Good luck...

I have a good bit to write about today so this will be a rather long post I think.  This is your fair warning and an understanding if only the bored and my mom make it through to the end.

I have quite a bit to catch up on.  I can not remember which day was which exactly, but here is the rundown of what I have been up to.  One afternoon we started out going to the grandmother of the family that feeds me.  Like any good grandmother she set out a feast of sweets and treats for us.  I ate until I wasn’t hungry ha.  She gave us sweet croissants, ice cream, fresh strawberries and raspberries, fresh cream, milk, chocolate waffle snacks, and several other things that were really good.  I played with the kids for a little while here and then we went to the local swimming pool.  It was very nice, they had a really fun water slide and some other little apparatuses.  I learned Germans are not shy.  They strip down wherever and especially with the kids, they let them run around naked anywhere.  On Saturday I went with a lady from the church here to some kind of 20^th anniversary of a volunteer program they have in Leipzig.  The day before had been the hottest day of the year, so I expected more of the same kind of weather.  It was not to be.  I wore shorts and luckily took a light sweater jacket but was still freezing during the day.  It turned out to be a pretty nice day.  It was kind of like a camps reunion where everyone was reuniting and seeing old friends so I was kind of the new guy who didn’t know anyone.  Add to this fact that I couldn’t really communicate with many of them and it was a bit awkward in the beginning.  I didn’t want to follow the lady around like a puppy all day so I kind of just wandered around for a little while.  Leo(the lady) finally introduced me to a group of friends because they were gonna give me a ride home later.  A few of them spoke ok English so I was able to talk with them some as the day went on, although I felt a bit awkward at times just standing there all day not having any idea what they were talking about.  I would have liked to stay in touch with a few of them, but none of them have Facebook! For dinner that night we had bratwursts on little rolls, I expect to eat this meal plenty this year. 

On Sunday I went to church in the morning.  A girl I found out later was the pastors wife came and translated for me, which was nice.  I hung out with Verona and her family during the day and I think that afternoon we went to the zoo.  It was pretty nice.  I think the Birmingham zoo is larger and has more animals and all but it was not as disappointing as the circus in France was.  Ask me if you don’t know what Im talking about.  This week I have been working in the kindergarten in the mornings and then coming back for an afternoon German lesson and then eating dinner a little later.  Kindergarten here has been very interesting.  I talk and play with the kids using the few German words I know and try to learn more by asking them what everything is.. they seem to like me ok ha.  I think the next great reality show should be taking the German kindergarten teachers and swapping them with some American teachers.  It would be funny.  The German children seem to be allowed to do almost whatever as long as its not fighting with another kid.  They can use scissors and glue and any other art supply whenever they like even if the teachers are in the other room. They climb and hang off all kinds of places.  I was pushing some kids on a big swing thing where several could sit in it at once which was connected to the horizontal bar above by two chains in a triangle formation.  As I was pushing the kids, two of them, one on each side, began hanging on the chains and doing all kinds of flips and acrobatics.  We were above a cement ground and I could really see it ending badly if they fell.  The other teachers didn’t seem to mind though so I didn’t either.  On the way to the playground the kids are also allowed to run on ahead or bring up the rear as they like.  I guess theres not too many places for the kids to go except outside or back to their class, but its definitely not like having to be single filed and quiet. I also eat lunch with the kids everyday.  They all know they must be quiet during lunch and use forks, spoons, and knives as they please.  They are quite good with the utensils though.  Better than most 4 and 5 years olds I think.  After lunch they all strip down to their underwear, boys and girls, for naptime.  This is when I leave.  The kids are all really funny as most children that age are.  There is one who reminds of the kid from Willy Wonka, he might be my favorite.

I cant remember eating too many different things since the last time I wrote.  Dinners are almost always a variant of bread and maybe a few vegetables and cheese and butter, sometimes leftovers from lunch.  I did have pumpkin soup the other day which wasn’t terrible.  I also had these potato and flour balls with goulash on top which was pretty good.  The meals at the kindergarten are not very good unfortunately.  Todays was the first one I really liked. We had boiled potatoes, cucumber salad, and scrambled eggs. 

I am ready to move to Chemnitz I think.  I would like to be able to really unpack and get settled in.  Here I am living out of one suitcase( Im afraid my big one wont shut again if I open it here) and its getting kind of old.

I have found that when you cannot understand the language being spoken, one has quite a lot of free time to think to one’s self.  Its like when you are reading in a noisy place and you are able to tune everything out and focus only on what is being read, except here its much easier because it’s all a bunch of gibberish anyways so you don’t catch a word here or there to distract you.  Now, this very reason for having so much time to think is both a blessing and a curse per se.  It is a blessing because the usual excuses and distractions from focusing on God are almost completely gone.  I cant understand the tv, radio, or other people so theres not much point in “wasting time” (as if when its in English its not wasting time) and things are not nearly as fun when you cant communicate with people around you, or when it takes quite an effort to get any idea across.  There are few if any outside influences that distract my thoughts from God.  I live in a church, eat meals with a family whose mother works in the church, work in the kindergarten in the mornings, and hang out with the family or in the church.  I am not vulnerable to all of the tv shows, music, commercials, etc. that once you get away from it, you realize carries a lot of trash.  However, having so much time to think to oneself can easily be flipped into a bit of a curse.  Although it is great for me to not be distracted by so many things that are usually easy to find and take my time and now focus on God more, it is also easier for me to focus on the very things that so many people escape from with tv, radio, or other people.  It is easy for me to focus on not being able to speak the language yet and worry about what the heck am I going to do for a year here and if Ill miss my family and friends and so on and so forth.  When I begin to do this, being alone with your thoughts is more of a nightmare than a nice study/vacation/work year in Germany.  Recently my dad spoke at church, and although I didn’t attend, I was told he spoke about going through trials and this making you stronger.  How we should embrace trials that God sends our way as a kind of learning and growing time.  Along with my thoughts about my free time, I have also contemplated this idea which I definitely agree with.  I believe they are closely related and in another way than just seeing my time here as just a trial or hard time.  Well, maybe they are kind of a stepping stone to where I am going.  I think that in my time here, especially while I learn the language, I must keep my eyes on Jesus and focus on God’s will and his love for me and let every worry go to the wayside.  I think that when we go through trials it is easiest for us to go to God and focus only on him.  When we are hurting and at our worst or really struggling, these are the times it is easiest for us to quit relying on ourselves and go to God and let him take over for us.  We finally realize in these times that we aren’t sufficient and so we go to God to help us through our troubles.  Its in these times we keep our focus on God and allow him to take over our lives and in return are filled with so much love and peace.  I do not really consider my time here a struggle, definitely not as much as I know others are experiencing.  I think that many people, however, (myself included) tend to ignore and/or escape so much of life on a daily basis instead of remaining focused on God.  I have realized how difficult it can be to keep your thoughts focused towards God and his will even when we get away from daily distractions.  I have also realized how difficult it can be even when you are away from distractions to face God and allow him to have his way in me.  I think it is much easier for myself and so many others to simply stay distracted until we hit the bottom.  Once we are there and really struggling, then it is easy to come to such a forgiving and graceful God and let him teach us and love us.  This will sound obvious, but we have to really keep our focus on God at all times.  The Bible is full of stories that we should be able to learn from(rather than experience for ourselves, although experience is the best teacher I suppose).  Peter walked on the water while he focused on Jesus but the minute he allowed himself to be distracted he began to sink. Walk by faith not by sight. Jonah got eaten by a whale when he got distracted by fears.  We have to fight both outward distractions and our own thoughts. NOT. (that was a “this shirt is black. Not. Joke fyi) We have to  keep our minds, hearts, and spirits on God and he will do the fighting for us.

The last thing I have been thinking about I may just leave as a question for now, well with a little explanation of my line of thinking.  Ive been wondering why do pastors get paid? When/how did that start? And why do they get paid more as they progress up the ladder as Superintendent or Bishop or whatever?  The last part is really what Ive wondered about.  Why do those in higher positions make so much money? Would it not be better if the church just took care of their pastors? I realize that by paying them that yes, this is taking care of them, but does anyone really need that much money? Sure its nice to have things but as Jesus told the rich man, its easier for a camel to go through a needle than for  him to go to Heaven.  I guess I don’t understand why or how pastors allow themselves to make so much money.  If they are called by God then they should trust Him to take care of their needs.  Their needs.  Not their wants necessarily.  When Paul came or sent others to churches in the Bible, that town provided for their needs.  I would think that at least a few pastors would feel a bit of guilt making so much money off of teaching to feed the poor and love your neighbor and then not giving away all of the excess money not needed for their needs.  I realize that I don’t know how pastors spend their money so maybe many of them do this already and I am unaware.  I also realize that pastors are humans too and it is easy to ignore the little feeling you get when you become aware of a homeless person or someone in need.  I also thought that maybe some would respond that you need to have competitive pay and some incentives to encourage people to answer their calling, or something along those lines.  I would think that if you didn’t, though, then we might have less people who are not as sincere or who become comfortable in their role as pastor. Meaning they will only remain pastors and clergy as long as they are really trusting God and certain that they are where God wants them, not just because it’s a comfortable job and they know the routine.  This is probably oversimplified and I know there are a ton of factors that go into someone becoming a pastor or whatever. I am also aware that it is rather easy to think you are being called somewhere and then find out you were wrong or it was really just you wanting something.

Anyways, if you made it this far Im impressed. I guess thats all for today ha.

Its a small world after all...

Today I rode on the autobahn listening to Shakira sing in Spanglish about Africa with a girl from Estonia as we passed a Mcdonalds at every exit.  Its a small world. 

I had a good flight over two days ago.  The longest leg from NYC to Frankfurt was really very nice.  I flew with Singapore Airlines and they provided me with two meals, hot towels before each meal, pillows, blankets, any drink I wanted, headphones, many options for entertainment in the form of video games and movies, and even a pack with a toothbrush and toothpaste to freshen up with.  From Frankfurt I flew to Dresden and then had to catch a train to Zwickau.  I actually had to catch a train from the airport to the main train station and then from there to Zwickau which took me a few minutes to figure out, but it wasnt bad.  Once I arrived in Zwickau I called the lady who I had been in contact with and her husband came and picked me up from the station.  It was about a five minute drive back to where they live, but it was kind of awkward as I didnt speak any German.  I found out later from Mareta that they all thought I spoke German very well ha.  I had used google translate to respond to emails. Verona and Sebastian, the lady Id been in contact with and her husband, do speak English very well too, but I was trying to only speak in German in the car because I didnt know he spoke English.  Anyways, its all good.  I have slept in the past two days which has been nice and then in the afternoons Sebastian teaches a German class for Mareta, myself, and a girl named Kate who is taking a year off from Emory Divinity school to work over here. 

The food has been good.  I have only eaten one breakfast where I had an egg and some bread.  For lunch we have our big meal where they cook a good bit.  My first lunch here we had some kind of short, straight, thick noodles and some sauce they made. I had never had anything like it.  With this they had some zucchini wrapped in bacon and fried in a pan.. it was all good.  My second lunch, from today, was a kind of potato salad and some fried cauliflower with tomatoes and pickles.  They said it was cold food because it was so hot out.  For our dinners we eat bread and cheese and pickles.  It is pretty good to me.  We also have whatever is left over from lunch and occasionally they cut up some onions and salami.  It is very simple but pretty good.  We have been drinking a drink that comes from a flower.  They take some part of the flower and drain it and then add a lot of water to the liquid.  It tastes kind of like a flower smells but not quite as strong. 

I have learned a few things since being here already.  And now that Im trying to remember them I cant.  Their education system is much different.  In the 5th grade they go to one of two schools. One of the schools will allow them to attend a university and the other they will most likely get trained in a profession.  It all depends on their grades up through the 4th grade... talk about pressure on a kid.  In Eastern Germany where the Soviets were, which includes Zwickau, only 25% of the people are Christians.  There were other things that were more interesting but I am tired and cant recall them now.  Until next time.. peace.

Interesting

Its us vs. them. Them. Them. Those others.  It always has been. For me anyways. Not Forever. Not for everyone. Though for most.  There has always been a nemesis, not even a nemesis, just an enemy.  I didnt always understand it. How could I?  I was just a kid.  Why did my people hate others for no reason aside from for a few differences.  They ignored the similarities, it didnt matter they both loved Jesus and their families.  It was only the differences that got brought up.  His skin was different, he liked him instead of her, he was wrong.  Now I understand.  We were scared.  We didnt really know them.  They might be dangerous, they might challenge our beliefs or expose in us feelings we shouldnt have.  The rest of our people would look at us differently if we even tried to understand.  We would turn into one of them.  Our power, the only thing we thought we had, the only thing we thought we had to combat our fear would be gone.  We would have no one to focus on but ourselves.  We would be exposed as weak.  Its better to work on others, to focus on their shortcomings, on why we are better people than they, to fix them to be closer to what we secretly know ourselves not to be.  It snowballs out of control.  Until we forget to check ourselves.  Until we know whats wrong with them without questioning our reasons.  Thank God Im an adult now.  Now I can recognize fear in others.  Now I can work on those afraid.  They need more work than I. And the circle continues...

                                                                             Anonymous

Swimsuit and Towel Drive... and GAGA!

Yesterday was the official introduction of Gaga to BigHouse! I think it went well.  There were one or two angry storm offs and a few times someone was NOT hit, even though they clearly were, but all in all I think everyone enjoyed it.  I think it is gonna be good here.  It doesnt take a lot of skill or practice and you can play with as many or as few people as we have. 

We are also really gearing up for our swimsuit and towel drive.  If you don't already know about it, we are collecting a swimsuit and towel for every foster child in the state of Alabama, and then embroidering their name on the towel to make it extra special!  There are about 6,000 children in foster care in our state right now, so that is a lot of swimsuits, towels, and embroidering!  Thanks to my mom and grandmother, we are off to a pretty good start though, they have been dominating the Trussville area collecting and finding embroiderers.   We have several other city/regional coordinators throughout the state, so hopefully things will really start humming the next few weeks.  We want to have everything collected and embroidered by May 14, when we will have  a huge packing party in Trussville. We still have a long way to go, but I am confident God and the good folks of Alabama will help us get this done. 

So I just re read what I typed, and I think my brain moves faster than I can type.  I know exactly what I was trying to say, but when I read it, some of it was a jumbled mess of words I am not really sure how they got there.  That also happened on my journal I kept when I was in Europe.  My granddad read it and told me it was interesting but I needed to fix all the grammatical errors. Ha, I really didnt know what he was talking about until I went back later and read through it... it was pretty confusing in some parts, and really, kinda embarrassing.  I did write most of it late at night or on a train somewhere, usually when I was pretty tired and looking forward to resting, so that probably contributed to some of it.  I guess it could also be that I don't know all of the grammar rules, that was always the worst part of English class, however, I usually can read something and know whether or not it sounds correct.  I guess I don't proof read much, so that is probably why my own writing is usually not correct, ha. Anyways, I am rambling about nothing.  If youre still reading this, you should leave a comment and buy a swimsuit or towel or both!

Only about BigHouse

We had a great turnout Saturday for our BigHouse workday! My parents and Luc were even able to come down and help out a little bit and get the big tour from Micah.  I was glad they came.  We had a loooong list of things to get done, and made a pretty good dent in it.  We got the left side of the shed torn down, the right side of the remaining shed fixed, a place for the wall dug out, started the gaga pit, got some raking done, cleaned BigHouse, and got a lot of clothes sorted and turned over for summer in our clothes closet.  It was a fun and productful day from my standpoint.  Im hoping with the volunteers we get throughout the week we can finish up some of these projects pretty soon, the large stack of wood in our backyard makes it hard for the kids to be outside much. 

I thought Sunday was a good day.  After the workday on Saturday Blake, Micah, Anderson, and I went to my house in Trussville.  On Sunday morning Micah spoke to all three services and several sunday school classes at my church about the swimsuit and towel drive, she is a pretty solid speaker!  Everyone seemed excited about it, and between two sunday school classes we already got $400 in donations towards the drive.

It wasnt though.  God answers prayers, He humbled me.

Its official!

I am officially a BigHouse employee now! woot, woot.  To celebrate, we are having a Chick-fil-A night tonight, Monday February 14, 2011!!  Hope everyone can come out and celebrate with me!! or just come out and eat and donate your receipt in the little bin... besides whats sweeter than taking your sweetheart on a date to Chick-fil-A for Valentines Day? (For all of my northern followers, Chick-fil-A is a top notch fast food chain down here)  If you cant come tonight, or if you can and want to celebrate even more..., Saturday is going to be a BigHouse workday!! We need as many people as can come to help us with some stuff around here. Bring whatever tools you have! Our big project is going to be tearing down part of a shed in the back, but we will also be building a gaga pit and doing a little landscaping/building a brick wall and stairs!

Thats really all the news for now.  I have been thinking of a getting a new hobby.. I need something to get out and do.  Joy thought I should take up cooking, which is sort of already a hobby, however, I dont really want nor have the money to be cooking all the time.. its not healthy.  So, I need other suggestions people! Thanks, Joe

BigHouse

So, the main purpose of this post is to try and get BigHouse to pop up on the first page of a google search.  If you want to know more about BigHouse, go to the website or copy and paste www.ourbighouse.org into your browser.  Also, for all of you that follow me, or read me, please put a link on your blog and facebook! 

Here at BigHouse we are gearing up for the Swimsuit and Towel Drive.  Its gonna be crazy, but awesome!  I am working on my fear of calling people.  Well, its not really a fear, I just do not enjoy it at all.  I realized I really am not a good talker, and I dont just mean because I have been known to mumble a time or two.  I have always wanted to be more like Granddaddy, the way he can captivate everyone and tell a story so well.  Oh well, practice makes perfect, so, I suppose calling these corporate sponsors will be good practice!

In other news... I need a haircut.  Im starting to look like wolverine!  I saw The King's Speech the other day.  It is a quality film.  It got me interested in knowing more about the real life characters its based upon, so I did a little research.  From what I could find, the movie was fairly accurate, even throwing in little pieces of dialogue that appeared to be just filler, but actually revealed alot more about the characters real life personas than you realize while watching.  I always like smart films like that. 

I havent posted in a while, but Joy came down for about ten days a couple of weeks ago.  It was so good to see her, especially before she leaves for Ecuador for five months!!.  I am excited for her to go, though slightly jealous.  I love to travel and know she is gonna have so many amazing times and tales to tell.  We had a great time while she was here though.  I took her to her first Alabama gymnastics meet!! My entire family went which was really awesome, and I think Joy really got into it.  It is rather hard not to when you actually go and see how fun it is.  The rest of the time she helped me so, so, so much at BigHouse and we spend just hanging out and seeing friends.  I had a ton of fun with her.  I miss her already, but I know God will take care of us and really am happy she gets to travel abroad for a while. 

At the movies the other night, and then again during the Super Bowl (Go Pack Go), I saw several previews for new super hero movies.  I am a big fan so I am pretty excited for them to come out.  There is going to be a new Green Lantern, Thor, and Captain America that I have seen so far.  I am pretty sure they plan to do an Avengers movie soon after with Hulk and Iron Man too, and I hope with the Green Lantern film coming out, that means they want to make a Justice League movie also. That would be so cool. 

Anyways, I am hungry, so I am wrapping this up and going to eat.  Peace!