This here be a scribbly book of thoughts and snippets of the path that God has laid before me. What lies around the bend is beyond me. Yet I have faith that God will work it out for good and unto His glory! Onwards and Upwards! :)
I love summer nights. They give me this feeling of contentment and peace. It is as if a mountain lies ahead, but the summer evening says "Rest here with me in this meadow for the moment. Spend tonight here where the night is warm, the breeze cool, and the music glorious."
The Music surrounds us. He is singing over us!
Do you know that feeling when the house is dark, the family is asleep, but you are awake? Sometimes it is nice to exist in a house filled with content and deep sleeping people. Lamps are wonderful inventions.
This summer is going to be filled with adventures that I've never had before. Such beauty, such life, such joy, such is Jesus. To dance throughout life rather than trudge.
Are you trudging? Jesus is there to break the shackles, kick the guilt in the gut, inspire love, and to strengthen you to live freely :)
Well I guess I could have stayed ashore I didn't have to go But they say sometimes to find yourself You gotta let go
And the waters cold around me now So far below And I hear a voice beside me now Just try to let go
And I'm still here On the ocean floor But the world's not Moving anymore In the quiet Something has changed I can hear God Call my name
But before I go I wanna take One moment and rest And look back on all my days above And how I was blessed
And I wasn't all I could have been That I confess But I loved my God and family No regrets
And I'm just here On the ocean floor And I can't feel my Heartbeat anymore In the quiet Something has changed I can hear God Call my name
Days spent in His presence make for a life deeply drenched in Love. A life deeply drenched in love is the only kind of life worth living. Let's go swimming! :)
I am so weak. My limbs are trembling, my lungs filled with toxins which choke out Your breath. My heart is in cardiac arrest, and my mind is filled with faulty connections and short circuits.
It's time to jump into life, walk in to love, and run in to the light.
A taste of my study abroad from two semesters past. Alot has happened, maybe I should reflect?
As I sat down to write this blog post... I stared at my computer screen for long stretches of empty time just thinking and dwelling upon God. My next door neighbors would come and visit me every so often and we would talk for an hour or so and I would return to this blank screen when they would leave. Sometimes I realize that I just don't have the words!
They are trapped in a snippet of melody, a color in the clouds, a curve of a smile, the saltiness of a tear, the pounding of a faithful heart, the prayers of the earnest, and the wind of the Spirit.
The wind is blowing with conviction outside my window... my curtains stretch and flit every so often, and I can hear the rustling of leaves as branches meet distant relatives. It is a beautiful sound, and an inviting event to behold.
God is beyond our consciousness. He is beyond our understanding. His love is overwhelming. His truth is blinding. His light rips a whole in our dimly lit reality. Oh how blessed we are to catch a hold of His garments here in this life.
He is so gentle with us. Oh if we could see and understand His power, if we could have the slightest dash of faith to believe in His love.
A friend of mine once told me that "The Kingdom of God was advancing violently!"
It is with tears in my eyes that my heart cries out to God "I want to see! I want to see what Jimmy saw!" Oh God give me the eyes to behold your presence as it dances and wraps itself around those who seek your face, and those who thirst for your righteousness in this broken and hurting world.
I want to sit and listen to your voice. If I can heart, then my heart wouldn't wander for to be filled. I want that melody, that tune that you are humming over me to reside within this heart. I long for you to take your brush and paint the walls of this heart into something beautiful.
Oh give us the faith to behold your glory and love. Remind me that I am clay daily, and humble me. Drench me and soften me with your grace. Shape me with your firm hand and guide me with your light. I want to be able to walk humbly with you through this life, and it is only in complete surrender unto you that I may.
The kingdom of God is advancing violently as Jimmy told us. It is running like a mighty steed, burning in flight like a phoenix, sailing and skipping like a dolphin, and snatching and dashing rusty chains of bondage. It is awakening hearts, and bringing color back into this world of grey. My eyes haven't adjusted yet to these new colors...
We need His love more than the air we breath. Everything else is meaningless and chasing the wind.
Handong, the place of vision! Let me introduce you to my new family! :)
You should see what God has done in 16 years! I am so blessed and honored to be a part of this place and the team of beautiful people that God has placed me with. We learn, to serve. He is all we need!
Looking over Lake Cheon-Ma-Ji towards the city of Pohang! You can see the forest of apartment buildings there in the background. A 5 minute walk from my dorm :)
Looking back towards Handong, down the hill and through the woods!
Handong Canyon! We took a wonderful hike to the top and saw an owl perched in the cleft! :)
Looking over the canyon to the lake and Pohang beyond :)
A traditional tomb that we found in the woods :)
Rice fields :) I love these things... such a beautiful green!
Like I said... I really enjoy these rice fields. See the joy on my face, and the need for me to have a picture taken with the rice?
Practicing Korean culture and my new knack for modern art :)
On a bike ride to Chilpo beach! Looking back the valley to Handong.
On campus! A look across a field, that we're techincally not supposed to walk across but I try to atleast once a week to enjoy the grass, at our beautiful library!
A look at our cafeteria and lots of crazy asian kids playing b-ball :)
My three roomates (Teriyoung: Korea, Kami: Rwanda, Mil Ar: Korea) and I doing a Rwandan pose: AKA in the states as the standing in the rain after crawling through 500 yards of poo to escape Shawshank prison :) We took this picture on the beach during our Team's first adventure and party night!
The Lone Survivors of Jim-Jil-Bang! (Korean Public Bath House). My team and I all went swimming in the ocean at 1 AM and part of our team continued on to the most epic Korean experience ever! Salt shower time, Sauna, late night games and snacks, sleeping in little brick oven shaped coveys, and waking up to the most epic hot tub/cold shower experience ever! I am going to do this every weekend I believe... Yes I have decided!
Market Place downtown Pohang :)
Advertisements in an alley way. Yeah... Koreans are big into drama/singing.
International outing in the streets of Pohang! Photo shoot time... All in the spirit of being "more" Korean.
Looking through an old window... into another world!
God's spirit flows throughout the halls and around the buildings here :) I have come to a new understanding on how BIG and how Awesome God's family is!! It is truly amazing, and beautiful, and glorious all wrapped together in one!
This is truly the most international environment I have ever experienced. I am meeting people from Taiwan, China, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia, Netherlands, Nepal, Palestine, and this is only in my incoming class! Hopefully I will meet more soon! :D (I'm probably forgetting a few somewhere...)
He is so big! My heart is stretching everyday to learn and know More of Him!
Korea is beautiful! It has a big focus in industry and agriculture! I took the train from Seoul to Pohang and it was an epic trip! At one moment you would be rushing through a giant city filled with people and tall buildings, and the next you would be in the mountains surrounded by green houses, orchards and rice fields.
So many gardens!! The mountains of Korea are lush and green! And the trees here are absolutely incredible! They are so diverse and mixed! My dear friend Jimmy would have loved this place!
These people are hilarious. So funny! So kind, warm, congenial, and friendly! I am learning Korean from so many people and enjoying every second of it!
Kimchi is good! It is spicy, and I have to be careful how much I take! But I like it :) It seasons my meal just right! Every meal I get to try something new, and my chopstick skills are increasing! It is an adventure every mealtime :D
The other day I was sitting in Twelve Baskets eating my Korean meal, and there was a sextet practicing their classical music. It was so beautiful to simply sit and eat and listen to the deep cello, the soft flute, piano, violins and clarinet! I am so moved by these people and this place.
Today we took the Honor Code Pledge. The President of Handong gave a speech and the first and last words out of his mouth were "I love you!". (He was part of the reason why I came!)
These people truly believe in God, and they aren't afraid to let God mold them into the leaders that this world needs. It is inspiring, it is moving, and it is challenging! I feel this calling to be more for God. To truly live life to the fullest! To live in Integrity and Honesty in all that I do!
Today at the Honor Code Pledge. President Kim said something that really struck me, other than him loving me so much :p. He said "We have to be the history makers!"
Wow! Let's do it!
Why not change the world?
"Be a Legend Sam!" - Jimmy Brazell
On the Plane heading to LAX :)
Some interesting gardens and fields. They put a black tarp over some plants to either protect it from the sun or create a water run off. It's very interesting!
Apartment buildings and mountains! :)
Rice fields! Yum :)
Looking over the rooftops to the mountains :)
Pohang! Which is where I am going in 20 minutes! Must run! Hopefully I will take more pictures of Handong Campus and community life! So much fun :)
Sometimes I love to think about the unknown. It is such a fantastic and exciting future that lies in front of us. I have this strong faith and reassurance that lies within me that I will reach heavens shore one day, and that this kingdom that lives within me will shine. I have a faith in a Lord that is faithful to finish what He started with in me.
There is hope, there is hope in the midst of weakness! There is hope, there is hope in the midst of fear, when we surrender our consciousness’ to the one who has never lost the intents of His heart. How so often, we truly don’t understand our desires and how to let God fulfill them. Yet we serve one who makes no mistakes in what He instills and what He urges within our hearts!
Oh the joy, oh the adventure, oh the life that is for those who believe!
Every day is do or die… God’s spirit is calling us to live so fully and so completely we are almost scared to accept. There is freedom in Love, and truth is what will set us free to experience that love!Let us not walk in the paths of this world lit up by bright lights, but walk through the valley of darkness where the path is illuminated by Him.
Follow the torch bearer, and run with all your will! This is the race that lies before me, and no one else will run it.
Heading to Handong Global University in Pohang South Korea... This is my anthem!
I will arise and follow you over
Savior please, pilot me
Over the waves and through every sorrow
Savior please, pilot me
When I have no more strength left to follow
Fall on my knees, pilot me
May your sun rise and lead me on
Over the seas, Savior pilot me
Last evening I took a walk outside as the sun was setting on my Uncles ranch in the Hill Country of Texas. There were small frolicking bats that would dip down and get a drink from the pool. The last few slanted rays from the sun were shooting through the branches of these gigantic oaks that were lending there branches to shade the pool. It was so beautiful, I just had to stop and talk to God. Sometimes when I am struck by beauty or a thought that comes to me from God I respond out loud to God and have a little conversation. So God began to talk to me through this Giant and majestic trees which wind their limbs here and there and arch them in such beautiful arcs that meet with the next tree to form a sort of canopy of green leaves.
Trees are such an interesting part of creation. There is a reason why they are used to represent the family unit. There is the saying that No Man is an Island, and I believe this is missing the bigger picture. In my opinion, no man is a lone tree. This is not a perfect analogy because I love those lone trees that sit on the top of grassy hills. They remind me of the giving tree. In some way lone trees that sit on the top of the hill are like grandfather or grandmother tree who are old and are only visited on special occasions but are wise, humble and extremely cherished.
But instead, imagine trees as they are normally found: in a forest. I love forests.
The forests of Norway are some of the most fantastic in the world. I spent a weekend in the woods east of Skien Norway on a solo backpacking trip and I was overcome with the beauty and the medieval age of these dark forests. It reminded me of Mirkwood forest from the Hobbit. To be honest this was one of my favorite memories from my time in Norway. The adventure and the solitude, the cool of oncoming winter, and the warmth of a fire, it was a picturesque weekend.
But still, the trees which I speak of here in Texas are still different and unique in a beautiful way. Live Oaks are family trees.
They do not overcrowd their relatives in a thick and dark forest and they don’t stand on their own on top of grassy hills. They are special because they are able to branch out and become all they are meant to be without feeling any pressure or hindrance from others trying to keep them down. Yet at the same time they branch out and eventually touch branches with their neighbors in a graceful and beautiful way. I can honestly say that they are the freest tree I’ve ever seen and that is why I love them so much. But not free in a sense of independent, but free in the sense that they are able to grow into the fullest potential and oh man do they look beautiful when they stand together and intertwine their branches.
In a sense… this is what I pray my life will look like. I want to be a Live oak that grows strong and tall and lifts others up to all that God has for them and for me. We are all family. Let’s lift each other up and grow into all that God has for us. Let your rain fall down God! I’ll pull my branches out of the dirt and reach them out in praise.
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”Joel 2:25 God is restoring our branches.
When I lay idle in this body for so long my soul becomes scummed over like a stagnant pond in the muggy summer. There is a reason why Proverbs speaks so much of work and poverty, and the more and more I live I realize that Proverbs speaks against poverty of the soul, and not of mere wealth. It is good for a young man to work and earn his living by the sweat of his brow.
Yesterday I was working very hard in my front yard and sweat was pouring off of my face into giant drips that stained the hot concrete of my driveway. I was getting frustrated with a piece of lawn equipment that was constantly dying on me. It was beginning to drive me crazy. My brother had already called for me to stop and come into eat dinner, but I was determined to finish what I started. And so… I continued my assault on the yard having to stop every 15 seconds to restart my equipment. I didn’t swear… I almost did several times. Finally I had this break down where I decided to talk to God about my predicament… I had read Philippians the other day with a friend from my University and we were talking about how Philippians is about not complaining, but being grateful in all situations. So book of scripture has been haunting me and my Spirit has been going to town working inside my heart.
As I remembered this book, I looked up and realized that getting angry and frustrated was not good, but that finishing the job was good. So I calmed down and finished the little section I had left in peace and gratitude without the machine stopping once!:) It was a nice victory indeed!
In Christ alone, my hope is found.
I've been daring lately and I have let God's spirit go roaming through my heart. It seems that I haven't let Him in for a while. Rather than lying in the dirt and clutching my hurt leg, I have been walking! This lame old body has been walking and dancing to the glory of God! There are rocks that I nearly twist my ankle on, but I am walking and laughing all the same!
I recently read my DTS journal while I was traveling in Colorado. It was a brilliant time of memory and God reminding me what He has done and what He will do within me and through me. I was made for joy, and joy abundantly to give to those around me.
There's not a day that I don't remember my Abba Father, my saviour, my deliverer, and I have to open my heart and pour out the Joy He has given me.
So as I pick up my weak and lame body, I walk onwards in joy to work, to walk and to dance into His Kindgom! I'm walking in the footsteps of Christ and the dust is still in the air.
