Here I am still searching
My mind constantly encircling
Around the trappings of this life
That are irrelevant
All wonder starts to cease
My heart can find no peace
While spirituality loses all
Of its enchantment
And all the while they're dieing
Behind my dam of useless trying
To figure it all out...
A perishing mankind

the next step

I want to be different before I do anything different.

A word of Thanks

I hear it has been said that gratitude is the shortest lived human emotion. Whether or not there is truth in that statement I want to express the gratitude that I have carried around in my heart for those of you have been a part of our trip through this blog. I know how many people wrote comments so I will only assume that so many more are reading. Whether reading, praying or commenting I have been encouraged simply knowing that people loved us enough to take interest in our lives for a month when we were so far removed from your reality. Thank you. I read all the comments and appreciate each of them, so many from people I haven't seen in such a long time (Kristen Morrow Pollis, Mama Sally, Mrs. Anne Park who I have never even met). Thank you for taking the time to follow us along on our trip by reading this and in sharing in what God was doing in our lives. I hope that this blog encouraged you even half as much as your reading and writing encouraged me.
The trip was amazing; life changing, eye opening, amazing. Thank you for all of your love and support!!!

Home

"In the Cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime, finding out just where that is."
-JLC

The last days

Just "Cha chin" around in Prague

Us with Jason at the top of the mountain in Prague

The stopping of the heart

Well folks, we are back where we started. We are at the Shelter hostel in Amsterdam where this trip began just 3 and 1/2 weeks ago. Now out of that month or so I have done very well and by this i mean i haven´t lost or broken anything of mine (which is my tendency, you can ask my mom). I had two gut-wrenching experiences yesterday. We ate at KFC in Prauge just before getting on our 15 hour bus ride to Amsterdam. My Nalgene had broken a few days ago so I bought another bottle (a very nice one). It occured to me while loading the bus that I had left it in the bathroom of KFC. So, Daniel and I dropped our stuff and sprinted back. Now we are all bundled up like Ralphie´s brother on the Christmas story, we are out of shape and it is freezing and everyone is looking at us funny. I realized how badly out of shape I am. But all was well I found the bottle, no biggie.
Well we are on the bus about 6 hours later approaching the German border and the driver comes on the PA saying passport (he said more than that but that was the only word I knew). I reach in my jacket pocket for mine and my heart drops when it isn´t there. I become frantic and so do the guys. I am standing up searching everywhere, even the people on the bus are helping. After about 7 minutes (feeling like eternity) a guy next to us found it......in my front jeans pocket. Don´t everybody look at me I´m a moron. I was imagining myself being dragged off in lock and stock to the German communist police. But it was nothing more than a serious case of me being an idiot. I think I almost wet my pants and so did the guys. They were joking about how they wouldn´t have gotten off the bus, they would have just wished me luck as the guards dragged me away.

Things I am excited about...

I am one day in Prauge, one 15 hour overnight busride across Europe (yuck), one day and one night in Amsterdam away from being back home in the states. In pondering my coming home I decided to make a list of things I am most excited about. These are in no way all of them and are in no specific order. Here it goes...

*wearing more than 4 outfits
*tap water (they act like it doesn't exist here)
*any weather above 10 degrees
*normal showers (not impossible to manuevur bath tubs, not 10 second hot water heaters, not trickling pressure, not used by 1000 previous travelers, not curtainless wash tins with shower heads you have to hold and inevitably soak the whole room with...just normal showers)
*not pizza
*female company
*not carrying my world in my backpack
*not carrying a backpack at all
*exsercise
*a language I understand
*clean laundry
*hair dryers
*peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches
*no buses, trains, planes, boats, trams, trolleys, or anything else that transports other than my Jeep Cherokee
*church
*alone time
*sleep
*anything cooked by Mama Jordan
*not using a map everywhere I go
*my family
*my friends
I am sure that there are countless others, but after a month in Europe, these are the ones that come to mind.

"What things exist in the world that, if I didn't have, i would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore.? "
-John Piper

Not better or worse, just different

"Alone on a train aimless in wonder
An outdated map crumbled in my pocket
But I didn't care where I was going
They're all different names for the same place.

The coast just appeared when the sea drown the summer
I've no words to share with anyone
The boundaries of language are quietly cursed
All the different names for the same thing.

There are different names for the same things
There are different names for the same things..."

Part of me wants to believe that everything, at its core, is different from everything else. This trip has shown me that everything at is core, is in essence the same. Here are some examples of what I am talking about. So many people want to come here, see something different, experience something new, but when we get right down to it Europe is nothing new. It is simply a different name for the same thing- land. German, Hispanic, Dutch, Bosnian, Hungarian, American, all of these are just different names for the same thing; people. Postmodernism is a new way to label the same movement that began in the 60's; existentialism. Contemporary and traditional are different names for the same thing; worship. The hardest and by far most important lesson I have learned with this has to do with differences in people. Uptight, impatient, laid back, outspoken, quiet, type A, type B, loving, hard headed, selfish, giving; all of these are different names for the same thing-Humanity. All of my gossip, unforgiveness, withholding love, picking on, looking down upon are different names for the same thing; hate. None of us are ever all of these things all of the time, but at some point all of us are some of these things. And these things make us no better or no worse the same as being American makes us no better than being Hispanic because these are, at their core, just different names for people. None of these things are different because they are old or better because they are new. "There is nothing new under the sun. There are only endless repackagings."
I am no better or no worse and I don't know where I get the notion that I might be. I can endlessly repackage myself, my personality and my appearence to the world around me, but it will never make me better than my neighbor. Somewhere along the line we begin to think ourselves superior for hundreds of different reasons. We can call ourselves different things, give ourselves different names, speak in different languages or live in different places, have different opinions and preferences, but we are all the same, no better, no worse, just humans in need of a God.

HUMILITY

Prague

Precious..?...I think so!!!

Nana's daughter, the cutest girl EVER!

Driven

There's something inside

Pushing to drive

Opposing the force

Longing to hide

But I want to be

Living to breathe

Driven by a force

My eyes cannot see

And ever aware

Of the beauty I share

As I fervently carry

This cross that I bare.

Refugees

We have a few major themes running through our trip. We tend to find ourselves forever in the weirdest situations. Yesterday was the strangest yet. Nana invited us to his FCR (Fellowship of Christian Refugees) meeting. So at 7:00 pm we piled into a red minivan...all 9 of us, Daniel, David, me, Nana and his wife and two kids and a guy from Nigeria with Michael at the wheel and crazy Bohemian rap music playing. I just sat in the back with Daniel and we snickered at our situation.
The FCR was a different kind of crazy experience. It is sponsered by a ministry called the Oasis. Every year thousands of refugees from hundreds of different countries travel along the refugee highway that goes around the world in hopes of escaping war, famine and persecution. Vienna, Austria is an off ramp for this highway because it houses a refugee camp. Thousands are smuggled out of their countries and promised work by people who then cheat them and leave them in far off countries with no hope of getting jobs or money back to their families. This ministry provides meals, clothing drives, computer classes, support and fellowship. The service we attended was a worship service. People of all ethnicities filed in to hear Nana speak. 3 differnet people were translating in other languages all at one time. It was like the Tower of Bable all over again. About 20 muslim men from Kosovo sat to the right of us. They had fled because their country has been devastated by war with the Serbians for nearly 9 years and there country is destroyed. It was an unbelievable ministry to get to watch and participate in. On a lighter note if you have no idea what it is like to be the only young American female in a room where about 25 pairs of foreign males eyes staring at you, I can now fill you in on what that experience is like. I got proposed to a lot last night. It was both flatering and incredibly uncomfortable. The guys had a great time laughing at my situation.

The Reality of God

Somewhere, in a small town outside the city of Vienna, Austria, a country we never planned to come to until a few hours before we left, we have once again managed to meet with the living Spirit of Christ. The missionaries we stayed with in Budapest told us about a retreat center or rather a missionary getaway on the outskirts of Vienna. We arrived here with only a phone number, found the place in the middle of the night and met Nana. Nana is a 58 year old man from the Ivory Coast in Africa, with a loud ascent resembling that of the monkey Rafiki in the Lion King. Once again we have been welcomed in with the open arms of unabashed hospitality. This place we are in is amazing. Its intention is to be a haven getaway for missionaries and a ministry for international refugees.
This morning we ate breakfast with Nana. I asked him if he had come to faith back in Africa and he proceeded to tell us the amazing story of the reality of God in his life. A wealthy businessman, intellect and Christian hater, Nana married a Christian woman. He prohibited her from going to church or having anything to do with faith. She would secretly hold a bible study while he was at work and he became furious one day when he came home early and discovered this. He sought to expose those without permits from the government (a requirement to have church) and expunge Christianity. On two different occasions praying men came to him speaking of visions they had of his life, one claiming Nana would one day be walking in the snow, bible in hand, preaching the word. Seven years later every word of those spoken prophecies is true. He was forced to leave Africa 4 years ago because of the war. Everything they owned was destroyed and they were brought here with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Nana begged in the streets in the dead of winter just to provide food, all the while his wife still praying for the Lord to move. A man from Iran found Nana in this refugee camp and took him to this IT missionary center. When Nana found it to be Christian he left furiously. After persuasion from his wife they went back because they had nowhere else to go. It was that day that an American missionary spoke on the light yoke of Christ and Nana gave his life to the Lord. He found himself weeks later fulfilling his prophesy as he walked through the snow, bible in hand, preaching the gospel. He says, “Life has never been the same because for me that was the first day of life. I told God never, but he knitted me in my mothers womb and as I ran away God sat up in heaven tapping his foot saying, ‘If he only knew. Let him run around, he will come.’ I want all to know the reality of Christ. Jesus is real. He is always and forever alive. I know because I have seen it in every step of my life, from the Ivory Coast to this very moment.” Nana now runs the refugee center we are staying in. I am overwhelmed with what I have heard from him.
With every passing day I am made more aware not only of the absolute realness of God, but of my great need for him.

Clean Clothes and Skype

When traveling in Europe so very far away from home and you feel that you grow more weary in every aspect of the word with every step you take, blessings are easy to spot. We, nearing the end of our trip and therefore the end of our strength, have received two tiny large blessings in the past day. Now, I use the oxymoron, tiny large, because back in the states they might, because of my preoccupation with everything else, go unnoticed and yet here they have commanded my attention. The first is clean clothes. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Sick" and "that isn't a blessing." No, no, let me assure you that it is. Save one load of underwear and socks that we did collectively in Croatia about 5 days ago we had yet to wash anything, until that is today. This family we are staying with has washed all of our dirty clothes, which can really just be stated, "all of our clothes" because everything has been dirty for a while.
The second blessing, one much more intangible and because of it much more precious, was sitting around my computer tonight (3:30 am for us and 9:30 pm for all of you), listening to FCA, our body of brothers and sisters across the sea, worshiping and getting the opportunity not only to speak with them, but worship with them. I am amazed at technology, but much more than that I am amazed at that group of people and the efforts they have gone to to bless us, and the effortlessness with which God orchestrates it all. So, thank you 9:19 if any of you are reading this. Thank you Trey Boden for your heart and love. Thank you Lauren for being beautifully and wonderfully made as my sister and thank you Jesus....thank you Jesus!

The Parkers

Us with Diane Parker
We have spent the last two nights in the home of a family that Michael had connections with, a family none of us have ever met, a family that, in really just a little over a day, have grown to love. In just a small amount of time, but with no small amount of love, Jack and Dianne Parker have shown us the meaning of hospitality. In their mid fifties the Parkers have been missionaries in Europe for the past 27 years as well as raised 4 children, the youngest of which is still in college. They have lived in England and Prague and Poland and now in Budapest all with the same purpose, a purpose much larger than themselves.
It is a rare and precious occasion that you find someone who truly wants to know your story, who skims over the ever present, “How are you’s” and dives right into the “Who are you’s,” listening ever so intently to every word you say and formulating an idea of what you’re really all about. The first night we were here we sat around the table with Jack and Diane in front of a well-prepared meal (which at this point is anything more than cheap pizza and a cold pastry) and each shared how we came to know this Jesus we claimed to be in Europe following. I found myself listening intently to the other three guys, realizing that I had no idea how they came to know Jesus, the core of who they really are. And this thought occurred to me that very few people back home know this great story of mine, the soul of who I am. Yet, sitting in a house on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary is a couple who couldn’t tell you what I like to eat or what kind of car I drive, but they could tell you the most foundational part of who I am and how it came to be.
I believe that I could write forever about this family and all that they have done for us in the past 2 days. But the heart of what this past two days has been for me at least lies in what these two people have showed me about God. I pray to be like that. I pray that I would be a woman of God who truly demonstrates hospitality and love to people, all people. I pray that I would crawl down into the depths of other people’s lives to the core of who they are, that I would listen intently to their stories and that in the depth of my heart I would truly care about what they have to say. I pray that my life would be one of those rare and precious havens full of hospitality and love, constantly inviting others to come and sit with me and ultimately with Jesus.

Budapest, Hungary

Seeing Again

This is a time for seeing and singing
This is a time for breathing You in
And breathing out Your praise
Our hearts repsond to Your revelation
All you are showing, all we have seen
Commands a life of praise
No one can sing of things they have not seen
God, open our eyes towards a greater glimpse
The glory of You, the glory of You
God, open our eyes towards a greater glimpse
Worship starts with seeing You
Worship starts with seeing You
Our hearts respond to Your revelation
Worship starts with seeing You
Worship starts with seeing You
Our hearts respond to Your revelation

Amara and her family

This is another family Daniel knew from his earlier trips to Bosnia. The older girl's name is Amara. Her family has nothing....and I mean NOTHING. We sat in their house the night we left Bosnia and they offered us so much hospitality. They made us lemonade and cut kiwi for us to eat. We sat in a lot of awkward silence, nobody knowing what to say. Her 3 younger brothers then began trying to pick up our packs and so we helped them load up...it was hillarious to watch and that broke the wall of awkwardness into laughter and joy. It was a great experience.

Mostar, Bosnia and Gipas family

This is a family that Daniel had met the previous 3 times he had been to Bosnia. We got to visit their house and sit with them. They were so hospitable and although they had so little they gave us coffee and lemonade. We sat, at times, in awkward silence because our knowledge of the other's language was so limited. But it was an amazing time of fellowship and connection with a group of people of little to no common ground save Christ.

Split, Croatia

Miles to go before I sleep...

19 hours of traveling beginning at 8:30 pm in Mostar, Bosnia on the 15th and ending at 3:30 pm in Budapest, Hungary on the 16th. We took an all night bus from Bosnia to Osjek, Croatia. We arrived at 7:00 am and hitched a ride with the brother in law of a missionary Daniel knew. He drove us 5 hours to Budapest and dropped us at the airport. The temperature was -6 Celsius about 20 Fahrenheit. On a scale of 1 to freezing it is freezing in Budapest. From the airport we took a bus, from the bus we took a metro, from the metro we took the wrong bus then got off and onto the right bus and from that bus we took another bus that dropped us off outside of Budapest. From here we had scrambled directions to the house we were staying out. At this point we have no feeling in our extremities and we are still carrying our packs, we blend in very well. After a few wrong turns and help from 3 people who don’t speak English (they just point and ramble in some dialect that might as well be silence because we don’t understand it) we finally found a drunk man who took us to the proper street. God bless the alcoholic.
In spite of all of this we are happy to be in Budapest. We will actually be here for a few nights so it will be a change of pace for us. The constant moving wears the body and the soul down quickly. It is here that I have found the depth of who I really am. There are no covers of comfort to hide behind. One’s true self and disposition exposes itself and at times rears its ugly head when lost in a freezing foreign country with no food, no sleep and no direction. I pray that our time here will be refreshing and encouraging. The guys are definitely seeing what it will be like to make this life their life and doors continue to open for them. I am privileged to get to watch it.

A Holy War

Mostar, Bosnia, a city ravaged by war, but not just any war, a war in the name of faith. Set in a large valley very little of the city is left unstained by the presence of hate and destruction, giving a real life picture to me of a valley of the shadow of death. The city is divided right down the center by a line of mass destruction. To the East a Muslim Mosque cast shadows down and standing directly opposed to it is the Catholic Cross that adorns the tip of the Western valley rim, clearly marking each territory according to belief. They say a war like this happens about every 2 generations. Many of the buildings have been left in heaping piles of rubble or either standing with holes in the wall. The two religions stood on either side of the valley and shot down at each other in the name of spirituality. I know that this isn´t the first war like this. Religion is probably the main name in which wars have been fought since the begining of time. This just happens to be the first one I have seen the consequences of with my own eyes. This makes me think that there is something incredibly important about the idea of relgion. I just wonder when we got the notion that relgion was a civil war and not a spiritual one. We fight each other. We hate each other. We kill each other..all in the name of relgion. Donald Miller in his book Searching for God knows what says, "In war we shoot the enemy, not the hostage." A major battle has been lost here when we are tricked into believing that the enemy is made up of the same flesh and blood that we are. I have never killed someone in the name of faith, but I carry the notion in my heart many times that the enemy is immoral humanity and it is sad to stand in this place and see the extent to which my small little notion can destroy lives.
This city is much different than any place we have been yet. Daniel has spent a lot of time here over the last two years. He has great friends here and it is neat to watch him and his heart for this place.

Close to Heaven

Right now we are in Split, Croatia. This is my favorite place so far that we have seen and one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes on. It is surrounded by this huge mountain and yet is is a coastal island at every other turn. It also helps that it is about 10 degress warmer here than any other place we have been. We have walked up and down staring at the Adriatic Sea. This is the same sea that Paul and so many other crossed such a long time ago. The water was travled by pioneers of Christianity who believed enough to give their lives. I feel a small portion of their faith just when I look at the water.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

This is the castle at the top of the slipperiest mountain in the world. We ran to the top. It was amazing!

Brussels, Belgium

Us eating the most amazing Belgian waffles EVER!

Venice, Italy

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Amsterdam

Amsterdam, you say youre free
With warmth I´ve yet to know
But all your lights
Your streets of old
Couldn´t keep your heart
From going cold
And all the love in your red light sea
Could never set your cold heart free.

Pictures

We have yet to find wireless internet or a computer where we could upload pictures. As soon as we do we have many beautiful pictures coming this way for your viewing pleasures. But just as a disclosure, the beauty we have seen could never even be captured by the eye, much less by the lens of a man made camera.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Right now I am sitting in a hostel in Slovenia. Now, I Know what you are thinking...¨Where the crack is Slovenia. Slovenia is a former Yugoslovian country just east of the top of Italy. We are in the capital called Ljubiana. It is suprisingly beautiful. We trained here this morning from Venice through the snowcaped Alps and it was quite the ride. The train stopped at the border and these police got on and came in our cab to check our passports, it was quite a queer experience. I felt like I was in a movie, but one of those war ones where Americans get thrown into Russian prisons. That didn´t happen though, so I am greatful.
Our journey so far has been amazing. We trained out of Amsterdam the morning of the 8th and into Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is a gorgeous city, very much modern. This place had some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen. We spent one night there and then woke up the morning of the 9th, we will just call this day, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong day. We had bought plane tickets to fly out of Brussles and into VEnice, Italy for the 9th. Our plane left at 10:30 and we had to take an hour train ride to the airport. WE missed the train we should have taken by about 30 seconds, we ran up the steps just in time to watch it pull off. The next one didn come for another 30 min. We got on the next train at 8:35 am and in the next 30 minutes had only moved 5 miles. Of course something was delayed, which never happens here. We didn´t get off that train until 10:00 and still had a 15 minute bus ride to the airport. We pulled into the parking lot far away from the gate and didnt think we were supposed to get off there until a bunch of foreingers turned around and yelled, go, go this is your stop. The next scene was 4 Americans waddling as fast as possible accross a parking lot in Belgium with 30lb packs on their backs. We made it to the counter at 10:20 just in time to check in. I have never been more stressed out in my life. IT was just like a bad Chevy Chase movie.
In spite of all of that we got to Venice and it was beautiful. An entire city with no roads and cars it invites guests to walk the streets or take a canal ride. It really was a magical city.
And now of course we are in Slovenia. Suprisingly enough this is a beautiful place with tons of snow on the ground. We will train in the morning from here to Zagreb, Croatia. 5 countries in 5 days. This is the most bizarre experience ever, but loads of fun. We are all perpetually tired, hungry and cold, but amazingly satisfied. This is ´life´ in a much different form than I am use to experiencing. We have no idea what will happen next or even where we will be. But at every corner we turn we found beauty we never dreamed existed.

The good life...

I woke up this morning after an amazing sleep and i started a chapter in a book one of my great friends gave me called "Jesus in the Margins." the author was talking about a trip his family took to a beautiful beach in California. i believe that it was God whispering to me in my ear as if to comment on my previous blog;

"It was in paradise that an unsettling thought scurried through my mind: Do I really need Jesus.? When we step back and recognize that we have defined the "good life" as something we can obtain by ourselves for ourselves, we begin to see the absurdity of redemption. Jesus came to redeem us from something we don't think is a problem. Why should he die on the cross for me? I'm living the good life. And so the question becomes so what?" - Rick McKinley

God was tapping me on the shoulder and asking me to look around me and redefine "the good life" and redefine comfort and redefine my life as if my relationship with him wasn't as real as i thought it was once all my comfort or all of America was stripped away from me.

Control and Comfort

So far more than this trip has taught me about God, it has taught me about myself. It is as if a mirror is being held up in front of my face and its soul purpose is to magnify my weaknesses and imperfections. You learn a lot about yourself when you are far away from home and all that you know and all that seems to know you. I realize more than ever that I like comfort, but even more than that I like to be able to control my level of comfort.
Last night I slept in a small room with 24 beds, each containing a person I have never met, from a country I have never been to, speaking a language I don't understand. One lady in particular from somewhere in Asia has a dreadful snoring problem. I slept very little. I was as dirty as I have ever been, not having showered for a few days and I found those things feeding frustration. I wanted comfort. Frustration becomes a huge weakness when it comes upon me because I see little else, especially the needs around me because frustration is all about me. Yesterday I read this and it came back to mind today:
"When Jesus sent the 12 to preach he said, 'Take nothing for the journey-no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave town. So they set out preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere." Luke 9:3-5
I pray that being stripped of clothes and food and money and traveling around with minimal comfort in an unusual place will change me. I pray that God will use this to show me who he is and I will see him more clearly when I am not blinded by all my comfort and when life is completely out of my control. May his Kingdom come!

Change of Plans

For those of you who are reading this as a mosaic update we are rerouting our trip. Our original plan was too expensive so we will be leaving tomorrow morning (Sun.) from Amsterdam to train down to Brussels, Belgium. We will fly out from there Monday morning and into Venice, Italy!! From Venice we will work our way down through Slovenia and to the Croatian and Bosnian coast and then begin heading North. Who knows where we will end up, but not knowing makes this trip all that more exciting! We're crazy...anything could happen.

Wide awake, freezing cold and the Red light district

We are here. We arrived in Amsterdam at 7:50 am there time, 1:50 am our time. We have been awake for over 24 hours and are exhausted, but we are alive and well. First Class was all it was cracked up to be. We were served like kings and queens all through the night. I will admit it was tough to leave the plane when we taxied in. It is FREEZING! As David likes to say, "We are freezing our Badonkerdonks off." This is definitely not the touristy time of year.
What we have seen so far is a mixture of beauty and depravity, or as we like to call it "the world." Our hostel is right beside the famous Red Light district. This is an area of legal drugs and prostitution. On the main roads you see beauty all around, river canals and huge architecture. You find yourselves walking down a side street and have to train your eyes not to window shop because if you don´t you will find yourself gazing at a naked woman waiting in a window for someone to buy her, someone looking for love in a very wrong place. It is sad, very sad.
Much more will come. Chaio for now!

First Class

Its the 4 small words that every traveler dreads hearing, the ones that strike fear into the heart of a person who has spent time planning a big trip, the ones we heard when we arrived at the airport at 10:00 AM this morning: "Your flight is cancelled." Yes that is right our flight was cancelled. We were scheduled to leave from the ATL at 11:30 am, fly to New York Laguardia, where we would then change airports to JFK and fly into Amsterdam arriving at 7:40 am their time. At the check in desk we were informed that our flight from New York had been cancelled due to techinical difficulties. This is something that you never want to hear, an airplane having technical difficulties..I mean what if they wouldn't have found them? What if there are more later in the sky when they can't do anything about it?
However, this potentially scary phrase, "Your flight is cancelled" turned into an even bigger blessing. The airport booked us on a direct flight from ATL to Amsterdam leaving at 5:40 pm. As if this wasn't good enough (saving us a trip between airports in New York and the cab fare that would have cost my left kidney) the lady said the phrase that had 4 college students jumping up and down with 30 lb packs on our backs, "We'll bump you to FIRST CLASS!!!" WOO HOO!! So, we have been spending the last 4 hours in the airport and we have 3 more to go. So if you think about us while you're sleeping, we will be high in the sky, in big comfy chairs, sipping free alcohol (just kidding about that one), living it up for 10 hours on Delta First Class. Who knew a cancelled flight could be an amazing blessing?
Thank you for flying Delta!!!

The Adventure Begins

Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Sweeden, Krakow, Warsaw, Zilina, Budapest, Bosnia, Croatia, Solvenia, Italy, Vienna, Prague, Germany and who knows where else.
Tomorrow is the begining of an amazing adventure. 3 guys, 1 girl, 13 countries, 1 month. This is an opportunity that few afforded the chance of having and yet it is happening to me or rather I am making it happen. I fly out on January 4th from Atlanta to Amsterdam to backpack through Eastern Europe with 3 of the most amazing guys ever. Daniel Park, David Baker and Michael Johnson have a vision to start a youth hostel as a ministry in Eastern Europe and this is the first giant step in that direction. I have no idea what to expect, but that is part of the beauty of this. I pray that this will be a learning experience of a lifetime. I pray we will see God in ways we have never seen him before. That the beauty of traveling over creation yet seen, the experience of meeting people of all cultures, the freedom of owning only the stuff on your back and the peace of breathing in life all around us would change us.
"It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out. I want to repeat one word for you: LEAVE. It is a beautiful word isn't it? So, strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."
-Donald Miller

A New Year with Old Friends

There are 94 entries in Webster's online dictionary for the the word "new," including the one we would use to describe the new year. "A beginning as the resumption or repetition of a previous act or thing, made or become fresh." Really the New Year is simply another day, an attempt to make something old look new or as the definition says, resuming an old activity in a fresh way. We give the word "year" its meaning, but in reality its just the day after December 30th, another day where the sun will rise and set, and yet we celebrate this as a special holiday. We celebrate it as a chance for us to start fresh or start over (New Years resolutions). Maybe we need to believe that this year will be better than the last, or that this year we will be better than we were last year, all with the hope of progress in mind because that is what this repetitious rat race is about right, progress?
And yet in that we find ourselves celebrating this "new day" with old friends. We surround ourselves with the familiar and the comfortable and in that find our compromise or middle ground. For me it was a wonderful New Year, a chance to spend time with all of my old friends (friends that I have known since my freshman year of college, 4 and 1/2 years ago) and hear about their new lives. It was a chance to have one last big taste of the familiar before I head off in to the vast unfamiliar, the new chapter of my life. The time I spent with them was refreshing, as if I was seeing them for the first time.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the OLD had gone, the NEW has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Humility

I am currently suffering from the consequence of a lifetime full of success...PRIDE!