Friday night

Ok, so it's been awhile. Last time I wrote I was getting ready for a test. Well, I went for the results and they said to come back in a week because they had so many students sign-up. So I went back the next Friday and they said that I needed to come back in 2 weeks. What happens is priority is given to students that are learning German so they can go into the University and pursue a degree. I am registered as a Guest. I want to learn German but after that I won't be continuing in the University. I may get in, but by the time I find out I will have missed a month of classes. I really, really don't want to wait that long and be behind. When we first moved here I went to another school for language and it was only 2x a week. It was not very intense at all and is actually better for a Mommy with my schedule, but I really learned a lot more last year when I went 5 days a week. So we are praying about which route to take... Danny is taking a little course in April to keep his German fresh. He has already completed the required 3 semesters and he does great!

Now for family news. Nathan got a hair cut today and he looks so much older, I can't believe it! My little boy is growing up too fast. We are registering him in April for Pre-school for next Spring... we won't be here for the Fall otherwise we'd wait till then. I nearly cried at the thought of him already going off for school. They start here at 3 yrs. He is so social that we think he'll love it. Nate enjoys playing with other kids so much. Going to school will also help his German so that when it's time for him to learn "school" stuff he won't have the pressure of language too.

Micah turned 5 months this past Monday! He has 2 little teeth almost peeking thru his gums. He hasn't handled it very well. Poor guy! We have named him our drool King. He got his shots this week too. He was laughing and smiling at the Dr. and as soon as she gave him the shot he just had this look of confusion come over his face... like- "What just happened here?" He started to whimper then she smiled at him and he forgot all about it.

Have a great weekend!

Krista

e-Bible Study

Since you're taking the time to read this electronic journal, I assume you also do many other tasks on the computer, as most of us do these days. It seems, that many things that were once done almost exclusively with book in hand, can now be done much easier electronically. For instance you no longer have to steal a persons diary, to know what they, thinking. Now you can just enter the URL of their blog into the address bar of your web browser and viola. I personally spend many hours each week on the computer for work. I do everything from correspondence with supporting churches to banking and money matters. The most time consuming thing I do on the computer, though, is prepare sermons and Bible studies. As little as five years ago, my method of choice for sermon preparation was to sit at my desk with several opened Bible commentaries and other reference works and write out my thoughts on a sheet of paper. I would create an outline from these thoughts and write it out on paper as well. As a final step, I would type the written outline into a computer document. These days, with the help of a couple of free apps (programs for the Windows user) and a few websites, I do the great majority of it on the computer (I still use some hard copy books).

Software

My favorite free program is a Windows program called e-Sword. I really wish they offered this for Mac. There is a Pocket PC version, though, which works well. You can download e-Sword for free at: http://www.e-sword.net/.

Another free program that is available is Online Bible. It is for several platforms including Windows, Mac, Pocket PC and Palm. I don't like it as much as e-Sword but it is still a useful app. You can find it at http://www.onlinebible.net/.

There is also a Mac program called MacSword, which I just recently downloaded. The interface is nice but it doesn't seem very stable. It is a part of the Sword Project, which offers similar programs for other OS's. MacSword is available for download at http://www.macsword.com/.

Online Resources

There are also a few websites that I frequent for Bible study. One is Biblegateway.com, which offers several different translations of the Bible.

A similar site is dieBibel.de. It is a German site but it is also available in English. The thing I like about it is you can set it up as a parallel Bible using whichever translations you want.

Last is a site called BibleStudyTools.net. It is just that.

I, obviously, find these resources useful as a pastor, but anyone with a desire to study the Bible would benefit from them. Have a great one.

Danny

Solids

Micah officially tried Carrots. As you can tell he wasn't all that crazy about them at first... but when it was all said and done with a full belly he was happy. He's been on cereal for a little bit and really loves it. He is growing so fast and is getting to be so cute and chubby!

We have noticed that he has developed separation anxiety or stranger anxiety. It has taken us a week or so to realize it. Usually when he would cry when someone was holding him I attributed it to being sleepy or hungry or even needing to burp. But tonight at Bible study some friends were playing with him while he was still in his carseat and he just began screaming, not even a soft whimper and then break into a fit... nope, he let the neighborhood know that he was quite upset. When he made eye contact with me he calmed down and held on to my sweater for dear life. He did this a couple of more times through out the night. In hind-sight this has happened for a little over a week with the guests we've had in our home or at the Mother/Child Bible study I go to on Wednesdays. It was quite a shock considering he's so friendly and happy... Nathan could care less who was holding him, so we're in uncharted territory here.

I begin school tomorrow so please keep us in your prayers.

-Krista-