So many blessings!!

I am so happy to report that I have almost all of my basic financial needs covered!! I am so blessed!! Thank you to everyone who has supported me with prayers and finances. It really has meant so much to me. I leave the day after tomorrow! I am so excited and terrified at the same time! I can't believe this is the third time I am flying overseas in one year.

I'm so blessed.

If anyone would like to support me financially, my Paypal e-mail contact is iSparkles@comcast.net. If you would like to get my formal updates, please shoot me an email or a Facebook message!! Thank you so much!!

Marlies

Istanbul, Turkey; May 2012

Another little memory.

A year ago, I was in Istanbul, being a home helper (even though I don't know if i was all that much help) for a missionary family. I learned so much and developed such a love for the culture. The people are so kind and open. One of my first days there, I got to go to the market. Every Thursday there is a section of streets on the Asian side of Istanbul that becomes a maze of booths; a seemingly never-ending sea of vendors with absolutely anything you might need. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and the beautiful pride the vendors had for their items. They all seemed so proud of their products -- so much so that they would wave me over and hand me strawberries and nuts, etc. I was looking at some clothing in one of the booths, and he told me "welcome to Istanbul" and gave me the pair of pants I was admiring for free. Some guys I saw weekly over the time I was there eventually started calling me over to take their picture, too. It was such a wonderful experience.

I will be back there someday.

Kitchwa Tembo, Masai Mara, Kenya; Oct. 2010

Quick little memory I thought I would share with you all.

This was actually the most surreal moment of my life. It was an early morning for me and Mrs. Geri. We woke up at 5 something, and we were driven in a safari jeep-thing to a big open field. It was a pretty crisp morning...and it was still dark out. We got to watch them blow up our Hot Air balloon. They seem so much more daunting when you know you are about to trust it with your life. Once the two balloons were ready, we crawled into the buckets. There must have been 3 or 4 other people in the balloon I was in, and there was about 12 in the other balloon. When the wind was right, and when the fist glint of the sunrise was visible, 15 men hoisted the basket up, and the pilot gave the flame a little juice, and we were airborn. We sailed anywhere from 2 feet above the tree tops to 15 feet above the trees. We watched the sun rise over the acacia trees, and felt the temperature warmed up fast. We gazed down at elephants, giraffes, and every other species you would expect to see. Off in the distance, we could see the tail end of the Wildebeest migration, with hundreds of thousands of zebras and wildebeest covering countryside. We crash landed (the wind was pretty strong) and crawled out of the basket. Where we landed, some jeeps drove up and put together tables beautifully set up for breakfast. They popped champagne and served us mimosas, then they served us an elaborate hot breakfast.

Overwhelming. The beautiful nature, the conversations, everything...was exquisite.

It was my second trip overseas, but the first trip that got me on fire for travel. Hard to believe that was only the beginning. God is so good!

8 days, 14 hours, 4 minutes, 40 seconds.

Starting to get nervous, folks. I have just a little over a week left before I fly out, and only about a third of the finances I need to survive. Perhaps this impending doom is what has been wreaking havoc on my REM cycles these last few days. I have been waking up more exhausted then when I went to sleep, with a spasming back and an unpleasant attitude. Packing up my room has been one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever had to do. I never thought it would be so weird to me, but it certainly is. Items keep resurfacing from long ago -- items I had completely forgotten about. Diaries I had written in, letters from friends, pictures, receipts, books...its all bringing back floods of memories.

I apologize for the fact that this update is a more sombre one. As excited as I am for the wonderful opportunities that have been put in my path, there are still so many hard decisions and obstacles that arise from it.

I know that the Lord will provide for me, so I should't be worrying, but I can't help but flail. However, flailing rarely results in flying. (Shoot, did that just get a little poetic?)

14 Days, 15 Hours, 16 Minutes, 17 Seconds.

I would just like to share with everyone that there is an apartment that I will be moving into when I arrive in Herrnhut, Germany. I will be sharing a room with a really close friend of mine who is from Anacortes (her name is Taylor). I am so blessed to have a place to stay already, and I am happy to also share that I will have super inexpensive rent (because our room is very small). I am so excited! It was such an answer to prayer.

I am busily preparing for my open house tomorrow! And within the next week, I will also be posting on Facebook a Silent Auction of sorts, where there will be a few cool items up for bid, some of my photography, and some baked goods as well.

So much love,
Marlies

Toronto, Ontario, Canada [April 2012]

It has come to my attention that I haven't shared much of my travels with anyone outside of my immediate friend/family group. So I have decided that when a memory falls from my subconscious and starts rolling around in my thoughts, I will direct it to this blog. Maybe you will enjoy some of the stories, maybe you won't. I hope you will though.

I would like to preface my story with a disclaimer: None of my travels here nor there would have been possible without the unending grace of a beautiful God who opens incredible doors. There was a time in my life when I thought I knew what I wanted. But God kindly shut the doors on those things to make room for experiences I could have never dreamed of. Praise be to the Lord who knows us (and our dreams and ambitions) better than we know ourselves. 

Before I began my journey to Istanbul, Turkey, I prayed and PRAYED and prayed that there would be no delays, no miscommunications, no cancellations...nothing that might upset the itinerary of my trip. Secure in the assumption that nothing would go wrong, I began my trip. My flight from Vancouver, BC., to Toronto, Ontario was flawless. I arrived in the Toronto airport and practically ran to my next gate. Satisfied that I was just a smidge early, I plopped down in a seat and waited. Then an announcement was made: 2 hour delay. I cringed. Then another announcement: another hour or two delay. I can't quite remember. But then it came: that terrifyingly impossible obstacle that I had prayed so hard against...my flight was cancelled.

They herded us like cows to a counter to sort things out. As we were stampeding, I turned to a girl that was next to me, I can't even remember what I said, but we started talking. Her name is Anni. She was traveling by herself as well. We stood in line (a long line) and chatted for a while. When we got to the counter, we were informed that we would be staying the night in Toronto and would be leaving the following evening. We were shuttled to a hotel, and we got adjacent rooms. We went to dinner together, then to breakfast the following morning. We explored Toronto together during the day, and hopped on our plane to Warsaw, Poland (from which she had a connecting flight to Germany, and I had a connecting flight to Istanbul). We went our separate ways. About a month and a half later, we started talking online. I mentioned something like "if you are still in Germany when I am finished with my commitments in Turkey, we should go somewhere." And to my surprise, she was up for it! So we ended up going to Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Dresden each for a few days. Her Dad had planned out everything for us magnificently. It was such an incredible trip. (More stories to follow. It was quite the entertaining trip.)

This story prefaces quite a few stories I will share. But I think this might be one of the best, because it shows how God said no to something I wanted SO badly...because he had a greater plan that brought me to places I wouldn't have dreamed I would be able to go to at that time.

So much love, 

Marlies

16 Days, 17 Hours, 18 Minutes, 19 Seconds.

So much to do, so little time.

This weekend will be crazy -- I have so many things planned in preparation for taking off to Herrnhut, Germany again! I will be having a Fund-raising event on Saturday, where I will be cooking pizza for donations, and sharing some of what I will be up to. Sunday morning, I will be speaking at The Church at Bakerview, which is the relocated and renamed church that I grew up in. Later that day, I will be meeting with the Elders of my church to discuss what I will be doing for Ministry. I am so excited that things are finally moving and progressing! I have felt like I was in such a rut for so long, but now things are HAPPENING!

I will be flying out on May 4th, at about 2 in the afternoon I believe. Between now and then I am working (doing grocery store demos for Appel Farms) as often as I can to make a little more money. I recently sold my car, which was so much harder then I thought it was going to be! That car has been one constant security for me since I bought it when I was 15. But I know that the Lord has a plan for me, and material things are meaningless, so I have been praying I will find my security in him instead.

I will be making so much more of an effort to blog through the next stage in my life -- I want to keep everyone involved, because I wouldn't be able to take these steps alone.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Marlies