Hello, hello, hello! I have just cleaned the apartment (again!It always gets so grubby/messy etc etc and this is Seb's crazy week so I just want it to be super un-stressful!) and now it looks beautiful. Again. 

Hmmm... What's new. Well, a lot actually--I have been doing so much research about what the most logical way to do this education/life/Germany/LOVE thing is. And I think I have come up with a solution. But hold your horses, I need to get a few more questions answered and then I will tell you of my game plan. 

In the mean-time, let's try just dwelling in the present: I am here in Freiburg! Yoohooo! It is so hot everyday and I am NOT a heat person. Also, a tip: do not start training for a marathon in the summer unless you intend to be permanently partially dead in all other activities. Yesterday I ran 26km (!!) finishing around 10:30 am and I had head-ache/tummy-ache/weird dead feeling ALL DAY. In short, I think that I may have to post-pone my athletic ambitions. And anyway, we are going on holiday in August/September so my (very serious) training would have been interrupted anyway. 

Wooooh! I got distracted! What I meant to tell you about was yesterday evening. As I was feeling dead and as Sebastian had been studying all day, we decided to go into the cemetery across the street (haha! I actually did not realize how ironic that was until I started writing this). The church choir could be heard from our window and the cooler evening air was so delightful. The cemetery is closed every evening so (being daring and adventurous) we climbed over the stone wall and lay down in the middle on the grass. So peaceful, so wonderful. 

And I thought (as I have before... but always forget) is that no matter what you do, you have a choice between peace and fear. Even when you have no idea how you are going to complete your degree or fund your adventuring or see your family (who you miss desperately), you have the choice to trust and find Peace. After all, the most we can do is live day-to-day. 

I write this but I know I am not a good example. Nevertheless, writing helps me remember and maybe will help you too. God is always there making that Peace choice easier. Over and over again throughout the Gospels, we are reminded that we may trust in God: "Do not be afraid," "Peace be with you". It is not a blind trust that allows us to be peaceful. Together with that "Peace be with you," Jesus showed the wounds in his hands and feet. It is clear: we can be aware of all that might make us afraid, all that is painful, unknown, threatening, and still have "Peace be with" us. 

And so, I keep endeavoring to trust and choose Peace. 

Love and all good things!

Janet