"We can not change what happened but we can change how we relate to it."
Eva Kur

This quote is good - really good.  Eva Kur was an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor during the horror that was the Jewish Holocaust during World War 2.    She and twin sister, Miriam, were part of a selected group of twins that were used by the infamous Dr. Mengele for medical experimentation when they were 10 years old.  She and her sister were the sole survivors of their family.

After the liberation of the camp and her freedom from horrific circumstances, she returned home to Romania where a new Communist regime took control.  After initially becoming a party member at the age of 14, she quickly saw the ugly restrictions of such a government.  Having regained a sense of normalcy with her twin sister and an Aunt, they applied and gained, after two years of waiting, visa's to resettle in Isreal.

In my obsession with Eva Kur, I have discovered a certain mental attitude that dominated her being.  It's apparent as a 10-year-old concentration camp prisoner, as a teen living in a communist country, and now as a traveling lecturer and speaker: she lived above circumstances.

Despite the debate, there is an absolute truth.  Absolute truth says that we live as foreigners in a strange land*.  As children of God - everyone made in His image -  we have a choice.  We can accept the absolute truth and embrace the plan He has prescribed for living life - abundant and to the full, I might add, or we can reject that plan.  A harsh dictator God is not.  A loving Father who gives US the choice He is!

Because God is all-knowing and wise, He knew that keeping our eyes on this world would cause us to live empty lives.*  When He says empty,  He uses the Greek word mataios which refers to futile, worthless, hollow.  When people live "empty" they elevate things as important on a scale absent of absolute truth:

• wealth
• power
• political correctness

When I realize my value to the Creator of the Universe and live in His power, I resign my rights as a citizen of the world and elevate my status as a citizen of heaven.  My scales of justice will look vastly different from the "world".

• wealth I may achieve, but it won't own me
• power I may achieve, but I will use it justly
• political correctness may or may not be achieved, but I will treat every human as equal

Eva Kur lived abover her circumstances.  Had she adopted the despicable standards of the camp in which she was imprisoned, her life would have been empty.  Her standards would have dropped to the level of her captors.  She maintained and lived by another set of rules.  For her, it was not acceptable nor a viable option to compromise her life philosophy to the world in which she lived.  Her very survival is accredited to living counter her culture.

May I suggest that if you say you believe in an Absolute truth and align yourself with being a follower of Christ, you, like Eva Kur, will live above your circumstances.  Jesus called us to be light. Light shows up most vividly in dark places.  Our identity as Christians may not be popular in this modern world.  But dare I suggest that just like Eva, it will be the very key to our survival.  Others notice Different.   Different, because of Christ, attracts.  Living nonempty in a world full of empty is shocking.

Food for thought,
Christina


* 1 Peter 1:17
* 1 Peter 1:18


(click here to view Eva Kur Interview)

Being Human Video

OK; it's the same video as yesterday.  There was just so much in one little 4 minute and 55 second video that I could not pass up!

The baby born in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp did not cry for 6 months.  Born as a tiny, feeble little thing, perhaps lung capacity was stifled.  I'm sure the baby suffered from malnutrition.  It was born in a setting that did nothing to encourage life.  Death was the theme.  Perhaps the baby could detect the atmosphere and acted accordingly.

In April, 1945, when the camp was liberated by American soldiers, the baby cried.  For the first time in 6 months, lungs belted out chords that had never been used.  Freedom had come to the camp but also to the inner being of this small human.  At it's core, liberation had come.  This little body acted accordingly.

Christian, your liberator has come!  If you call on the name of Jesus, you are set free!  Know what is yours.  Know your identity.  Know the One that saves you - and has authority over everything!  Do not continue to live as one who has never exercised their lungs.

Yes, in this world, we will have troubles, but we also have a Liberator who came to lift us above those troubles and destined us to live in freedom!  He came to give us life - to the full!

Be encouraged, any who feels like a baby bound and confined, you have been set free!!

Yahoo,
Christina

Being Human Video

This is a must watch.  Living in the Jewish district in Vienna, these stories strike deeply personal cords inside me.  Take the 4 minutes and 55 seconds it takes to watch this ... I'll wait.

Who would have expected, in the middle of Bergen-Belsen camp, a story of great generosity and sacrifice would emerge?

Two pieces of chocolate, allowed to be taken into hell itself in 1945, would prove to be an image of love in 2016, for a 47-year-old writer, sitting with an empty coffee cup and a full spirit.

No one has ever seen God.  But, if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.  I John 4:12

Francine, the old woman in the above video, saw the circle of love lived out.  The piece of chocolate that had been saved for her help was given to help another.  It must have been a great soul satisfier to know that her act of kindness cheered and brought courage into a terrible life-event in 1945.  But, years later, the full circle of love that occurred when the "baby" returned the chocolate was truly brought to full expression!

I can't help but think that I carry pocketfuls of chocolate everyday.  The Holy Spirit gives me the privilege of whispering in my ear who the recipients are that need the morsel of sweetness at that moment.  Yet, oh the day that the full extent of this love is shown.  I may never see anything but candy wrappers in my lifetime, but I know that I will have an eternity of introductions of those who tasted the yummy goodness melt in their mouths and were shown love.  God is the worker of all good things together.  God will bring to full expression all our acts of kindness.  He's good.  That's what He does!

Sharing Chocolate,
Christina

During a recent visit of dear friends, they repaid our hospitality by leaving a gift card to Panera Bread as a token of their thanks.  Feeling tired after nearing the end of our Spring Break, we decided to use our gift card last night.

An elderly man followed me in and took his spot behind us in the line to place his order.  Not knowing what we wanted, I told him that he could go in front of us since we were still deciding.  He casually said that he comes every night for dinner, ordering the same thing.  I made a mental note of it.

We order.  He is on my heart.  My family grabs seats for us as I finish paying.  As I'm making my way through the restaurant, I see the old man, sitting at a table by himself.  I feel compelled to ask him if he would like to join our family at our table.

He looks at me - pauses - and then asks me if I had overheard his conversation with the girl behind the counter.  I answered that I had not but just felt as if I was supposed to ask him if he'd like company.  He proceeds to tell me that he lost his wife of 64 years just 10 days before.  In his grief, he was afraid he would not be good company.  Acknowledging his loss and my sympathy for his circumstances, I asked him once more to join us.  As he politely declined, I noticed the faintest hint of a accent.  I ask him where he was from.  His answer - Germany.

As I share what transpired with my family, my Chris wanted to get some contact information from him just as we notice the old man heading toward the exit.  Minutes later, we find ourselves in conversation.  He is a Jewish German who, at 15 years of age, was sent to American by his mother to escape the fate of her fellow Jewish citizens.  He says he would love to meet for coffee and share his story.

Why share all this?  The universe rotates on it's axises and life events do not happen willy nilly.  God, the author of all things and coordinator of all events, allowed us to be blessed by an 88 year old Jewish German right smack in the middle of Oklahoma.  Modern day miracles still happen.  We happened to receive one at Panera Bread last night.  Amazing.

Still shaking my head in wonder,
christina

Yep. It's official. We are moved into our new place. We packed personal stuff on Monday, Dec. 26th. We packed all the rest on Tuesday, Dec. 27th. Movers came on Wednesday, Dec. 28th and Thursday, Dec. 29th. And, here I sit this morning in my new place with just a small list of things to do to put the final touches on making this place our "home". We've cleaned and packed and unpacked and cleaned until our hands are red and bones are tired ... but ... it's done!


We "officially" said goodbye to our neighbors. It was such a bitter sweet thing, something I wasn't really prepared to experience. As we wiped out the last gunga (personal term of endearment for stuff unidentified, usually green, that is left in the bottom of the fridge) and closed the door for the last time of what was my home, I made the trek over to my neighbors house where she prepared me and my family a coffee.

That one cup of coffee helped me push through any sadness and move on towards an attitude of hopefulness. Sound a bit dramatic? Good. That was the intended effect. However, it is dramatic when looking at it through my lens.

American’s are friendly. We are quick to invite the paper boy in for a glass of milk, quick to offer a stranger a lift, quick to make small talk with the fellow customer in the line at Wal-Mart, quick to start a conversation in the bathroom yet slow to really reach into our emotional bank reserves and build a relationship that could potentially cost us something. Overt friendliness is a safety net that keeps us busy with lots of pretentious “relationships” and bankrupt with really deep levels of intimates.

Austrians are not that way. After living in my former flat for a few months shy of 3 years, this was the first time my neighbor invited me in for coffee.

However, one cup of coffee means that my attempts to be friendly over the fence, feed her children pretzels, offer to water her plants, hug her baby when he skinned his knee, plant flowers, show her how to dip a tortilla chip in homemade salsa, bake cookies with her daughter, speak grammatically incorrect, give a Christmas card, wave from my balcony, and … pray my guts out over her and her family wanting them to know the definition of LOVE in the form of Jesus Christ … God used as a way to penetrate her heart. It’s a sign that God is at work … and a flicker of a flame of hope that burns bright in my heart that God will use my good deeds to produce something wonderful.

Isn't it just like God to use a move, something we perceived as potentially relationship harmful, as being the single thing that catapults this relationship to the next level?! I love the super-human logic of a creative God!


We are now living a very different life from what we jokingly call our “suburb"experience of our former flat. However, it’s all city life. Now our city life is just closer to the inner city, the historical part of the city tourist scramble toward, that involves more daily contact with more humans and more public transportation.


Wien (Vienna) is divided into 23 districts. We now live in the 2nd district. What I’m about to share is information that has been passed on by my Austrian friends. If any misrepresentation of facts occurs, it is not the intention of this writer, but attributed only to my hearing or their re-telling of the facts incorrectly.


The 2nd district is the former Jewish district. Before WWII, approx. 200,000 (one neighbor say 500,000 but his wife says it's 150,000) Jews lived in this part of the city. After the War, 40,000 remained. Surrounded by the Donau River on one side and the Donau Canal on the other, the “Jewish Island” housed many famous writers, musicians, and city planners. Currently, a Jewish center, school and synagogue, now call the 2nd district home, just a few blocks from our place. It is highly secured, complete with round-the-clock video surveillance.

Just a few buildings down from my front door, there is a plaque at the base of one of the buildings. It lies in a state of memorandum to the 23 Jewish men, women and children that were taken from their homes, deported, and exterminated. It’s one of many plaques you can find in my new neighborhood.


I will pass by this building and plaque every day.


I often hear people tell me that I am “living the life” … whatever that means. From their perspective, I live in a beautiful city. It’s true. However, the call on my life (and the life of my Chris) to live in this beautiful city has such a parallel meaning to that Jewish plague I pass everyday day. A Jewish Savior has paid the ultimate price for my life. I, in humble obedience to his specific call and purpose for my life, have chosen to lay things familiar and American aside. I hope that every day, I am living in obedience and making a small difference … an intentional difference to make an impact on a society, a people, one person. Yesterday it was my neighbor.

My prayer is that many years from now it will be a movement of people that began right here … in my new apartment … just down the street from a place Jews were stripped from their freedom. May it be freedom from sin and death that comes to this same street …