How to turn YOUR Mess into a Message!

Hello my friend, 

GirlFriends, Professor Tammi Gitto and myself
In-joying a latte in Bari, Italy.

I decided at this point to "sum it ALL up" for you from a total "Hindsight" perspective, because I am starting to see that if I am not careful to take care, even this blog can easily become "A Run On,  Hot  Mess" and  "Ain't Nobody Got Time for Dat."  LOL

 I am thoroughly convinced that God has a plan for our lives, both individually as well as collectively.  So with that in mind, you must acknowledge His "MISSION Possible" for you. My goal through this blog is to always:

1. Layout / Share Resources that  point you back to Him.
2. In-courage and Challenge you, where you are.
3. Transparently share my life, as I too travel along "The King's Highway."

Know that I humbly thank my God for you, as you take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to tune into my Travel Blog at earlineBlumhagen.com. Nothing could be more humbling, so

" Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God."  Phillippians 1:3 Please note that this particular blog post is a summary of my recent Study Abroad trip through Frankfurt, Germany to: Italy, Vatican City and Greece with TEAM Valencia, from Valencia College in Orlando, Florida.

TEAM Valencia College  ... Good People! 

Ruins from Athens Greece 

It has been 17 days since I've been back home from my studies abroad and it's really hard for me to even imagine that. I mean REALLY ...  I'm still trying to figure out what happened between March 10th and today, which is the 27th.  For one, my ipad went out to recovery and they called and said that they could not recover any of of my pictures from Rome, for REALLY.  ... actually,  I lost everything, notes, contacts, videos, manuscripts for my books, note for and from speaking engagements,  did I say all my notes, and ALL my pictures from Rome, church, Christmas with Uncle Freddie and Aunt Gladys, my daddy's siblings who are 95 and 89 respectively.

Owners of a country side grocer in Greece 

How that all happened is a long story that I will spare you from, actually I'll spare myself from repeating it again, as not to weep and wail. LOL  But for really, I lost everything that was on my ipad because it wasn't backed up, pretty much, that's the bottom line.  But who knew??? Lesson learned, Hindsight. "Back your stuff up" if you want it, Back It Up!  Even in the spirit realm, if you want to hold on to the vision, the promises of God for your life ... Back It Up! Back Up The promises of God in your life. Period. But maybe you're asking HOW So ??? Well, I am glad you asked. Here's what the scripture says about "Backing Up" the things of God in your life.

 ¹⁸ “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21

You back up what God has given you by taking a step of IMMEDIATE obedience, keeping in mind that delayed obedience is simply disobedience. But, immediate obedience will always point you in the right direction, and from there you keep it moving.

You see,  immediate obedience properly saves God's blessing, His vision for your life and His promises of Yea and Amen to your Heart-Drive. And can't no devil in Hell delete that. Amen!!!

They called this fruit stand in Bari "The Fish Market"
I think it was based on some history they were
keeping Backed Up.  

Kinda like the people of old did, they backed up/preserved their heritage, their language, and their history. Hmmmmmm  Just "Back it up."  OK?

I loved the flowers everywhere

My sisters and I .. I met and left them in Italy

The Trevi Fountain in Rome 

The Trevi Fountain
 collects more than 30,000 daily. 

Inside of The Vatican, I was there .. no pictures. : (

The Front of The Vatican 

I know, that loss  hit me like a bag of bricks, but life goes on. Right? Needless to say,  the daily details are getting cloudier and life is getting busier everyday, but I am determined .... and that's what it takes. Determination and a little bit of encouragement ... so be encouraged, better yet my friend, Be IN-couraged!!! In-courage yourself in The Lord. Just like David did. Besides, as far as I know, nobody's planning to stone me to death.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1st Samuel 30:6 Paul's sermon On Mars Hill is inscribed here  What a message that is for us all. I am reminded of the apostle Paul saying that he was encouraged by his friends and fellow christian sisters and brothers even as he went through his own trials and tribulations. Just like I am encouraged by the fact that you're reading this blog some 17 plus days later. See 2 Corithians 7:4 ... yep, for really, I choose to be in-couraged because I still have life. The pictures below are actual people for whom death came really quickly.  Have you ever heard about Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii and how it erupted and the residents of the town all died in a matter of minutes. Then the hot lava from the volcano created a cast around the skeletons of those that died on that fateful day.

The cast of a slave who died in Pompeii,
note the belt around him. 

A cast of a man covering his mouth, trying to breath

Nevertheless, maybe you're feeling like throwing in the towel today, I know that feeling, more importantly, Jesus knows how you feel, and when you've done all you know to do, you've tried everything you know to try and LIFE keeps on happening,  look up and determine within yourself that you MUST tell the ONLY One that can help you, Jesus alone.

"I Must Tell Jesus,"  was one of my daddy's favorite songs, and now, after a few years on this side of heaven,  I finally understand why.

The Pantheon 

I Must Tell Jesus 

Songwriters: TRADITIONAL/BOONE

I must tell Jesus
All of my trials
I cannot bear these burdens alone
In my distress
He kindly will help me
He ever cares and loves His own

I must tell Jesus
All of my troubles
He's a kind and compassionate friend
If I but ask Him
He will deliver
Make of my troubles
Quickly an end

[Chorus]
I must tell Jesus
I must tell Jesus
I cannot bear these burdens alone
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone

Tempted and tried I need a great savior
One who can help my burdens to bear
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus
He all my cares and sorrows will share

[Chorus]

A Pompeii Bakery

So, go ahead and tell Jesus about it so that you can get up from where you are and move forward in His plan for your life. Just know that if you're planning to accomplish the things that God Himself has placed in your heart, often time the journey will be uphill.

So, I'm gonna close this post by linking you up to a  GREAT message on how you can be "Armed and Dangerous," by my friend Joyce Meyer. My friend, please listen closely and Joyce shares with you how you can skillfully fight and win. In the interim, Seek to In-JOY life my friend and

" ... let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Galatians 6:9 From Mars Hill  On this Study Abroad tour I took away much In-couragement from: God's use of The Roman Empire, The Catacombs, Vatican City, The Colosseum, The Pantheon, The Greeco-Roman culture, The people, The language, The preservation of such rich history, The Mediterranean, The apostles Peter and Paul and their commitment to the cause of Christ, and yet, the half has not been told. I pray that this blog post has in-couraged you to delve deeper into God truths, as you seek to let Him turn your Mess into a Message for the Masses. He wants to  use you my friend, so please, join me in this pray of invitation. Dear God, I believe that You sent Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus to this world to be born of a virgin, to suffer and die on a cross for all of my sin. And I believe that Jesus  rose from death to life again victoriously on the third day. I also believe that Jesus is now in Heaven with You interceding on my behalf. Dear God, through  my faith in Jesus,  I am asking You to save me, change me, come live in me through Your Holy Spirit and work through me. "If you can use anything Lord, I give You permission to use me and my mess, to proclaim Your message to the masses. I love You God, teach me how to love You and live for You, until you come to take me Home with You. In Jesus' name I pray this prayer and for Your Glory alone. Amen. Something beautiful  in Pompeii Dear friend, if I can be of any assistance to you or someone you know, let me know. God has called me to serve. To that I say, "If you can use ANYTHING Lord, like you used this Pizza machine in Italy, You can use me." LOL ... and that's a wrap.

Hindsight, Day 1 ...

Day 1 - Orlando, Fl to Frankfurt, Germany 

Friday, March 1, 2013 at 10:18 AM

Hindsight - knowing what I now know, when I go abroad again I will take on 1 to 2 changes of clothes, max. Seriously. Lots of underwear of course, but I'll pack like I'm triking again (check out www.TheWiFiPedalers.com). Anything I need beyond that can be purchased abroad, besides, that's more fun. LOL As for toiletries, well, you know what you need, but I say keep it REALLY simple. The schedule is VERY full and every moment you have at the hotel should be used for sleeping fast, and not packing.  smile  

TEAM Ohio and Baby Gurl!!! 

Hindsight - If you're in Orlando before leaving go to the Millennia Mall (or your bank) and get Euros so you not paying extra fees. Now again, only you know how much you'll spend, but I averaged less than$40 a day, but I'm NOT a shopper. So, you decide, cause the shopping is GREAT, even for me, a non shopper and experiencing the food was even better.  

What Sayest thou about this??? 

Hindsight - I forgot the straw yall, yep I left it at home, but it was all good. The water was safe in Italy and in Greece. The only place I was extra precautions in concerning the water was on the ferry (see Superfast.com)  that took us from Bari, Italy to Igoumenitsa, Greece. 

OK, we're here, checked in and ready to rock and roll. Lufthansa Airline is scheduled to take us in to Frankfurt, Germany tonight. Pray me through. Salad for dinner, followed by chocolate .... That's the American way. LOL .... So far so good. 

So there was us, Valencia College and TEAM Ohio, from Findlay University  

There's 16 of us to include 2 professors: Tammy Gitto, Professor of Humanities and Caroline Cully, Professor of Religion. Pray us through. 

Hindsight - I don't know if anything could have prepared me for the flight. I mean we're talking about a full plane with over 200 people aboard, and I think I'm borderline claustrophobic. : ) The outside rows had 3 seats and the inside row had 4 seats. I was in the inside row squished in the middle, it was awful. In the future I will plan to pay whatever needed for at least an isle seat or if you can pull off first class, go for it. I dont know, perhaps if Jon had been with me I would have felt better, at least I would have had someone to whine to. Oh the joys of marriage. 

The flight from Orlando to Frankfurt, Germany was a little over 8 hours  ... and that's Day 1, Hindsight. 

Hindsight, My Study Abroad Experience 2013

The Back Story  ... My Study Abroad Experience 2013 - Germany, Italy, Vatican City and Greece 

"No matter where I am, ALL things are still working together for my good, because …."  Romans 8:28 

"I'm sorry, honey I'm so sorry." Name that tune. Oh, I just did. OK, who sang that tune? I dunno either. I think it was Natalie Cole, anyhews I am so sorry it took me so long to get this party going again. You really have no idea how crazy life has been since we last spoke, but stay tuned, cause I'm gonna tell you all about it. 

Hallelujah!!! I did it! 

 So, here I am, in the comfort of my home here in the United States of America, after having studied abroad for the first time in my 47 years of living, and needless to say I am pretty excited about the opportunity to prepare this blog/report in "hindsight, "albeit, that was NOT my first choice. As you may have heard by now, during my travels I experienced much opposition in the way of technical difficulties that spanned way beyond my control, BUT God. Just when I was almost ready to "throw the towel in" God showed up with a bucket of peace that put my soul at rest enough for me to continue with joy the journey He had set before me. So, as the young people would say,  "I'm good."  

Entertaining some Deaf & Hearing  friends in my home. 

I want to share the backdrop of my story with you, as to how I even became aware of this study abroad trip to Italy and Greece through Valencia College where I have been attending for 4 semesters now. You see after I completed high school I went on to earn an A.S degree in Business Management  and Marketing from Southern College. From there I went to work and soon thereafter started my own business and became a full time entrepreneur, a wife, a mother and caretaker to other family members. I've always wanted to go back to school and complete my formal education, but for me that would not even be an option until after my kids were grown and gone. So, when I reached that milestone in my life, becoming an empty nester that is, I decided to move forward with my plans to go back to school and finish what I had started. 

I wonder what's on the other side of "that" mountian ??? 

To make a very long story short,  I was shocked to find out that there was a problem with certain schools accepting my credits because of the difference in schools being regionally and/or nationally accredited. Now mind you, at that time I had 88 college credits on my official transcripts, and that was worth nothing I was told. Needless to say I was crushed with the thought of starting over again, but I eventually made up my mind to "bite the bullet" and do what I needed to do. But who knew? I mean seriously, how is one to know the difference in school accreditations, I don't recall ever being taught there was such a thing.How about you? 

Biting that bullet made my butt grow. Too much sitting down . LOL  

 Anyhews, after three very successful full time semesters at Valencia College, I fell up on some information that allowed me to discover that my credits were transferable to some other institutions, and as I further investigated these findings and applied to several other universities, I am pleased to tell you that I was accepted to all four that I inquired with. But that's when God allowed me to see that he had me to go through that horrific experience at Valencia to prove to myself that I had "stick-to-it" and because I stuck with it, excelled academically He allowed me to also discover that there were study abroad opportunities available to even non traditional students like myself. So, I prayed, I applied and I prayed some more about the outcome, as only 12 students would be chosen from a pool of many. Well, the rest is now history, that's why I boldly proclaim that  "No matter where I am, ALL things still work together for my good, because …. "  Romans 8:28.  

I was there yall. This photo was taken in Greece, I think. LOL

Day 3 - Germany to Rome

In Rome .... It's unbelievable you guys. I mean for REALLY!!! We're having dinner now, finally got wifi access, but my photos have not been downloaded yet. Can't wait to update the blog with photos ... I went to the Pantheon and the Catacombes .... That was crazy unbelievable .... God is soooooo awesome. Don't think Paul's writings will ever read ho-hum again. Gotta sign off for, dinner is served. So, that's a wrap.

OK, finally having a quick moment of wifi access again. Mean quick, as I Amin a cafe awaiting the bus to take off. Hopefully NOT without me. LOL The Catacombs were awesome ... They / The Catacombs are an underground ancient burial ground for the Christians and some others who joined them in burying their dead. These catacombs are unreal. The details are incredible .... They go on for miles and miles and they are all underground. They've been able to save some of the bones of some of the elite, and yet some of the burials aces are in place.

Day 2 - Frankfurt, Germany

Well, I made it through my first international flight across the Atlantic Ocean and what an experience that was. The airline is called Luftansa .... Huge planes with hundreds of folks packed in. You better believe I took the opportunity granted me to to Be a living " Circle Maker" as we traveled from one continent to another. I was just thinking about how timely that was that God would have me just finish that book study, which challenged me to make a habit of drawing circles around the promises of God in creative ways. Mark Batterson is the author, check it out.

All night long that's what I did, especially after I started to overheat and feel quizzy through the middle of the night. I literally prayed myself to sleep, as I was sitting in the inside of a very narrow row with 3 others. But I made it through. They even served dinner and breakfast on the flight, I wondered how they were gonna pull that off, but they did it. to my surprise the food was hot and pretty tasty for airplane food. I had the opportunity to watch the movie Lincoln and was deeply moved once again as to how God used him to orchestrate the processes of America coming to grips with the fact that we are all created equal.

I woke up early this morning, oh, please note that I'm gonna be 6 hours ahead of you, meaning it's currently 2:45 pm here in Germany while it's 8:45 there in Orlando. I am already experiencing jet lag, drinking cappuccino and even took a gulp of 5 hour. Thanks honey for packing that for me, albeit, this is NOT a habit I want to form. We noted that it was snowing from the air, but on the ground it's a bit warm, at least for me it is. Y'all know I have my own personal summers. LOL. I sure was looking forward to the cold weather the forecast promised us. But who knows, maybe it's not too late.

Our connecting flight left us, because we were behind schedule, so we are here in the airport til 4pm and then on to Rome for a hot shower, dinner and a bed. Yeeaayy God!!!! I've even enjoyed my time here in Frankfurt as you'll soon see in the pictures. Didnt find any of my Blumhagen relatives though. So, I'm working hard to remember the names of all my classmates ... That's challenging, but they are a GREAT group of young people.

In the pics you'll meet Natasha whose from Naples, 4 months pregnant, scheduled to marry next month, Iranian, well traveled, and my side kick for this trip. Stephania, the official photographer for our group as far as I'm concerned, and her sister Andrea whose a 4 month old newlywed, traveling without her hubby for the first time. And then there's Natalie, the sweet spirit of the bunch whose also a native of Orlando. There's also the birthday boy and his girlfriend who you'll see sleeping through the day. LOL

Check out the smoke shacks sponsored by the maker of camel cigarettes ... People actually lock themselves in this little room to smoke. For really. See the man that we call " The International Charger" seemingly recharging himself while sleeping. The new Mercedes and the cake on the stick that I left at the cafe, but they sure do look good. For really !!!

Well, I'm gonna seek to get a little shut eye while awaiting our plane, and we'll be back in touch after we arrive in Rome, God willing.
Love y'all, send me your comments and questions .... In the interim I'm calling this a rap.

Day 1 ... Italy, here we come!!!!

Jon here, putting my nose in Earline's blog, and showing you a picture of her hard at work, getting all the little toiletries, etc. organized for the plane ride.....so much to think through!

EEB back - And, just in case you've never seen Euros, European currency, this is what it looks like.

Training y'all, this is called a " Life Straw" guess what it does? Well, it says that I can drink out of a river and be 99% safe. Ha ... I don't think so, but thanks Blumhagen for the Christmas gift. LOL ....

OK, we're here, checked in and ready to rock and roll. Luftansa airline is scheduled to take us in to Frankfurt, Germany tonight. Pray me through. Salad for dinner, followed by chocolate .... That's the American way. LOL .... So far so good. There's 14 of us and 2 professors. Pray us through.