daily java

Daily Java:

The Lord is king!
      Let the earth rejoice!
      Let the farthest coastlands be glad.
Dark clouds surround him.
      Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire spreads ahead of him
      and burns up all his foes.
His lightning flashes out across the world.
      The earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
      before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
      every nation sees his glory. (Psalm 97:1-6)

Ella and I had our first apartment in Europe. I was in the army and had six more months to go when I came home and got her to go back with me to Darmstadt, Germany. And we had a great time.

The apartment was small, no more than 120 square feet, the entire two room apartment. It was on the third floor of a doctor’s house, on a floor with three other apartments.

The kitchen was a tiny sink and two hot plates inside a cupboard, a small dorm sized refrigerator underneath.. The cabinets and closet were free standing units, as is common in Europe. In the corner of the main room there was a banquette with a bench and two chairs. The bedroom was just big enough for a bed and chiffarobe with a footlocker at the end of the bed.

We did have our own bathroom. The other apartments shared one down the hall.

We had to park down the street and around the corner. But we had the most marvelous view out our windows.

Down the street was a Russian Orthodox church that was used by Czar Nicholas of Russia when he came to Darmstadt to visit Alexandra’s relatives. In front of the church and the university that was beside it was a large park, filled with students and people of all ages in any good weather. Flowers were everywhere. The street was cobblestone with a fountain at the end of it.

There were complications, of course. One month, someone came in and stole our rent money and we had to scrabble for that month. We had to go a ways to get the car.  The nearest laundry facilities were at the base a couple of miles away.

But it was great. When I came home from work, Ella would be sitting in the window like all of the other hausfraus, watching the traffic and the world go by.

It was our place, our apartment. We were newlyweds with Europe just outside our door. And we took advantage of it. We walked a lot of places, even though we had a red 1962 VW beetle. We rode the buses (which were electric) and took the train to distant places.

We drove up the Rhine River and saw castles and other great things. We looked and we loved it.

We went to church on base. There was a Church of Christ meeting on Sunday afternoons and we soon made a lot of friends in it.

And our marriage was made stronger by it. When you live 5500 miles from the in-laws, you learn to depend upon yourselves and be your own people.

It was the best thing that could have happened to us and I thank God for it. I also thank God for my wife.

Nothing to do really with the scripture above, but I like it.