Mari Isaacson

This time of year, being Advent, always reminds me of Salzburg. Salzburg is my absolute favorite city in the whole world. Well, the part of the world I have had the privilege to visit or live in. Christmas time is a fantastic time to visit this special city all lit up and ready for the holidays. Tabea and I loved to take the train early in the morning so we would arrive at the outdoor Christmas market before the throngs of people arrived. By 11am the market would be so crowded that you could barely move, let alone see anything.

Thinking of Salzburg reminds me of an incident that took place in the early winter with another friend of mine.

It had been a relaxing lunch with a mixture of English and German being tossed about like a salad. It was good to be back in Salzburg again after almost a year away. After the enjoyable meal, a pit stop was necessary, so I went looking for the sign.

“Wo ist das WC?” I asked the Kellner after my search proved to be unsuccessful.

He started to give me directions in English, which I found rather odd since I had spoken in German.  Called his attention to it, he shook his head as if recovering from a trance. This was followed by an apology and directions leading up the stairs. Actually the WC, bathroom, was not hard to find once you knew where to look. I was indeed grateful. This information would surely be useful again sometime.

As I was coming out of the bathroom, two young girls also made their exit and headed towards the stairs. I followed. Coming to the top of the landing, I realized that these were not the stairs I had taken coming up to this floor. These stairs, furthermore, led to the outside. Thus my steps to the bathroom were retraced easily enough. If only the rest had been so easy. There I was, standing where I thought the stairs must be. Had to be. To my surprise and horror, the stairs had disappeared! I kid you not! Instead, I stood before three closed doors.  Very bare, very similar doors. The strange thing was I hadn’t come through a door on my way to the bathroom. This was definitely a dilemma.

Voices were coming from behind one of the doors, but I didn’t have the courage at that moment to get close enough to discover behind which door the voices were coming. Furthermore, every ounce of nerve failed me for I did not trust opening a strange door that lead to who knows where, or to whom, even if my life depended upon it. What was I to do? Marietta was waiting for me downstairs. By now she would be wondering where I had disappeared. I pondered. I decided. I took the stairs leading to the outside. It was a safer decision. Going back into the restaurant would be no problem.

The stairs led down to an alley between the Getreidegasse and the next street over. No problem. Through the window I could see Marietta waiting for me so I rushed to the end of the alley and onto the street. At least that was the plan. I didn’t make it to the street.

Smack! Bang! An explosion erupted! My body was plastered all over the glass door that materialized out of thin air. Stuck to the window like a bug on a moving car, plastered for all the tourists to see, I couldn’t more. I was in shock.

After the shock began to wear off and my body started to register pain, lots of pain, I peeled myself away from the glass. Comprehension was still very fuzzy. What happened? Why? When realization started to hit I was very grateful for two things: One, the glass I ran into was still totally in tact in spite of the impact. Two, my glasses, though smashed up against the see-through wall, were also still in one piece. The whole thing could have been disastrous. Taking a deep breath I walked through the door and onto the street, ignoring the stares of onlookers who had witnessed the mishap.

Thinking about it, it was rather humorous. The expressions of passer Byers alone was pretty comical. I am sure they would have said the same for me. By the time I reached the restaurant door, I was so overcome with laughter I could hardly walk. Thus the explanation was not easy in coming. Marietta wanted to know what was so funny and why I had been outside. After my story, her laughter could not be contained. In that state we went our way.

This reminds me of the verse in Psalm 91, 4 “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.” Shield and buckler. Defensive armor. It must have had some type of defensive armor protecting me that day. Better than that, I had God with me and He is stronger than any situation I might run into… literally and figuratively. It is good to know that He is able to protect me in any situation I might face. I couldn’t be in better hands when I take my refuge in Him. Thank you, Jesus!

It’s amazing how that old lady gets around. After we left her in Canada, she showed up some years later in Austria. By the way, she did show up at the Bible School a few more times for different events. One time Kelly and I were just trying to bring a little laughter into the High School girls dorm. They were tough girls. A lot of those girls on our floor (we were High School Resident Assistants) didn’t really want to be there. Thus, study hour time was a challenge to say the least. We tried. So, the old lady moved on to different lands….

The first time the old lady was requested to show up was for a game during a 5-Day club was in Burgenland. It was a scavenger hunt. There was a long list of interesting things the children needed to find. One of the items was my signature. Well, children love such treasure hunts I have discovered. So, we decided to add a little twist to the hunt. I would dress up as an elderly lady and walk around the church grounds. What added a bit of spice to the occasion was that a neighbour lady was also outside. Another elderly sort. We stood out there in plain site for all the children to see and chatted for almost an hour. The entire time children were racing past us looking for this and that. It was rather hilarious. In fact, we broke out in laughter a few times as we caught bits of conversations where the children were looking for me. We were even asked a few times if we knew my where-a-bouts. My only response was, sorry. After all, if I said more I would have to lie. That wouldn’t be right.

One boy got smart. He was around 10 or 11 years old. He kept coming by and looking at me real hard-like. Finally he came up and asked me for my signature without even asking if I was who I was supposed to be. Who might that be? I asked him how he knew. Easy. My hands gave me away. They weren’t the hands of an elderly lady. Ah, perhaps there is some merit in those dishwashing soap commercials after all.

His group was the only group that won that day.

Then there was the time with the Junior girls in Villach. It was another type of hunt. This time all they had to find was me. The rules were easy. They broke up into three groups. Each group had a Teen who was only there to make sure nothing went wrong. Oh yes, each team had to have the cell phone. They were to call me every 15 minutes and ask me where I was. Not too hard. The boundaries were set and the girls were off.

Again, I needed to add a different twist so that it wouldn’t be so easy for them. In one of the restaurants I changed into my costume. Out came the old lady again. I had borrowed different parts of my outfit from different elderly women in the church. Even a decent wig I was able to scrounge up from some hidden corner of a second hand store.

The calls started to come but none of the groups were in sight. I wasn’t moving very fast. Sometimes I even stayed where I was to see if they would show up. Nobody. Finally I get the call that one of the girls was getting a heat stroke. It was really hot that day. My costume didn’t help me any, I was sweating up a storm. That group was heading to McDonalds to get out of the heat. Ok. I then told the other two groups of the new destination and started heading there myself.

Along the way, one of the groups passed me, almost running me over. One girl looked back. Probably to see if I was still on my feet. I felt sure she had recognized me. But no, she turned and kept on going.

Some of the girls were at the counter when I arrived at McDonalds. I slowly went up to them and placed my hand on the shoulder of one of the girls. She turned and looked at me with such a frozen expression as if I were some kind of monster. Another turned to see what the matter was. She too had a terrified look on her face. As if I were in the position to really do any of them any damage. I couldn’t believe it. The situation was so hilarious that I broke out in laughter and couldn’t stop. They all turned then. Everyone in the near vicinity was watching with curiosity. Finally it dawned on each of the girls present who I was. Some of them even started laughing. The two who were terrified finally breathed deeply. The one closest to me exclaimed that she thought I was going to fall on her or something. They were still having a hard time believing it was me. Without my laughter, they would be stumped.

Well, the others in the group were already upstairs with their food. It was time to test out their reactions. I headed for the stairs. Before reaching the landing I noticed an empty chair at one of the tables where some were sitting. I filled it. Everyone stopped talking and looked at me strangely. I was sure the seat was meant for one of those down ordering their food, but no one trusted themselves to say anything. They weren’t rude or anything, they just didn’t know what to do with me. One actually said hello. I kept thinking, come on you guys, look at me closely. Finally I had to laugh, which of course, gave me away. One of the girls dropped her salad on the floor in reaction. Another stared at me with open mouth. Several others started talking at once.

Once the others joined the group and I had also ordered my food, we talked about the situation. We did a lot of laughing during that meal.

It’s an eye opener to see how different people react to the elderly. Some people just don’t have the time of day for this age group. Others don’t know how to relate so they tend to shy away from them. For the most part, the elderly are overlooked. That is sad.

The elderly have lived through so much, they have lots to say. If only someone would listen. Even just taking the time to smile at them when passing on the streets can change the outlook of their day. I love smiling and greeting the elderly when I am in the city. Some of them are just as grumpy looking as if I hadn’t said anything at all. Then there are the others. Most of them have a massive change of countenance, like a rose that has budded in the sunshine. It’s a beautiful sight.

Try creating a flower today. Make a few minutes for the elderly. Even if it is just a smile, it can change someone’s world.

It’s amazing how we often take our friends for granted till they are no longer there. Settling in here in Edmonton has not been easy. No friends here! Well, not yet. Friendship takes time, but do we take the time to make friends?

Being here so close to Three Hills brings back many memories of treasured friends. Let me share a bit of the past with you, for it has to do with some of you, my dear friends!

In Bible School you sometimes do really strange things just to take the pressure off of all the studying and piles of books to read. Well, I loved to dress up. I have loved dressing up since the first time I was old enough to go trick-or-treating. It then carried over to my Jr. High and Sr. High days. Our school was always having opportunities to dress up. Most of the time it was to show our support for the different sports teams. But sometimes it just had to do with the season. So, whether I wore red and white, my clothes backwards, an Indian costume that I made out of a burlap bag, or some other crazy costume, I was always totally engulfed in each opportunity that came along.

In Bible School such opportunities rarely presented themselves, so one had to be creative and make the possibilities happen. On this particular day I was totally stressed out and needed some kind of outlet. A fantastic idea started to form and I went to the Tilly to search for the needed items. Now the Tilly was like a second-hand shop there on the school premises. You could either buy things like clothing, books, extra blankets, fun stuff, and even costumes really cheep, or borrow them. My plan took shape as I found the needed items.

Back in my room I put on the costume and looked in the mirror. What looked back at me was a fragile, elderly lady who was looking for some adventure in her every-day coexistence. She was equipped with cain and one of those hats with a net in front hiding part of my face. The grey wig and gloves added to the effect immensely along with baby powder and facial lines made with mascara. I was set to try out this new look. It was dinner time. Destination: the dining hall.

Now I must say, I have been plagued with back problems my whole life. Problem which, when I am in great pain, affect the way I walk. Therefore, my plan was reinforced with the fact that I knew exactly how to walk like an elderly woman. I had had much practice.

I arrived at the dining hall, none to quickly I must add. The distance between the girls dorm and dining hall was normally around 5 minutes. Normally. First I had to wait till there was no one in the hall, then I managed to my friends room undetected. It was all set up that I would have a co-worker in crime. Kelly was to tell everyone who asked that I was her great aunt who had come to visit. Paul, her then boyfriend now husband, was also recruited in the scam. With that all set, we were on our way. Nevertheless, it took almost a half an hour to actually get to the dining hall once we left her room.

We arrived and Paul was there to meet us. It was amazing how convincing we actually were. I was sure that everyone would recognize me. Very few. This was just too true to believe. I always wanted to be an actress but never got the chance till now. I was enjoying this roll immensely. The best was yet to come.

We were sitting down at one of the tables in the midst of the big dining hall when our, already nearly full table was graced with another. Charlie. (Charlie is not his real name, but we will call him that for this article.) Charlie was an elderly, single gentleman who loved to flirt with the female students. He was always careful though with whom he chose to flirt with. Charlie was my friend. We had lots of fun together. Now here would be my biggest test.

Charlie didn’t waste a moment. He wanted to know all about me, where I was from, who I knew, what I was doing here, if I was single, what I thought about life… Charlie didn’t waste any time. He was flirting with me like I had never seen. Go figure. He thought here was finally someone in his league. Whatever. Do you know how hard it is to disguise your voice when you are trying to keep from going into hysterics? It isn’t easy. Paul and Kelly were having a difficult time with it as well. At least if they laughed, it could be attributed to something else. As time went on, it was getting more difficult to control myself. I was grateful for the fact that the netting from my hat was somewhat covering my face. Finally he was just getting too personal. I broke out in laughter.

The transformation on his face was priceless. Puzzlement. Recognition. Then, that serious look. Charlie could never keep a serious look very long. He just didn’t have it in him. Thus, he didn’t succeed here either. After that “oh, Mari!” exasperation, he joined us in laughter as well. If we hadn’t been friends, I think he would have been clobbered me.

Friends. Friendship is a real treasure from the Lord! It is an extra blessing to have friends who are willing to stand behind you when you try out your crazy ideas. It makes me think of Jonathan and David. They were the best of friends. They were kindred-spirits. Jonathan knew David would be the next king. That alone could have caused enough jealousy to break up the friendship. Jonathan didn’t let that happen. He was behind David 100 percent. That’s friendship. I am so grateful for the special friends God has brought along my path at different intervals of life. It has been such friends who have made me a better person. For this I am eternally blessed.

To ALL my friends: YOU HAVE TOUCHED ME, AND I HAVE GROWN! THANK YOU!

Let a friend know you appreciate him/her today.

Blessings my friend.

mari

On the way to Teacher Training, Mary Cunningham and I decided to pick up something fast for dinner. What better way to be fast then to do the drive- thru. Those aren’t as easy as it seems!

We pulled up to the speaker board and heard this really loud “rrrrr”. We looked at each other and I asked, did he say, “rrrrr?” We burst out in laughter for neither of us had understood a word that he said. Quickly Mary rolled up the window for we didn’t want the guy to hear us for we couldn’t stop, tears were rolling down our cheeks.

After a few moments the guy asked very clearly, “Are you going to order?” We both took deep breaths and brought our laughter under control.

“Yes, just a minute,” Mary said as she rolled the window back down.

Meanwhile we glanced at the menu trying to figure out what to order. Now I always find this task very difficult… the menu is so big and long that it makes it difficult to know just what you want. Especially if the menu is new to you like it was to me. I didn’t have a clue. The fact that I knew someone was waiting on the other end didn’t make it any easier. I had the feeling he was getting impatient.

Perhaps he was for we soon heard from the box in front of us, “rrrrr”.

That sent us off on another laughing tangent. Up went the window. The guy was definitely waiting yet still we were having a hard time getting in control of the situation. I was ok first but didn’t think it would last, so I forced Mary to roll down the window long enough for me to get my order out. She breathed deeply and complied. After the order the window went back up and we were moved to tears once again. It was really good that no one was behind us!

After a few moments of more laughter, we drove to the pick-up window, tear-faced and smiling. We’re sure the guy must have thought we were crazy, but oh how it felt good to laugh.

That evening at Teacher Training Mary had a hard time looking at me without cracking up… even days later, we are still laughing with teary eyes when we recount that situation!

My time here in Oregon has been filled with blessing upon blessing. Spending a few months here has given me the awesome opportunity to spend a week here, a week there… etc instead of just a day or two. This has really been good in that I have been able to observe how the different CEF workers do things. Furthermore, we have been able to get to know each other, share with each other, pray together, work together, have fun together…  and yes, laugh together! I have been challenged and inspired by these great Saints of the Lord! They are touching so many children in their areas. They have grasped the urgency in reaching this generation for the Lord Jesus. They know, these are our future parents, future leaders, future decision makers. If we don’t reach them now, we will loose a whole generation and the work will be even more difficult. The ministry is difficult enough with all the opposition these days. That is why 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says to “stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourself to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain!”

The NEED is great. Children need the Lord! I hope to share more of that in my next blog.

Thank you Oregon CEF workers for letting me share in your life and ministry, even if just for a short time. The saying: You have touched me, I have grown is so true. Thank you!!!

Laughter can open interesting doors!

It has always been hard for me to just start talking to strange people… by strange I am not meaning their looks or clothing, or even some of their mannerisms… we would all then be considered somewhat strange, don’t you think.?! So, to even share my faith or “go fishing” as Brother Andrew once said, was even harder. To go fishing means to drop God’s name here or there in the conversation, (not as a swear word!) and see if the person hooks on and is interested.

Well, a funny and very interesting thing happened on the way to Linz! I was on the train. My normal habit is to find a place by myself and then keep myself occupied with my MP3 player, a good book, Sudoku, or even a well-needed nap! On this trip the only empty seats were a group of four together with a table in the middle. Not bad. I was the first one there so I got to claim the two seats on the one side facing the direction the train was to go. After settling in with a good book… one written by a friend I had just seen in Canada. It was an autographed copy! I hadn’t even really had a chance to read more than a few lines when an older, businesslike looking woman joined me. We greeted each other, and then I started devouring my book. I must say, it was a book worth devouring. My friend is known for his humor. In fact, he travels all over just to make people laugh. Ok, perhaps not just for that… there is a method to his madness!

His book was making me laugh! So much so, that I could hardly contain it at times. Lets just say, I had so many tears in my eyes that I couldn’t even read through the blur before me. Naturally this awakened the curiosity of the woman sitting across from me, not to mention all the others sitting in the near vicinity. It was a pretty full train! She asked me what kind of book I was reading that would give me so much enjoyment. Ha, it was easy to explain to her that this special book was written by a friend of mine, a friend who has written many books and travels much. He loves to pass on Christian principles in a humorous way. This book was no different. It had to do with relationships and forgiveness. He explains with humor how important it is to let go of things so that we can experience more joy in life.

She nodded, made a comment and I read on… until I again was practically in stitches! This time she was so interested, that she wanted to see the book for herself. Though she is German speaking and the book is in English, she wrote down the title, the author, and other valuable information… ha, including his email address (that is, if I remembered it correctly!!). She definitely wanted that book! And I was definitely thinking GREAT! She will come in contact with Jesus thru reading it! Who knows where that will lead! She thanked me several times for the information. Now that I think of it, I should have gotten HER address and sent her the book. I thought too late. But nothing is impossible with God!

Shortly after that she got off the train and her place was filled by two nuns. I greeted them and read on. It really didn’t take long before I had won their attention through not being able to contain myself! Again I told of my friend and his purpose in writing the book. They thought that was great, especially since it had to do with faith. But the conversation didn’t go beyond that and within an hour they were also gone.

A mother and child of around 10 replaced them. We greeted each other and I read on. I must say, it is absolutely impossible to read very far in this book without laughing. Interesting since my friend said he didn’t believe it was a good a success as his other books. What can I say, laughter speaks for itself… if nothing else, this book has caused a lot of curiosity! So was the case with the two across from me now. So, for the third time I shared about my friend, the purpose of the book, and some of God. This time I really tried to go “fishing”. They didn’t hook on so I continued in my book, that is, till I got to a story that brought blinding tears to my eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness! This time the boy asked what in that book of mine was so funny. What better way to explain, then to tell him the story of where my friend went golfing with another and the raven stole their balls. Life just doesn’t always go as planned so how do you handle it? Get mad or laugh about it and trust God? The interesting thing was, the mother and son were on the train because their plans had suddenly been changed as well. It was even a miracle that they got this train.

After sharing a bit with each other the boy noticed that the book was in English. That surprised him. His mother then asked me if I was from Canada. I had pointed out earlier that my friend was from Canada. No, not Canada but rather USA. Then she was really curious as to how I could speak such good dialect. That brought on a long explanation of the time when I was a nanny two different times for a family here in Austria. Through the family I got to know a woman who was from Kaernten, the area where I have been living the last 15 years. From her I had learned the dialect before I even learned proper German. That conversation lead to Bible School and she wanted to know what that was. That explanation lead to why I was even in Austria now so I got to describe what I was doing, mainly working with children, teaching them about Jesus! Interesting. She thought it all was interesting, but said nothing more. Since I also didn’t know what else to say, I read on.

When I got to the story of the man who was told he had cancer, this time I retold the story to them before they even had a chance to ask. I then explained the purpose of the story as well. It was well worth telling no matter how they would take it. The woman didn’t really reply, but she looked like she was thinking about what she had just heard. Perhaps she was thinking about all of it.

Shortly after this the train arrived at my stop and I got out. While looking for my friends I thought, wow… not only did I get to talk to some people… 5 directly and how many indirectly? But I also got to share a bit about Christianity and my work here. I think I need to take one of my friends books with me more often!

What kind of interesting doors has fun laughter opened up for you?

mari