thoughts

i have a lot of thoughts going through my head this morning. im not working because it is down pouring outside and there is a tornado warning for the area, albeit minor, still cause to not work. so i suppose i am forced to think this morning; despite my best efforts not to.

i got back from europe not two days ago and it is kind of difficult to unpack all the happened. if you prayed for me or our group, thank you. if you didnt, shame on you, haha. but in the grand scheme of it all, the Lord went to work. my good friend tyler is in a great band, and i have a recording of a song where the singer is talking about God's glory proving them wrong. I dont know who wrote it but i take it as this; we have our expectations and dreams and when we give them up to the Lord, his glory proves us wrong and we are amazed by what he does in our lives. God's glory proved me wrong on this trip.

I will tell you what amazed me the most. out of many events and thought processes, the prayer surprised me the most. we had a group of students who werent all "church kids." some grew up in the church, some didnt. some lived for jesus, some lived for themselves, etc. but when they got together they prayed, and prayed fervently. it struck me as odd, because usually students arent prayers, because it requires a faith that there is someone listening, and not only listening but also acting on behalf of their prayers. this is something i fight with often; does He listen? does He care? why does He listen to me? but these students prayed, and prayed with passion that the mountains might jump into the sea, a la Jesus. It showed me something, the youth of today have lived life in a way most generations before them haven't. They know hurt, struggle, pain, depression at a young age. So it seems to me that they, at age 18, know there is something more, know the emptiness that follows a selfish life is ultimately not what they desire, though they may desire it in moments of weakness. They have lived enough of life at such a young age that they are ready to place their faith in something more, something bigger, there has to be something bigger. And their is.

I think the students that went with us really saw this acted out. In John 17 Jesus prays that the believers would be as one so the world may know who sent him. We had like 10 Czech high school students come join us for a few days. none of whom were active believers in Jesus Christ. In fact, some of them openly atheist, as the Czech is mostly atheist. yet after 3 days they were singing worship songs with us and allowing us to pray for them as we prayed for each other... Why? because they saw something different in the openness of our students in sharing and praying for each other, something that they do not see in their culture. After centuries of oppression and manipulation they do not open up and be vulnerable like we as americans might. so they let us pray for them, and worshipped with us. none made a confession of faith, but they saw something they liked. it was amazing to see 18 year olds do this; i had never seen such unity and compassion among a group.

with that, a visit to a nazi death camp, good food, bad food, and beautiful lakes and mountains it was a great time. God was glorified, and i can say that with assurance.

at the top are some arsty-fartsy pictures i took im kind of proud of, thanks grandma and mom again for my camera, i love it! these are for you art. ha.