg and one of my bags wasn't there. I'm still waiting on that one to show up, but hopefully it will come today. It didn't really phase me because last year I learned a lesson about that. :)

It was a good feeling getting back to DK yesterday. I was just thinking about what a blessing it is that I feel like Texas is my home and I can't wait to get there, but I also feel like Denmark is my home now. I got excited driving in and settling in my apartment yesterday. We were greeting with a bright sunny ski, cold, crisp weather and snow on the ground. It was perfect! Coming back to school today was also refreshing. I really missed seeing everyone, so it was good to be back.

It's definitely the time of year where Martin and I will have to start making plans for next year because of all our paperwork that has to go through to make it legal for us to live in other countries. Please pray that God will present opportunities for us wherever we are supposed to be next year. It's hard being away from home, but we just want to be exactly where the Lord calls us, no matter where that is. We are still waiting to hear whether or not he will be graduating early, but we know for sure that we will be coming back to Denmark after the wedding, we just don't know for how long. So we're asking for your prayers that God will speak to us clearly about our future and that we will be faithful in the meantime to what he has called us to.

Please also pray for our new Leadership with the teenagers that is starting now. It's quite different going from someone who just works along side the teens to being someone in charge and this is an area that we really want God's heart for. We want our hearts to be stirred up for these kids to really be radical life changers and fall more deeply in love with God. Please pray that we can be the leaders we need to be, which that is being desperate for Jesus.

More updates with pictures soon to come. You can find pictures from China on my facebook.

News On China

Goddag min venner! (Hello, my friends)

I haven't been keeping my blog very updated lately, so I'm going to try and do better. The big news going on right now is that we are getting ready for our trip to China. We met with our contact person last night, who is actually a girl that went to school with Martin, so that was fun. She's a Danish girl who has been living in China for 5 years, but just recently moved back to DK. So, she will come with us and be our translator and tour guide. We'll be leaving the 23rd of November and returning the 4th of December.

We're going to a place called Chengdu. It's right near the center of China, they call it "The Gateway to the West" because you have to pass through it to get anywhere western. There are about 10 million people living in Chengdu (2ce the amount of people living in all of Denmark.) Here is a map, you can find it almost in the middle.

In May there was a really bad earthquake about 100 klm from where we are going to be staying, so for a couple of days, we will be up there helping out in the schools. A lot of our time in China will be teaching English. So, I'm the only native English speaker on the team, and actual English teacher, so I'm sure that will be mostly my responsibility. We will also be leading some sports camps and childrens programs in the area where the earthquake hit. This trip is what we are calling a "taste and see" trip. As a member of this kind of school, it's really important for us to learn how to organize and plan these trips as well as becoming more and more familiar with other cultures around the world. Our trip to Togo, Africa in the Spring will be almost 5 weeks and will involve much more.

So, please remember us in preparation for this trip and throughout our time there.

On another note, life at the school and with Martin has been going great! We had an amazing "Theme Week" last week that was so encouraging for both Martin and I because he got to come to some of the meetings with me. He is in the middle of a BIG project now building his brother's new house and he is loving it. It has just been Martin and Daniel building so far doing it all themselves, so he's quite busy, but it's been great experience for him. I need to get more updated pictures because they have come so far, but here are som just from the very beginning stages.

They now have the whole perimeter of the house done and the roof, so I'll get more pictures this weekend. Martin is loving it.

School has been great too. I'm developing some really good friendships with people from all over the world. I don't know what I'll do when I come back to a place where everybody speaks the same language. Of course, we all communicate in English here, but it's really fun to hear all the different languages all day long. I started Danish classes last week, FINALLY! So, hopefully it will come soon. I've learned all the basic sentences I need to know, like:

"Vi spise nu" (We're eating now) and

"Jeg vil gaerne ha nogle i drikker, ella spise" (I would like something to drink...or eat)

"Drengen er under bordet" (The boy is under the table)

Haha, just kidding, I know those are very random and all about food, but I'm getting the basics now and starting to understand a lot more!

I'm still loving Denmark...it's a bit cold, but I'm getting used to it. I've been wearing boots, scarves and gloves for a month now...ugh. But, overall de er rigtig godt! (It is really good!)

Martin's Birthday!

This is a fun tradition. Danes always celebrate birthdays with Danish flags. So there were Danish flags all over the house. This is Martin's family while we waited for him and Daniel to get there.
He was very surprised! They had been shopping for tools, so he got there a little later than expected. :)
His mom gave me some candle holder, but he seems to think they are glasses. :)

Ok, so Martin is probably one of the hardest people in the world to surprise. After lots and lots of change of plans, we finally were able to surprise him on his birthday. It was great fun. Pia, Johan and I took the train to Vejle (where his mom lives) and Daniel kept him busy at the Lumber Store so we could get things ready. When he came in, we had hot chocolate and his mom cooked dinner. After dinner, he opened presents and we celebrated with some really yummy (nothing like I had tasted before) cake. :)

I got us tickets to see Casting Crowns in Arhus in November, and he was really excited about that. Johan just got back from the States, so he brought him some Dr. Pepper. That was exciting. It turned out to be a really good night.

School days!

It feels like it's almost Christmas because it's gotten pretty cold the last two days. Although, it's been perfect weather for about a week. Denmark is really pretty nice in good weather. :)

So the start of school was really good. We went on a three day trip to the West Coast and it was wonderful! There are only 2 Americans here; me and another guy from Dallas, so that is fun. Everyone else is mostly from Europe, lots of Italians and Danes. It's helpful for my Danish, but everything at the school is either spoken in English or translated into English so I have to seek out people to speak Danish with.

This week started the first week of real school and I'm already enjoying my classes so much. Besides the Missions School, I'm taking a Biblical Doctrine class, Biblical Survey, Communication, Ethics/World Issues and Danish language classes. So, it's been really interesting. We had our first meeting with the Missions School today. It's a very small school because it's brand new, but I think it will be a really good group. We're planning two trips this year. The big one will be in April and we'll be going to Togo, Africa. At the end of November we will be going on a small trip to China. I'm really excited about these trips and I can already see areas of my life that God is shaping and molding. Missions is obviously something that God put on my heart many, many years ago. I could have chosen any of the other schools at the bible college because they all seem really great, but I feel so strongly that missions is where God is calling me for this year. It is both, Martin and my greatest passion, and we believe it could only come from the Lord. More details for those trips will come later this week, especially the China trip. Please just pray that we will continue to hear from the Lord this year.

Here are some of my classmates. This was on our trip to the West Coast. We realized after we had finished eating lunch that there were 9 different countries sitting at the table. It's so cool, I absolutely love it! In this picture we have 2 from Texas (the guy in the front is from Dallas) Japan, England, France, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Wales and Italy. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with people from all over. You really learn a lot!

Back to school...back to school...(almost)

Ok, so here are some new pics of my nephew, David. I think I miss him more than humanly possible. Every time I get on Justin and Yvette's blog, I just want more than anything to be able to hold David. I've heard through my mom and Yvette that he's crawling faster than ever and saying "mama" now. I'm guessing that his next words are going to be "Aunt B" but I probably need to be coaching him a little more on that one. :)

We are on our 5th day in a row of sunshine in Denmark. I'm absolutely loving it. It makes riding your bike so much more pleasant when you don't have to worry about trying to do it in the rain. School starts on Monday. I am so excited. I've felt very encouraged this week knowing that next week, I will have a normal schedule, responsibility, homework, etc. :) I'm really excited to see what God is going to do.

I've become at peace with the fact that I won't be working while I am here. At first, it was a very scary thought, but God has already proven so faithful to provide whatever I need and I know I can trust him because he's called me here and still teaching me to depend on him for all my needs. I'm just so thankful for friends and for being a part of the body of christ.

Martin is working hard as always. He is almost finished remodeling his mom's house, just in time to begin building his brother's new house. I thought that I grew up in a family of construction, but I hadn't seen anything until this family. We've been working on new projects since I've been here. First it was my apartment, then his mom's house, now it will be Daniel and Pia's new house that they are building from the ground up. There is also another project in the future that is very exciting. The church has given Martin the opportunity to remodel this old farm building next to the church into a hang out/meeting place for the teenagers. With the help of Pia (she's an architect) they've made a plan for the space and the exciting part is that he will build an apartment attached that he will be able to live in, and then both of us after we are married. We'll get to design it ourselves and then also have someone pay us to build it. It's really exciting, but still in the very beginning stages, so we're still praying God will be done for it.

Teen Radical has been going great. I feel like I am finally really connecting with some of the kids and they are hungry for Jesus. The Danish church is very different from the American church, but I feel so blessed to be a part of this one, they are hungry for change and hungry for Jesus. I'm excited to see what will happen in this new year.

Check out the new pictures of Teen Radical on my Picasa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/LynseyWardlaw

The exciting world of no schedule!

So here I am on my 5th week in Denmark with absolutely no schedule. I must say, it does get a little old. :) I think you wish and wish for more time off, but then when you have too much, you can find another reason to complain. :) No, it's good really. I need to enjoy it and take it all in. I got to talk with my school leaders at the Bible College yesterday for the first time. I got a copy of the weekly schedule and it is going to be incredibly busy 5 days a week, so I know I will be wishing for that free time back again.

As of right now, I think I am leaning more towards the School of Missions than the Counseling School. I met the leader of that one and he was so excited about the new year. The Missions School will take 2 trips this year, one to China and one to Africa, so of course that makes it a bit more exciting. I have spoken with one girl who is also a teacher and she took the counseling school at the bible college. She said that it seemed like a lot of information that she already knew just from her education in being a teacher. So, I think I can see where God is leading me, but I am not for sure yet.

That brings me to my next prayer point. I just recently found out that I won't be able to work at all while I am here this year. Because of the type of school I am going to, the work/study visa doesn't apply to me. I only have a study visa. So...praise God, I sold my car, but I will have to trust the Lord to provide for my needs this year financially. I know he can and will do that, because I know he's called me here and he IS faithful. I am just having to learn how to live on a very small budget again...nothing like being a single teacher, who still lives at home. :)

We've been working so much with the teenagers. That is the one thing that really reminds me of home and I'm so glad that the Lord has given me the opportunity to step into that right away. Especially now, while I have a lot of free time. Martin and I are finding it hard to find time to sit down and plan our wedding...he is CRAZY busy. But, the reality is hitting me that I kind of need to get started on that, so hopefully soon we'll get the ball rolling.

I was kind of sad to miss the 1st day of school again this year, but I love hearing everyone's stories of ''school days''. It's just so fun.

Thanks for all your prayers! They're SO appreciated!