We are very excited about the Christmas season. This week our son, daughter in law and grandson joined us and will be with us for the Christmas season. They have joined Cadence International and are here to get an idea of what it is like to run a hospitality house. In addition to visiting here in Baumholder they will see a number of other ministries and visit with a number of the Cadence staff.
Friday night we had our regular dinner and Bible Study and then we left on Saturday morning for Christmas Markets. There were close to 30 folks who joined us for this trip. On Saturday we visited Rothenburg o.d. Tauber. Rothenburg is a really fun mid evil city with a great Christmas Market. We stayed for a walking tour of the city which is given by the 'night watchman'.
After our tour we took our group to a hotel for the night. On Sunday after breakfast we spent a little time in the Word and then took the train into Nuremburg and visited the largest Christmas Market in Germany.
We had a lot of fun walking through the Markets as the snow fell. However, in addition to the fun I felt like God opened many doors for some deep and meaningful conversations. Leading these small groups comes with a good deal of stress. I work hard to ensure that no one gets lost or left behind; I try and make sure that we are always close to a place which is warm when we get to cold. In short, I am trying to meet the needs the needs of 30 different people.
When things go wrong on these trips, which they always do, I am tempted to quit doing them. But in the end there are too many good conversations, too many good friendship which are build, too much good stuff which happens. I even believe that when things go really wrong that is the best time for God to show up!