when it rains, it pours.. and things grow.

yet a step of grace and faith early this morning.

katharina and i skyped early this morning, and after searching flights again and again, we found one we liked and felt to purchase. it costed a pretty penny but we know that God is with us and will continue to provide what we need now, and forever.

the invitations are also printed for the wedding here stateside. we still need to word it right with the best directions. we still some addresses. thank God progress is being made with it.

please keep praying for us..

it blows us away at how many are lifting us through this time, and it is much needed. God hears your prayers and is quick to help us through all things.. well.. quick to help focus us on Him through the tough spots. He is for sure with us!

join us in prayer:

-that everything works out right with kathy flight. when she flies, for protection, good connections and no problems at the border. (first time flying alone...)

-my flight. that i can get the same returning flight and the money for it. (first time flying together and married!)

-wisdom, regarding planning, jobs, paying off debt..

-health and continual protection from all the enemies plans.

-a deeper relationship with Him and each other.. walking on His paths together.

thank you all so so so much for the prayers and support and encouragement.

only 5 weeks now. because of God, we will get through this!

much love to all of you, and please continue to keep in touch.

israel (and katharina)

Wenn es regnet, es gießt... und es führt zum Wachsen.

Noch ein Stück der Gnade und des Glaubens ist heute morgen passiert.

Nach den lange Suche, fanden wir ein Flug was uns gefällt, und es möglich macht, zusammen zurück zu fliegen. Also, heute morgen skypten wir und kauften es. Zwar doch teuer, freuen jedoch wir uns und wissen dass Gott sich um uns sorgt jetzt und für immer.

Gedruckt sind jetzt die Einladungen unserer Hochzeit. Noch muss ich die Worten aufschreiben und die Anleitung richtig erklären oder malen. Wir brauchen auch noch Adressen. Dank sei Gott um den Fortschritt damit.

Bitte bete doch weiter um uns..

was für einen eindrück zu lesen wie viele beten um uns in dieser Zeit. Gott erhört jeder euer Gebet und helft uns gleich nach was passiert.. also.. begleitet unsern Anblick wieder auf Ihn. Er ist bestimmt bei uns.

Fürbitte:

-dass alles gut funktioniert wegen des Flug Katharinas. Als sie fliegt, um Schutz, ein gute Umsteigen und kein Problem an der Landesgrenze. (ihr erstesmal allein fliegen.)

-mein Flug noch. dass ich das gleiche Flugbindung nach Deutschland bekomme und das Geld dafür. (unser erstesmal zusammen fliegen und als ehepaar.. schön!)

-Weisheit wegen dem Planen, Arbeitsstellen und Schulden abzahlen..

-Gesundheit und anständig Schutz von jedem Plan des Teufels.

-Eine tiefere Beziehung mit Gott und einander.. auf Seine Wege zusammen.

Danke euch alle ganz sehr um die Gebete, Unterstützungen und Ermutigungen.

Nur noch 5 Wochen. Wegen Gott, schaffen wir das!

viel Liebe euch alle und bitte halte doch Kontakt mit uns.

israel (and katharina)

1 year, still 2 months

so,

fast unglaublich dass schon ein Jahr vorbei ist als wir zusammen in einer Beziehung kamen.

natürlich schwierig so weit von einander zu sein ist es, und mehr und mehr müssen wir von Gott unsere Stärke bekommen. Dank sei Gott, dass wir es nicht allein machen müssen. Danke auch euch, um eure Gebete und Unterstützung.

*so... it's so unbelievable that we have been together in a relationship for a year already. it is hard being so far away from each other and it is from God whom we get our strength. Thank God we don't have to do this alone. thank you all for your prayers and support.

Also, eingentlich zwei monate von heute ist unser Hochzeittermin. Vollkrass!

*so, in two months from today is our wedding date. Whoa!

Von letztmal ich schrieb, haben wir schon ein paar Dinge erfahren.

*since last time i wrote, we have experienced a couple things.

-Gott schenkte uns einer Hütte für unser Flitterwochen umsonst.

*God gave us a cabin for our honeymoon here in the near.

-Ich zog mich um zur Familie eines Freundes.

*I moved in with the family of a friend.

-Katharina und ich könnten oft skypen zum planen und halt genießen mit einander zu reden.

*Katharina and I have been able to skype often and plan.. and just enjoy time to chat.

-Mir ist geschreiben dass mein Freund, mit dem ich in indien gereist bin, kann nicht bei unsere Hochzeit kommen (er sollte auch der Pfarrer dafür).

*I was written that my friend I was in India with cannot come and do our wedding.

-Ein Freund von mir wird Hochzeitbilder machen.

*A friend will take our wedding pictures.

-Wir fanden billiger Flüge für Katharina.. noch nicht gekauft.

*We have found cheaper flights for Katharina.. but have not bought one yet.

Natürlich gibts noch viele was wir noch erfahren müssen, und jeder Schritt zeigt sich als Fortschritt aber kommt nicht immer einfach zu.

*We still need see a lot happen yet, but every step is progress and not always come easily.

Da bitten wir euch um Gebete wegen:

*Please pray with us about these:

-die richtige Datum zum Fliegen für Katharina und ich und auch Geld dafür.

*the right date for the flights and also money for them.

-Weisheit und Zeit zum Planen um die Hochzeit, Einladungen machen, und einen Pfarrer rausfinden.

*wisdom and time to plan for the wedding and invitation stuff and for a pastor to do our wedding.

-Transport zur Flitterwochenhütte.

*Transportation for our honeymoon.

-weiter Gnade und Stärke um die Trennung. auch Schütz gegen Angriffen und Wahrheit in jedem Situation.

*continual grace and strength for the time apart and protection against the enemy, and truth in every situation.

-halt Weisheit und Hilfe um die Hochzeit in Amerika und die Zeit bis und nach den Termin.

*simply wisdom and help for the wedding in america and the time before and after.

Schön euch zu schreiben und ich hoffe wirklich wir können alle besser Kontakt halten.

Gott macht jetzt so viel bei uns. Z.B. Wir lernen die 1. Stelle immer Gott zu geben. Niemand kann es sonst füllen.

*it's really good to write all of you and i really hope we can keep better contact. God is doing so much right now with us.. i.e. we are learning to give Him the first place in our lives. No one else can do it like Him.

Dass ihr wirklich mit Frieden erfüllt seid und vollerliebe zu jeden seid bete ich.

Danke unendlich um eure Gebete für uns. Wir haben bis um jetzt gekämpft und werden nicht aufgeben, denn Er ist an unsrer Seite. Amen!

*I pray that you are filled with peace and full of love to everyone. Thank you so much for your prayers for us. We have battled thus far and will not give up because He is on our side. amen!

Ganz viel Liebe, israel

season change

wow. i am back from the visit to katharina in germany. as i would greatly enjoy telling all about it in such a blog, i still need to process then entire thing and it would be best shared over a cup of coffee and a visit. give me a call or shoot me an email for more on that.

as for news!

the hardest part is now behind us, next is the praying, planning and seeing what He brings to be.

the wedding is set for 14th July in the states, rapid city (not rabbit city), S.D..

Katharina will come at the beginning of july, and until then we work, pay on debt, and pray for His grace with all the finances and planning.

after the wedding here, we will stay until the end of august, then move back to germany(memmingen) for about 2 years to work, and grow together and with the people there. the wedding there is set for the 15th October, in memmingen.

being involved with us in prayer:

-first off, for strength for both of us in this time of being apart again. for protection, opportunities to skype and email, and a deeper trust and faith in God as well as a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other.

-financial provision i.e. flight tickets for katharina and myself, funds for the wedding stateside as well as in germany (oct, 15, 2011) and the honeymoon.

-other provision and guidance i.e. a place to live while here in america as well as again in germany, a car for the honeymoon or some sort of transportation...

-and healing. katharina has had some issues with her teeth, and we both need other healing too.

thank you all so much... seriously!!!! for the prayers.

as david prays in ps 17, he does so with confidence.. i pray because i know you hear me!

i know this too!

so i also pray for you, for strength, provision, healing and blessings. i pray too for His peace and rest for all who are stressed or tired. for joy for those who are depressed or sad, and for freedom to all who are captive whether by ideas, thoughts or addictions, or hopelessness! we have all we need in Jesus, and Him alone can save us from all things!

much love, and please keep in contact.... though i understand if you are super busy. we are sailing similar boats.

israel

noch acht stunden

ja, genau.. nun noch acht stunden gibt es bis ich am flughafen bin und fliege los. so unglaublich ist das und die Zeit ist wirklich schnell geworden.. trotzdem gab es Zeite als es noch so fern war...
*so.. only eight hours left before i am at the airport gone... it is so unbelieveable and the time has really gone by quickly.. though sometimes it was still a distant dream...

endlich aber steht es vor der Tuer, und wir uns so bald wieder sehen.
obwohl wir nicht genau wissen, mit wem wir uns treffen oder um wann wir nach berlin fahren.. ich bin so dankbar wieder dahin zu kommen und die Leute wieder zu sehen.
sooo, nur Jesus gehoert unser Lob, dass wir echt leben duerfen und nicht um die Welt leben. genau wie kathy und ich jetzt lernen wie man in einer gute beziehung zusammen lebt... sollen wir auch mit Gott umgehen... (tatsaechlich ist es den gegenteil.. aber durch diesen Beispiel lernt man praktisch wie eine Beziehung aussieht, und kann auch dann verstehen, dass die Gott erschaffen hat, zum Beispiel dafuer.)
Und ihr maenner soll eure Frauen lieben wie Christus auch die Gemeinde geliebt hat.. Er gab sein Leben um sie... versteht ihr???
*finally it is so near, and we see each other again. we don't know who we will be able to meet up with or when we go to berlin, i am so thankful to be on the way and see everyone again. all our praise belongs to Jesus that we are able to live and not for the world. in the same way that kathy and i learn to be in a relationship together, it is the same with God.. a relationship. (it is really the opposite, but through this we learn how a relationship looks like, and can understand that God made it as an example to understand how one way we relate to Him.) and you men should love your wives as Christ has loved the church.. He gave His life for her... understand???

also.. koennte ja doch noch schreiben.. aber gerne moechte ich einbisschen Zeit nach zu denken und irgendwann auch noch schlafen.
*so.. i could keep writing, but desire some time to just think and eventually sleep.

Auf dies Abenteuer, das Leben heisst, freue ich mich zu gehen... stueck fuer stueck... zusammen!
*i am excited to go on this adventure known as life.. step by step...
together!

viel liebe, israel

childish and hopful

with just a small bit before my brother and i meet up, i know i need to write something.

first off, praise God for all that He is doing. just taking moments from a busy schedule to climb a tree and reflect is so important... just notice the birds singing their songs of life...

and in the midst of this, i am becoming more aware of something... a greater love, one that was spend fully for me and is still being poured out continually.

reading emails, chatting with those i work with or who come in for a drink...

considering the last years of intense but subtle growth and that which will still happen that it may be more poured out from myself too... it is coming down to one thing.

Jesus.

a love He carried for those that would hang Him in shame and humiliation. a source of deep passionate strength He lived from that forced the world to rethink their own motives and source.

a friend just wrote about struggles they have been going through... deep struggles that i dont believe i could start to comprehend.. and through it all, he was shown that he was fought for.

he wrote.. it doesnt matter whether i read my Bible and pray, or not because i have an occasion severely neglected them both.. He is with me because He wants to be.. because He fights for me.

paul writes in the first chapter of galatians.. He became the offering according to God, our Fathers will, and died for our sins to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

i suppose it would be stupid of me to carry on more and more.. but i can say that it is becoming more and more real to me and my heart is undergoing some serious surgical reconstruction.. removing gunk and scum that have build up in its chambers to which the world belongs, that the world has filled up with several dogmas, religions, requirements of the law and opinions from those who misuse authority to oppress.

what child could fulfill such a life that the world asks of it..

what child could fulfill such a life that Jesus asks of it......

who are we trying to live up to...

each email i receive has given me joy and shared love because of the friendships that i have been blessed with in this life. i thank God for you all.

i am looking so forward to the time with kathy, her family and all who are so dear to me in germany. may His will be done in our meetings and time together.

and to all those in india, keep the courage to love and may His grace continue to fill all that He leads you in. He created such creative hearts in everyone.. but most dont know we are allowed to use them. become who He made you to be.

much love, His

12 days, warmer weather... and a dentist

as the temperature is starting to rise, a new season is obviously on the way. and as spring starts to show itself, so is it with the steps in what is to come regarding Katharina and myself.

He blows me away how He knows...

He knows everything.. before we knew.. even as we ran after other plans, goals... people.. He, the entire time, knew.

our wedding date is still set for July 14th, and though this is still not the formal invite, all of you are more than welcome to join us in rapid city, s.d., for the smaller celebration of becoming even more a team for Him!

the time has ticked down from some 30 weeks to less than two.. about 700 hours.. hehe

we can only hold close to Jesus and the hope and love that He has continually built inside of us over the last several months.

Lord willing, a week from saturday i will fly to switzerland. this marks the beginning of the next season for us. we are not sure of what will take place over the next couple months before she flies to america, but look to spend a lot of time just seeking God together and talking all of this over together. how great it is to be learning to function as a team. learning to trust Him together, learning to hope together.

He continues to reveal glimpses of a future that He has assured us. though the jist of it is still beyond what is visible from this point, each valley, each river and each step takes us closer to something much bigger and it is from Him that we gain strength.

please pray for us and with us for wisdom in these next steps, and a deeper knowledge of how great that power that lives inside of us, the same one that raise Jesus from the dead, removing our hopelessness and own self-righteousness from us, and giving us true life.

last week, shortly after getting my dental insurance, a filling fell out. ha!

talk about continual provision.

through a few visits to the dentist, things are getting worked out, and possibly prepared for another long stretch.. or adventure in which dental work would create a burden.

none the less, i am thankful to get the work down and see another way that He provides for us on a very practical level.

work, stressful for a few weeks, has been again a place of desired ministry and opportunity to bless those who come in through genuine interaction and a humor that carries through the drive-thru....

within the next couple weeks, my father will go in for back surgery. i just learned about this today, and have not had the chance to talk with him. thank you for every prayer for him, and i will update as i also learn about whats going on.

12 days... :)

Danke sehr Jesus um was Du mit uns machst.

after the three weeks with katharina, i start the parks dept. job again in hopes of paying a massive chunk of the loans gone. this will also mean that i will be working a lot. the schedule is not worked out yet, but i know it will be good.

it may be possibly that i move into what could be kathys and my first place together too when i get back. it has been a blessing spending so much time with my mother and staying at another friends place, but this step i look forward to.

thank you all for the prayers and support through encouragement finance. the months ahead, i believe, will be a very new adventure and i hope that the things He is doing through us will bless you too, or even encourage you to do something outside of any possible sanity that the world claims. lets live!

thank you really for the love and time to read what is happening in the life He blessed me with...

much much love, israel

unsichtbar

no one ever said this would be easy.

*niemand sagte uns, dass es einfach wird.

does it feel easy to you right now?

*fühlt es euch da so einfach?

i have felt under attack, and have witnessed since last weekend more and more dear ones undergoing similar heart blows....

*in der letze Woche, bezeugte ich viele Menschen, die schreckliche Angriffen erleben, genauso gleich wie ich auch erlebe...

whether we realize it, or choose to acknowledge it.. we are in a war. against our heart, our hope, our families, our relationships, our manhood... we are fighting for our lives and for those so close to us...

and yet, most do not know that this is not us... but what is against us, our unity.. our true identity.

*und ob wir es merken, oder es anerkennen wollen, wir sind im Krieg, der gegen unser Herzen, Hoffnung, Familie, Beziehungen, und unsre Männlichkeit steht... wir kämpfen um unsern Leben und des Lebens denen, die wir lieben und schätzen.

und was noch... die meisten Leute wissen nicht, dass wir nicht böse sind.. sondern das es gegen uns, unsre Einheit.. und unsre wahre Identität, ist.

no one ever said this would be easy.. but we are told we dont have to do this alone...

*niemand sagte uns, dass es einfach wird.. jedoch sagte Er, wir machen es nicht allein...

my dear brothers and sister... lets stand in unity of prayer and encouragement for another. where those are who have plenty, give to those who have none. those who are comforted, comfort those who are alone. and who can fight, fight for those who cant! fight for your heart! fight for hope!

*meine Liebe Schwestern und Brüdern... lasst uns durch Gebet und Ermutigung untereinander, zu einer Einheit führen. der, der viele besitzen, soll mit denen, der nichts hat, teilen. ebenso soll er, der Trost hat, denen auch trösten, wie auch er es erfahren hat. und der, der kämpft, soll um denen kämpfen, die selbst ihre Feld nicht halten können. kämpft um euer Herzen! kämpft um die Hoffnung!

i write this in truth that things have been hard lately... but in each thing, God was more than faithful to provide.. and in those things that are yet to come, or need still clarity, we can place all our hope in Jesus!!!

*in der Wahrheit schreibe ich euch das, denn es ist letztlich für mich schwierig worden... aber in jeder Ding, erscheinte Gott weit mehr als treu um uns zu trösten.. und was noch kommt, oder wozu wir klarheit brauchen, hoffen wir doch auf Jesu!!!

may you be filled with truth! with hope! and know that we are not alone.

*dass ihr mit der Wahrheit und der Hoffnung erfüllt seid, und wisst, dass ihr nicht allein seid, wünsche ich euch!

much love, israel