Our Christmas "Card"

Our Christmas "Card"
Originally uploaded by Clint & April.

Clint and I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May God bless you in 2006!

Wir wünschen euch alle ein Frohes Fest und ein Schönes Neues Jahr! Gottes Segen in das neues Jahr!

Mit Liebe,
Clint und April Everhart

Our Trip to Nürnberg and Rothenburg

Self portrait of HIMers
Originally uploaded by Clint & April.

This week Clint, Amy, Allison and I went to Nürnberg and Rothenburg for a couple of days to have a short HIM trip. We thought it would be a good time of year to see the Christmas markets and also some cities we haven't seen before. We had a really great time seeing some beautiful cities, doing some shopping, eating great food, and having really good conversations about our HIM experiences thus far. I know we were all really glad to get to take this trip.

Kitchen

Here is our lovely, but little kitchen. We are now decorating it with a strawberry theme... "Oh wie süss ist daß denn!" :)

Bathroom

I'm sure you are really wanting to know what our bathroom looks like...

Hallway

Here is our lovely hallway and front door.

Our Apartment

I have been intending to post pictures of our first apartment! It is small, but good for us.

Here, you can see our living room. I have to admit that the apartment has come a long way since I moved in... No offense, Clint. :) Anyone who knows Clint understands what I'm saying. He's a sweet, sweet husband... however, we have completely different opinions about what is organized/clean. :) However, he has been incredibly understanding to my ideas and has helped me clean and organize. What a great husband!

The empty cabinet that you see is being saved for our set of pottery that we are hoping to buy in Poland soon. We are using some of the money we were given as wedding gifts to buy a complete set of Polish pottery in a design that we really like.

Here you can see our lovely windows (before curtains were installed). These windows really have been a form of entertainment for us because we can watch all the people over at the Mini Mal across the street. A lot of times there are big groups of teenagers hanging out there. Sometimes they can be loud and annoying but thankfully we haven't seen them as often lately.

Work on the Church Building

This fall several of the men (and some of the women) have helped do some work on the church building. The main reason it began was because there was a leak in the roof and a stain was discovered on the carpet inside. After checking out the damage it was determined that there must be a new roof installed. Larry, Ed, Clint, and several other people worked hard day after day to get the new roof put on. I even tried to help out one day picking up all the old shingles and throwing them in a big trash dumpster and Courtney and Conny helped out doing the same type of work. While the scaffolding was still up around the church, it was a good opportunity to repaint the outside. Many helped in this area and the result was very nice! Here are the pictures of the work up until now. I believe there are still windows to be painted and installed, which Clint is working on now. I think eventually we will also paint the other building to match as well.

Church Choices

The following is an article written by a church leader. I will not say where or who it is, but it causes me great concern for the future of this particular congregation.

In the following comments, I am not speaking to anything specific, but this is something that's always good to file away back in the soul someplace. The unity of God's church is crucial to the goals of the kingdom of God. Much can challenge the church's unity. For example, the church will always face crossroads of decisions. Many will have strong opinions in various directions. How we handle those choices may have far-reaching consequences. In Acts 15, the church met over the potentially explosive issue of whether the Gentile converts had to be circumcised or not. James uttered the meeting's verdict:

It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood (19,20).

It's easy to overlook that James was a leader of the elders of the church where the circumcision group worshipped (Acts 12:17; 21:18; Gal. 2:9). If anyone were sympathetic to the circumcision group, James was. But whatever sympathies he may have had, James surrendered them in favor presenting a united front. Neither James nor any of the Jews stood up and said, "Well! If that's the way this church is going, I'm gonna quit coming!" or "I'll start my own church" or "I'll withhold my weekly contribution!" James did not view the meeting as a time to jockey for position or play one side against the other or get his way, but to hear the mind of the Spirit. May his tribe increase!

Three men in a boat far from shore began arguing about their individual space in the boat. Each claimed he was not getting his share. Finally they drew lines and divided the boat into three equal sections. Then one of the men began to drill a hole in his section, arguing that he could do whatever he wanted with his section. The other two protested, "But we're all in the same boat!"

If at any time the church's decision is not what you wanted, please don't draw lines and make "your section." If you dissent, make sure no one else knows it. Don't drill your hole. Vow to accept those decisions and not work against them. Because if you cannot listen to your brother or the church, are you really able to listen to the Holy Spirit? The church is, after all, the Holy Spirit's temple.

Does this sound scary to anyone else besides me??? Especially in the last paragraph where it basically says that if you don't like the decisions that the church makes, then be quiet and don't say anything. I believe this is a direct disregard for God's word. We're all human... we all make mistakes and Satan is always at work to influence our decisions. What makes church leaders immune from this? We all have to be sure that we keep God's word as our main source of all our decision making. We should always be sure that all the teaching we hear is in line with what God teaches us through His word.

And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26

So should we sit aside quietly and let decisions be made in the church that are disagreeable with the Bible? Absolutely not! I'm not saying we should cause problems in the church and cause disagreements, but like it says in 2 Timothy we should be kind and gently instruct when we are faced with things that are not in accordance with God's word.

I hope that I have made my point here... I don't like having disagreements in the church, and I always want there to be unity. We should all agree that God's word is the final authority in every decision we make in the church.

New Background

So I got tired of the all black background and went the exact opposite... to white. What do you think about the new look? Right now I am in a strawberry phase. It actually started when Courtney gave me a painting of strawberries with my name on a cutting board for my birthday. Since then I have slowly collected other strawberry things to decorate the kitchen with. It is looking really cute!

Speaking of New Babies...

Speaking of new babies...

Mom sent me an e-mail with several pictures attached of Claire. As I looked through them I came to this picture. I was shocked to see that my new niece looked amazingly like a huge bass... hmmmm. :)

Ashlyn is 6 months old! 

Wedding Photos...Finally!

You can view our wedding photos online.

1. Go to http://www.finephotosbyann.com
2. Click the View An Event Button.
3. Enter the username and password shown below.
4. Enter your email address and enjoy the photos!

Fill in the following name and password information:

User Name: Everhart
Password: 4871

7 Things

April Stephens requested that I make this list of 7 Things a long time ago... and what can I say... I have been a bit behind on my response.

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...

• Be a mommy!
• Be fluent in German
• Lead a short term mission campaign to Germany
• Travel the world... there's still so much to be seen!
• Celebrate many wonderful years of marriage with my sweet husband
• Be the humble servant God wants me to be
• Realize that the things in life aren't important, but being with God in heaven is what is important

7 Things I Can Do...

• Speak German (just not fluently)
• Sing
• Read music
• Teach people about God
• Ice skate
• Whistle like a bird
• More than I can ever imagine... if I only have faith in God

7 Things I Can't Do...

• Drive a standard car... I should probably add that to my list of things to do
• The splits... ouch!
• Look at my husband without smiling and thanking God for such a wonderful blessing
• Not cry when I'm hurting
• Forget what Jesus did
• Save myself from my own sinful ways
• Tell God enough how much I love Him!

7 Things That Attract Me To My Husband...

• His sweet smile
• His generous spirit
• His humor
• His loving, compassionate manner
• His dedication to helping others
• The way he shows me how to always refocus on what is important
• The way he shows me sympathy and love through all situations

7 Things I Say Most Often...

• "Your Mom"
• "Oh my goodness"
• "________ down" --Fill in the blank with anything such as... "chip down"
• "Baby" to my husband
• "I love you" to my husband
• "Schatzi" to my husband
• "Ya know what I mean?"

7 Reasons Why I Love Germany...

• My wonderful friends
• German is fun to speak
• It is a beautiful country
• The Amiecke... i.e. all of the Chemnitz missionaries: Ed and Courtney, Karen, and Larry and Pam
• The Churches in Saxony and all of Germany for that matter
• German food
• It's hard to explain, but I believe God led me here so it's in my heart

7 People That I Want To Pray For...

• Betty Wooldridge (Mama)
• Wayne Stephens
• Kevin
• My new niece Claire and her wonderful new parents: Jonathan and Lana
• Ed's family
• The leaders in the Church all around the world
• John Sullivan
  

The proud parents 

Claire 

My new niece!

Announcing
CLAIRE JULIANNA
WOOLDRIDGE
BORN:
OCTOBER 12, 2005
3:12 AM
6 LBS. 13 OZ.
18 ½ "
PROUD PARENTS:
JONATHAN & LANA WOOLDRIDGE

Pictures to come soon...

Maennerfreizeit

Maennerfreizeit

I finally just emptied our digital photo cards and was looking through the photos. I am just trying to update you on the things that have happened recently which I have neglected to tell you about.

The week before I went to Austria, Clint went with a group of men to Dorfweil, Germany which is near Frankfurt. It was a men's retreat similar to the women's retreat I attended. It was all in German and he was equally excited to get to practice his German. He had a good time there. I was very glad to have him back home after the week was over though. :)

Unser Kaffeetrinken

Unser Kaffeetrinken

Back in September we had a reception at the church in Chemnitz. It was a really fun time to share our special day with our friends over here. We drank coffee and ate delicious cake which Pam made. Isn't it beautiful??!! We were able to bring a T.V. to show our slideshow and photos from the wedding.

Family Updates

I just want to give a quick update about my family that I previously requested prayers for.

1. Mama was moved to a nursing home for a few days to begin therapy to regain her strength but has not been eating or drinking. She has had some rough days and was put back in the hospital. She is not doing well at all. Please keep her in your prayers.

2. Amy, Doug and Ashlyn are doing fine. They ended up staying in Houston during the hurricane but they had no damage. Thank God for that!

3. My aunt and uncle were able to evacuate and thankfully had little to no damage as well.

4. Robin and James are safe but their home and city had some damage. I know that they were sleeping at the fire station where James works with their daughter for a while. I haven't heard any updates on that though.

5. Jonathan and Lana are still waiting for their precious little angel to come. It is getting closer and closer to time though!

6. Clint and I fly tomorrow morning out of Dresden to Ohio. We will be there for 9 days for Clint's friend's wedding. Please pray for our safety.

Felt Moss, Austria

Filzmoos (Felt moss), Austria

I just got back from an amazing Ladies Retreat in an amazing little town in the Alps. It was so beautiful and I still hold to my opinion that it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, which is now in the running with Maui. However, they are both beautiful in such different ways. If you ever get a chance to go to the Alps, all I can say is... DO IT!!!

Interesting decoration

Interesting decoration

I had a good time walking around and seeing all the good sites there. However, the best part of the week was the wonderful fellowship with all the Christian women from German speaking Europe. This year I was able to understand so much more and it was great to get to have conversations with people!

Bauern Herbst

Austrian Cows

The week we were in Filzmoos was Bauern Herbst which basically is the next season of the year, fall farming season, as far as I understand. They had a big celebration in the town and drove the cows down the mountain. The poor things were dressed for the occasion.

Please Pray

Hello everyone,
I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping this very updated, but I guess I have been very busy since I've been back in Germany. There just seems to be so many things going on right now and it only seems appropriate to pray because there is nothing else we can really do. I will try to remember everyone and every situation that I can that I really want you to pray for and think about. Thank you for your prayers! God hears them!

1. My grandma (Mama) is back in the hospital for the second time in 2 weeks or so. She has been having many problems. Please pray for her and for my whole family. My parents are driving to Texas today to see her and to try to do anything they can to help. Her name is Betty Wooldridge

2. My sister Amy, niece Ashlyn and brother-in-law Doug are evacuating from Houston because of Hurricane Rita. They are not so worried about damage and flooding because they are in North Houston, but still pray for their safety and all the people in that area. I'm not sure if Doug is leaving with them or staying, but please pray for all of them.

3. My aunt and uncle and cousin are in Port Lavaca, Texas- right on the gulf coast. They must also evacuate. Please pray for Karen, Rickey and Eric's safety.

4. My cousin Robin, her husband James and their daughter Katy are also in Houston. They are in the South part and must evacuate. James is a volunteer fire fighter and was asked to stay to help with rescues.

5. We can continue to pray for all the hurricane Katrina refugees and those affected by the entire disaster.

6. Kevin, a 3 year old boy here in Germany is the nephew of some of my friends from church. They have just diagnosed him with a malignant brain tumor. He will begin Chemo treatments soon. Please pray for this whole family.

7. My brother and sister-in-law will soon be having their baby girl! Lana is going to the Dr. on Tuesday and basically anytime after that she could go into labor. They are trying some natural ways to get her labor started because she has gestational diabetes and they don't want the baby to get too big. I could have a new niece within the next couple of weeks! Pray that everything goes well with Lana and the baby! Pray for Jonathan too!

8. Larry's brother is having some serious kidney problems and they are not sure what can be done yet. He is diabetic so this adds to the problem. Please pray for John.

These are the things that I have had on my heart and mind a lot lately and there are probably many many more that I could name, but I wanted to just share them with you so you can pray! Thanks again!

Bridal Portraits

You can view my bridal portraits online.

1. Go to http://www.finephotosbyann.com
2. Click the View An Event Button.
3. Enter the username and password shown below.
4. Enter your email address and enjoy the photos!

Fill in the following name and password information:
User Name: April
Password: 4871

Maui!!

Maui sunset

Here is a my favorite picture from our honeymoon! This was the night of the luau and we had our picture taken on the beach in front of a beautiful sunset! We love Maui!!!

Trying to drink the punch

Trying to drink the punch

Right after this is when "the incident" happened.

"The punch incident"

Pouring the punch (in the glass)

The funny story behind this scene is what happened soon after we took a drink out of these glasses. The photographer (seen right) told us to kiss so she could get a picture. We kissed and pretty soon it was obvious that Clint was not going to let go very quickly. In fact, he put his glass on the table and tried to put his arms around me. Instead, he knocked the glass off the table which spilled raspberry punch on my dress! I reacted by screaming and then immediately hitting him, which by the way will probably be on the video. All that matters is that we are married now and I can't be mad about it. It is a funny memory that we will have forever. I think Clint still feels guilty about it though because every time I tell the story he gets defensive. :) He's so cute!

We're married!

The bride and groom

Yay, we're married!!!!!

Chemnitz picture

Chemnitz picture

This is a group picture of everyone at the wedding that has ever been to Chemnitz. Most of them are past campaigners and amazingly enough, I think I can say that I have been in Chemnitz with almost every single person in this group at one time or another. This just shows how much people love Chemnitz and how blessed we are in Chemnitz to always have visitors! There are even a couple of residents (or past residents) of Chemnitz in this picture. The most obvious are Clint and I... but also Pam and Kendra Sullivan, Janine Theilicke, Ed and Courtney Cantrell, Lydia Kraemer, and of course Jennifer Alexander did the HIM program in 2003. I just thought that it was so cool to see so many people there that have been to Chemnitz!

The garter

Our wedding reception

Here is a not so great quality picture of Clint and I at the reception. He is about to take off my garter, which by the way was actually my sister-in-law's. There are a few funny stories to tell of things that went wrong, but in the end they didn't matter because we were still married! I lost my garter and didn't realize it until I was already dressed and ready. Lana went home and got her garter for me. It worked out just fine.

Our Knot Website

Here is a link to our Knot website where you can read about Clint and I and about our wedding!!! Have a great day everyone!

Wedding Shower

Wedding Shower

Well, I had my first personal shower for my wedding. It was a lot of fun. I think everyone had a good time, and I know I was pretty much embarrassed the entire time which probably helped the ladies achieve their goal. But really, they didn't have to try too hard, seeing as though I'm one of the most easily embarrassed people in the world. However, I find no shame in that. Anyway, it was a great time and I am deeply appreciative of all that came, gave me presents and laughed at my shyness. We had a great time, didn't we??

Today Clint and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary! What's even better is that we will get married in 58 days!!! 

My niece, Ashlyn, has a beautiful smile!