some teachings you should check out.

something you should listen to.
from jay pathak, colorado.

something else you should listen to.
from Toby Foster teaching @ Almond Vineyard, Edinburgh, Scotland.

the end is near...

I am in Stavanger, Norway. the video below shows "Pulpit Rock" a beast of a thing erupting 607 m straight up out of the fjord below. Bryon and I climbed it today, had lunch there, and then headed home. It was a great hike, and a challenging one. It markes my fifth hike into mountains/wilderness of this trip through Europe, and ranks at the top!

I am here (sadly) for only two more days. Tuesday morning at 0605 i'll be flying to Oslo, then at 0800 to Paris, then 1430 to Newark, NJ. From there my sis is driving up to grab Syl and I and get us back to Cbus early wed sometime. This is all due to Skybus kicking the bucket (R.I.P.)

Within 5 weeks of being home I am a groomsman/best man in 3 weddings. Crazy.

I have loved Europe. The varying languages, the art and history, the foods, the culture of walking and using metros and bikes has really captured me. I am leaving almost 15 pounds lighter than when i arrived, something I plan to maintain/continue when I return stateside.

My summer plans are to get the weddings done first of all. After that would be sorting out where I will be finishing up my bachelor's degree; i am looking at a few options including OSU. I am also planning on going to Costa Rica for a month (July) to study Spanish. This will enable me to knock out a minor (at least) as i'm finishing up school, something that should help with cash later in life.

I am looking forward to seeing friends, to catching up on rest and sleep, to seeing movies recently released (someone please tell me that Arena Grand is still in business...) and to maybe getting a new vehicle?? I hear the Jeep still runs which amazes me thoroughly. I will be glad to have the Mac back, and not have to pay $$$$ out the rear to type to you.

Man thanks to all who have read and posted or not posted. To all who have waited to say what's up, and all who miss me, and all who signed my book. I am thankful for friends.

I will be heading to bed soon so that I can rest for tomorrow's activities. I'm hanging with my Murdocks (see the link on the left of my page) and their 16 month old and 6 week old!! Great kids. Kids rock incidentally...


be blessed. as red green says, keep your stick on the ice.
sg.

a video for you...

MY GOODNESS, MY GUINNESS!!!

i just toured the Guinness factory with sylvia. it was great. the pint wasn't "worlds" different than what i'm used to...

A Texan walks into a pub in Dublin and slaps €100 on the counter saying, "this goes to anyone who can drink 10 Guinnesses straight!" There is commotion in the room in general, and one man gets up and leaves.

After about an hour, the man who had left earlier came back to the bar, and asked the Texan if the offer was still on the table, and found out it was. He proceeded to order 10 beers, and one by one drank every one of them!

The baffled Texan merely asked while handing the Irishman his money, "Just one question. Where did you go when I told about the offer?"

"Well, I had to go and see if I could do it first!"


cheers.

growing (slowly)

10 May 2008 1122
~some mall in Berlin~

Prague was very good. Martin was an amaying host with great generosity and a nice pad. Prague as a city was cool. The architecture was cool--but the pace was probably better. Perhaps that is why Munich and Berlin have felt worse/less desireable--too quickly running around...

My other thought is that it is spiritual--2 weeks of great rest and great time with Jesus in retreat have their cost. I think too (with respect to wasted money) there is a pride issue. I want to do this trip well, and am frustrated when I don't achieve/experience the results I want. Control. If I learn from Benner, and perhaps Sienkiewicz, it is that God is in control, and I can park/rest my lack of greatness in him...It is otherwise certainly ruining my trip. Is it only that? Is it merely the decision to lay down my pride and rest in the embrace of Christ--who cares not whether I "perform" well or not? I think so in part. I am mediocre by nature/discipline, and the feigning of greatness/perfection will certainly ruin me...

It continues to be a war of identity. Where will I find security? If I search long to myself, I will come up dry--as all men before me. If I give it up--all its power is stolen.

I was asking Jesus his lesson plan this morning at 5 when loud snores woke me. I thought the answer jealousy, and do still in part...but perhaps more it is all this lesson--that I forget not my source of true peace. That freedom is not gained through perfection; rather, it is gained when the whole system is forsaken.

Is freedom an illusion-a false goal? Are people really born bound to a system that diverts their affections to things which take life rather than give it? Am I the only one who wades in the shallows of these thoughts unable to fully swim and unable to rest fully on the shore?

For now the verdict is that a battle for my attention is taking place, and I certainly am not interested in giving it over and again to circular musing about my %?$# performance!

Control is okay--so long as it is about the correct business: that of choosing to live, not responding with alarm to all my insufficiencies. That of stopping to listen to the voice of acceptance for who I am, not to the voice of condemnation for who I should be. Man. That of being, and not that of drifting along with wherever the current chooses to take me.

This lesson will be long-learned...correct it and shape it and administer it Jesus. Thanks for love and not wrath--you do know how to teach. 18:1.


further thoughts...

*i felt a lot better after this time of thinking the other day.
*check out shane and shane's ''embracing accusation.'' the lyrics/message will rock you.
*Paul nails this discussion in Galatians (also the source of inspiration for Shanes' song)
*I cannot commend to you enough Benner's ''Surrender to Love''

month 2 under way...

some thoughts as i head into month 2...

1. i miss chipotle
2. i say that, but i really am serious.. please don't mock, and remember me when praying over your next burrito.
3. you can spend a bunch of cash living at home, or you can spend a bunch of cash travelling around seeing amazing sights.
4. it would be good to have a computer wherever you go. sounds a little materialistic, but it will save money on internet fees, and be good to jot down thoughts perhaps. there are plenty of lockers to keep it safe and sound. it is also good to leave it home though, and break off the addiction to 'stuff.' (shout out to rick...)
5. i think i've lost about 10 or more pounds...
6. i miss my merrells\vibram-souled shoes are the only way to roll.
7. please, please plan to go to the alps in your life.
8. i can really survive on 2 pair of socks, 3 pair of boxers, 2 pants, and 2 shirts.
9. when you wake up in the middle of the night, and there is a symphony/competition of snoring in your hostel dorm room, and you have one earplug in your hand, and can't find the other one, the only thing to do is to get out of there and go blog about your thoughts at the moment, even if it is 5 in the morning.
10. ''il Gelato'' in Prague was second best to the stuff in Milan--i mean REAL good...
11. people are real cool here. some dudes are ''dodgy'' (shout out to the Vancouver chicks) but most people are pretty generous to travellers.
12. i threw away a pair of jeans 2 days ago that i bought from ragorama. they were dying and needed the 'old yeller' treatment.
13. i have a ton of pics to put up sometime, but i can't put any up right now.
14. im going to come home and shell out 10 bucks at the dollar theatre to catch up on all the sweet new releases...
15. 15 is a nice number to stop on.

sg.
currently fatigued, but knows it's part of the process. (shout out to being real)

update.

hey! i made it through Switzerland and Austria well. I got a ride this morning for the new director of the castle i was staying at, and am now in Munich. reconnected with Syl (who ironically is now sick...)

hopefully Munich is cool--back to the hiking. it was cool though that said director is heading to the states soon, and so i gave him a couple pounds worth of extras that he'll ship back home for me!! SUPER blessing to off some excess weight!

i have many new pics and some video of a dungeon that you need to see that i hope to get to you soon. i dropped an exorbitant (sp?) amount of money in CH and AT unfortunately, so back to bread and cheese for a while...much planning today and tomorrow for the May portion of the trip. it all ends very soon :(


lates.
sg.