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Hi everyone! Unbeknownst to us who are new to the world of blogging, we had a setting that prevented all of you without a blogger account from leaving us comments. Well, we fixed that. So now feel free to comment away!! We'd like to know that someone is reading our blog!

Christmas in Tübingen!
This last weekend was the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) here in Tübingen. As you can see from the pictures, there were quite a lot of people here, which made drinking Glühwein a bit dangerous! (Don't worry - we managed just fine) There were children stationed in various places around the city playing Christmas tunes on their recorders, and we were even treated to a choir singing familiar carols. The sights with this Christmas tree lit, and the smells of wurst and roasted nuts and waffles, and the sounds of Christmas music made us feel homesick for our families and friends, and yet at the same time very content and happy to be where we are, enjoying these new senses of Christmas.
This week we travel to Berlin to spend Christmas there with Jonathan's former vicarage congregation. We are looking forward to seeing old friends and new, and to being together in the Lord's house to celebrate His birth! We hope that all of you have a joyful Christmas celebration, and we look forward to what the Lord will bring in this new year!

South Africa
I had the incredible opportunity to visit South Africa at the end of November for a trip with the very talented Erin Bode band, as well as an audio and video crew. We traveled to Themba trust, a Lutheran Christian boarding high school in rural Dirkiesdoorp, about 4 hours from Johannesburg. There we worked with a group of girls who had just graduated from Themba, and who sang like no one we had ever heard before. The CD that is being produced, sponsored by LCMS World Relief and Human Care (my employer) will feature these young singers, as well as the Erin Bode band. We hope it will be available for purchase in the spring, the proceeds of which will go to Themba trust. I am so blessed to have been able to go on this trip, meet these beautiful, kind, and talented girls, and to work with such wonderful people from this trip. It is an experience that will stay in our hearts for a long time, and has shaped us in ways that we are not yet able to describe. If you would like more information on Themba trust, or on the CD, please write a comment to this post and Rachel will respond to you!

BEBENHAUSEN
Just north of Tübingen, on the edge of the Schönbuch, our local forest preserve, lies the little town of Bebenhausen. The small village grew up around the Cistercian monastery, founded there in 1190. After the monastery's close at the time of the Reformation, the facilities were converted into a school for a time. Another quiet little place in our little neck of the (literal) woods, a nice hike or a short bus ride from Tübingen. Here are more pictures from this adventure!

Rachel managed to take a seat in the Abbot's chair, but the only flock she could find on the way home were some goats. Hmmm . . .

SCHWABEN ALB
This post is a shameless ploy to tantalize you would-be visitors. The Schwaben Alb lies just to the south of Tübingen. The hills leading up the the plateau are something of a foothill feature as one nears the Alps. For those with a bit of Wanderlust (in the sense of "wandern") you can hike as much as you like and never run out of trail. In addition to the natural beauty of the landscape there are numerous little towns and a number of castles to enjoy in the Alb. (Don't all go to Neuschwanstein - it's not the only castle in Germany!) The pictures here are from Bad Urach. If you like these, click here for more!

Luther Akademie:
The first week of October I took part in the fall conference of the Luther Akademie, in the small town of Ratzeburg, near Hamburg. Ratzeburg is a beautiful little city, for the most part situated on an island in the midst of a large lake. As pre-Enlightenment minds were wont to do, the former citizens of this fair city took the best bit of land on the tip of the island and built a cathedral. Singing Matins and Compline there made for a good start and good end to the days of the conference.
The Luther-Akademie is group of Protestant clergy and scholars from across northern Europe, who are especially interested in Luther and Lutheran theology. The theme of the conference was “The Openness and Identity of the Church: The Invitation to the Holy Supper in a Pluralistic Society.” The conference gave quite a window into the state of the state church Lutheranism. There were some good lectures, but there was also a good deal that just made me scratch my head. One voice summed up both nonsense and the way forward in saying, “The problem is that we [pastors] don’t trust the Lord to do what he has promised by doing what he has given us to do.”
It was a wonderful four days. Rachel and I were happy to see Schöne again, and I finally got to introduce my wife to my Doktorvater, and my Doktorvater to my wife (he’s on the far right). For more pictures from Ratzeburg, click here. (You might need to refresh the screen in order for links to photo albums from this and other posts to show up. But we learned how to add links to photo albums, so scroll down and see what we've added!!)

Göttingen:
September 18th-20th was the Fulbright Orientation in Göttingen. It was our introduction to a German schedule. We both laughed about what this orientation would have looked like if it had taken place in America. Germans just don't think they have to keep you busy from 7:30am-9:30pm. The orientation was great – fascinating exchanges with some bright young minds.
In Göttingen, doctoral students who have degrees conferred on them then climb the fountain with flowers in hand and kiss the girl with the geese. I'm not sure what traditions there are in Tübingen, but I know what girl I would have my eye on if I were a Göttingen man. As for my lovely wife, she tends to fit in well with the geniuses already.

Auf dem FEST!
At the end of September we took a day trip to Heidelberg. Tübingen and Heidelberg share the same river, the Neckar, which gains some size and momentum by the time it reaches the next university town. On the day that we were there the city was hosting its fall festival. It would seem that at German festivals you can usually find something to eat. We got to try new wine and Flammkuchen (a kind of pizza), mead, and then there were the entrees for larger appetites (those are 1/2 meter long - foot long hot dog nothin'!) Click here for more pictures from the fest!

Unwitting Sheep

In Germany, there are no lights in your apartment the first time you walk in. This will likely seem strange to most who read this, and it felt that way for us too. We did have a light in our apartment when we got here, installed by our pastor, who also picked us up from the airport and took us immediately to IKEA to get a bed. After using that bed to sleep off the jet lag of 36 hours of travel and moving in, the coming days felt cold and lonely. I felt as bare as the new aparment looked. The curtainless windows of our bright residence left us exposed to a strange world that was not yet home.

Life took a turn with Linda's visit to Tübingen, as this stranger overwhelmed us with generocity and love. What room in the Chrysler Concorde was not taken up by our boxes (which had been mailed to her), was filled with groceries, goodies, and even a plant. We were not alone. And since then more kindness keeps coming: (temporary) curtains in the bedroom from new friends at St. Phillip, and bright curtains in the kitchen from Mom.

"I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me" (Mt 25:35f). I am struck by how these have done what they have done thoughtlessly, freely . . . What joy to be on the receiving end of all that comes in Christ.

New Views - Tübingen: The Landscape around us has changed a bit, and the views are often quite striking. There is the market square, right at the heart of Tübingen, during one of the Fall festivals. To get the view of the castle, we just step out onto our balcony. But Fulbright scholars also need to be about their work, so I got to my reasearch right away. (This source will require more attention.) Click here for more pictures from the city!

What Holds
Between Minnesota and Wisconsin we had the joy of being part of a very dear friend's wedding. What a happy day, and part of a great weekend where we all got to hang out at the family house in Freeport. In the coming weeks Rachel and I would be reminded that not only is that which the Lord joins together not sunderable, but that his gift of marriage has a way of holding life together amidst many changes. All the best to Ben and Karen . . . and joy in our Lord for making cords not easily broken. (for more pictures from the wedding, click here)

Family Farewells
After leaving St. Louis we spent two weeks with our families in Minnesota and Milwaukee. In Minnesota the Czech fellas capped their summer of labor by putting on a full-fledged Check cookout for us. Milwaukee included the annual Kennell-family orchard outing.

Leaving St. Louis
As of August 15th a month of many good-byes began. We packed up an apartment that we loved. Rachel left her desk at the International Center and the family that she had grown into there. I closed up six intermittant years at Concordia Seminary ("Lots of people go to school six [eight] years." "Yeah, they're called 'doctors.'" - Tommy Boy). Mostly heartache in all of this, and a time of leaving much behind without quite grasping yet what was ahead. Having moved every year for the last six years, I am always reminded that there is a richness of blessing found in the difficulty of good-byes. What sort of life would it be if leaving were easy? Gifts given at the last home in St. Louis carried then forward toward Tübingen.

Greetings!

We haven't set foot in our new home just yet, but we wanted to get something up on the blog for our visitors. Keep checking back periodically for new photos and postings.

In the meantime its up, up and away on Monday!