is yourself.

My friend is heading to the Czech Republic this summer and he needs some help raising the money to go. Clicking on the link will take you to his site where you can read up on all the details.

Czech Republic: "

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Being at ASU for psych lab intro and half asleep looking at their sources of light I am inclined to ask 'how does this make you feel?'

One of the quirks that I have is the uncanny ability to notice the small details in the environment that I live (strictly city) to give me insight into my plans. For example, when I go to coffee shops (there are only 3 I go to on a regular basis), I do a quick scan of the parking lot looking for my friends autos to see if they might possibly be inside. Call me weird but it happens instinctively for me.

Another small detail I notice on a regular basis in regards to automobiles is that of the origins of peoples' license plates. Doesn't matter if I'm driving to school or am sitting as a passenger in a friends' car, I will always take note of where people have come from. For me, such references to distant locations stir up thoughts ranging from impersonal ones (wanting to travel there or thinking "that's a nice place") to very personal ones (to be brutally honest, of places or times or people that I do not want to come to mind). With a heavy heart I wish this wasn't so because it becomes all to easy to resent memories associated with said reminders. It is not my intentions to think both highly or negatively about the reflections brought about by subtle reminders in the details, but to look back with an eye of gratitude. Such recollections in reality with my thoughts removed are truly joyful moments of life lived with certain people in certain places at certain times. Unfortunately, I have issues removing my thoughts and emotions from past events. Oh that I would see the beauty of recollections and reflections on past memories, and value the lessons learned.

If there was one thing I wish I could be better at, it would be to notice the subtle and small details that abound within social interactions so as to better attend to peoples' needs.

This week marks the school semester's eve. As befitting of such a week, I went and saw James Cameron's Avatar movie in 3D at IMAX in the spirit of freedom that this week holds. What a film it was! One of the best movies I have seen in a long while. However, the focus of this post is not on the movie directly but rather on the thoughts and feelings of people after seeing such an epic film. I recently read an article delving into people's reactions after seeing the film and what was found was that a decent number of people were experiencing depression brought on by the portrayal of an alien utopia undefiled by its inhabitants. Apparently, many people walked away from Avatar longing for that utopia to exist rather than face work the next day or deal with another family crisis. Is it really the undefiled, mysterious environment that people longed for or something else? Perhaps the draw existed in the simplistic nature of the Na'vi people or Pandora... Or perhaps fans longed to be the hero or part of the winning team in the movie... What wrong did Cameron do in making this film? Nothing as far as I can see because as a film, the director strives to draw people into the film and make it feel as though the viewer is actually a part of the movie in some sense, and Avatar does just that. But at the end of it all, stuck when the movie ends, people find themselves struggling to give purpose to what they saw because on some level it connected with them. It gave them hope for something...but what?

Hope deferred from the gospel of Christ causes the heart to be anxious. Purpose is assigned elsewhere and thereby divorced of hope. Purpose and hope in the gospel must be found together or else a crisis is at hand.

Brothers together in Christ

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2 weeks from today I will be officially done with my first semester of upper division nursing at Arizona State University.  This means that I will only have 3 more semesters to complete to graduate.  However, this has not come without a cost.  While time has always been at a premium for me, it has never been valued as much as it has been this semester.  The pattern is to fight for time, whether that is by making downtime more effective/efficient or by eliminating extraneous events from my life to the point that life is more manageable.  Certainly there are things that I wish could have been different but of what use is it now to hope on what has already been....a waste of time.  However, it was hard to justify spending time on things outside of classes, work, and most importantly the dynamic relationship I have with God.

With that said, I am sorry that I have not written at all on this blog but I hope to change that for future semester.  Speaking of the future, there are a few things that I'm excited for beyond the brick and mortar walls of the university...

1.  Urbana 2009
Being only 1.5 years out from graduation, the only thing I know of for sure is that I don't want to simply remain on U.S. soil for the rest of my life.  The purpose of attending this conference is to explore further my passion for wanting to provide something to those less fortunate all due to their location on this blue/brown sphere.  ...also, it wouldn't be such a bad thing for me to get out of town and refocus life.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to steal a close friend away from his wife so us guys can talk one-on-one.

2.  Mercy Ships
Stemming from #1, I have been intrigued by this organization and at this point I would love to pursue working with them in the near future at some point.  Currently the ship is docked off the coast of Benin.  What they do is provide medical treatments as well as health education to the poorest of the poor where ever they go in the world.  I hope that after gaining experience for a few years in a hospital it will work out to join with Mercy Ships for a year.  Much of my interest has been sparked by Ali's blog (a nurse on the Africa Mercy).

3.  VI - Monday Night Living Room
God has been moving in the members of this group and has been challenging different people to grow in different ways.  I'm excited to be a part of it and I eagerly look forward to continuing with this group into the next semester.  What is difficult for me, and bothers me, is that it is extremely hard with my schedule to invest time into all the guys I want to spend time with and challenge.  Any time I get with the guys in the group I just savor (more so than the coffee of the coffee shop we are in). 

A few days since the airplane landed at Sky Harbor and most of the effects of jet lag have worn off. However, the memories garnered have not been so easily wiped away. The same could be said for the memories from summer '06 and summer '08 too. What we experience in person leaves a lasting impression upon us that goes deeper than superficial to affect the core of who we are. In such a way, who I am has been changed by what I have gone through in these outreaches to the Czech Republic and Poland.

In coming back from this summer, I could not shake the feeling that the time spent this summer in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland would be the last time for many years. In many ways, the past 3 weeks were more like an extended goodbye than anything else.

Goodbye Poland Team. All of us will part ways at some point.

Goodbye Poland. I only knew you for 8 amazing days.

Goodbye Slovakia. You were a great end to 2008.

Goodbye České Budějovice. You were the town that started it all in 2006.

Goodbye Strakonice. You were my home away from home in 2008.

Goodbye Czech Republic. You will always be in my heart.

I have met many people over the years in many towns across the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland who have been an integral part of the changes that occurred in myself. Of those people who have affected me, I hope to remain in close contact with some of them in the coming years....even if I am unable to visit in person. For those who call their home the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Poland, you will always have a friend in Arizona. Stay in touch my dear friends!

Goodbye....for now

http://poland09.posterous.com/

The Poland team has made it safely to the H2O project work site and have settled in. The only small thing to worry about is a ton of mosquitoes and as well as a lot of spiders. In fact, I have a spider that makes a web across the door frame of my cabin each night so I need to remember to duck upon leaving or entering. In a few short hours the work will begin and our tasks will be defined. I will put up another post tonight or tomorrow describing our work better (need to wait to actually experience it before I write about it). Also, we are working alongside two teams, one from Belfast, Ireland and the other a team of Polish youth from a nearby city. This week is going to be good. We have a lot of work to get done, but I know this team is up for the challenge.