I've Arrived... In Lithuania That Is

I just arrived in Klaipeda a few hours ago and it has already been a blast. After leaving OK City early Sun. morning and surviving getting bumped 3 different times on flights, I actually made it to Vilnius, Lithuania an hour ahead of schedule. From there I jumped on a charter bus with 20 other Summer Language Institute faculty and staff for a 4 hour ride to Klaipeda. It has been quite the adventure already and I can't wait to start work in the morning. The summer faculty are an outgoing bunch... characters to say the least. Most of them are double, some triple my age, but they sure don't act like it. I can't wait to get to know them all better and learn from them throughout the month.

I feel I have so many stories to tell from my first day of travel, but I need to get to bed so I'm not fighting jet lag for a week. I'll update you all very soon. I appreciate all the prayers* and support that have been given. I could not be doing this without them.

*The prayers were especially felt today as the Lord worked out all the chaotic travel mess that came my way.

Friends Who Challenge

One of the biggest blessings the Lord has continually given me throughout my life is solid friends who challenge me on a steady, consistent basis. Of those friends, many of them have a deep burden for missions and a great ability to convey profound and convicting truths through their experiences.

Here is a post from a great friend who is currently in India working with an organization that rescues women from sex trafficking and helps them start a new life. This post is too challenging to not pass on to y'all, so here it is.

A Little Visit to the BIG CO: Part II

Another reason why I like Colorado in the summer is the unbelievable hiking and gorgeous views of God's creation available to anyone who ventures outside. A couple friends and I went on a hike my last day in the Springs. It is probably the easiest hike in Colorado, but has some amazing views along the way. The best part on this day, however, was running into a big mama black bear. Some people at the trail head said it was over 300, maybe even nearing 350 pounds, which is pretty big for a black bear. Like any great moment in nature, when trying to take a picture, I was unable to get a good, focused shot of this thing, so I'll give you the best capture I have. It started about 30/40 feet below us on a slope and then ran up the hill to about 30 feet above us. I closed in to take this shot, when the other 2 people with me asked if I knew there were 2 bear cubs in the tree above me. Needless to say, we backed up and gave them some space. (Click on the picture to get a better view/idea of her size) Seeing the beauty, power, and innate protective instincts of God's creation all wrapped up in a mama black bear was exhilarating and an adrenaline rush to say the least.

A Little Visit to the BIG CO: Part I

One of the things that the Lord has blessed me with are friends that live in some pretty sweet places. I recently just got back from the Front Range in Colorado where I spent some time with some friends of mine in Denver and Colorado Springs. It was a great, and much needed, week of R&R. I spent some time with an old college roommate, went scrambling** (more on that later) with a brand new friend, and hung out for a few days with some classmates from Focus Institute. Again, you can't have a bad week when visiting Colorado, especially when there is no agenda and you don't have much of a care in the world.

Memorial Day, I traveled with a new buddy of mine, Hugh White, to Garden of the Gods in the Springs area. The original plan was to rock climb all morning. However, when we got there, we realized one of his friends had his belay device***, so we couldn't climb. Of course we weren't just going to pack up and go home, so we decided to scramble a bit. We looked over at Kindergarten Rock, the longest and second or third tallest in the park, and decided to go get it done. Here are some resulting pics of our scramble.

Yes, we went straight up this
A view of some of the other more famous formations

The view straight down
The view straight up

Hugh and I had an absolute blast doing this. We spent a good chunk of time talking and enjoying God's beauty at the top (especially the views of Pike's Peak). We also messed around a bit on some small boulders and rocks at the top. We'd jump from rock to rock, trying different holds while not falling 250+ feet to our deaths. It was just one of the cool adventures I had during my time out there. More stories to come.

**Scrambling sounds really manly and scary, but it's not as hard core as I can talk it up to be. Scrambling is a step down from straight up free climbing (no ropes, but your not climbing 80 to 90 degree rock faces either).
***For you climbers out there, if we had our heads on straight we could have just made a muenter hitch with our rope. Unfortunately, we didn't have our heads with us... maybe it was the altitude.

A Profound Conviction

I went through the book of Micah this past week and read something in Chapter 6 on Monday that has messed me up for a few days. I still can't put my finger on exactly what convicted me in this passage, but I just read it and knew something was not right in my life. Enough talk, here it is:

The Lord is talking through Micah and he says that he is making a case or a charge (kind of like in a courtroom) against Israel.
Micah 6:3
"My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me."

I don't know about you, but that sent some chills down my spine. I was instantly convicted, like the Lord was talking straight to me. The Lord asking me what he has done to burden me. Obviously the answer is nothing. But for some reason, I had this feeling of entitlement, like the Lord owes me something. Frankly, he doesn't owe me anything. He has already paid the greatest price, and yet here I am feeling like he owes me. LORD FORGIVE ME.

The passage continues with the Lord showing Israel all the things he had brought them through. Yet even then, Israel was rebelling against him, saying he wasn't present or he owed them something. The Lord is GOOD and too often we simply forget that. There is a fairly easy remedy (in theory) at the end of that particular passage. It goes like this:

Micah 6:8
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."

Simple as that. However, at least for me, my pride often tends to get in the way of the humbly part. I really need to work on those three things though: Acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly. I'm not sure what they look like acted out in my life, but I'd like to figure it out so I can do them. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing in those areas. What did the Lord speak to you in these couple of verses? I'd love to hear.
Peace and Love to my readers

The Pains of Single Living

No, I'm not talking about romantic relationships. I'm talking about living in an apartment all by myself. One of the things that was hammered home while I was at the Institute at Focus on the Family was to never live by yourself. I understood their reasoning, but now I've experienced it for a year and can say with certainty that it is an important rule to try to live by. I will grant that sometimes life demands otherwise, for instance my situation being an RD in a res hall, or maybe moving to a place where you initially don't know anyone. However, I've found it to be a very negative experience, mainly for the reasons I was warned about at Focus.

Maybe you completely disagree with me when I say single living might be one of the worst things you can do, but hear me out. What I witnessed in my own life was a bit disturbing. Because of my previous knowledge, I was aware of what was happening, but often it was hard to curb the effect of single living. When you live by yourself, you immediately lose all forms of daily accountability and awareness of others. You get home and don't have to be a servant to anyone - you don't have to be selfless. That was the hardest thing to fight because my flesh was loving being focused only on ME. But my spirit sensed that it was wrong. It's kind of like exercise; when you don't lift, your muscles don't grow. If you never have to practice selflessness, you won't learn or grow in that area. I have found my self-awareness diminish along with my desire to and awareness of opportunities to serve others.

Lastly, you don't have individuals to challenge you to grow because they simply aren't around. Say what you will about having accountability partners, etc., but the fact is, your accountability partner most likely isn't going to be around you all the time. A roommate will, and they will force you to address issues that you otherwise wouldn't normally have to address. On a side note, I think living with roommates of the same sex is a great preparation for marriage because it forces you to think of others when often you don't feel like it.

I say all this to let you know selfishness is something I've really been struggling with, and I think it largely stems from living by myself. Feel free to call me out on this if you notice it in my life.

For you recent post-grads out there, take my advice. Do yourselves a favor and find a couple solid people to live with. If you live intentionally with each other, you'll be a better person because of it.

Saying Goodbye to MAHE Cohort of '09

Two weekends ago, I was at TU where I watched old and new friends alike, receive their MAHE hoods and then graduate the next day. Those two days were full of emotion as goodbyes had to be said to brothers and sisters in Christ who are starting new chapters in their lives.

The program director, Tim Herrmann, spoke at the hooding of one of the most difficult things to learn while in education. He spoke of the importance of learning to say goodbye, and the message definitely resonated with me. I learned how it would be selfish of me to want them to stay and so I tried my best to send them out with a blessing. There is no doubt in my mind that the MAHE class of '09 will go on to impact their world for Christ.

So I want to say thank you to the '09 cohort, for impacting my life through intentional relationships, providing Christ-like models in your personal and professional lives, and for pushing the '10 cohort to strive for excellence while living a balanced life. May God bless you all as you continue to serve Him and His Kingdom.