expecting the unexpected

it really fun to read what was written in the past.
and when i read things that i wrote... it is really like joining another persons journey.
some... well, most of the things that has happened in the past have been crazy and really amazing things that i could never have wished for myself.
to say that least and yet the most common thing... i am very thankful to God.

a quick run down of what the last couple weeks have thrown at us and how we responded:

health has been a topic for kathy over the last... while. mainly with digestion things. sunday evening, we invited some people, or as i would prefer to call them, friends from church including the pastor to our place to pray for Kathy. it was an amazing time and i personally am excited to see His healing for her in that area.
thank you for your prayers for her.

my health has never really been an issue. it has been a blessing... not catching colds, getting fevers or any other sickness, large or small. not get seriously injured at work, though it is rather tough stuff. and though many a years of hard fun, including rock and ice climbing, hiking where people don't go with family, biking, skateboarding... maybe the list is small.. but each was and is filled with years of sweat, pain and victory. and none of them with serious injuries. not even a broken bone... well... i thought.

over the last 8 years, my left wrist has had pain from a skateboard injury. i remember exactly how and where it happened, what time of day it was and who i was with. what i didn't know is that me falling on my wrist at the speed i was going fractured it. the doctor who took the x-ray at that time must not have seen it. the doctors today at the clinic did.. and because it was overlooked years ago.. it has caused years of pain, though not paralysing, annoying to say the least.
it is actually a relief to me to finally know why it hurts and what happens next is yet to be determined. of course i heard what the doctor had said, but i am waiting to hear what my Papa says.

work has hit us both with left and right swings, but nothing really that has knocked us down. we are thankful for our jobs, though for kathy, the hours are very low, and for me the hard work is very high (though kathys work is also very hard work). we are taking steps knowing that He will guide us and will let you know what becomes of them.

family has been a blessing. it seems that many here have birthdays close to each other. that means, with holidays too, we have been spending some good time with the family here. however, kathy and i still don't get as much time with each other that we would really like. i suppose it is mainly due to the work stuff from my side.. being gone all the time. we are thankful for the time and learning to make the most of it together.
family in rapid.. or stateside is i suppose going. though blood related, there has been some communication failures in the last months. one due to lack of time and  money from my end to write letters or to call... and the other is from tension in the relationship between some of us. please pray for this... it has always been a rough surface to slide across over the course of our family's life.. but God can bring peace. He will. in this life or afterwards.

friends are hard to make... at least in south germany. i am thankful for a couple that i have. God continues to bring more people into our lives and we are excited to see where He takes us in that area.
this weekend i plan to head into the mountains with a friend and climb if the snow is not too deep. i am more than excited. we shall see how it goes. just to get into the mountains is causing my heart to quicken it's pace.
kathy is blessed to have some friends from younger days here. they are moving on too, and the ones that stay have been a huge blessing to us both.
all my/our friends from the usa are missed. i think of you often and thank God for the time we had, hoping that the time comes again soon when we can laugh and share our adventures again over a cup of starbucks, or crows peak. of course those in the u.s. are not the only ones in our lives.. we miss bunches who we have lacked contact with, even here in germany and in india. thank God for email and the autobahn. haha... i suppose the season is that of patience in many areas.. not just one or two... or seven.

debt is being paid. it is sooo good. my loan with wellsfargo is down to 989 $ and kathys around 500 €. there is yet one more after this for me. i think around 2000 $. i still have to get the lost details. thank you all for prayers.

the course is geting done. 17 finished today... only 3 left.. then the extra course on top of that. i am not yet sure which course i will choose, though it is rather already choosen in my heart between teaching children or business english... which do you think???

home sweet home is only true of that where home is home. so, may we plant spiritual roots wherever we are.. not afraid of staying and not fearful of going either. as i have said in the past, the hardest and worst part of loving people is having to say goodbye. but we don't have to know, instead more hellos and servus.

that concludes this update. i had hoped to do this in german too.. but i would be sitting here yet an hour just to translate. we do hope to do a newsletter together in both english and german soon.

we love you and thank you again for the support in this life. God hears you indeed and we hope to hear from you too!!! :)

much love, israel and kathy (written by israel while kathy is working... i really gotta wait til she gets home more often.. ugh.)

progress is a heave

i am not completely sure what a heave is.. but i suppose i mean that it is sometimes hardwork. like heaving something into place... usually taking most if not all the energy you have at that time.

work has been taking all my energy for the last month and a half.

wake up at 5:30, take off at 6:20, get off and 6:45 (if not later) and get home at 7:30. we eat, chat a little, then i am tired and have got to sleep.

it is especially hard because that leaves little time for anything. spending time with kathy has been, from my part, not as often as we wish. then on the weekends, the only real time to do anything... i have little or no time for working on the english course... it is almost done, only 5 units to go. then comes a complimentary course afterwards, and that is 10 more units. but, i have a few months to get it all done.

i am paying on the loans, gladly, and each time i make a payment i have to smile and thank God. i am really thankful that i can work right now, remember that it won't be forever that we are here, that i earn so much money and that we have debt.

hence that last part... we won't have debt forever.

of the debt that i can now access, i only have roughly 1250 left. and then another loan around 2000. that is barely anything compared with the amount at the beginning of last year... somewhere around 11000.

God deserves so much praise for all of this!

so, though the job is killing me... ugh.. no time for relaxing, no strength for climbing... and so on... i will work until we are free. it is worth it, and i know it is right!

sam and beth are heading back to india. packing their toilette paper...

i know the excitement and will wait until our time.

Kathy's papa is letting me us the moped. hehehe. though it is not too fast, and i don't like wearing the helmet, it is rad!!!! and old vespa piaggio.

i may start riding my bike to work too. round trip, 20 miles.

kathy and i visited the hurlach ywam base a couple weeks ago. there is a missing link school, which is like the sbs (school of Biblical studies) but covering only the old testament and is not so intense. depending on when the debt is done, we would like to do it. there is no set date for the school yet, so that may be God buying us some time...

easter was great. i ate too much though. sometimes i think i eat way too much but when i eat less, then i get hungry an hour later. and that doesn't roll over well at work. lot's of physical work. but i think i will watch it a little more. sam told me once that he was trying to only eat til he was satisfied.. and not til he was stuffed. it sounds right to me. :)

God has also hooked me up with a man who i have been able to meet with more regularly to talk. whether about marriage, family, past and so on, the time has been, i think, a step towards healing and wisdom. i have been praying for a mentor for the last few years. we must be here on purpose...

i would like to head up to berlin again soon. i have no idea how that is suppose to work. no time and etc... but if it is to be, it shall be.

kathy and i would like to start doing a newsletter together. german and english... sent around the world possibly. how cool. God has blessed us with many dear friends in some really random places.

so... thank you all for your prayers, reading the updates, more prayers and your emails/letters.

i don't know if i said this last time, but my brother is going to be a dad! HEHEHEH!

way to go bro!

kathys cousin is pregnant too! congrats!

other news...

God is teaching me something very important... read the last blog if you don't know yet.

much love, israel

work, and then..

i should be working on that english course right now... but if i do, then my time will again be dissolved before i get to write again.

thoughts have been filling my mind in the last weeks of now, the future and the past.

work has started back up around month ago... maybe longer. the time goes so fast when the days are spent working and the evenings are short.

i forgot how hard it is to grow when one is not surrounded by quiet time, meditation and prayer. worship plays a huge role as well. but i have been so hungry lately for something so much more... and unfortunately comparing my life quite a bit too. ...oh man, that job was so much better... ...oh i wanna head back there too.... ...why are we doing that?... and so on.

when it really comes down to it, if i really trust God, i can trust that this time is important, being used massively for even our benefits and that this is really only the beginning.

God has been blessings us a lot. it just takes new eyes to see how in this season of working, paying and praying.

each day i ride to work with a moped which takes about 30mins. though the rest of the day is filled with either thoughtless shoveling, or thoughtful tasks, that ride to and from work is one of two situations... brainless vegging time.... or time filled with conversation in my heart and mind.

from healing, to pleading for patience and guidance, God has been with us in the last months of being here in germany. it has been some of the hardest time in our lives, but possibly some of the most growthful too. learning to unlearn selfishness, learning to take initiation and kill passivity, learning to drop expectations and learning to love.

learning to love.

love.

with a thousand meanings and discriptions, love is indeed the worse way to describe love.

maybe it is better put like this...

learning God. learning Jesus.

i pray that these thoughts that i type come alive for those who read this. that we would wake up from this empty dream we have been living... wake up and learn what we are made of. learn who made us. i pray for all of you who read this and bless us with prayers. that your wishes, dreams and hearts would come even more alive, that they would break through the walls of doubt. that we would really know that nothing is impossible for He who loves us.

you know who you are

"i'm gonna hope for you

i'm gonna pray for you

amongst the reckless in the black...

salvation lies within.

i'm gonna hope for you

i'm gonna pray for you

amongst the reckless in the black...

my time is yours my friend."

may His love carry you when you can't walk.

may it change you from hurt to healed.

may it allow you to open up again, as a child, untouched and unbeaten by the world.

may it save you again and again from who you have been.

happy birthday my dear ...!

-israel boyce

(beginning text taken from the song: Hey John, what's your name again?; The Devil Wears Prada.)

have I ever given you anything but the best

who can really say this?

who has lived this....

kathy and i just got back from our second trip to northern great britain for my best friend's wedding.

at the beginning of january, i flew to manchester, barely landing, missing my train and having to spend the night at the airport waiting for the next train headed to the lake district.

after being calmed by God that we would land, the solution to the missed train, i admit, frustrated me. it is now no wonder why i was easily stressed. but for that moment, i realized the adventure in this and found a bench to sleep on.

i found out later that the whole family was under stress due to the unknowing of whether or not sam would make it for the wedding just a few days later.

we found out a day later that it would not happen this time around because he was not granted the visa for marriage nor received his passport back from the embassy. the trip, however, was not wasted. not at all!

kathy flew the next day and we were able to bring a little humor and fresh air in the light of the misery.

some weeks later, sam got his visa.

oh what a sweet sweet song.

we re-booked flights and i got there, this time, just nearly making the train. (i had 5 minutes to reach the train from the terminal.)

sam had apparently been facing a flu bug that was to keep him from all that is good.

with prayer, forced-fasting (ha ha) and lots of rest, the bug was gone and his stomach was feeling much better. good enough for a wedding celebration!

kathy got there again on thursday night, complication-free.

and on saturday, we celebrated the most beautiful wedding in england ever!

sam and i wore penguin suits (i was honored to be the best-man.)

it was sooo good to see sam and beth come together. to be joined to which they will never be separated again. because what God unites, no man can split!

i encourage all who read this to give a thanks to God for this amazing thing He did... and to ask God to bless and use these two for His will forever more.

thank You Jesus for this blessing. this true love. may You always be with them. may they continue down Your path, choosing to live for the Kingdom of Heaven and not these bodies or this world we now live in. please protect them, and unite them ever so nearer. we Praise You!!!!

in other news...

i have started the english course. i am now on unit 3 of 20 and hope to get it done in a couple weeks. i hope to get it done before starting to work again. that hangs on the weather.

there has been a couple of unexpected expenses in the last weeks which leaves us with minimal money. please pray that we would not be stressed but at peace instead. that we would come to that place of knowing, He is our God. that all we need, He will provide.

i do believe this, for i have experienced it again and again... but somehow, it is always difficult at first glance. may we see past our own expectancies and look to Him first!

kathy and i are really looking forward to what is coming up.

we don't really know what is to come.... there is prayers about what is happening after the loans are paid off... and that the loans are soon paid off. i think that when i start working again, that i can put much more money towards them and claim that freedom from debt! thank You Jesus!

kathy still desires to finish the bible school that she had started and ran out of money for. we are also considering where and how we will work further with ywam.

but, first things first.

thank you all for the prayers and keeping in touch.

things are still slow before work picks up. but i will do my best to keep updating even when i am working a lot.

He really has only given us the best.

congrats sam and beth!

much love, israel

a light in opportunity

i suppose i never expected to see a sunny day in england... one where everything glows of

a sunny orange warmness and the occasion being, simple 'ol life.

that was, however, not the only thing to be unexpected... the main man was held up due to the opposition of the embassy.

his visa was not granted and his passport was never returned to him.

this, naturally, set a bit of a halt on things.

and as this week should have been gloomy and dark just as it should have been bright and full of joy with the wedding taking place, it was neither of these... but yet mixture of the both.

with the tension in the air of not knowing for so long, the answer that he is not going to make it was actually a relief, i think, for beth and her entire family. no one wanted to hear the news, nor

believe it was true but in this unexpected result, God will, is and has been lighting the situation with opportunity.

the largest being the opportunity to grow deeper in trust with Him. that one being of course the hardest too. as for the embassy

stuff, they are starting again from scratch and doing everything they can to show it is legit... the rest if literally up to God.

though this was the news no one wanted, the time was filled with laughter, english sarcasm, sunny and rainy days and unending memories and blessings.

it was a great joy to meet beths family as well as see sams family again. and then to top that, kathy was finally introduced too and we all shared some good experiences.

among these were the following:

scaling walls and fences to get over flooded roads.

seeing the ocean for the first time with kathy.

much walking.

seeing stan laurels home town.

laughing.

more english sarcasm.

having time at an english pub.

tea time.

praying.

trusting.

so, what this let down means for me is that i get to visit england again which is actually no let down. plus, we are believing that a greater victory will become of this.

i know that my trip there was filled with opposition and it would have been easy to be sour because of the flight delay, extremely bumpy

landing, missing of the train, overnight at the airport and so on... and i am sure if the devil had his way, this trip would have been a disaster for everyone...

but..

it wasn't.

It was refreshing and a blessing for all.

(at least i hope for all.)

whats next:

tomorrow i am spending the whole day taking a test (german B1)

in order that i may extend my visa. it just isn't as easy as it all seems with the visas and marrying.

(quick explanation: in order to get a permanent residence visa, though we are married, i have to have a certificate proving that i can speak, read and understand german as well as one from an integration course. this only means that i have to take a couple tests... it isn't really hard and comparing to what some must do, i am exceedingly grateful.)

in a couple weeks is the integrations test.

and Lord willing in a few days i will receive the material to start on the english course. (i have enrolled in an internet course to learn to teach english. it has been on my heart for some

time and who knows what will come of it.)

thank You God for leading and guiding us, for

blessing us in times of uncertainty with peace and providing for all our needs. we lay this entire pickle of events at Your feet and ask that You would help us in every decision.

thank You again for blessing us that last week so much and what is yet to come. and for all those reading this, may they too be filled with peace and rest and may they see what cannot be seen, hear what You hear do as You would do.

in Jesus name, amen!

for all those who emailed me, i do still plan on writing back... thought it appropriate to first write a blog of updates. thank you all for your prayers.

blessings and much love,

israel

ich bin mir sicher ich kann Dir vertrauen!

only a few more hours yet and my flight takes off...

my arrival will be in faith as we all eagerly await to hear what the embassy decides...

my best friend sam is getting married. over the last month and weeks, i have had the privilege of joining him, his soon to be bride and others in his network of friends in praying for the appropriate paperwork to get him to his wedding in england.

his ticket bought,

family already there,

today the decision is to be made.

we are all waiting and trusting the only one who can give us the peace we really need...

God, please hear us in this plea for grace. and thank You for the strength, the hope and the peace that You continually given sam and beth during this time of trusting, believing and walking in faith. may Your name be completely praised through this!!!

You really are all we need.

in other news:

-I am enrolling in an online course to teach english. It has been something that has been stirring in my heart for the last year and the next step is to pay for it when we get back from sams wedding.

-Kathy is flying on thursday because she has to work. Please pray for her safety in arrival.

-God has been whispering to us about the future.. possibly near future and to pray about the direction of where He wants to take us. We both know that this time now is a time of transition and growing with each other and with God. A time of becoming a team. But we also know that this time is not forever... and that we should start praying about what is next as well as how we can be useful now where we are. Praise Him for His wisdom, grace and love.

-Christmas was a very good experience with the new in-laws :) and new years we spend with the youth group from our church.

-2011 is officially over, but the effects of it and all that has happened in that year will echo through our lives as God has really blessed us in the time apart as well as the time together.

This month we have been married for 6 months already and the time together has been the longest we have been literally together since we have entered the relationship together.

-One of the student loans is officially paid off! Praise God soooooo much!

Thank you all soooo much for the prayers and support through this time of repayment and in this entire life. The loans remaining are: two at about $2000 each. One at a time... little steps making big steps!

I wish you all back in the states the greatest joy this year. As 2011 was a huge year of change for us, 2012, without any clichés, will be even bigger as we trust in Him who saved us from death.

He is God, He is good, He is Jesus!

much much love and hope!

israel

(listening to: Will Reagan & United Pursuit)