Day 3: Expect the Unexpected

Day 3: Sunday September 18, 2011

Sunday – the day of rest. Austrians have it right. They really don’t work on Sunday’s. In fact there are quiet hours that say there can be no loud noises like power tools or hammers during certain hours out of respect for other people. The whole day of Sunday is included in those hours. So today was our tour day.

We started off by attending church with Rick and Annemarie. Normally their service is all in German but today they had a guest speaker who preached in English. The music was all German and the most I really got was Gott es Gutt! (God is Good)

Today was interesting. I got really sick. We were sitting in church and all of a sudden I was very very hot and shaking. I felt nauseous. I felt like I do when I get motion sick, but I had been sitting still. I went to the bathroom and saw my face was white as a sheet. I walked out and almost fainted. I drank some water and ate some pretzels but that wasn't helping. I told Madelyn and I laid on the floor of the church for a while. Today we were supposed to see Vienna so I was not only ill, I was very upset. We got into the car and drove to where we were having lunch. We had to make two trips, and I just rode both ways and just tried to sleep. We pic nic'd at the Summer Palace in Vienna and I started feeling better. I thought I was going to throw up but I never did. Although I took some kind of nasty trips to the bathroom. After eating and some rest I felt well enough to walk around the gardens but I've been weak all day. In the late afternoon we walked around the city center and I just had to go very slow. Its been frustrating because this is our "sightseeing" day and I saw lots of bathrooms. Got to say they are nicer so far than Italian bathrooms. I really hope that tomorrow will be better because we start work tomorrow. AnneMarie thought it might have been just a combination of jet lag and low blood sugar.

The summer palace was beautiful and the gardens were exquisite. We hiked up a huge hill called Glorietta and looked back. You could see over the whole city of Vienna. It is amazing thinking about the history of the town, the people that have lived here through the generations and knowing that there will probably be many more generations to come.

After the tour of the summer palace grounds we drove to the city center and visited the winter palace. Today this palace holds the Vienna Boy’s Choir and the World Famous Spanish Riding school where they train Lipizzaner horses. As we walked into the courtyard, Nadiya, the daughter of our host family, told us the Winter Palace was where Hitler gave many of his famous speeches. It’s hard to believe that such a different time was so close to our time.

I had to take things slowly, so I feel like I missed out on much of the day, but it was good to see the city. After the winter palace we walked through the city center. We got to do a little souvenir shopping but mostly it was seeing interesting places. We stopped at a little café – it turned out to be one of the most opulent buildings I’ve ever been in. It was the place where Sigmund Freud did most of his writings. There was even a statue of him in the café.

We saw museums, shops, castles and an opera house. It was all very beautiful. But we were all wearing down. Annemarie is like any other super mom I know. She transports, cooks, nurtures, disciplines, and loves. I’ve felt very well cared for today. This evening we had a spaghetti dinner and fresh vegetables.

Afterward we had a nice prayer time and then the kids went off to bed at 8:00! I asked if they always go to bed this early and they told me it was later than normal. Afterward we’ve just been sitting around and sharing about our lives. Rick and Annemarie are originally from New Zealand. They have had an amazing journey and I’m so blessed to get to hear about it.

I should head to bed because we’re getting up early to start work. Things to be praying for: health, strength and wisdom about what projects we need to do when to make things work with the weather.

Thank you for keeping up with us and praying for us.