Sunday, May 29, 2005
Please, someone, notice me...
This is my sin. I've known it for awhile, but it became very apparent the other day. I'm not going to state the incident, because then it would fulfill my desire to be recognized (and maybe even writing this is do the same...) but a few days ago I was performing a task that no one knew I was doing. An overwhelming desire to be praised for what I was doing swept over me. The funny thing is that it wasn't even anything big or important. It was a small task and yet, I found myself yearning to be noticed. I couldn't get over it. For probably ten minutes I was fighting this inner battle of desiring to be known and knowing that it would be unfulfilling. I don't really know why I want to be noticed, why I desire praise, but I do. It is terrible. My prayer is that God would begin to refine that area of my life. I pray that He would purge the glory-seeking part of me and turn it to glory-seeking for Him. This is so difficult to give up. I want to be noticed. This is my sin.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
My First Czech Sunday...
The aroma of raspberry tea wafted through the air and the aroma of praise wafted to the heavens as twenty of us sat in a room on the third floor of a building in Karvina, a city just outside of Český Těšín. It was wonderful to sit with these brothers and sisters and listen to the sound of this foreign tongue float through the air. It is remarkable that our God understands every language. I don't think I realized how big our God was until I first heard someone praying in a foreign tongue. It really expands ones view of the vastness of God when we realize that He hears us in all languages. As Americans, we are so Anglo-Centric that we forget that God is a God of the world, not just of the US or English-speaking countries. We serve a BIG God!!
Church was good. We went to a church plant this morning that was planted by the church in Český Těšín. There were only twenty people, but it was sweet. There were four kids there who had all been saved recently from the Jehovah Witness background. There was a gypsy man who was there. (The gypsies are the lepers of the Czech culture and many Eastern European countries. The majority make their living by thievery and the are just not liked by the people). The pastor asked me to share this morning (very typical of the Czechs to ask an American to share during a church service). Fortunately God had really impressed something upon my heart during my time in the Word this morning and so I had something fresh in my heart! The entire time was wonderful and I was very encouraged to be with them.
It is crazy to think that this is my new church family. While my family back in the states is still very involved in my life and ministry, these are the people that I will be walking with daily once I am living in Český Těšín on a regular basis. I am excited and nervous to get to know them...my Czech is going to have to get better much more quickly, though, for me to really invest and be invested into by my new family.
Church was good. We went to a church plant this morning that was planted by the church in Český Těšín. There were only twenty people, but it was sweet. There were four kids there who had all been saved recently from the Jehovah Witness background. There was a gypsy man who was there. (The gypsies are the lepers of the Czech culture and many Eastern European countries. The majority make their living by thievery and the are just not liked by the people). The pastor asked me to share this morning (very typical of the Czechs to ask an American to share during a church service). Fortunately God had really impressed something upon my heart during my time in the Word this morning and so I had something fresh in my heart! The entire time was wonderful and I was very encouraged to be with them.
It is crazy to think that this is my new church family. While my family back in the states is still very involved in my life and ministry, these are the people that I will be walking with daily once I am living in Český Těšín on a regular basis. I am excited and nervous to get to know them...my Czech is going to have to get better much more quickly, though, for me to really invest and be invested into by my new family.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
"You are way out of your league."
That is the quote that every guy wants to hear. Every guy wants to be married to a woman who his friends consider to be way too hot for him. Or way better than him. Well, I think that is happening to me!
Love is weird. You never know when it is going to hit you like a baseball bat to the face. It never happens at opportune times and it always changes the course of your life.
Over the past couple of weeks I've fallen in love. It's crazy, but true. I went up to Colorado Springs for training and for a reprieve. I wanted to draw closer to the Lord (which happened) and I wanted to spend some time alone (which happened), but I didn't expect Marisa to happen to me.
This girl is beyond what I could have ever wanted. People always say that you'll know when you meet the person you are going to marry and I guess I believed them, but I have now experienced it. I have also looked with skepticism at those people who meet someone and after a couple of weeks are talking about marriage, but now I am one of them. It is also interesting that after my previous blog about marriage I would meet someone so quickly. God often has funny timing.
Marisa is going to be in Kenya for two years, while I am in the Czech. We have no clue what to expect from this, but we are just trying to trust in the Lord and seek his guidance in how to proceed. What I do know is that God has exceeded my expectations with her. She loves God so much, she loves kids, is passionate, funny, beautiful, dynamic, intuitive, and challenges me to be a better. more Godly man.
I'll quit there, because I don't want this to be too mushy and lovey and crap, but I did want to express what is going on in my heart.
Love is weird. You never know when it is going to hit you like a baseball bat to the face. It never happens at opportune times and it always changes the course of your life.
Over the past couple of weeks I've fallen in love. It's crazy, but true. I went up to Colorado Springs for training and for a reprieve. I wanted to draw closer to the Lord (which happened) and I wanted to spend some time alone (which happened), but I didn't expect Marisa to happen to me.
This girl is beyond what I could have ever wanted. People always say that you'll know when you meet the person you are going to marry and I guess I believed them, but I have now experienced it. I have also looked with skepticism at those people who meet someone and after a couple of weeks are talking about marriage, but now I am one of them. It is also interesting that after my previous blog about marriage I would meet someone so quickly. God often has funny timing.
Marisa is going to be in Kenya for two years, while I am in the Czech. We have no clue what to expect from this, but we are just trying to trust in the Lord and seek his guidance in how to proceed. What I do know is that God has exceeded my expectations with her. She loves God so much, she loves kids, is passionate, funny, beautiful, dynamic, intuitive, and challenges me to be a better. more Godly man.
I'll quit there, because I don't want this to be too mushy and lovey and crap, but I did want to express what is going on in my heart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
