I hope each of you enjoyed time with your families and friends celebrating that Jesus is alive and because of Him we have life to the fullest extent! Today (Monday) is a holiday in Austria to celebrate Easter. Businesses are still closed and schools are not in session, including my German course at IKI. In the last two weeks I’ve visited two Easter markets. One was at Schloss Schönbrunn (once a home of the Habsburg Dynasty) and the other at Freyung (a triangular plaza), which is known also known as the Altwiener Osternmarkt (Old Viennese Easter Market). These photos are from the Schönbrunn market:

Here is the egg I selected. I know it doesn’t have any color like so many I show in the pictures, but I liked that the design was intricate and the egg shell white. By the way, this is a real egg shell! It just seemed like the perfect egg for my first Easter in Austria.

a few words from the past . . .
So I’m still trying to find where I’ve put things in all of my many storage places in this apartment. I’m sure when I put them in a certain cabinet or drawer I have a very logical reason for why I put that there. But then I forget all of my logic and . . .

Well, while looking for one thing I stumbled across my journals. I share this with you because in only a year’s time I had already lost perspective on Who My God really is and how He can change our days, our lives and transform how we view whatever it is we’re going through. Here are a few excerpts from one of my prayer journals from 2010:

4-2-2010
Goodmorning Daddy, it is great to be alive! Thank you so much for today! You are such a mystery to me. Refresh me in Your perspective: Is it crazy that right now in my mind I think cancer isn’t that big of a deal because I know You?!

4-5-2010
Thank You that I’m able to sit upright and read and move around. Thank You for biscuits and bacon and the fact that this sounds good to me and I can eat them. Thank You for family and the good time I had with them yesterday.

4-8-2010
It broke my heart to hear about a young woman around my age who died of cancer this week. Daddy, I really have no idea what this chapter will look like. I do recognize that this could take my life. I don’t want it to, I’d be lying otherwise. But I also don’t want to miss out on You receiving ultimate glory. Daddy help me to live each day to the fullest. Forgive me when I don’t depend solely on You. Thank You for another day when I feel really good, that I know is a blessing from You!

How I so easily and quickly forget the journey and my HUGE God who carried me!! I find myself here in Austria (okay pause . . . so I’m really here in Austria . . . I need to let that knock my socks off more often!! . . . praise GOD!) and I let little things and trivial things get me down, frustrate me, discourage me, steal my joy and peace.

Then I remembered last Easter. I was about to lose my hair and had been through one chemo treatment. Yuck! I still had so much to celebrate even in the middle of the yuck, and the only way I was able to celebrate was because of Jesus. Thank You, Jesus for perspective and needed reminders! Every day we have is a day to celebrate! I’m not saying that I need to paint a smile on my face all the time even when things are hard, but I too often lose perspective and forget to be thankful. I want to remember to celebrate every day that I’m free, forgiven, loved, purified and so much more.

“What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.” (1 Peter 1:3-5 MSG)

quick trip to Italy
Last week, the Perrys, a family with GEM-Austria decided to take a quick trip to Venice and Rome and I was invited to tag along! We had so much fun exploring the streets of Venice and seeing the sights in Rome. One day for each city is definitely not enough time to really explore, so Italy will still need to be on my list of places I go back to. Here are some photos from the trip:

praises!!
• lovely trip to Italy! It was a nice getaway with wonderful friends!
• received my Austrian driver’s license
• ventured out on my bicycle in Vienna
• been healthy and am getting great sleep! (thank you for your prayers!!)

what’s coming around the corner . . .
• I finish the A1.2 German course this week and will move up to the A2.1 course the first week in May
• will reapply for my visa in early May
• May 24 – CT scan (I have to drink 1.5 liters of milk that morning before I go in for my scan. I can drink milk, but I’m not sure what it will be like to drink that much at one time. Pray for my stomach!) Praying for a clear scan!!
• May 30 – oncologist visit
• May 31 – maintenance chemo #4

Have a great week!