Hurray For Today

As the 12th of September officially ends (at least on my current side of the world), I can honestly say that my next birthdays to come would have to be pretty darn amazing to top this year's celebration. Today was perfect in every sense of the word. I will be writing about it sometime tomorrow, with photos as well, hopefully!

Right now, I am busy packing for the ultimate birthday weekend trip to... *drumroll please*

PARIS!

Stay tuned!! :)

Birthday Eve (take 2)

Ok, so I think the text/format of my Birthday Eve post didn't upload correctly. Here is the complete text:

Tonight during dinner, I was surprised with a birthday cake brought in by the kuya waiters in the dining hall, followed by a singing of the Happy Birthday song both in English and in Tagalog. I am a hundred percent positive that my cheeks were all flushed while the crowd in the dining hall looked on and while my friends at the table took photos. It was that awkward moment where you can't stop smiling but don't really know where to look when everyone was singing happy birthday to you!

But I didn't care, I was happy :) I honestly didn't expect anything like this because (a) my birthday isn't til tomorrow, and (b) I've only known these people for 3 weeks. But my amazing roommate made sure I felt special on my special day. She decided to arrange this small sweet surprise to happen on the eve of my birthday, because we will be out on land in Belgium tomorrow for my actual birthday. She wanted to make sure I still had a "ship birthday" celebration. I told you she was amazing!

I'm so thankful that wherever I am, and wherever I go, God puts people in my life who make my days a little sweeter than usual.

P.S. Time now is 11:55pm, September 11th. 5 minutes til my birthday! I am currently 6 hours behind Manila time, and 7 hours ahead of Missouri time. This is set for the rest of our stay in Europe.

Birthday Eve

Tonight during dinner, I was surprised with a birthday cake brought in by the kuya waiters in the dining hall, followed by a singing of the Happy Birthday song both in English and in Tagalog. I am a hundred percent positive that my cheeks were all flushed while the crowd in the dining hall looked on and while my friends at the table took photos. It was that awkward moment where you can't stop smiling but don't really know where to look when everyone was singing happy birthday to you!

Bonjour, Belgium!

We're in Belgium!!!

The itinerary originally indicated that we were supposed to dock in the Port of Antwerp on Thursday, but I guess the ship sailed faster than usual! Or maybe they really just give allowances between ports in case something doesn't go as planned. Either way, we have arrived in Antwerp, Belgium!

However, we aren't cleared to disembark just yet. We have to wait until Thursday to be able to get off the ship, because that was the itinerary that was given to customs. It's such a tease! We're already docked and can see the pretty view of the city, but we're trapped inside!! Kinda like how I was in Russia, haha.

Anyway, that's it. I just got really excited that we're in another new city again! Can't wait to get my hands on all those Belgian chocolates and waffles :D Now excuse me while I brush up on my french!

Morning Devotion

I know this blog is supposed to be more about my travel adventures in the different countries we'll be visiting, but every now and then, I want to also share posts about faith. My spiritual growth is a big part of this journey after all. 

One of our Bible study group leaders sent us this morning devotion via email, and I just wanted to share it with everyone:

"I am always available to you. Once you have trusted Me as your Savior, I never distance Myself from you. Sometimes you may feel distant from Me. Recognize that as feeling; do not confuse it with reality. The Bible is full of My promises to be with you always. As I assured Jacob, when he was journeying away from home into unknown places, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. My last recored promise to My followers was: Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Let these assurances of My continual Presence fill you with Joy and Peace. No matter what you may lose in this life, you can never lose your relationship with Me." ~ JESUS CALLING (a book) 

After reading that, I was left speechless for a moment, just trying to soak it all in. I was just so blessed and thankful for the relationship I have with my God. To know that He remains faithful to us even if we are not is humbling.

What hit me the most about the passage above were the lines "I never distance Myself from you. Sometimes you may feel distant from Me. Recognize that as feeling; do not confuse it with reality. The Bible is full of My promises to be with you always." 

Wow. Just wow. I hope this devotion has blessed you, too! 

❤L 

Spiritual Nourishment

Tonight, we had our first student-led Bible study session. We started with introductions, icebreakers, and then sang worship songs. I felt joy and got goosebumps when we were singing the songs because they were familiar ones: Mighty to Save, Amazing Grace, Trading My Sorrows, and Breathe.

The discussion tonight was about God sighting--where we saw God in the places we've recently visited, or what these places have taught us about God. It was so moving hearing my fellow SAS-ers share how they recognized God's presence in the different situations they were in while touring Russia and Germany.

I absolutely loved it. My heart is just so happy right now knowing I have a "church family" here on the ship. We will be having small groups as well, so we can have accountability partners and people we can regularly meet up with throughout the week. There is something about spending time with people who share the same faith as you do. I feel as if I have a support group I can always run to, a body of believers who love the same God.

Not only that, but last week, we also had a Women's Bible Study group! This particular group, as what the name implies, is exclusively for girls. It's so comforting to know that I have a group of God-loving ladies I can confide in, too, helping me grow and become a better daughter of Christ while on this journey.

These two groups are answers to my prayers. God is good.

Beer, Cars, Efficiency

Aside from their rich history, Germany is best known for three things: their beer, their cars, and their efficiency. It's pretty much amazing that in the four short days I have been here, I was able to see, experience, and learn those three key aspects that make Deutschland uber guten!

Beer

My goal in every country we visit is to eat and drink whatever that country's specialties are. I've always heard that Germans love their beer, so I wanted to try it out for myself. I ordered a Lemke original in one of the German restaurants we went to for lunch. The verdict? Guten! That tall glass of beer went down pretty nice, considering I'd rather have a "girly drink/cocktail" than a beer! It was a pretty tall glass, as you can see below, so I may or may not have had a good buzz while touring Berlin afterwards. Haha, I may or may not be kidding ;) 

Bottoms up!

Cars

As in most of the European cities I've been to where fancy shmancy cars line up the streets, Germany proved to be no different. It is home to BMW and Mercedes Benz, after all. I had the privilege of riding a Mercedes-Benz bus (er, "coach" pala daw ang right term) on the way to Berlin from Hamburg. I didn't notice it at first, actually. I just thought it was a really cozy bus, with free wifi and a lavatory too! So convenient. Then my friend pointed out the Mercedes-Benz sign by the front of the bus. I was like, "duuude, this is legit". 

Mini! This clearly wasn't the bus we rode on haha but I just thought it was cute hehe

Efficiency

In 2008, the BMW in Germany faced a tough business crisis. It was a bad season, and their economy was obviously largely affected as well. When there is trouble in the business world, a lot of companies would usually be forced to layoff employees, causing the rate of unemployment to dramatically rise especially when it's the big companies that do the firing. But when it was BMW that was hit by major sales downfall 5 years ago, the BMW company gods decided not to layoff any of the workers, even when there is barely business to run. Instead, BMW made the working hours of their employees shorter (instead of a 40-hour work week, it was cut to 20), but made them go under specific professional trainings in different fields (marketing, engineering, PR, etc) during the rest of the hours of their typical work day and receive the same salary. The goal was to make sure that once business started booming again, all their workers were up and ready to maximize sales strategies, public relations, etc, in the best way they know how. They took a seemingly bad situation and turned it into an advantage for the future of their business. No time was wasted in the trainings they provided their employees. I personally thought that was a clear example of efficiency in the sense that they achieved maximum productivity to reach maximum prosperity. Now, largely because of BMW, Germany's economy is at its best.