Maundy Thursday

I had honestly never heard of this holiday until we began working in Ecumenical ministry. It is not a holiday that was ever observed in the churches I attended growing up. And even after hearing about it, I really had no idea what the holiday was or what it was for, so today I Googled it.

Here's what I came up with:

Maundy Thursday is observed during Holy Week on the Thursday before Easter. Also referred to as "Holy Thursday" or "Great Thursday" in some Christian denominations, Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples on the night before he was crucified. In contrast to joyful Easter celebrations when Christians worship their resurrected Savior, Maundy Thursday services are typically more solemn occasions, marked by the shadow of Jesus' betrayal. While different denominations observe Maundy Thursday in their own distinct ways, two important biblical events are the primary focus of Maundy Thursday solemnizations:



Before the Passover meal, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. By performing this lowly act of service, the Bible says in John 13:1 that Jesus "showed them the full extent of his love." By his example, Jesus demonstrated how Christians are to love one another through humble service. For this reason, many churches practice foot-washing ceremonies as a part of their Maundy Thursday services.



During the Passover meal, Jesus took bread and wine and asked his Father to bless it. He broke the bread into pieces, giving it to his disciples and said, "This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Then he took the cup of wine, shared it with his disciples and said, "This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you--an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you." These events recorded in Luke 22:19-20 describe the Last Supper and form the biblical basis for the practice of Communion. For this reason, many churches hold special Communion services as a part of their Maundy Thursday celebrations. Likewise, many congregations observe a traditional Passover Seder meal.

text source

After experiencing a Messianic Passover Seder with my PWOC group on Tuesday morning, this holiday holds a lot more meaning for me than it ever would have before! First of all, on Tuesday I learned that Passover and all of the symbolism it embodies, is not just full of meaning for Jewish people, but for all believers - who are grafted into Abraham's family. It is even commanded in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 5:7&8)! Crazy, right?

Sometimes I think that as "new covenant" believers, we discount the traditions and rich heritage of Judaism and dismiss it as "legalism" or "law" - which could not be further from the truth! The beauty and richness of many of the traditions and festivals of Judaism hold even more meaning for those of us who believe in Jesus as Messiah because the prophecies to which most of the symbolisms refer have been fulfilled in Christ! Praise the Lord!

All of that to say, although some people may observe Maundy Thursday as a rote, liturgical service simply because "that's what we do on the Thursday before Easter." I plan to celebrate this day - today and in the years to come - as a reminder of my Servant King who washed the feet of his disciples, observed the Passover in obedience to God, and gave Himself up as "our Passover Lamb," the perfect and final sacrifice for the sins of all humanity!

Praying that the traditions of Easter may have deep and lasting meaning for you this year and forever!

"Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26-28

His,

Often imitated . . .

. . . but never duplicated.

That's right. I'm talking about the Chipotle burrito.


I have blogged about my love for all that is Chipotle on several occasions. Like the story of my elation over FINALLY getting a Chipotle in Iowa. (which was convenient when we lived in Iowa. Now that we live in Germany, not so much!) When we were giving thanks alphabetically, Chipotle made my "C" list. It even made the list of my top 5 loves!

So, there is no doubt that I love Chipotle; however, the last couple of times that we have been in the States, friends and family alike have been trying to convince me that there are other burrito joints that are just as good - if not better than the original - the burrito that has had my heart since I was just a teenager!

At this point I'm pretty sure we've tried them all, and I've got to say that a lot of them were pretty good.

Qdoba makes a mean queso sauce and in the summer time their mango salsa is to die for. They also have a loyalty card program which is a bit of a perk. And they're my parents' favorite of the many burrito options in their area.


Bullritos are the fan favorite in the Houston area. They have a fun ordering system where you check what you want on their printed bags (a lot like Which-Wich) and turn it in at the beginning of the line. They assemble it and at the end of the line the cashier calls your name, or whatever name you wrote on the bag during the ordering process - the boys have a lot of fun with this ;). One of their distinctions is a delicious Cilantro Ranch sauce. Yummmm!

Most recently, we were introduced to Moe's in Charleston, SC. Moe's has a pretty wide selection with funny names like "The Homewrecker" and the "Joey Junior." They also do free chips and salsa with every order, and the location we went to had a soda machine that looked like it was straight out of an episode of Star Trek - complete with a touch screen and several different flavor variations for each soda option.


But I've got to say, while I'd never be one to turn down a burrito - any burrito (especially living in Germany where good Mexican food is VERY hard to come by), Chipotle is still my favorite. By a landslide! I don't know if it's just that it was my first burrito love, or the delicious combination of their steak and rice and salsa and sour cream and guacamole that no one else will every be able to fully duplicate!

Not that I haven't tried. I mean the closest Chipotle to us is in London, which is an eight hour drive, so it may as well be in the States with as often as we get there, so I've tried my hand at recreating Carnitas and Cilantro-Lime Rice, but it just isn't the same. There were rumors at one point that Chipotle may be opening a new location in Munich, which is much closer, but alas we have not seen any movement on that for awhile, so . . . We will have to make due with our homemade version and our memories of the real thing!

Do you have a food item or a restaurant that you have to struggle to do without? Or someplace you can't imagine moving away from?

Hope you're having a great week!

Shop at Amazon.com?

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are having a great week!

I have recently discovered the wonderful world of Amazon Associates. I have used it periodically when I do book reviews, but in the past couple of weeks Austin and I have been learning about all the ways that the program actually works. It's pretty awesome.

Hence, the beautiful new widget over there --------->

Under the dog tags in the sidebar.

One of the books catch your eye? Looking for some yummy, healthy freeze-dried fruit? How about some fragrant Senseo coffee pods? Just click on the image when it scrolls by and you'll be taken directly there! Have some shopping to do on Amazon.com for something you don't see there? Click any of the pictures, then navigate around as you normally would! Or, you can click HERE or HERE or HERE!


Happy shopping! :)

I am a bad blogger . . .

I love blogging.

I really do.

Well, I like the idea of blogging.

And I like trolling for "blog inspiration."

I just have no blogging groove.

But I do love this blog. I love everything about ~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Fridays, and I have a pretty amazing life, and TONS of stories to tell. I just need to get back on the horse.

Baby steps.

Awesome stuff from the past ten days:

*Spectacular 7 (minus 3 :( ) reunion Pancakes & Pajamas Party at our place was pretty fantastic. (The Spectacular Seven was the name of my small group at Winter Blitz).

*Getting to hang out with one of my favorite high school students, "K" for nearly the entire weekend :)

*Amazing prayer breakfast on post with a lot of wonderful officers and chaplains!

Some stuff I'm looking forward to, and that I might blog about in the future:

*Going to Colorado - We have our Youth For Christ MidWinter conference in Denver this week, so we fly tomorrow morning! Also super excited that we get to see family and friends who conveniently live very close by, and CRAZY excited about our extended layover to visit Mike & Julia in SC! :)

*The Whole30 - After we get home, Austin and I will be embarking on a nutritional adventure of epic proportions! Click here for all the details.

*The In-Laws are coming! And I'm super excited (really!)!!! Austin's parents are scheduled to come and visit us in May, and they already have plane tickets and passports, so it's really happening! We have a pretty awesome couple of weeks mapped out while they're here, and we are so excited for them to see where we live all the way across the ocean!

Well, that's life in a nutshell for now.

Later,

December 2011 Newsletter

December 2011 Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

October 2011 Newsletter

October 2011 Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

August 2011 Newsletter

August 2011 Newsletter


To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

All Around the House . . . er . . . Apartment

I spent the first half(ish) of my day on Saturday transforming our apartment back into a livable space. It's been kind of crazy around here lately - Austin was gone to camp for nine days, then we had company, then four days after they left we went to Madrid for a work trip (World Youth Day) for 6 days. We came home last Sunday at midnight and ran straight into a work week, so, needless to say, very little cleaning, unpacking, laundry, etc. got done.

As I was cleaning, I snapped some pictures of the many Pinterest-inspired projects I've completed over the past few weeks!


I kept seeing a ton of awesome pillows, so I went out, bought a glue gun, scooped up some interesting fabric in the form of old clothes from the recycle center, and came up with these:





This project was the merging of several different Pin-spirations :)



I'd been seeing a ton of awesome menu board ideas, combined with the DIY white-board made out of a frame concept + threw in a few fabric flowers for good measure :)


What has been inspiring you lately?

His,

Say "Hi!" Sunday II

I'm participating in Say "Hi!" Sunday hosted by Three P's in a Pod again this week! :) I like this because it's a very simple blog party, and it's a fun way to find new blog friends. It's really not complicated . . . at all . . . just hop on over, link up, visit some other links, and say, "Hi!"

I decided that on my blog, I'm going to combine this little party with a Scripture every Sunday. Because Sunday should be about rest and fellowship and worship and the Word!

This Sunday, our chaplain spoke on these verses from Romans:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13 (NIV)

I also love the way the Message puts it:

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13 (MSG)

Getting ready to hit the sack! Another Monday is nearly upon us :)

<3,

What I'm Pinning . . .

It's official! I am totally hooked on Pinterest!

Totally...I could spend hours scrolling and pinning, it's a very dangerous thing!

Here are a few of my favorites from the past week:

Source: toostinkincute.blogspot.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

I desperately want an indoor herb garden, and I loooove these tea tins to house my herbs!

Source: obit-mag.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

She's just so classy...no matter what she's doing!

Source: amazon.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

I can think of dozens of amazing meals to be made with just this single appliance

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

Breathtaking!

Source: threemanycooks.com via Katy Lin on Pinterest

The thought of these flavors combined in one sandwich makes me a little bit giddy!


I'm going to do a Pinterest how to/etiquette post at some point. Maybe. And I'm also going to do many posts about the projects/recipes I've made that I've found on Pinterest. (Once I remember to start taking pictures of my projects...I'm a little bit out of practice.) Because, though some haters people say that all Pinterest does is suck your time away while you feel creative looking at other people's creative endeavors while never having any of your own, I have found Pinterest to be incredibly inspiring and have actually made several items as a result of a pin. So there you have it :)

Find me on Pinterest here!

Have a great weekend peeps!

Great Aspirations

Oh my poor neglected blog.

You must think that I don't love you.

That could not be farther from the truth! I've decided that my problem is I love you too much! Every time I think I should really go post __________ on my blog, I remind myself how long it has been and how much of my life has yet to make it onto the blog and how if I start at NOW everything that happened in the big gaping hole that is my post-less-ness will be lost into the great abyss never to be thought of or posted . . . ever!

And that's a lot of super amazing stuff that I want to have on the blog. Not because I think it's all that interesting for everyone else out there (sorry dear readers . . . if you're still coming back to see if I will ever post again . . . I love you . . . really, I do . . . but there's more to this blog than just that), but because I know that if I don't have it "published" somewhere, I really will forget it some day. And that would be tragic.

The past two an a half years have truly been a great adventure, and God has been stretching and growing and shaping and molding and moving us in ways that I always want to remember.

All that to say that my anal perfectionist need to have everything posted in chronological order has gotten me all pent up with what to post and how and when - which has really just kept me from posting anything!

So . . .

I'm going to try to let it go . . .

really . . .

I'm not giving up on the dream of posting stories from the whirlwind that has been our lives since 2009; however, I'm going to do that as I am able and as I have time. I will not allow my fear of being imperfect to hold me captive any more ;)

Hope you're having a great week! Tomorrow's Friday!

<3,

Say "Hi!" Sunday

This is my first Sunday participating in Say "Hi!" Sunday hosted by Three P's in a Pod

It's really not complicated . . . at all . . . just hop on over, link up, visit some other links, and say, "Hi!"

That is all :) Have fun!

<3,

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

This is still one of my all time favorite worship songs! We sang it a few times at service project, and there is nothing like the sound of 300 teenagers and leaders singing their hearts out about how much He loves us! :) God is so good!



He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way

Have a great weekend!

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ My very best friend!

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We laugh together . . .



. . . we cry together.

We have so much fun together!



No matter where we are, how much money we have, or who else is around, we are who we are - each others' best friends! I have been so very aware of this fact all week, and I have also come to the realization that this is not a reality for everyone! I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me, who defends me, and who will always go to bat for me!

I am thankful for my
sweet,
strong,
sensitive
husband!

I am so very blessed!



My husband ROCKS!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Book Review: Courting Trouble by Deanne Gist

"Tired of waiting for a match made in Heaven, she'll settle for one made in Texas."



"It's 1894, the year of Essie's thirtieth birthday, and she decides the Lord has more important things to do than provide her a husband. If she wants one, she needs to cat him herself. So she writes down the names of all the eligible bachelors in her small Texas town, makes a lists of their attributes and drawbacks, closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and . . . picks one. But convincing the lucky "husband-to-be" will be a bit more of a problem."
(quotes from the back cover)

It's summertime and the reading is good :)

I just finished Courting Trouble by Deanne Gist, and I was very impressed!

The story covers about 8 months in the life of a 30-year-old single woman, Esther (Essie) Spreckelmeyer, in the small town of Corsicana, Texas in 1894. Essie is the only child of the town's judge, and beloved by almost everyone in her delightful little hometown.

This book is well-written and obviously, thoroughly well-researched; however, through the first few chapters I was afraid that I was not going to like it. This was mostly because I got that "I'm so embarrassed for you" feeling on almost every page reading about Essie's attempts to catch a husband. I should have realized that that was actually a very good sign - I was already emotionally connected to Essie.

Throughout the rest of the book, we follow Essie as she wrestles with God's plan for her life, and at some points, takes matters into her own hands - with some heartbreaking consequences. I'm pretty sure that the people at the laundromat thought I had lost my mind. There I was, folding clothes and reading simultaneously, and weeping as Essie and her family worked through some of the more serious issues together. (I'd make that a much better sentence, but I'd hate to give away the good parts :D)

This was such a beautiful story of God's grace and redemptive power in a person's life. It was also a wonderful, realistic look at how the choices we make effect everyone around us, not just ourselves. The author also did a fantastic job of looking at God's forgiveness and the importance of accepting His forgiveness by forgiving ourselves.

All in all a great, emotional read that I would highly recommend! I both shed some tears and laughed out loud, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel: Deep in the Heart of Trouble.

Hope you have a tremendous Tuesday!

June 2011 Newsletter

June Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

March 2011 Newsletter

March Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

I need...

. . . okay, I couldn't even finish the title. Need is definitely strong.

I REALLY, really, really want a 220v KitchenAid mixer.

Yes.

I know that even thinking the sentence "I need a KitchenAid" proves that I am a very spoiled American. And that is the truth.

However, I don't think I know how to cook/bake/do anything culinarily related without a KitchenAid.


Isn't it beautiful?
It is all I've ever known! My parents had one in their kitchen, so I grew up with it. We received one as a wedding present, so all of the years we lived in Iowa, it was my faithful kitchen companion.

Now here I find myself: smack in the middle of Germany, no KitchenAid to be found. *sniff*

Actually, that's not true. They have KitchenAid mixers here. I would just have to promise my first-born to the store to get to take one home.

So, I will make due with my trusty hand mixer. And be thankful for it :) - honestly! I know that life could be so much worse, and the fact that I can even think to pine for a KitchenAid means that I have more to be thankful for than about 90% of the world's population.

Thanks for indulging my whininess :)

Hope you're having a great day!

His,

January 2011 Newsletter

January Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

Blessings,

Newsletters

In the next couple of days I will be posting our newsletters from the past few months. Sometimes I'm a little slow, and forgot that this was even an option :) From here on out, I will be posting them as they are written/mailed.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment, or shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,