Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The adventure of being lost

So sorry for the language, but its how I feel. If you are confused look back at my last blog, that might help.
I know there have been lots of questions. I will try help a little here. David is doing better for and update on him check out their blog http://thegorans.wordpress.com/. We have continued with church every Sunday and Pilgrims on Thursday and we have been meeting at the Gorans apartment. We have been working on finding a space to rent while the legal things are happening with our old space and we continue to look towards opening our new space.

So the topic of this post. I love a great adventure. I love being lost. I try to get lost as often as possible. When I first arrived here I took a map with me strolled thru the streets till I felt like I couldn't find my way back, found a few cool interesting places then looked at the map to find my way back. When I hike I usually try to stay on the trail and keep to the map, but usually it is still new territory and even though I am not completely lost I still don't really know where I am. And more than anything I love going on a road trip and knowing my final destination but not how I am getting there. I usually try and use my GPS but as many know sometimes they can get you more lost than driving blindfolded.

So now that you know how I feel about being lost let me tell you about my feelings in the after math of everything that has happened here. We have been doing group meetings as a church leadership to talk about how we are feeling, how we are handling things, and what we think. These meetings are open to every one who wants to come and just talk. I was asked last Friday how I was feeling. My only answer is lost. I have felt lost since the accident. Normal for me here has been with my roommate. He was one of the first people I met, he has brought food from home, paid the bills, helped me find things around the city and get things done, he has talked with me when I am angry, frustrated, tired, upset, happy. He has been a great friend. Without him I have been lost. Without him there has not been anything NORMAL for me here. And when I talk about lost right now its has not been that adventure that I have longed and described last paragraph. Confused, Sad, Angry, Empty, Guilty. That is the lost I have felt.

But I have some wonderful people in my life. I have a great community here and wonderful friends. I have a great girlfriend always ready to listen and a wonderful family full of advice and always praying at home. I have great supporters who I know are always thinking about me.
But it has been today, through my parents and my girlfriend, that I have realized I am LOST. The 3 greatest words. I mourn greatly the lose of my friend. But I know he is in heaven.
The picture that started this post is something Rachel posted to me. I think she posted it just knowing our common sense of adventure. But when I put that with something my parents reminded me of, a post of my own "Its all in perspective" posted back in February.
There are lots of things that happen to us in life and it is up to us if we are going to let those things have a positive impact on us or a negative one. All we have to do is change the perspective that we have. Even if we are in a bad situation we cannot change right away we still have the power to look at it in a new light!
I miss my friend. I am lost. Spiritually I am lost, Emotionally I am lost. Until today I have not understood it. Today I still don't understand it but I see it in a new light, a light that this is one of life's many adventures. No matter how much you enjoy being lost there is always that first sense of dread when you realize it. After that you are able to start trying to figure things out. It is a chance for me to learn something new about myself, about my community, about God. Though I do not know where I am or even my final destination I know that I am Lost and that God is going to be my map and  I will learn, I will grow.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Its all in perspective.

Hello My Readers. Have you missed me? I am sorry it has been so long. I was going to try and do a full newsletter but I couldn't figure it out. I will work on it for next quarter!


So I want to take this time at the start and just say that I want to become more specific what I post here and I have started a new site on google+ with pictures and I plan on putting weekly updates up there (maybe more often we shall see) https://plus.google.com/101792043542777216030 Just copy and past this link. I have been busy with uploading pictures today so enjoy :)


Okay so my thoughts recently have been on perspective.
On Friday my landlord was suppose to come by to pick up rent but something came up so he was not able to and I did not go get the money for it. This has happened before and is no big deal usually he comes Wednesday the next week or gives us a day notice. Monday as I woke up later in the day since it was my day off I forgot about my Ukrainian lesson, then got a call from my roommate that the landlord wanted to come get rent. That mean my day off in which I was going to stay warm and inside was now going to have an adventure across town in the cold to an ATM. Like most people I have my favorite ATM and when I got there freezing cold it was broke :( I tried several more until I found one that worked. I was so cold after hunting down this ATM that all I wanted to do was get home and have some coffee. As I shivered my way home I fell right in the middle of the road, hard. It hurt and it made me mad. I rushed home just wanting some coffee. I got in and we were all out of coffee. It was not a good start to the day. The rest of the day was fine though so it wasn't horrible all day long. I called my roommate and he brought me some coffee I just had to be patient. 


On Tuesday I had a change of perspective on the whole situation. 
I spend lots of time walking. It is a 15min walk to the student center from my house. I spend this time often praying and reflecting. On Tuesday I was thinking of something I had read that many of you might have read about someone questioning God about their bad day. I began to think back on my day. 1) I had a nice warm bed to sleep in and even got a chance to sleep in, hundreds of people have died this month because they had to sleep in the cold. 2) When I feel there was an old lady about to cross the opposite way, she saw me fall and knew it was slick, I am young and the pain passed faster than the embarrassment, she could have ended up in the hospital if it was her. 3) I have 2 student roommates, and its no different here sometimes students procrastinate and have to stay up all night, and both of my roommates have early classes, so I am glad we have coffee so they can stay awake when they need to and wake up for classes in the morning.


There are lots of things that happen to us in life and it is up to us if we are going to let those things have a positive impact on us or a negative one. All we have to do is change the perspective that we have. Even if we are in a bad situation we cannot change right away we still have the power to look at it in a new light! (its cold here but it makes me appreciate the summer so much more)