Really?!? Again !?!

What is it about me and attracting the weird dudes? I must put out some crazy vibes or else its just bad karma. I was not surprised to have a few of 'run-ins' with men while I was living in Tanzania, but really, I'm in Cologne for only 5 days and as luck would have it I attract one of those men? I am on my 3 night here and I realized that I am acting like I'm still in Africa or another 3rd world country where I have to be in my dark. So tonight I go for dinner (and it's not late at all, only around 6pm). I have myself a few Kolch ( the local beer) and a nice German meal. Before I know it, some man who barely speaks English sits down and buys me a drink. In the short conversation I have with him I learn that he is twice divorced, once to a Thai women and once to a Russian. That can't be good!!! I try to be nice, make up some lie about meeting some people from work soon and get the heck out there!
Really?!?! Did this really happen? Of course it did, cause that just seems to be the story of my life, no matter where I am, what I'm doing or what country I'm in :)

Awe

Laying on the ground to get this.

I arrived in Cologne, Germany this morning. The skies are grey and the weather cool and dreary but yet my heart is filled with light. The first thing I did this morning was go to the Cathedral for Sunday Mass. I was in AWE of God's grace and power! While sitting there in this amazing building waiting for the mass to begin I could feel the power of God all around me. The structure and size and details of the building demand your reverence to Him. I can't imagine how they were able to build this Cathedral 500 years ago except that is was His will. The awe and fear that it must have instilled in others over the years would be great. I can't imagine walking up to the doors 100 years ago, much less 500 years ago. The spires loom above you as you can see from this picture I took today.

Can't make it all fit.

The details are stunning.

I think I am struggling to put into words what I felt while sitting there. I felt like I was surrounded by power, love, reverence, grace and so much more. And then the bells rang and the pipe organ began. It was the final piece of power and beauty. And was a peaceful way to start my week here in Cologne.

New Year, New Beginings

I have to admit I really miss blogging! I never expected that to happen to me at all. I know it has been quite a few months since I've last been here, but I figure better late then never :)
Things have been going really well for me. There are definitely ups and downs, with some days being better and easier than others. Most days I feel really good, and feel strong, but of course there are still days where I struggle and all I want to do is lay in bed and cry. Thankfully those days are getting less frequent with time. Counseling has been really good and it is amazing how things that you thought you dealt with come out again.
I also feel my faith in God is restrengthening. I don't know why but in that short time I was in Africa  I felt my faith weakening. It was something I was really struggling with and will write about in more details another day.
I was lucky to find a job shortly after coming home, so have been working since the end of October. I am working for Control Union Canada. I am the only employee East of the Rockies so work from home. I am working primarily as an auditor for sustainability, feed and food certification programs, but am also doing market research. So far it has been really good and soon will be getting really busy. I will be doing a lot of traveling across the prairies which will give me a chance to see a lot of my own country. I am sure I will be taking lots of pictures!
So also in keeping with the New Year I will be making some changes to the blog itself to reflect more this stage of my life. So I am just going to leave this post super simple so I can do some work on the blog itself :)