diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 68c6e51..5f9654c 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
             "skipFiles": [
                 "<node_internals>/**"
             ],
-            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/ninwa.js"
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/ninwa.js",
+            "args": []
         }
     ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/libs/logger.js b/libs/logger.js
index d875147..10d16d2 100644
--- a/libs/logger.js
+++ b/libs/logger.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-const config = require('../config.json');
 const moment = require('moment');
 
 // constants
@@ -11,12 +10,26 @@ const LOGLEVEL_INFO = 1;
 const LOGLEVEL_WARNING = 2;
 const LOGLEVEL_ERROR = 3;
 
-const loglevel = getLogLevel();
-const timestamp = getTimestamp();
+var loglevel = getLogLevel();
+var timestamp = getTimestamp();
+
+function initialize() {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        if (global.config == undefined) {
+            reject('could not initialize logger, config is undefined');
+        }
+        loglevel = getLogLevel();
+        timestamp = getTimestamp();
+        resolve();
+    });
+}
 
 // get the loglevel
 function getLogLevel() {
-    switch (config.log.level) {
+    if (global.config?.log?.level == undefined) {
+        return LOGLEVEL_INFO;
+    }
+    switch (global.config.log.level) {
         case LOG_PREFIX_DEBUG:
         case LOGLEVEL_DEBUG:
             return LOGLEVEL_DEBUG;
@@ -36,8 +49,8 @@ function getLogLevel() {
 
 // get the timestamp format
 function getTimestamp() {
-    if (config != undefined && config.log != undefined && config.log.format != undefined) {
-        return config.log.timestamp;
+    if (global.config?.log?.format != undefined) {
+        return global.config.log.timestamp;
     }
     return "DD.MM.YYYY HH:mm:ss:SS";
 }
@@ -108,6 +121,7 @@ function trace(message, prefix) {
 
 // exports
 module.exports = {
+    initialize,
     info,
     warn,
     debug,
diff --git a/libs/watchers.js b/libs/watchers.js
index 0ffd5c6..bf5ab92 100644
--- a/libs/watchers.js
+++ b/libs/watchers.js
@@ -3,18 +3,17 @@ const Watcher = require('./watcher.js');
 
 const watchers = [];
 
-function initialize(config) {
+function initialize() {
     return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
-        if (config == undefined || config.path == undefined) {
-            reject('no config defined');
+        if (global.config == undefined) {
+            reject('could not initialize watchers, no config defined');
         }
-        config = require(config.path);
-        if (config.watchers == undefined || config.watchers.length == 0) {
-            reject('no watchers in config defined');
+        if (global.config.watchers == undefined || global.config.watchers.length == 0) {
+            reject('no watchers in config \'' + global.config.path + '\' defined');
         }
         var tmp = []
-        for (var index = 0; index < config.watchers.length; index++) {
-            tmp.push(new Watcher(config.watchers[index], watcherCallback));
+        for (var index = 0; index < global.config.watchers.length; index++) {
+            tmp.push(new Watcher(global.config.watchers[index], watcherCallback));
         }
         Promise.all(tmp.map(check))
             .then(resolve)
diff --git a/ninwa.js b/ninwa.js
index af313b2..b911ea5 100644
--- a/ninwa.js
+++ b/ninwa.js
@@ -5,13 +5,24 @@ const packageJSON = require('./package.json');
 
 const INTERRUPTS = ['SIGINT', 'SIGTERM'];
 
-logger.info(packageJSON.name + ' ' + packageJSON.version + ' starting...');
+global.config = process.argv[2] || __dirname + '/config.json';
 
 handleInterrupts();
 
-const config = process.argv[2] || __dirname + '/config.json';
-
 util.fileExists(config)
+    .catch((err) => {
+        logger.error('given config file \'' + config + '\' does not exist');
+        logger.error(err);
+        exit(1);
+    })
+    .then((result) => {
+        global.config = require(result.path);
+        global.config.path = result.path;
+    })
+    .then(logger.initialize)
+    .then(() => {
+        logger.info(packageJSON.name + ' ' + packageJSON.version + ' starting...');
+    })
     .then(watchers.initialize)
     .then(watchers.start)
     .catch((err) => {