The beginning of the end!

This week, I submitted the first complete version of my thesis. The 265 pages represent 2 years and 10 months of work, and I am grateful to have reached this milestone. I know I was the one who did the work, but I recognize also that my efforts have been enabled and complimented by the environment I find myself in (both personally and professionally) and that God has put me in an ideal situation and given me what I need to accomplish this task. I am so grateful to have found something that I love doing, that is such a source of satisfaction for me, and I look forward to seeing how it will be used for the benefit of others.

It is kind of a surreal feeling - I am most definitely content and relieved, but I am also tired. I also realize that this is now the beginning of the end of this unique season of my life, which makes me a little sad too. But in that, I recognize and appreciate God's grace for each season, and I know He has a good plan for my next step.

There are, however, still a few months to go. At the beginning of December, my directors will give me feedback and then I will have time to make modifications before I submit my thesis to the members of my examination jury sometime in January (I hope). I will then have my first private thesis defence in February or March, followed by some time to make more modifications. Hopefully in May or June, I will have my public defence, and then I will be done. In between, I will work on some other articles, do a few presentations, attend a few conferences and prepare to write a French exam! But first, it is time for lots of special times with Roy and Caroline who are here visiting Switzerland and some days off soon!

Surprises!

I like surprises. My mom tells me, that when I was a little girl, I would ask her "Mom, what special thing are we doing today? What surprise do you have for me?" This week, I had three surprises and they definitely touched my heart.

On Friday morning, while shopping for the conference, I received a phone call saying that thanks to a recommendation of a friend, I could schedule a free facial treatment and consultation. I was so touched that my friend had thought of me, but also so grateful because this has been an extremely busy time for me, and some "me time" was very welcome.

The second was a friend who arrived at the conference with my favourite chocolate that you can't buy in Switzerland. She had remembered me mentioning it a conversation, and when she was in England, she bought me one. I felt so blessed by this friend and her sweet gesture - she had really listened to what I told her, and remembered.

Yesterday, some of my colleagues who are also special friends came to my office with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne so that we could celebrate the first complete version of my thesis (more on this in the next post). I really do appreciate that my colleagues are friends who share in the joys (and frustrations) of one another.

Each of these surprises touched my heart and left me feeling, once again, so incredibly grateful for the people who are in my life here. I am so aware of God's favour in this area of my life - He truly has blessed me with such a wonderful community here.

IMPACT number 3!

This previous weekend, it was IMPACT Conference number 3 for me! That means I have almost been in Switzerland for three full years - wow. IMPACT is our annual conference at church, and it is an event that I look forward to with much anticipation.

IMPACT  is an event that brings together the C3 churches in Switzerland and is open for anyone to attend. It begins on the Friday night, continues all day Saturday and finishes with church on the Sunday morning. The first year I was in Switzerland I attended only as a participant, last year I coordinated all the food at the conference (the welcome drink on the Friday night, crossiants on Saturday morning, lunch, and 2 coffee breaks), and this time I was responsible for the events team which included all the food, plus the conference lounge, volunteer room and green room (for the speakers and pastors). So naturally my role this year included a lot more coordination and integration between different teams at church - logistics, security, decoration, registration, finance etc.

The months and weeks leading up to the conference were spent planning, having meetings, sourcing materials, making lists and finding volunteers. I had a great team consisting of 2 levels - the first consisting of the 4 people who were responsible for the different sections that fell under my responsibility, and the second being a group of volunteers who helped during the conference. There is no way I could have done it without them. They were willing, effective, and showed initiative and positive attitudes. It was a pleasure to work with them all.

I took Friday off work and started the day doing the shopping for the conference supplies at aligro (a warehouse type store). I was grateful for the help of some others too - this was a big job. After arriving at church we unloaded and I started with my set up - sorting out food and all the necessary equipment, assembling furniture, inflating couches, moving furniture etc. It was really fun to watch the transformation take place!

Later in the day more of the team arrived and it was time to prepare the welcome drink - 250 non- alcoholic cocktails and a couple of snacks. Friday passed in a blur and before I knew it it was time to go home.

Saturday's first task was to pack 300 lunch bags for the conference participants as well as get ready for the pre-conference coffee and croissants. Then it was on to preparing the first coffee break, serving and cleaning up after that break, cleaning up after the kids lunch, serving the adults their lunch, cleaning up, and then preparing, serving and cleaning up the second coffee break which included helping the kids prepare and serve cocktails, and then the final clean up and pack away. Needless to say I made myself quite comfy on the couch when I got home!

On Sunday morning there were no official tasks for me other than helping with the final clean up. Probably the most challenging part of the weekend was deflating and trying to pack away the couches - we wrestled with the heavy plastic to get it back into the bags! Just a little workout to round-out the weekend :) I was exhausted by the end, but so satisfied. I know the conference touches people's lives, and that makes it all worth it!

We had some chalkboard tables in Conference Lounge

The Conference Lounge taking shape during set-up

The welcome drinks

The finished product

Sunny Autumn Days

The Lavaux is a wine growing region in Switzerland which consists of 830 hectares of terraced vineyards stretching over 30km (thanks Wikipedia!) along the shores of Lake Geneva. From Lausanne, many of the small villages are only a short train ride away, and it is a beautiful walking destination with stunning views. During the Autumn it is particularly gorgeous with the coloured leaves. I pass through the Lavaux often on the train, but sadly had not yet been for a real walk in the Lavaux, so one sunny afternoon Chris and I decided that a walk in the Lavaux would be our activity.

I am so glad we did this - it was breathtaking. We took the train to Puidoux-Chexbres, and from there made our way through the vineyards to Lutry - so all in all about 8.5km of walking, all in the sunshine with stunning views accompanying us all through the journey. There really are few things as wonderful as being outside on a gorgeous day and this walk did me a lot of good!

Chris took all these lovely pictures!