this weekend would have been perfectly delightful if i hadnt had to spend so much time working on my dang papers. but i'm almost done and it will all be over tomorrow so right now i'm just taking comfort in that fact.
ive been having a hard time trusting God with the whole fundraising thing recently. and that is such an essential part of all of it. but i just feel really anxious. i was hoping to move in about two months and now my thoughts are what if idont get the support i need. i know its stupid but thats just how ive felt. i feel awkward asking people to give me money and i'm really ready to be done. but i'm still so confident that its where God has called me so i know He will provide, and while its hard to believe that and feel that today but in the depths of who i am i know it to be true.
i would like to leave on a more light hearted note so i will tell you about subbing last friday. so i was subbing this 7th grade science class and it was about five minutes before the bell rang. the kids were supposed to be working on a worksheet but they were more just hanging out.i'm just watching them and i see this boy calling a kid across the room something really inappropriate in sign language. he repeats it a few times and then catches my eye, he does it again thinking i have no idea what he's saying. so i just sign to him "i know sign." he freaked out. it was awesome, the whole class was giving him a hard time about it as the bell rang.

i had a dream last night that i had moved to germany and was meeting the kids for the first time, it was weird but kind of exciting. today i found out that disney movies are translated into a ton of languages and that you can watch the songs on youtube. i'll leave you with a classic

ive learned a couple of valuable lessons since my last post and i decided i would share them with you all...

1st-apple pie tastes way better when its homemade

2nd-two wheats and three ores equals a city

3rd-easy mac should never be made using more than one packet, its gross.

and lastly, i'm writing a paper and as i was rereading through my notes from the class i came across this really great quote from one of the lectures so i'll leave you with it as my closing note

“God will give you enough encouragement to keep you in ministry but will also give you enough disappointment to remind you whose ministry it is”

zebra and i

so last night sarah, deej, justin and i went to see rocky votolato. it was amazing. i think everyone should like him.
i still havent gotten the pictures from my trip up on shutterfly, i guess i'm kind of a slacker. however, i wanted to post the pictures of me and zebra (i think i talk about this in my first blog). one is of us in heidelberg, germany (the one with the city in the background) and the other is in liptovsky mikulas, slovakia (the one with the mountains in the background).

thoughts on my trip

so much to say. first of all, God is good. i feel like that alone could summarize up my trip but perhaps i will give you a few more details.
ok, so i left germany and traveled through austria to slovakia, 16ish hours in a van, but i guess it wasnt that bad.
the next morning was easter, we went to a slovak church, it was really long but made me excited for heaven, just the idea of everyone worshiping God together.
after that i had some down time so i spent time reading and praying, but my heart and thoughts were so anxious, and excited...and nervous.
i remember when the buses came, with every bus that pulled in my heart would begin to race. i was nervous to meet the girls that i would spend the rest of the week with, nervous that we would not connect or that my lack of military experience would make me an inadequate leader. when it was time to meet the girls i remember praying 'Lord give me grace'.
i met the girls and the rest of the week was kind of a blur. the girls i was with gave me a really great picture of what life is like growing up military, they talked a lot about how they have a hard time connecting with friends and maintaining friendships when they are constantly moving. it was really awesome to see God at work in the lives of these girls. when they got there our first couple cabin time conversations consisted mostly of them longing for something better on the trip, like they were disappointed by their experience on the trip up to that point. i remember feeling so inadequate, like i wasnt doing a good job. God used that to push me to the place of complete humility before Him. surrendering all that i thought i was and relying on Him completely. it wasnt about me anymore it was totally about Him. when i got out of the way and just let the trip be about God he started doing amazing things. i had great conversations with the girls, things like is Jesus really the only way? and what about evolution? is it ok to doubt? is it worth it to let people into your heart? what does God say about sex and dating? those kind of things. it was good. i could see the Lord really at work in the lives of those girls. when it was time to say good bye there were lots of tears. the girls were sad to leave, not because of me but because of what God had done in slovakia. i cried harder than ive cried in a while, sad to see them go because of the way the Lord really used them in teaching me to give my life away for Him. it was a good trip. aside from being with girls and building a playground i made some really great friends who will be there doing my same job in other parts of europe, it was fun to be able to connect with staff and to feel like i will now have some friends when i move there. i also was able to meet the community directors of the cities i could possibly end up in. they were all great. i think the coolest thing the Lord did while i was there was just really confirm that that is where He has me and i'm so excited to go and walk in that.

i'll leave you with a video from my trip, hopefuly it works. i recorded it on my camera. the girl in it is stephanie, she was one of the girls in my cabin. and for those of you that would like to see more pictures from the trip i should have them up on shutterfly soon.

and tomorrow is slovakia...

ok, so after i wrote that last entry i had to take an anti-terrorism test. i passed. even got a little certificate from the military. i know, i'm kind of a big deal. got to go on to a military high school campus, that was cool, it was good just to see that the kids were normal high school kids. it was something that i arleady knew but it was good just to see it.
today i got to be a tourist, went and saw the castle and walked around downtown. it was good.
i think the weirdest thing since i've been here is how comfortable i've felt within the german culture, almost more so than on base. other than the whole language thing ive really enjoyed just being in the actual germany part of germany. its weird but most people here do not speak german if they live on base, but i guess life just got too crazy for them to have time to learn. kind of sad. i want to know the language and have german friends, i guess that means that i'll have to learn it before i get here.
tomorrow i leave for slovakia. i was originally supposed to be a leader for heidelberg but now i'm going to be with verchensia (i spelled that so incredibly wrong) they are a group from italy. and they may have an opening so i guess i could be there (or in the uk, or in heidelberg or in some other german base). please be praying for kids that i'm with and just for a smooth trip. thanks.

here and tired

i got here safely. didnt sleep a lot on the plane so i'm feeling pretty tired. because ive been on base germany feels a lot like america, just less to do. i'm hoping someone will take me off base soon so i can check out more of the german culture. i think most of my time before slovakia will be spent helping staff get ready for slovakia, which is fine. i can explore more when i move here. goodness i'm so tired. but they are trying to keep me up till nine, and its four fifteen.
thats all for now.

oh and kind of a funny closing note, everything on the computer is in german except for what i'm typing so i have to just click random buttons in hopes that it will take me where i need to go. kind of funny.

heading to germany

i leave today. kind of excited, kind of nervous. excited to meet people, see what life on base is like, and serve. nervous about the technical parts, like my stuff getting stolen or lost, not being able to find the girl picking me up, those kind of things.
please be praying for me, thanks.

packing and such

today has mostly been about packing. generally i hate packing. it ruins my day. but for some strange reason it just hasnt been a big deal. maybe because i'm doing it so slowly, or i havent gotten to the stressful time crunch part yet.

but anyway, since today isnt that exciting i decided to share a couple of pics from april fools (tims fridge) and a pic from a while ago that inspired it (cathys fridge), both were decorated by tony and myself with some help from jason farrar on cathys.
and lastly heres a fun video, i'm sure most of you have seen it but its still pretty great. enjoy!