Hello everyone! Only 22 days and I’ll be back home. Time flies! And with everyday closer to my arrival back home I am looking more and more forward. I miss my home, my congregation and especially my girlfriend. But this blog won’t be about how homesick I am.

I am well aware I haven’t posted last week. I simply forgot. I apologize for that. So I will sumarize the past two weeks in a few words. I won’t describe each and every day but I will try to pick a few things that happened and  I see them as exciting or important.

I was preaching the last three Sundays. It is good to understand what it is like to be a pastor in a congregation and preach each week but also do other things too. What many people don’t understand is the fact that pastors don’t only make sermons but also visitations and other church sctivities or even activities outside the church. It would be way too easy if the pastor only preached. But the pastor is the shepheard of God’s flock. The word pastor means shepheard. And in the last two months I saw that almost all the time. This summer, I saw many people suffering. I saw people who lost their loved ones. We had five funerals and burials this summer. Some of my friends back home also lost their loved ones. I came to the USA scared of what to say to people who suffer but God used all these situations and now I do not fear anymore. It is indeed a miracle and another confirmation that God wants me in ministry.

Last week, we were in Rome. Well, not Rome in Italy but Rome in New York to visit Fort Stanwix. This fort is made completely out of wood and it was really interesting to see the cannons and also hear something about the history of that place. To be honest, I wouldn’t like to live there. It was an idea of a couple from our congregation in Little Falls. It was a very nice trip and I enjoyed it.

For this week, pastor Joe decided to take a break. It is really good sometimes to take a break from all the stuff going on in the church. It is not a physically hard job but mentally. For me it means more time to prepare lectures about theology that I can present here and also to catch up on my youth leader duties I have in my congregation back home. And also to rest a little bit and read a lot. I can’t be rusty when I ome back to seminary.

And now to the title of the report. I had birthday on Sunday. I am 23 years old. I am thankful to God for protecting me and guiding me all this time. If I look at my life, it is a huge blessing. Not everyone has what I have – good friends, family, home, fantastic girlfriend, posibility to study etc. My life is a miracle and there are plenty things in my life which bring me trmendous amounts of joy. And this is all God’s blessing. 23 years of my life, 22 of which I am baptized into the death and ressurection of Christ. Praise be to God!

This is all for the last two weeks. It is rather short, I know but I think all the important stuff is here. Maybe there is something you want to ask about. You can leave a comment under this post and I will do my best to answer all your questions.

I will see you next week. God bless!