ok so i took this apologetics class last week and we focused a lot of our time on these things called targums. which basically are when you take scripture and update it and add background information to make what the bible says relivant for a certain group of people at a certain time. so i wrote one to go along with 1st Corinthians 15:58 which reads:
"“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" and i kind of liked it so i am going to post it. it gives you an idea of what life working with teens, in particular military teens can be like. i hope you enjoy!
To my fellow CLUB beyond leaders, those serving in Europe, on army, navy and air force bases remember whom we serve. In this military culture where orders come from the chaplains and commanders, where DODs schools have the ability to shut us out of the High School and the Middle School, and you are constantly questioned for why you are here, remember that God has placed you on your base for a reason! When you get a week where all you hear is; “no, show me that in writing”, “we can’t afford it” and “explain to me again why the fellowship hall won’t work as the Club room”. Remember that it is Christ who we serve. It is in the smiles and laughter of the students when you see them at school, sporting events, plays, the PX and commissary.
We have taken on a tough job, but one that is eternally important! As we submerge ourselves in this military culture where we find ourselves confused by the acronyms and ALL the paper work, jump through the hoops with joy! Serve the chaplains with joy and humility, we are treading on their turf, they are allowing us to do the job that needs to be done to reach the teens of the communities.
For all the moving we do along with the solider, for uprooting your family and shipping your possessions half way around the world, for owning a home in the states at the same time paying rent in Euros for a much smaller apartment in Europe, in everything be confident in Christ! He will never ask more of you than you can give. He may push you to the point where the only place you can be is on your knees, but remember he will never leave you or forsake you.
For the weeks where sleep is scarcest, where you are cold and muddy, where you have spent days physically hauling mud out of the back yard of a church and all you want to do is not pay for a hot shower and enter into a warm dry cabin, and instead you get a student who is asking the tough questions of life, rejoice in that!!! Embrace those conversations! Encourage the questions, climb over the wall that’s students throw up to avoid the tough questions they just don’t want to answer, push through. Keep on loving the hard to love kids! The ones who at best cuss you out, and at worse ignore you completely. Its for the moment when all you have been telling them clicks, you see it in their eyes as the truth of Gods love sticks, takes hold and they embrace it as their own! It no longer becomes something some adult is telling them but it truly becomes their truth and reality. It’s in moments like that that your momentary struggles are completely forgotten in the awesome reality of the Power and Love of Christ.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Settled
I had this thought last night… it was a weird thought and one I am not sure how to deal with. For the first time in probably 10 years I am at a place in my life where I content… there is no waiting for something better to come, there is no wishing I could be doing something different. I am completely at peace and I am not sure how to deal with that. I know that must sound weird but it’s the truth! For so long I have been waiting for something better. Waiting for school to end, waiting to live someplace I really like, waiting for a job I love, just waiting.
The past couple of years it has been that feeling of not knowing what’s next that keeps me awake at night. I would daydream about the perfect job in the perfect place and how my life was suppose to be going. But now, when I try to imagine up a better place to be in my life I really cant do it. I mean there are things I would change, even now, but in general I completely at peace and I really like this feeling.
If I could change how I felt for the past 10 years would I?.... no I think not. Without the struggle to figure out where I am suppose to be I a) wouldn’t be where I am today b) not appreciate what I have now and most importantly c) would not have learned how to trust God the way I do.
So for all of you who are at the end of high school, or in college and struggling with the feeling of unrest and uncertainty take it from me, it does get better. And for as frustrating as life can get…. The timing of God is never what we expect and always for our good.
“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands”.
~Psalms 31:14-15
I had this thought last night… it was a weird thought and one I am not sure how to deal with. For the first time in probably 10 years I am at a place in my life where I content… there is no waiting for something better to come, there is no wishing I could be doing something different. I am completely at peace and I am not sure how to deal with that. I know that must sound weird but it’s the truth! For so long I have been waiting for something better. Waiting for school to end, waiting to live someplace I really like, waiting for a job I love, just waiting.
The past couple of years it has been that feeling of not knowing what’s next that keeps me awake at night. I would daydream about the perfect job in the perfect place and how my life was suppose to be going. But now, when I try to imagine up a better place to be in my life I really cant do it. I mean there are things I would change, even now, but in general I completely at peace and I really like this feeling.
If I could change how I felt for the past 10 years would I?.... no I think not. Without the struggle to figure out where I am suppose to be I a) wouldn’t be where I am today b) not appreciate what I have now and most importantly c) would not have learned how to trust God the way I do.
So for all of you who are at the end of high school, or in college and struggling with the feeling of unrest and uncertainty take it from me, it does get better. And for as frustrating as life can get…. The timing of God is never what we expect and always for our good.
“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands”.
~Psalms 31:14-15
Monday, May 12, 2008
the honesty of 8th graders
I had a surreal experience today … we have started an 8th grade girls small group. Today I had a cup full of about 20 questions that you would pass around pull a question read it and then answer it. The questions were every thing from; what’s your favorite movie to what happens when you die. We had been asking questions for about 20 min or so and some good discussion had come from it, when the question “ where do you see your self in 10 years” came up. This would roughly put these girls at 24 years old (one year younger than I am, which they informed was 7 years past the best years of your life…) anyways as the girls started answering the question there answer were what I expected “be out of college, have a job, don’t be living with my parents” and then the last girl looked at me and said “well I expect I will have a kid by then” I figured married with a kid, so I asked her if that’s what she meant. No she replied just a kid, I don’t really see my self ever settling down but I want a kid. It made me really sad for her. Here is a teenage girl who can look at me and tell me honestly that she thinks she will be a mom right out of high school. She says that love or being in love is the best thing about life and but she doesn’t want to get married… how sad it is that the society that she has grown up in tells her that its not only ok to have kids out of wedlock but almost the standard. That her family (dad, mom, brother) is out of the norm. She wants to be loved and included, she wants freedom and yet I think she is trying to figure out who she really wants to be. The other thing that makes me sad is that her dad is being sent downrange for 10 months. These 10 months when she is transitioning into high school, where she will be in a new school, new surroundings with the world telling her that her value is found only when she is with someone or can be seen as being hot allow her to find value in life really makes me sad. It will be my goal in the coming months to love her, and more importantly show her Gods love, the only love that truly matter and will be consistent no matter what.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
taking high schoolers on a service project has never drained me as much as I was drained last week. I think there are quite a few reasons for that and I will try to explain.
1. The first reason I was drained was simply that I haven’t done that much physical labor (or maybe supervised is a better word) that much physical labor in a very long time! The 6 students that came with us on this trip worked amazingly hard and well together! For the first couple of days they worked outside in the pouring down freezing cold rain without complaining! They cut down trees; dug ditches carried a ton (literally) of dirt and mud to and from our work site. They also demolished a 4 layer brick stage with jack hammers and pick and hammers. They help clear away lots and lots of debris, stone and mud. They did all of this without complaining!
2. The whole not understanding the language at all thing… I don’t really understand German but I can usually decipher a meaning if I pay close enough attention, Czech… not so much. Towards the end of the week our students were involved in a couple of ELS classes working with middle school students. Speaking English with them in order to help them. They also were involved with a sports competition. Which I am happy to say … in soccer the Americans got their buts kicked! But in basketball we more than made up for it!
3. It was FREEZING! And I think being cold sucks up your energy! For the 1st 3 nights there was no heat in the room which I was staying…. And it rained all day… and there was really no place to get dry and warm. The high schoolers needless to say, drank a lot of hot chocolate!
The week in general was really good! I had the opportunity to really get to know my students. I think a good sign of trust between any group of people starts to show when you can pick on the other person without the fear of really offending them. When you can laugh together over stupid things that we (as a group) have done together. Over the week I had several opportunities to have deep conversations about life with my students. They challenged me as much as I hope I challenged them. When asked the question “ why did you come?” The answers varied from person to person and I think the honest truth for coming was because last year was fun! But I also truly believe that all 6 of my students were seriously challenged about how they live their lives. The speaker of the week asked some REALLY hard questions and I watched my student’s squirm, talk and try to ignore what God was asking of them. Two of my 6 students recommitted their lives to Christ, 2 of them are fighting the very existence of God with both fists raised and the last 2 are some where in the middle. God did amazing work last week in the lives of every one involved.
Thank you so much for your prayers over the week. They were much appreciated! The pictures are all from the week, the mostly my six students. They will also be on my facebook page with captions if you would like a better idea of what’s really going on. They go in chronological order. Work mostly at our site first, then hanging out with the Czech students and helping with the street fare at the end of the week. The play structure we are sitting on was built by all of students who were working on our site last week! I hope you enjoy!
1. The first reason I was drained was simply that I haven’t done that much physical labor (or maybe supervised is a better word) that much physical labor in a very long time! The 6 students that came with us on this trip worked amazingly hard and well together! For the first couple of days they worked outside in the pouring down freezing cold rain without complaining! They cut down trees; dug ditches carried a ton (literally) of dirt and mud to and from our work site. They also demolished a 4 layer brick stage with jack hammers and pick and hammers. They help clear away lots and lots of debris, stone and mud. They did all of this without complaining!
2. The whole not understanding the language at all thing… I don’t really understand German but I can usually decipher a meaning if I pay close enough attention, Czech… not so much. Towards the end of the week our students were involved in a couple of ELS classes working with middle school students. Speaking English with them in order to help them. They also were involved with a sports competition. Which I am happy to say … in soccer the Americans got their buts kicked! But in basketball we more than made up for it!
3. It was FREEZING! And I think being cold sucks up your energy! For the 1st 3 nights there was no heat in the room which I was staying…. And it rained all day… and there was really no place to get dry and warm. The high schoolers needless to say, drank a lot of hot chocolate!
The week in general was really good! I had the opportunity to really get to know my students. I think a good sign of trust between any group of people starts to show when you can pick on the other person without the fear of really offending them. When you can laugh together over stupid things that we (as a group) have done together. Over the week I had several opportunities to have deep conversations about life with my students. They challenged me as much as I hope I challenged them. When asked the question “ why did you come?” The answers varied from person to person and I think the honest truth for coming was because last year was fun! But I also truly believe that all 6 of my students were seriously challenged about how they live their lives. The speaker of the week asked some REALLY hard questions and I watched my student’s squirm, talk and try to ignore what God was asking of them. Two of my 6 students recommitted their lives to Christ, 2 of them are fighting the very existence of God with both fists raised and the last 2 are some where in the middle. God did amazing work last week in the lives of every one involved.
Thank you so much for your prayers over the week. They were much appreciated! The pictures are all from the week, the mostly my six students. They will also be on my facebook page with captions if you would like a better idea of what’s really going on. They go in chronological order. Work mostly at our site first, then hanging out with the Czech students and helping with the street fare at the end of the week. The play structure we are sitting on was built by all of students who were working on our site last week! I hope you enjoy!
Friday, April 4, 2008
starting tomorrow i will be in the Czech Republic for a week of service. we will be taking 6 high schoolers (whom i have a blast being with) on this trip. the week for them is about service.. and oh yeah we through in God :) its amazing to me that when kids sign up for these trips they look at it as a way to get more service hours. some of them need the hours for JROTC and some of them need then for national honor society and getting into college. my prayer for the trip how ever is that they will see/meet Jesus during this week.
if you all could be praying for my students, for their hearts and attitudes. pray for safety for the over 900 students who will be involved in service all over europe next week. pray for the leaders who are in charge of each work site, for wisdom and guidance. pray that God will use Sara and as we interact with our students.
thanks so much and i cant wait to tell you all how this week went!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
things i miss
so it hit me the other day... there are a couple of things i miss about the states. now mind you its little things, for instance... i love book stores. i love sitting in bookstores with friends and browesing the shelves and just about every thing about them. the problem is that now all the book stores i find (which to be perfectly honest arent that many) all the books are in german! go figure! it makes it very hard to ready any of the books, unless they are picture books... then i guess you could call it reading the books but it is not the same thing. so book stores i am missing.
on the other hand i could spend HOURS in german grocery stores! i am serious! they are amazing things!! they have everything and none of it is in any particulare order! for example: in 1 isle you can have (and i am serious) juice, longsleeve t-shirts and flip flops, and hair dye. then in the next isle you may have bag food, which is like dehydrated food you add water to! in the same isle as baby food and gummy candy (which i have to say is pretty darn good). i have taken to buying random german food that looks good and then trying to figure out how to cook it. with the directions being all in german (and not a whole lot of pictures... maybe they should get togther with the story book people) it makes cooking very interesting! i have found that cooking in general has become an adventure. if i buy frozen food on base that comes with cooking instructions in english,, the problem becomes that the temp in english is not the same as my german stove which is in celcious. but all in all i am having a great time trying to figure out all these new adventures!
today is that start of holy week. i encourage you all to read the story of what Jesus did for you this week so many years ago. at times i feel like forget what he really went through for us. you can read the account at the end of all 4 gospels in the Bible.
happy easter!
on the other hand i could spend HOURS in german grocery stores! i am serious! they are amazing things!! they have everything and none of it is in any particulare order! for example: in 1 isle you can have (and i am serious) juice, longsleeve t-shirts and flip flops, and hair dye. then in the next isle you may have bag food, which is like dehydrated food you add water to! in the same isle as baby food and gummy candy (which i have to say is pretty darn good). i have taken to buying random german food that looks good and then trying to figure out how to cook it. with the directions being all in german (and not a whole lot of pictures... maybe they should get togther with the story book people) it makes cooking very interesting! i have found that cooking in general has become an adventure. if i buy frozen food on base that comes with cooking instructions in english,, the problem becomes that the temp in english is not the same as my german stove which is in celcious. but all in all i am having a great time trying to figure out all these new adventures!
today is that start of holy week. i encourage you all to read the story of what Jesus did for you this week so many years ago. at times i feel like forget what he really went through for us. you can read the account at the end of all 4 gospels in the Bible.
happy easter!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
As the 2 month mark draws near its hard to believe it has only been that long!! When I think about all that has happened its mind boggling!!
This week I finally got internet and phone set up in my house! So that’s very exciting! This week has been full of unexpected things… like I was given a free microwave, my lap top monitor stopped working, I was given a new one and I am sure other things have taken place as well. Through this week I have been reaffirmed that I am in the place God wants me to be! Yesterday was a really bad day for lots of reasons. At one point someone made the comment that if one more thing went wrong I would be looking to buy a plane ticket back to the states! That really made me laugh, because at the moment, even with everything going wrong and I mean just about everything, there is no place I would rather be. I am so happy to be living here in Germany and I am so happy to be hanging with teenagers sharing God with them that I can’t think of a place where I would be happier.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss you all and that I wouldn’t love to see it’s just that I am so content and happy where god has put me right now its kind of mind blowing! God certainly knew what he was doing when he sent me here!
Another huge blessing is that Sara, my boss, and I get along really well! We make each other laugh a lot and I think we work pretty well together! So that is a huge blessing!!!
We leave tomorrow to take 10 middle schoolers skiing for the weekend which I hope will be a good time to get to know these students! It will be 2 days of skiing and a total of 8 hours in a bus, so keep us in your prayers!
The pictures below are of a couple of events. Some are the town I live in. Some are the high school and middle school club playing games. There are also pictures from the middle school dance and ice skating event! I hope you enjoy!
This week I finally got internet and phone set up in my house! So that’s very exciting! This week has been full of unexpected things… like I was given a free microwave, my lap top monitor stopped working, I was given a new one and I am sure other things have taken place as well. Through this week I have been reaffirmed that I am in the place God wants me to be! Yesterday was a really bad day for lots of reasons. At one point someone made the comment that if one more thing went wrong I would be looking to buy a plane ticket back to the states! That really made me laugh, because at the moment, even with everything going wrong and I mean just about everything, there is no place I would rather be. I am so happy to be living here in Germany and I am so happy to be hanging with teenagers sharing God with them that I can’t think of a place where I would be happier.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss you all and that I wouldn’t love to see it’s just that I am so content and happy where god has put me right now its kind of mind blowing! God certainly knew what he was doing when he sent me here!
Another huge blessing is that Sara, my boss, and I get along really well! We make each other laugh a lot and I think we work pretty well together! So that is a huge blessing!!!
We leave tomorrow to take 10 middle schoolers skiing for the weekend which I hope will be a good time to get to know these students! It will be 2 days of skiing and a total of 8 hours in a bus, so keep us in your prayers!
The pictures below are of a couple of events. Some are the town I live in. Some are the high school and middle school club playing games. There are also pictures from the middle school dance and ice skating event! I hope you enjoy!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
yeah God!
So I have now been in country for 3 weeks. I have started settling in and finding my way around all the important things… still hadn’t found a car or an apartment. I was trusting that it would all work out but, seeing as the people I am living with are moving Monday time was running short. So yesterday I saw an amazing apartment and was all set to sign on until I found out the price and realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford it. I told this to the lady who was negotiating with the german land lord and she told me she would try to work it out for me. So this morning I got the call that the landlord had dropped the price of rent 100 euros to the exact price that I have been praying for!!!! So I signed the contract this morning and can start moving in tomorrow!
Also I found a car that’s little and European looking and automatic (which seeing as I cant drive manual is helpful and hard to find) and I talked the price down on it as well. It’s in good condition and not too old and to be honest is probably in better shape than my car at home! So all in all it has been a huge yeah God day!!!! So thank you all for your prayers!
Also I found a car that’s little and European looking and automatic (which seeing as I cant drive manual is helpful and hard to find) and I talked the price down on it as well. It’s in good condition and not too old and to be honest is probably in better shape than my car at home! So all in all it has been a huge yeah God day!!!! So thank you all for your prayers!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
teenagers
so tonight i got to hang out with high school kids for the first time. i wasnt really sure how it was going to go, but i had a really good time. there were 5 girls i got to met. we went ice skating, out to dinner and then some of us went to the movies (by the way a night show cost me all of $4 us, i love it!!!) it was just a very nice relaxed evening.
the one thing i found interesting was how fast i got attached to these girls. i cant remember what happened exactically but i remember thinking you had better not hurt my girls. nothing major was going on but i felt protective of these 5 juniors and seniors who i had met a little over an hour before that thought went through my head.
i am so excited that i got to hang out with them tonight, it feels like i have met tons of military folks, who i need to meet for the very idea of my job, but i missed hanging out with teens. so thats it.
i still think i may have the best job in the world!
the one thing i found interesting was how fast i got attached to these girls. i cant remember what happened exactically but i remember thinking you had better not hurt my girls. nothing major was going on but i felt protective of these 5 juniors and seniors who i had met a little over an hour before that thought went through my head.
i am so excited that i got to hang out with them tonight, it feels like i have met tons of military folks, who i need to meet for the very idea of my job, but i missed hanging out with teens. so thats it.
i still think i may have the best job in the world!
Friday, January 11, 2008
here at last
here at last! so i am in germany now its kind of awsome really! i got here on the 3rd and left the 5th for a week of training in switzerland... which to be honest is kind of awsome! so imagine the movie heidi... or any other movie that takes place in the swiss alps... and thats where i got hang out for week of training and relaxing... totally awsome!
it was really nice to be able to go. in the 2 days that i had been in germanyi have been all over the base in schweinfurt meets tons of people been overwhelmed by walking into a german grocery store ( side note when you buy bread in europe you get it hot off the shelves! how weird!!) and got all of the important paper work i needed to get.
so i think officially i start meeting and hanging out with kids on sunday. apperently i am going ice skating with some seniors. so that will be good! i realize that i havent hung out with kids in a long time and i kind of miss it alot!
i also am in the process of trying to find an apartment and a car. both of which are important things to find. so for now i think thats all. the picture are of my trip!
it was really nice to be able to go. in the 2 days that i had been in germanyi have been all over the base in schweinfurt meets tons of people been overwhelmed by walking into a german grocery store ( side note when you buy bread in europe you get it hot off the shelves! how weird!!) and got all of the important paper work i needed to get.
so i think officially i start meeting and hanging out with kids on sunday. apperently i am going ice skating with some seniors. so that will be good! i realize that i havent hung out with kids in a long time and i kind of miss it alot!
i also am in the process of trying to find an apartment and a car. both of which are important things to find. so for now i think thats all. the picture are of my trip!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
happy new year!!! its been a busy year! to look back it seems like i flew by!!!
i leave for germany tomorrow, its weird and exciting and hard to believe that it is actually happening!! i have shipped off almost all of my boxes and have said good-bye to almost everyone, its just weird that its really happening.
i woke up yesterday morning sooo excited to be going which is the first time that has happened. not that i havent been excited before but yesterday i was kind of giddy! there is a lot to do today finish packing, say the rest of my goodbyes, hang out with my fam, you know the important things in life.
the next time i update this i will be updating from germany! thats soo awsome to be able to say that!
i leave for germany tomorrow, its weird and exciting and hard to believe that it is actually happening!! i have shipped off almost all of my boxes and have said good-bye to almost everyone, its just weird that its really happening.
i woke up yesterday morning sooo excited to be going which is the first time that has happened. not that i havent been excited before but yesterday i was kind of giddy! there is a lot to do today finish packing, say the rest of my goodbyes, hang out with my fam, you know the important things in life.
the next time i update this i will be updating from germany! thats soo awsome to be able to say that!
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