Amazing summer day!

Today the weather went back to the beautiful sort of sunny days we were having in spring.  No thunderstorms, no overcast gloom, no rain.  Still fairly humid, but today there was a nice breeze.  I went to church by myself today--everyone else was occupied elsewhere, I guess--and the walk through the Stadtpark on the way there and back was insane.  I can't get enough of that place, especially the wooded area with all the windy paths at the west end by the planetarium.  It's just so big that you kind of get lost in it.  You're technically in suburbia, but it doesn't feel like it.  There is another big park with themed gardens downtown called Planten un Blomen, and a lot of people rave about it, but to me it just feels too civic and too cultivated.  It's just sort of a couple of islands of greenery in the middle of a fully urban area.  The Stadtpark is really natural-feeling, and much more beautiful.  Today there were tons of people there enjoying the beautiful weather--walking, cycling, canoeing, stand-up paddling, swimming, tanning, feeding the water birds, playing with their dogs, eating ice cream, etc.  There was also some kind of mini-festival going on near the planetarium and they had lots of food booths and a music stage set up.

And I have included some lovely photos from my walk this morning, when the park was still fairly empty--they look a tad weird because they were taken with my phone, but at least they'll give you an idea.

Church was awesome!  There was a girl there named Sarah, from Seattle, who is visiting Janos and Anja for a week or two.  She is going to meet some friends and travel around Germany and to some other places in Europe.  I would guess she is in her late teens.  Elaine was there this week too, which was great.  I always like seeing her, but she works Saturday nights and sometimes she gets home so late that she is too tired to come to church.  So I'm always excited when she is able to make it.

I did all the worship today, which was enjoyable except that my fingers hurt a lot on the strings!  I haven't done any extensive guitar-playing in a while!  Joey was doing Part 2 of a series on the Holy Spirit, which was so good.  Since City Light is still basically a new church body, they have a freshness in their vision because they're looking back to the basics in the New Testament of how Jesus did it and how the early church did it.  I think if churches that have been around longer were to really go back and look at the Bible for examples of how to be led by the Spirit and to follow the pattern Jesus set up, they would probably be a lot more effective.  Of course, different churches are in different stages of growth and development, but having seen City Light's operations compared with lots of the churches back home, even the ones based on the Bible that are seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit, I think that the longer churches go, the more they get locked into a routine and lose sight of the whole "being led by the Spirit" thing.  Joey said that while most Christians experience the Holy Spirit being with them and in them, most Christians never experience the Spirit coming upon them and working in power because they are content to be mediocre and they don't constantly seek the Spirit's leading.  Heavy topic, but a super important one to consider, both on an individual basis and as a church body.  (Sorry to anybody who is reading this and is saying, "Um, I'm not a Christian and I have NO clue what you are talking about" . . . I'll stop now.)

After the service was done and everything had been cleaned and locked up, I went with the Ropers and Elaine to get döners for lunch!  Four weeks until I leave Hamburg, and I finally had one!  I ordered the traditional döner kebap, which is a triangular-shaped flatbread filled with shaved chicken, shredded lettuce and cabbage, and sauce (I chose krautersoße, or herb sauce).  It was a fun, and yummy, outing!

Tomorrow Marni and I are planning to go print our books for the exhibition and then run a couple of other errands, including finding a present for Gaby and Roland--they were so nice to let us stay at their house and to feed us so well.  I'm also doing a secret birthday outing for somebody tomorrow night, which I am really excited for, but I won't say what it is or who it is for because even though I'm pretty sure this person does not read this blog, I don't want to risk spoiling the surprise.  Just FYI, you probably won't hear about the outing till Tuesday because the activity will go very late.  Till then, I'm leaving you all hanging . . .