Sankt Martin

Or in English, Saint Martin. He was a soldier hundreds of years ago, that became a Bishop, and one day while riding his horse through the woods in the snow, a poor man with only a sack to wear came to him and asked him for food. Saint Martin, not only shared his bread with him, but also his cloak. Many hundreds of years later in Germany, schools and kindergartens remember him and his good deed.

This does not result in a day off (I know, shocking), but it does consist of some fun festivities, and a good lesson in sharing for the kids.

Sank Martin can be seen in different places in the city through the week, as he makes appearances at the schools and kindergartens, he came to our kids school and kindergarten yesterday.

The funnest part of the evening though, is the Lantern parade (Lanterne zug). The kids make lanterns with their classes and on the evening after Sankt Martin comes to the school, everyone in the neighborhood meets at the park with their lanterns hung on electric light sticks and we walk through the streets singing and following Sankt Martin on his horse. We end up, after a couple kilometers, back at the park where there is a reenactment of the good deed and then the kids all run into the middle of the field to get an apple.

But that is just the beginning, from there we go to the stores, where if you sing a Sank Martin song for them, you get some candy. We could also go door to door, but Karis isn't convinced that we really know what the people do, therefore we should not do it.

This is what we love; this holiday follows right on the heels of Halloween (which isn't celebrated here very much, no love lost by us), but the meaning behind going to ask for candy is that the people are sharing with you the same way Sankt Martin gave to the poor man. We have then added the question for our kids, 'Why did Sankt Martin share?' (Hint: the answer is because God loves the poor, the orphan and the widow and calls us who love Him, as we assume Sank Martin did, to also give to them!)

Its such a great alternative for us to Halloween.

God Bless, and when He does, remember to give it away! Let your light shine!

Summer Fun

(I will add pics to this post in a couple days, I wrote it on the wrong computer, we have no pics on this one.)

*OK, these pics took a couple months, sorry.

Consistancy in correspondance has not always been our strong point, however, we´re getting better.

So, this being the end of the summer and our last post being the beginning of summer, I´ll try to summerize.

The summer started pretty typical for Germany, rainy. This is excellent for the flower boxes on our balcony, but not so fun for the three kids that have no school or kindergarten and Mommy who is sometimes creatively challenged when it comes to rainy sumer days with all the kids at home and the sun doesn´t go down till 11pm. However, we did survive the first week, to the glory of God, and made it to our reward:

We had a week of vacation at Schloss Heroldeck in the Austrian Alps alongside Milstatter See.

Yes, I said a week by a lake in the Alps. The sun came out just in time to greet us in Austria, and it also decided to stay in Millstatt for the week. This was actually the family retreat for CC Herborn. We try to go every year because they always have a great kids program and the cost is great for a family vacation. Edmund and I also get to minister together by helping with the worship, as well as sitting next to eachother in a teaching time, which doesn´t happen every moon cycle. We have a couple other favorite stops every year, the tallest waterfall in Austria (I cannot remeber the name) and My cousin Jack´s beautiful family. We usually only get a couple days with the Lauritsen´s, but it is just as much of a highlight as our week in Austria. Hope to see you guys at Thanksgiving!

After a week at home, we hosted an outreach team from CC Downey. This was a lot of work, but the kind that you like doing! As the team said, `We walked a lot´but it felt so good going to bed each night knowing the day was full of stuff that had weight. Treasures that will not pass away.

The team helped us do a skate outreach in the city for the second year in a row, as well as a kids outreach in the neighborhood near the church for the second year.

Some of the kids in both places remembered us and were excited to see us doing something again. There was a Grandma from one of the skaters that was really touched to see us doing something for these kids and kept asking questions about who we were whay we were doing this. It was good to share with her that we knew that Jesus loves these kids and has a plan for their lives and we are here to show them that He loves them.

One thing that is clear here is that people are scared of cults. I don´t know how many times I heard or heard a team member asked if we were JW´s or Scientologists. Please pray with us that the truth of the Gospel and God´s word would prevail in Dusseldorf.

However, Edmund and I agreed that the ground seemed softer on this outreach. Many more people asking questions and willing to talk. People are searching in these times, please pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers. We also pray that if the Lord would grant a Harvest to Dusseldorf, or Germany for that manner, that we would be here to see it.

The kids are back in school now, even Ezekiel has started Kindergarten. His summary of his days, Ì cried´. But we know that he secretly likes it because every time I pick him up, he is playing and doesn´t even know I am there.

Karis is in second, Kaleb is in his pre-school year. Times-a-runnin, which makes me think, to what are my days devoted. These thoughts bring me back to Romans: And do this, knowing the time,that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.(13:11) I think I just want to keep laying my head down at night knowing that the day had some weight to it.

May 1

Every May 1st is a holiday.

Before you ask, yes we know, Germany has A Lot of holidays. In some states, people get to stay home from school and work for Mary´s ascension, this is a day we never knew existed, or that anyone celebrated it.

However, May 1st has been a traditonal holiday in other places, including the US ( anyone remember learning about children dancing around the May pole). What is celebrated though, we can´t tell you, only that people go to the forest or somewhere out of the cities to grill and relax.

Calvary Chapel Dusseldorf spent their May 1st together grilling in the garden of the Mendes Reis family. Marcelo and Sylvane have been a part of the church since we started 2 years ago, and they own a garden outside of the city where we all met for food and fun.

Marcelo enjoys the fruit of his labors.

The weather was perfect, the meat tasted great, and after an intense game of boys verses girls soccer, we all sat down to some sweet fellowship.

Please pray for Cornelius. He is a friend of Marcelo and Sylvane that came for the day. He is seeking God, and believes in Jesus, but has no relationship with Him. Anne was able to talk with him for a long time this day. In his own words to Edmund,`Your wife preached to me, but in a good way, sometimes we need to be preached at.` He said he had a lot to think about. Please pray that the Lord would bring an end to his search... `Seek Me and you will find Me when you search for me with your whole heart.`Jeremiah 29:13

We have not made plans yet, but this Sunday will be Pentecost, we get Monday off from school and work, Karis`school gets Tuesday off as well, for good measure. Remember, the tenth commandment, `Do not covet your neighbor...`, or your friends in Germany when they get so many holidays.

We are Celebrating!

We have now been married 10 years! That is something to celebrate.

We have become so keenly aware in these last years that every day is a gift from God, especially every day that we wake up in love with the person next to us.

What is exciting and a little bit scary (in a cling to the Lord sense), is we know that the best, most exciting, and extremely challenging years are yet to come.

10 years...still laughing! (Do we look older?)

Make new Friends...Keep the old...

We have been praying recently for friends for our kids.

Karis always has some one to play with. She talks to any child that she has met or has seen with someone she has met, and has many kids that she likes to play with.

However, that is not the same thing. We have spent some time praying for a friend for our kids that is also a good influence on them.

They met some really cool kids recently (cool in our definition, nice, polite, fun)

We went to the leadership conference in Siegen and they had tons of fun. What was great for us is that Kaleb met Eddi. Eddi is 6 and seems to like to play the same stuff as Kaleb (boy stuff).

There is a catch, Eddi and his sister, who Karis loved to play with, live in Kaiserslautern, about 3 hours drive.

C'est la vie...

We forgot to be specific about where we needed friends for the kids, city and street names.

On the other side, this is another reason we love these conferences, not just for ourselves, but our kids get to meet friends that they look forward to seeing again every year.

The Glory of Spring

Now, we know that those of you born and raised in California think that it gets cold there sometimes. We will not argue with you, but we will say, there is no way that you can know the glory of Spring until experiencing a real winter.

Remember those two weeks or so of gloom and rain that drives most Californians almost to insanity. Now extend that by two to three months for us, more in other parts of the world (God knows our limit). Ok, are you in despair yet for sun and warmth on your face, for a day that begins before 8:30 am and ends after 4:30 pm. Does your winter jacket feel like a straight jacket? By the way, scarves really do keep a person much warmer in the cold, they are not just for fashion.
Do you long to see a color other than grey and search for signs of green on every branch?

Now, try to imagine the first glimpse of the first spring flowers, Daffodils (Ostern Glocken, Easter bells, in German). Bright yellow signs of hope that the deadness of winter is almost gone. Then comes a 'warm day' (above 50 with sun). The there are more flowers, and little buds on the trees. Bright pink and white blooms turning into leaves eventually! Aaahh, sitting outside, with only a sweater on. Renewed energy for the day, hope, plans for the summer, the kids can play outside, for a long time!

Now the prophetic speech that Spring utters to every man. Does it not amaze you the timing of the Passover feast, in Spring. Jesus became the Passover Lamb, fulfilling the feast of the Passover, but He rose again, exemplifying what Spring had been prophesying to men for generations. After the deadness of winter, when one feels that all hope is lost, new life shows itself, hope returns, a future can now be seen. The winter is literally grey, without snow, it is grey. From the color of the sky to the face of the people. The change that spring brings is so dramatic, it can be felt on many levels. However, to us who believe on the resurrected Savior, it should be a vivid reminder of the change God made in our dead grey souls, and the promise of our glorious resurrected future.

"So when this corruptible has put on incorruption,
and this mortal has put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
'Death is swallowed up in victory.'
'O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades where is your victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us victory throughour Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore,
my beloved brethren,
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:54-58

Major Milestones

We are celebrating 2, yes 2 major milestones in the same month.

The first happened with Kaleb, he learned to ride a bike without training wheels. He got his ultra cool Hot Wheels bike for his birthday last year, but now it has reached ultimate coolness, without training wheels.

The second is very, very special, Ezekiel is toilet trained!!! This happened without much planning and is a very pleasant surprise. Not long after the event, Anne realized she had been changing diapers for 7 years consecutively. Though most habits held that long are hard to change, this one was not.

Carnival

This is going back a couple months, but that's what happens when one doesn't blog very often.

For those that don't know what Carnival is, in summary, it begins the weekend preceding Lent, and ends Ash Wednesday. It is the days that people are allowed to do "whatever they want" before the period of fasting. Though it is well known in other parts of the world (Brazil and New Orleans are probably the best known to most that are reading this), in Germany, the biggest celebrations are found in the south (Bavaria), and in Cologne and Dusseldorf. All that means is, in these days, these cities have the honor of behaving as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. The celebration is held in the Altstadt (old city), where the "Mayor" of Carnival gives the celebrants the key to the city for those days, to 'do as they will'.

That is Carnival for adults. For kids it just means they get to dress up at school, and have fun for one day before getting a four day weekend (adults dress up as well, and yes, it is a postal holiday).

Our kids tend to dress in animal costumes, this year being the year of the dog. We searched high and low for the best dog costumes, and found out one very important fact, costumes are way more expensive here. We finally found the perfect one, on sale!!

The day came and Karis and Kaleb were ready for fun! They dressed up, we painted their faces and away they went. What was fun for us and Zeeky was the Krack Zug (noise parade). Karis' entire school went through our neighborhood in their costumes, just making noise (no one is allowed to scold them). We took Zeeky out to watch, dressed up in Kaleb's old frog costume.

The rest of the weekend remained pretty quiet as the celebrating is in the city center.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

Kaleb on his 5th Birthday wearing his new Transformers hat

Kaleb Daniel Coronel is the big '5' years old as of March 8th. His only request was to go to McDonald's for his birthday lunch and for Mommy to make him a white cake with strawberries and lots of frosting. That was a do able request. Karis asked him who he wanted to invite to his party, now this is where it became complicated, because he started to name off all of his loved ones in California. We think Kaleb will be the first one to move back to Cali if we are still here by his 18th birthday. He loves 'California' a.k.a Nanna and Pappas house ;0)

So on Sunday we tortured him by not allowing him to open any gifts till after church and after lunch and after singing Happy Birthday. Meine Gute! Poor boy! He did o.k., only asked from the moment he woke up till we lit the candles on the cake "Can I open my presents now? But he also gave me a great sermon illustration. Like the disciples asking ""Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Kaleb is an amazing little guy. He loves to do all the crazy and fun things boys do and at the same time he is so soft at heart. Everyday at least 2-3 times in the day he will call out "Mommy, I love you" or "Daddy, I love you" Melt our hearts!

One thing that has really blessed us this last month is to see his all of a sudden desire to pray. He just started asking "Can I pray"? And of course we allowed him to our delight. His prayers are something like "Dear God, thank you for this day, thank you for all the stuff we have and want, thank you for our bodies and our hands so we can grab things. Help us to get back safely from wherever we are going...In Jesus name I "pway" Amen.

As some of you know Kaleb is a huge Transformers fan. He has some transformers toys and cartoons. He was blessed by aunties and uncles and Nanna and Pappa and Oma and Opa, along with Mommy and Daddy with some new Transformer Autobots and Decepticons. He love to go around singing the Theme song to Transformers. I wanted to balance this out a bit so one day I started singing 'Our God is an Awesome God' every time I heard Kaleb sing the Transformers song. Karis, Kaleb and Zeeky caught on to it and we hear them singing it now in their playtime. Kaleb, in learning the song, sang out "Our God is a HANDSOME God..."!

European Pastors Conference January 2009

Conferences are a blessings. You are both excited and afraid to be around fellow workers in God's field. Excited, yes, there is so much to share about what Jesus is teaching you, what He has done in and through your life and the lives of those you serve in the year since you last met. There is excitement building as you gather together in the Name of Jesus, you just know He is going to speak to you, your spiritual ears and eyes are open and placed on 'high sensitivity'. You are excited because you are again amazed at the grace of God in calling you into the ministry, 'counting you faithful' I love God's way of looking at me in Christ!

"Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" 1 Tim. 1:9

There comes the next emotion of fear, but why fear? Well because I know myself, I know I can be a 'bonehead' and not hear from God. I can busy myself with telling stories of ministry, talking about victories and blessings only to cover up the parts of ministry and life that are difficult and draining. There is a real temptation to be the 'super-pastor' who never tires, never stumbles, never is discouraged with himself or others, never doubts, always trusts, always gives, always and in all ways follows close behind his Boss, his Lord, his friend, Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the flock.

We are often tempted to stretch out our hand that is whole to the Lord. You know the story. Jesus in the synagogue and He tells the man with the withered hand, 'stretch out your hand'. The man had a choice, in front of all those at church that day to expose his weakness, his shame, his lameness, to bring it out into the light for Jesus to deal with. This man could have easily kept that withered hand tucked far into his robe and stretched out his good hand, with pride showing all around him, there was nothing wrong and that he was just like the rest of them.

I thank God for the faith of this man, he stretched out that messed up, withered hand for all to see, most importantly he stretched it out to Jesus and as he did it was restored, made whole, made useful, made strong to the glory of God! The main teacher for the conference was Pastor Sandy Adams from Calvary Chapel Stone Mountain, Georgia. God really used him through the Word of God to search me and encourage me. "If you will return, then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth..." Jer. 15:19

One pleasant surprise of the conference was being able to see Josh Blevins! That was great, we had a little reunion with Josh, Joey, Edmund Sr. and I, then there was Brent from Boise, so it was like a little 'Root Teen' Mission reunion! It is great to see guys being called and used to build up and bless God's people around the world. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

Brent has homemade salsa from Edmund Sr. in the bag! An even exchange for Italian Espresso!

Now I am back home in Dusseldorf and have determined to spend more time with Jesus, asking the Chief Shepherd for His wonderful leading and wisdom in caring for and feeding His precious sheep. Until the whole world hears...

Coronels at Christmas

The Women's event this year for Christmas was called, "The Best Christmas of all Time". The idea being that, just as kids anticipate Christmas all year and wish for it to go on forever, all of history from before His coming and after looks to the first Christmas the moment that changed the world forever.

Having young kids puts an exclamation point on Christmas like nothing else. Their excitement for it makes us almost equally excited. Every year it is always cool to hear some of their interpretation of the season. Karis was enchanted by the Weihnachts Markt. This is the Christmas Market that happens every December, and we have visited every year, but for some reason this year, the sights, the smells, the lights, the decoration, filled all her senses and she declared, "I love the Weihnachts Markt!"

Kaleb summed up the season the best this year by telling us, "Christmas is all about Jesus!"

Ezekiel was just content that we plugged in the lights of the tree and the lights in the window every day.

Anne noticed how much of a help Karis was this year in the baking. She has grown past the stage of "helping but not helping" to actually being a big help in the kitchen. She was also excited to help deliver cookies to neighbors and friends.

We have much to be thankful for this year, but all of it goes back to how gracious our God has been to us, His greatest gift being His son Jesus, who set aside His glory to become one like us, in all our imperfection, to be killed by our sin, but defeat it and death in the resurrection, Amen, Hallelujah...

Just remember what Kaleb says, "Christmas is all about Jesus!"