My Perception of Vacation has been Skewed

       Most of you know, I'm currently in Hawaii!  Its beautiful here.  But I'm not having the 'vacation' most people would want to while being here.  You see God has been very clearly telling me that I should take advantage of the fact that I have a week alone without any real responsibilities.  Its really been awesome, I've been able to talk to a good amount of my fellow YWAM friends who wished they would have done something before going home.  Re-entry can be a difficult process and I am fortunate enough to be able to take it slow.  I've filled my week with some pretty simple things, local coffee shops, Phone calls to home, lots of time in the bible, Snorkeling, and visiting Pearl Harbor.  Its been awesome.  The good thing about being an introvert is that I can very easily enjoy myself doing just about anything.  That being said, I'm getting ready to go to dinner with some of my 'roommates' from the Hostel here.
      I've told a few people about how I'm reading through the bible currently, and I stumbled upon a beautiful story.  Its in 1st Kings 19.  This is where The Lord speaks to Elijah.  Elijah is kinda just chillin on a hill waiting for the Lord to speak and many things happen,  First there is a huge wind storm, but The Lord was not in the wind.  Then there was a Earthquake, and The Lord was not in the Earthquake.  Then there was a fire storm of some sort, but The Lord was not in the fire.  After the Fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper, and this was the Lord's voice.
          So many times we, I, look for the Lord in huge things and huge ways, he is there I'm sure, but the way that he speaks to us on a personal level is often in something as small as a Whisper.  We have to take the time to settle down, slow down, and listen.  Its not easy with so many distractions in life, but this is where we can hear that small whisper. This is what I'm going for, and what I will be pursuing more of over the next couple of weeks.  I'm really trying to hear from the Lord what my next move is going to be, currently though, I'm leaning toward Seminary and getting a masters degree.  That could be MDiv or Youth Ministry, I'm not sure and haven't gotten that far, but as far as what's next, as every day passes, I think more and more about Seminary.
   

       So!  I leave for California tomorrow at 5AM.  I'll be with my bro Ronnie there, he's from YWAM. Then officially coming to Colorado September 5th, about 1AM I believe.  I'll be pretty busy for a little while though, I'm jumping right into a wedding that I'll be the best man for on the 21st.  With that comes some responsibilities that I haven't been able to attend to.  I would absolutely love to meet with every single one of you who have followed me on my journey.  Thank you for keeping up and caring.  I will continue with this blog... well, maybe forever!


Chained to him,
Jeremy



USS Arizona. 

Snorkeled with some sea turtles here. Habana Bay 

If you're going to read your bible in hawaii, why not do it in the most beautiful location? 

When Life speeds up, I slow down

     A lot has happened in the last two weeks.  Well first off, you should know that I'm sitting in a corner store in the middle of Sydney.  That should give you some perspective as to where I have been.   I graduated DTS and that was a beautiful moment.  But with that high time of fun and memories made, came the sad fact that we, as a group, had to part ways.  Saying bye isn't easy, and there is no easy way of doing it.  Some of my closer friends cried the second I gave them a hug, where some were more simple with a "I'll see you soon, bro" and a high five.  I will admit (for the first time) I cried a few times over those last days together.  Its crazy that we can get so close in a short period, but then break off going to different parts of the world.  Some friends will lose contact, some will talk to on a shallow level, but I can only hope most of them will stay close as the years go bye.  They have all earned a special place in my heart.

    That being said! I got to spend a week with a great group of people camping in a van!  We just sat on the beach all day and camped in the woods.  We rented this van from a site called WickedCampers for $10 a day.  Super cheap!  But, As you might be able to see in pictures, I had to sensor some of the words on the van, they like to paint their vans in weird ways.  But sitting around a fire playing worship and talking Jesus is something that I constantly look forward to in life, and we did it for 5 days!  I came to answer one of the questions I asked before, one that my school leader asked us before DTS ended... what is my response to "How was your Holiday/Vacation?"        
         Most of the students said they would be slightly offended by this, but why?  To be perfectly honest, the past 6 months was a bit of a Holiday.  Yes, it was hard and I had to work hard and go to school and do homework.  But that's just it, it was a specific Holiday to seek after Jesus.  Much like when people take trips to go do something like, climb a mountain, or surf in Haiti, or skydive in New Zealand.  Those things take work and months of training and preparation.    I had a specific purpose on this trip, to find true, deep, and lasting intimacy with Jesus Christ, and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ in everything I say and do, no matter if its awkward or hard.  It took work and preparation in ways I didn't think it would, but it was the most amazing Holiday anyone could ever have.  Its a joy that is lasting and not temporary like riding a roller coaster.    And now I have to go back to daily life and daily struggles and daily temptations... Bring it on!
      So simply put, when people ask "How was your vacation?" I'll say, it was life changing.  The only things worth living for take work. Amen.

    Now to Sydney, Beautiful.  Feels a lot like Denver.  Sunny and everyone is really nice.  I will say a few small comments.  First, thank the good Lord that the drinking age in the U.S. is 21.  Here its 18 and staying in a hostel, I had the opportunity to see what 18 year old do with just that little bit of freedom.  It was awesome talking to them and I got to ask quite a few why they were here or what they were doing, come to find out they are all searching for something, weather its adventure, or pleasure, or running from parents, or just 'trying to have fun.' We know the truth is, that gap will never be satisfied unless they meet the Creator.  I only hope I was a small light in a dark world.  If you ever get to backpack through the world, just know how much of a light you can be to other travelers.

I sat here for about an hour today and read through 2nd Samuel. In chapter 14 there is a girl who is convincing King David to being his son back. Verse 14 then talks about how precious life is: 

"All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to being us back when we have been separated from him."

God is constantly calling us back to him. Live life to the fullest, constantly perusing Christ as he is searching for you. 

Where do I even start?

          So many times I sit back and think about being here, currently Brisbane, Australia. About being in this community and place with these people at this time in my life with these leaders and struggling with these issues (whatever they may be that day).  I tend to be more on the side that its all God's doing and timing, that where I am in life didn't just happen by chance, but like God is in full control of my everything, so he set up my every action before I was ever around.  And its amazing to know that he has my back in everything I do, this is something that we, as Christ followers, have to do constantly.  Remind ourselves that no matter what happens or where we are, God has us in his hands.

     I've been back on the YWAM base for a week now, and its been amazing.  It has been a lot more relaxed of a week then I've had over the past 6 months, mostly just finishing odds and ends in paper work and homework and meetings with the school leader.  This gives us a good amount of free time, which I tend to be intentional with my free time knowing that most of the friends I've made here, I may never see again.  We knew it from the beginning, but its weird to come down to that point.  I mean, I've shared life altering moments with these people, I've talked with them for countless hours sharing the most deep and intimate thoughts to each other.  I know that this is a process, but it does make me sad.  I hope for the best for my friends here.  I hope that one day we can do some kind of ministry together or run into each other once again.

     How can I even sum up the last 6 months? How am I going to answer the questions when I get home?  "How was Australia?" "What was the best part?" "What was the hardest part?" "What's next?" I think I'll come up with some easy answer, the one most people are looking for, the 5 second answer that I can give in passing conversation.  Honestly, these questions are not simple answers, and they will really only come out in time.  While sitting at coffee, or over dinner, or smoking a tabacco pipe, or whatever it might be. 

     As I sit here in this wonderful little coffee shop just down from the base called the Taverner, I'm realizing just how much I love this place.  I'm really going to miss it.  Its a wonderful life here, and sure there has been some hardships, but I really do love it here in Australia as well as YWAM.  From the beginning I figured that once I got to the last week, I would be at a point where I couldn't wait till I got home, that's why I originally booked my flight for the day after.  I'm a home body, and many days went by where I just thought about being home, and wanted to be there more then anything else.  Coming down to it though, I don't want to leave.  I love it here.  It's at the moment of when things come to an end that you realize just how wonderful they are.  I think that's what I'm going to go through this week, I'm going to miss the annoying people in the morning who want to talk when I just woke up, I'm going to miss the people at midnight who beg me to stay awake and hang out with them, I'm going to miss having to push myself in every new direction.  

I don't even know how to end this blog, It's going to take me some time to process.  More soon.

J

Dish crew.  Some of my best evenings were spent here. 

Men of DTS 

Beautiful Brisbane. I've posted this a few times, but it gets better and better every time I see it. 

Times like these never last, but I tipped over the hourglass

        My last week in India and entry back into Brisbane.

        We went down the mountain into a town called Siliguri.  We stayed at a bible college where they have a 2 year bachelor degree.  Its funny because we thought we'd go there to teach things on the bible, that's kind of what they implied.  Come to it, we did open airs for the first couple of days.  Which means, we would go into a common area, like a market place or a park, start to play music, dance around, then preach the gospel.  We weren't able to do this before as it can really cause a commotion and be a legal problem for us, we ended up doing 5 in 2 days.  Anyway, I loved it.  How cool that all these people come to just hear what we have to say.  I was elected by the team to give the gospel, which made me nervous, this is probably the first time any of these people have heard the good news of Jesus, and might be the last... no pressure.  The Lord guided my words and we saw some amazing seed's come, people raising their hands wanting to accept Jesus as Lord. God is Good.
     The rest of the time in Siliguri was amazing, we got to hang out with the students, play volleyball, and play worship on the rooftop, heck I even sat in on a theology class, they were talking about cults and I spoke a little bit on Mormonism, as its not so popular in India they didn't know much about it.  We taught the students about children's ministry and showed them how to do a skit that we do everywhere we go.  They took care of us, hanging on our every need and want,  they just wanted to show us love, and boy did they ever!  Thank you Bible college, you guys were awesome and we'll truly miss you.
 
     After this, we traveled.  11 hour train ride to Kolkutta, stayed there for a night, then 4 hour plane to Singapore and another 8 hour plane to Brisbane, Australia, which is where I write this now.
   Its quite an experience coming back into this side of the world.  It actually reminded me of going to India.  You know, we thought we were prepared, we read books and talked to people who had been there, looked at pictures and even watched movies, but going there is a whole different story.  Living life there is to truly jump into the culture, its something you can try to prepare for as much as you want, but until you've done it, you'll never understand.  Probably like parenting!   Well coming back to Australia is the same kind of idea.  Its really quite hard to put back into words.  The common view is that is easy to see just how much we waste here, and that is true, but I'm seeing just how nice it is here.  There isn't trash everywhere, I can drink the water safely, there's toilets with TP, and it feels like theres so much room everywhere.   I truly loved India, and loved the people, I'll miss it, but I am glad to be back in Australia.  Coming back to friends here that I had become so close to in 4 months time, then leave each other for 2 months.  It makes me think further about coming back to Colorado, where home is, where I'll see friends I've known for years as well as Family.  What a beautiful moment that will be.
        India as a whole, what can I say?  I've only had a little time to think it over and talk to the other teams to swap stories, but I've already come to realize that India was where God wanted me to be.  I think I got to see the most change, and from that, we ourselves changed a lot, we had to in order to adopt the culture and in order to do effective ministry.  Already I get asked, 'well what was the hardest part' and I don't have a simple answer for what seems like a simple question.  It was just a different culture, a different way of life, honestly life is harder there.   Throw any middle class westerner there for over 2 weeks and its going to be a struggle.  Just as I was leaving though, I felt adjusted, and not adjusted as in its what I prefer, but as in I didn't realize the difference anymore or miss the American way of life.  Maybe that what makes coming back to Australia so difficult.  I'm starting to see what I missed, which was hard to see because I loved the Indian people and will always have friends there.  I will end with this statement that has been said many times before;  I am so blessed to have been born and raised in America.  And it takes leaving to realize just how much of a blessing that is.

More to come soon.

Chained to him,
J





I <3 Darj

Oh drum set, how I've missed you. 

Open air. Gospel. 

#VolleyballLife

Street outside the college. Cows everywhere!