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.

It is the 31st of July and I am back in Prague. Yesterday was so bittersweet. Today is even worse as I have time to think about yesterday. Spending time in Strakonice and České Budějovice was so good. I look to the horizon in hopes of seeing my self back here but all that is ahead is haze and what dim shapes of the landscape that pokes through does not seem familiar.

While I was here though I tried to make the most of it. From cooking a true Mexican style dish to going to concerts (punk rock at one, folk music at another), I would say the time I spent with friends from past English camps was well spent. Even went to Obi once (Czech version of Home Depot, orange color included) to get some last minute supplies for the work I'll be doing in Poland in the coming days. Also spent a couple of hours one night at a tea house which had seating on the rook akin to a Japanese garden (or at least that was what I think they were going for). The sweetest times however, came from the small hang outs at cafes or the long walks back to the flat. If only it were easy to hold on to such moments and make them last.

I hope to return sometime in the future and I'm sure I will, but the question is "When?"....

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.