I have seem some of what good this visit to Strakonice has brought but if there is more, then I suspect that I will never know to what extent it has meant to the few people I have interacted with. If anything, I would hope that my time in the Czech Republic this summer is more valuable to others than it is for me. At this moment I have a few slim hours to rest and relax, alone with my thoughts....which is something I have been craving, not feeling as though I have to be doing something with someone. It is moments like these that I treasure.


In a few short hours I will take a train to Ceske Budejovice (from Pisek) and spend time with a few more friends from two different summers. This I will treasure too, just in a different way. I feel as though my time in the Czech Republic is coming to a close, not in reference to this week, but in reference to the coming years. So the time I spend with those students from camp who I have grown close to means a lot to me.

So I just found out a few days ago that the poland team had a blog. The web address is http://poland09.posterous.com. Keep tabs on that site in addition to here!

Its interesting. Walking...actually more so flying home last summer, I was expecting to be unable to come back to the Czech Republic this summer. Yet here I am. This time around I am not doing an English camp or an internship with Josiah Venture in CZ, but rather a work project in Poland starting a week and a half from now. However, that does not define what I am currently doing in CZ. Much of the time I have been asking myself why I am here. The surface answer is that I wanted to hang out with people I know here from camps and visit. Maybe encourage them in someway. The deeper answer is still unknown. What does God want me here for? I am sure there must be some reason. Deep in side, I feel a part of myself saying that this will be the last time for a long time.

I do not know what to make of that...

....only God in His timing will tell.

For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

I feel at times that I am merely a foreigner in my home country. I dare to be different and thus am viewed as such. Being a college student actively seeking God and serving Him, I find that I do not have the time to watch TV or play video games for hours on end. It is possible that I could rearrange other priorities in my life to make room for the aforementioned entertainment but of what value would such an effort be to me? Christians need to move beyond the shallowness of the mire of entertainment and dive into deep and close relationships with those around us. Don't become complacent with the American dream of less work and more pay but instead go for the opposite. Work harder at your interactions with people, invest time into them. Do not take your relationships for granted. I know that in large, this is a "me" centered society in which we are conditioned through media, peers, and even our own flesh to seek after the things that bring the most benefit back ourselves while minimizing what those around us get. The intent of the flesh throughout the span of the creation has remained constant since the fall of humanity. Only by God's grace are we able to be freed from sin's bondage.

Let us make the most of the time that God has given us rather than wasting it on empty pursuits. We will never again live this day over.

This coming summer holds within its grasp many things to be treasured and remembered. On July 20 I will be leaving again for the Czech Republic, but this time I will also be going to Poland to work on the H2O project with a team from Grace Community Church. I am excited for this and look forward to the time I will get to spend with new college freshmen during that week of renovation work! Looking forward to next fall I am seeking to be more involved in the college group at church and may focus on the incoming freshmen for the next year!

However my heart still yearns to know about the unknowns of the next 2 years and the subsequent year following graduation. I really want to know the unknown but I must be content in God, which is one of the hardest things for me as I like to know what is going on around me. I need to have faith in God with where He is leading me as I know that He has a plan for my life. I need to trust Him in all that He does in my life.

.....this is so hard and I alone cannot not accomplish such a feat under my own power. God, you are my strength and my breath!

One thing that has been on my mind these past few months is that of the subject of suffering. This is not random by any means as these past few months have been quite difficult for me (in my eyes). I plan to make a post about what God has been teaching me but until I do that, I wanted to place a link to a sermon given by Mark Driscoll on suffering and how we are to live our lives during the midst of it. Enjoy!
Suffering to Serve

These past 4 weeks have found me in a state that no one ever wishes to be in: completely broken. Life is supposed to be filled with happiness and fun all while living in bold confidence of the path ahead of one's self, not with realizations that we are insignificant and that we live in total dependence upon God. I think not. I would argue that brokenness is needed, not just every now and then when we have done something wrong or feel guilty or convicted of something, but always. We need to be living with that realization in mind.

But like I was saying, we don't naturally like to be found in such a state, especially by those who know us well because we have an "image" to uphold. I am so guilty of this. So many times I have sought to keep my reputation intact by not being completely honest with those that are close to me and that has been a hindrance to my faith during my years in high school and carried over a bit into my college years. Over the course of my first few years of college, I began to open up to key people in my life, whose friendship I still cherish to this day. However, it was not until this past summer and up until now that I really began to get a grasp of this area of my faith in Christ. Still, I'm not perfect (I will never proclaim to be) and I am continuing to strive to grow in this area of openness. I have much to learn!

What I can say though is the freeing nature that exists in being transparent with your life is something to seek. As a body of believers, the church needs to come around its brothers and sisters in love to speak truth in to their lives yet filled with grace. All of us struggle with something, so we all need to be seeking out community in which support for it members is a integral part of life, not that people may continue in their sin, but that they may seek repentance and freedom from it. For what do we have to hide? We are all human and we all fail. Praise God for who He is; perfect, righteous, and holy!

For more thought, here's a blog post that speaks of brokenness in relation to leaders and provoked my thought on this subject tonight.

"Godly character is grown in dependency crises. You are forced to deal with God and with yourself. Great leaders don't just visit these places of dependence; they try to live there."

-Darrin Patrick

If one were to stand back and just observe someone (people watching, not stalking), it would become quite noticeable how multifaceted human beings really are. For each person, there are unique combinations of personality traits, characteristics, preferences, and dislikes that go into defining who someone is. Sure people are similar, but no one is exactly identical in how they process interactions and thoughts, which goes towards each person's uniqueness. Likewise, each person responds in their own way to different stimuli, whether that be something as simple as a touch or something as complex as a deep discussion over deep-seated feelings in combination with a dimly lit, romantic atmosphere. Looking at any relationship (friends, family, marital), knowing what gets through to the other person to show that you care about the relationship is key and vital to the health of the relationship.

Therefore, if I were to ask "What is it that your friends, family, or spouse enjoy? What can you do to uplift them?", would you know how to respond? How well do we really know those who we are close to? More often than not, we think about what we can do to make life better for ourselves rather than what we could be doing to make life better for someone else. I myself am not exempt from this. I believe that as a community of believers, Christ followers need to be exemplifying this in their lives towards people they know and those they do not know. In terms of personal relationships, one idea I have heard about is taking notes on what friends enjoy. Then through those notes one will know how to uplift their friend no matter what the circumstances may be. If is someone you don't know well, then small gestures of kindness can go a long way. I am not saying these things to only better your relationship with specific people, but to encourage you to live like Christ with your focus being placed on those around you rather than on yourself and your needs or wants. Seek to benefit other before yourself.

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12

I highly encourage any man to watch the video below. Mark Driscoll strongly articulates what it means to be a man of God in marriage. However, this video is also directed to men who have aspirations of joining a woman in marriage someday and pursuing God's call together in union. So go right ahead and hit 'play'.