Sunday, December 13, 2009

My New Crib



Here's a video that I did so you can see my new flat (European word for "apartment"). Looks like I'll be moving in the beginning of 2010!s

Monday, November 30, 2009

What a month

Guten Tag Fruende!

The past month has been one of many adventures. Too many websites to mention have been scoured through to find the perfect place to call my next ‘home’ with no luck to this point. But that’s okay. I know that there is a place out there for me, and thanks to the generosity, grace, and caring hearts of the Philips family, I am not in urgent mode and do not have to “settle” for a place that is not the best.

On the 17th of November I began German language school at the local Volkshochschule (Adult Education Center). I surprised myself with how well I did the first day. The class is taught entirely in German and I understood quite a bit. It seemed as if I understood more in my first day of German classes than I did after 2 weeks of Hungarian lessons. I felt like I was on cloud 9.......until the second day.

The day after my first German class, I flew to Budapest, Hungary for a (Wed-Sun) retreat for all of the ChoG Global Missions Employees within our region (Middle East/Fmr Soviet Union/Europe). It was a joy to be able to spend some time with teammates and co-workers and get to know their stories even better. And to be back in the city that I called ‘home’ for 2 years was absolutely amazing! I feel like I’m home when I’m in Budapest. Navigating the city streets, public transportation, and stores almost seems like 2nd nature. The language on the other hand is much more difficult. But I actually surprised myself with how much I could recall. But then reality hit....I needed to go back to German class with my head full of Hungarian.

So, back to the second day of classes.....while it was only my second day, it was everyone else’s fourth. Exactly one week had passed since I was last there and I had missed 3 classes in a row due to the retreat. First thing in the morning my teacher asked me, in German of course, how my conference was in Hungary. I knew it was going to be a long day of classes when I answered, in Hungarian, not German, ‘It was very very good. I was there from Wednesday until Sunday and I enjoyed the city a lot. And the Christmas market....it was beautiful“. From that point on, I couldn’t switch the Hungarian off. I didn’t realize I knew so much until I was told to say stuff in German and the only thing that would come out was Hungarian.

Things settled down quite a bit after that and I’m back into the flow of things now. It’s back to class again tomorrow for me to start week 3.

I sit here now stalling to get back to work (oh how I hate you ”die, der, und das“). I hope and pray you had a blessed and restful Thanksgiving! My Thanksgiving will be my next blog....hopefully before a month goes by again!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Words on the page

(Before I get on with other stuff, I want to share good news....I was able to obtain my residency (that process was MUCH simpler here than in Hungary) and have an appointment on Thanksgiving Day to get my visa...now, onward)

The moving process is a difficult one at times. Or maybe it’s not that difficult but it’s just MAJOR time consuming and at moments you feel like you get nothing accomplished. These past 2 weeks that I’ve been in Germany have been like that for me.

I was just asked the other day by a good friend (WHAT’S UP TAM?!) what it was that I was actually doing during the days. That’s a great question. I told her (and I’ll tell you now) that the best way I can describe it right now is for you to imagine yourself in the midst of writing a long research paper in college. You spend hours upon hours researching things on the web or checking out and reading books from the library, and then organizing all your research but you’ve yet to write a word on a page for the actual paper. You might feel like you haven’t accomplished anything because there are no words on the screen to show your work, but in reality you’ve done a lot. That’s how I feel each and every day here. I KNOW things are getting done, I just don’t have much to show for it right now.

So what have I done since I got here? I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit slowly inching my way to a carpal tunnel specialist’s office as I sit behind my computer researching things. Each day I look at the new apartments being listed...that shouldn’t take much time should it? Well, no, if you can read the apartment descriptions and you know where all of the German-named streets are in Berlin. I, however, do not speak German yet, so my plan of action is the same for each day....
1) search for apartments in Kreuzberg (the district that I’m going to live)
2) out of those, I copy and paste the address of each apartment into googlemaps.com to see where it’s located in Kreuzberg in relation to where we are going to focus
3) if it is close to our geographical focus, then I click on the apartment’s link which takes me to a detailed description of that certain flat...in German of course (“flat” is European word for apartment)
4) I cut that flat’s description’s web-address, navigate to translate.google.com, and paste the web-address there in order to translate the description from German to English
5) And I do that for each flat....VERY TIME CONSUMING AND FRUSTRATING!

Sidenote: The other thing you need to know about the way flats are rented out here is that when the owner (or rental agency) is going to show the flat, they announce it and EVERYONE who is interested shows up at that announced time....there are no private tours of the flats. So it’s very common that you are going to see this flat at the same time as 10 other people who are interested. It’s a very competitive process!

Other research that has been done besides looking for flats?....figuring out which mobile phone company I want to go with (and plans are NOT set up the same here as they are in the states), which bank to bank with, which language course I can enroll in (depends on where I’ll eventually live which of course I don’t know yet!). And again, all these pages are in German so the same process happens with trying to translate it all.

So, just like researching for your big paper, work here is getting done....I just don’t have any words on my page to prove it just yet. The important thing for you to know is that this does not discourage me because I know that this is the process. At the same time I hope it doesn’t discourage you because you aren’t ‘seeing results’. You and I both need to get used to that though, because many times “results” are not quantifiable in the type of work I’ve been called to! So you may not see it....but things are getting done and I’m encouraged!

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Flashback

I’ve forgotten many things about living overseas. I’ve forgotten what it really means to be 6 hours ahead of my family and friends....and EST television shows. Of course I told everyone that I would be that far ahead, but it didn’t really hit home until I was here and I had to calculate the 6 hour difference and how it meant that my day changes b/c I can’t just call people whenever I want. Or maybe, like last night, I have to wake up at 2:15 in the morning to catch a Colts football game that I really want to see.....one of the downfalls of being overseas.

Another thing I forgot is just how tiring it is living in a different culture. I love it, but it’s tiring! And I’m not just talking about jet-lag. In fact, I don’t even know that I really experienced jet-lag this past weekend. No, instead it’s the mental fatigue that displays itself as physical fatigue as I concentrate on every word that is spoken trying to understand every little detail. I remember going through this in Hungary, but being back in a culture I’m familiar with and a language I speak, read, write, and understand at the fastest of paces, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to try to get my mind to take the normal speeds of life and slow it down to an understandable rate. It’s nearly impossible when you don’t know the language, but it’s a mental thing that I just can’t turn off....I have to know what’s going on and I have to learn the language. And the only way I’m going to learn the language is to practice practice practice. So along with the practice will come mental fatigue....and it’s amazing to me how mental fatigue can become a gateway to physical and emotional fatigue as well. So, in the upcoming days/weeks/months/year(s) I expect to be tired....ALWAYS....and to rest up...OFTEN....but to NEVER give up or throw the towel in as I strive to live out this exciting adventure!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Arrival in Europe

I expected to see Jason Bourne as I strolled through the Frankfurt airport after the 8 and a half hour plane ride from Orlando. I don’t know why, but every time I’m in a European airport, I always think about him....Jason Bourne that is (which btw, the Bourne Trilogy is probably my favorite Trilogy of all time). Maybe it’s the little green sign with a guy looking like he’s running and an arrow pointing towards an exit....maybe it’s the different fashion....I’m not sure what it is, but that’s what I think about.

I can’t believe I’m actually here. A part of me is just dying to call or text all my friends, but the reality of not having a phone right now and then thinking that even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to call internationally, is slapping me across the face with each blink of my eye. It’s something I have to come to grips with...it’s reality now.

The past couple of days have been emotional ones. It was difficult for me to say “good-bye” (sorry...“see you later”) to all the friends that I’ve built close bonds with over the past year(s). From co-workers, to friends, to mentors, to mentoree, to family....not much of it was enjoyable saying ‘see you later’. But as I know I say ‘see you later’ I know that they are all thinking about and praying for me as much as I am thinking about and praying for them. They will all be missed, but as I have come to realize, God brings these friends around for specific reasons and times and I know that more friends will be brought my way and I will see my Florida friends once again too.

So, until later.....welcome to Europe!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Past, present and future trips

Back from one more trip and 3 more on the horizon....

The 19th of May, my best friend Rodney, his wife Maggie, their baby Hannah, Maggie’s sister Hayley, and I piled into a rented Kia Sedona mini-van to make our way to Maggie and Hayley’s brother and sister-in-law’s house in Walton, KY (just south of Cincinnati). The 14.5 hour trip seemed to fly by. Even with a 9-mo old, we made minimal stops and I feel like we made great time...even with stopping for dinner at Chick-fil-A (Hannah’s first Chick-fil-A experience)!

The day following our day-long journey, I left the house early to spend some time with some pastors/leaders at nearby churches. I spent time with Howard Megill at the KY state offices, Brett Talley and Jeff Perkins at Mt. Sterling Church of God, my cousin Jeremy Zerkle (grad student at Asbury), and two new friends from Eastland Church of God in Lexington, Dave and Marty Sperow. It was a long day, but totally worth it!

The rest of my time in Kentucky, I tried to relax a bit. It didn’t really happen all the time, but the opportunities I was able to relax were such a welcomed blessing! Now I’ve been back for almost a week and I’m planning for my next three upcoming trips.

First trip.....this Friday I am flying out to Roanoke, Va to spend the next week talking with different churches. The goal is to visit churches in the following: Roanoke, Chillhowie, Dublin, Blacksburg, Fairfax, and maybe others. I am grateful to these pastors for letting me interrupt their busy schedules.

Second trip....I will be flying to Indiana from June 24 - July 6 to not only spend time at NAC in Anderson, but also to visit with pastors/churches and to try to spend some time with my brother before I leave for Europe again. Can’t wait to see him, but not too excited about all the work that I’ll be doing! :-)

Third trip....July 11-18 I will be heading to House of Blessing orphanage in Haiti with a group of about 50. This trip is for a couple of reasons....first of all, I just was ready to do a missions trip. I’ve been in the states now for almost a whole year and I’m itching to experience something different again, if only for a week! Secondly, my church (South Lake Wales Church of God) has partnered with House of Blessing for many years now and so I will be going as a part of the Missions Task Force to see first hand the ministry that’s taking place. I am thoroughly excited about this trip, however, I’m focused on the first two first!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Silence...why are you so hard to handle?

There’s something I love about flying. I think it’s b/c it’s the stillness of it all. I’ve noticed it before when I’ve traveled, but for some reason this time the silence was amplified...and it wasn’t until about 30 minutes into the flight that I realized what was going on.

My tired mind began to drift as the muffled roar of the engines caused my head, propped up against the window of my exit-aisle seat, to vibrate. The TVs in the aisle were getting a work-out, but without paying for the cheap headphones, my attention was diverted elsewhere. I heard the stewardess as she politely asked passengers ahead of me what they wanted to quench their thirst in the dry cabin, but her voice seemed to sound like a whisper although she wasn’t whispering at all....that’s just the way voices sound in an airplane. By this point in the flight I had already browsed through the Delta travel magazine and its seat-back-pocket travel companion, “SkyMall“, and now had nothing to occupy my time but silence. Then it hit me....I’ve never felt so uncomfortable with the silence before in my life.

It was about this time that I began to question my motive for placing my carry-on bag in the storage bin above my aisle instead of under the seat in front of me because now I had nothing to do. Sure I had more leg room, but now I was confronted with the rest of my 2 hour flight with nothing to do...no ipod, no sudoku or crossword puzzle, no pen for doodling, NOTHING! Of course I could have asked my neighbor next to me to move so I could stand up to get my belongings from above our heads, but as I turned to ask him I realized he looked like he was occupied...it seemed with the way his head was dancing around in his deep sleep that he may have been dreaming about his one opportunity as an armless conductor of an orchestra, with only his head to communicate the tempo of the song to the musicians. Then I took it like a man and realized that every once-in-awhile you have to battle the silence.

It’s been so long before I’ve just been still. With everything going on around me, I haven’t found much time to not be occupied by something. Work. Global Missions. Friends. Family. TV. Radio. Billboards. They scream for my attention everywhere I go and seem almost unsatisfied when they don’t have it 100%. There’s a pull in all directions for what’s going to get my time each day. Like a game of tug-o-war, I feel the daily ‘to-do’ list pulling on my rope of attention while my Lord and Savior digs in his heals to fight back as I try to stay focused on His Word in my daily devotions. But it’s a struggle. Recently, with everything going on around me, I’ve just found it so hard to just ‘Be Still’.

So there I sat in the cabin of a lifeless airplane with nothing to do, and I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t have anyone to talk to, no website to check, no pastor to annoy asking for money, no task for work that I could have been completing, no new magazine to read...just me and the Lord. It had been so long since I didn’t have many other things fighting for my time, that I didn’t even know how to pray without having to force my attention one way instead of another....for the first time in as long as I can remember, there was nothing else competing for my attention. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t know how to respond in that time of silence because there are so few times when we are forced to stay silent. But as I de-boarded the plane and walked along the cold path of the Wichita airport, my eyes bounced off the bright signs in the hall, my ears filled with people talking and speakers announcing the next departing flight, i felt my phone vibrate in my pocket demanding that I pick it up, and it was then I realized...I can’t wait to be back in the air. I can’t wait to be forced into silence once again.

Friday, February 6, 2009

25 things about me...it's a facebook thing

Well, I guess I’m gonna join the bandwagon....not simply just to join the bandwagon, but this is more for me. I think it’s important to do a self-evaluation every once in awhile and trying to come up with 25 interesting things about me is making me think hard about who I am:
Here’s to jumping on the bandwagon!

1) I was a good student in high school and college, but sometimes I wonder how much I actually learned as opposed to how many times I just did the assignments to get the grade.

2) I hate to read, always have. I probably have 25 books that I’ve started but have never finished.

3) It’s been a life-long dream of mine to learn another language. I’ve started multiple times (Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian) but I’m actually gonna succeed with German.

4) I hate change yet I have a hard time staying the same. Since I graduated college (May 2004) I’ve lived (for at least 2 months) in 8 different places (in chronological order):
        Lake Wales
        Lulea, Sweden (tak sa mycket Mats och Stina)         
        Lake Wales
        Goshen, Indiana (thanks J...I OWE YOU HUGE)
        Lake Wales (sense a theme?...all different houses in Lake Wales though)
        Budakeszi, Hungary (nagyon szepen koszonom Philips family!)
        Budapest, Hungary (sziastok baratom Budapesten)
        Winter Haven, FL

5) I have a couple of things that absolutely drive me crazy. I hate loud things and/or noises (think Ty Pennington SCREAMING into a bullhorn that amplifies his voice EVEN MORE!). Because of my hatred for loud things, I dislike balloons and fireworks because they make loud popping noises at unpredictable times. Also, I can’t stand peanut butter, cheese, or bread getting stuck to the roof of my mouth. It literally makes me go insane! The last thing I’ll mention that I hate is when I’m trying to think of something specific and I can’t think of it. That’s my OCD coming out

6) I’ve never learned more from anyone in the world than I have from my good friends Dave and Greta Reames. They taught me more about love, forgiveness, missions, relationships, abiding in Christ, etc than anyone else and I am forever indebted to them for all the wisdom they shared as they became transparent and vulnerable with me in our Sunday night conversations before I moved overseas. Thanks guys!

7) There’s not a movie I enjoy watching more than Simon Birch.

8) My favorite thing to do in the world is travel. It’s more enjoyable with other people, but I’m not opposed to travel by myself. I’ve been to 35 states and 29 countries. It’s also a secret dream of mine to be on the Amazing Race!

9) I hate my name in cursive (I don’t have any letters that go up or down....nor do I have anything to cross or dot....just a bunch of small curvy letters)

10) One of the proudest moments of my life was holding my best friend and his wife’s newborn baby. Hannah you are the cutest girl I’ve ever seen and I’m so proud of you already!

11) I have one of the weakest stomach’s ever...I can’t even watch the intro to ER b/c I hear the heart monitor beep and it causes me to get queazy. Some people seem to the think it’s funny to tell gory stories in front of me to see my reaction....I struggle to find the humor

12) I’m not a birthday person. I don’t celebrate my own very much and therefore don’t make a big deal of others.

13) I’m hoping that the Lord’s plan for my life includes a great woman out there for me and that after we get married, we’ll be blessed with unbelievably handsome boys and drop dead gorgeous girls! However, I’m confident that if I don’t get married (or if it’s not until later in life) I’m gonna enjoy being a bachelor.

14) I can be EXTREMELY emotional and empathetic at times. If I see you cry there’s a great chance that I’ll be crying too. And if you throw up....GUARANTEED I’ll be throwing up after you (see #11)!

15) If I could live off of eating double-stuffed oreos, hint of lime tostitos, hot tamale candy, fresh fruit and publix subs, I would

16) I might be one of the biggest people pleasers you’ll ever meet. I want EVERYONE to be happy ALL THE TIME and it really bothers me when they’re not.

17) I decided my first trip out of the country that I was going to start saving barf bags from planes as souvenirs from trips b/c they are the cheapest souvenir one can find. I can’t even begin to tell you how many I have. I actually stopped accepting them from other people who brought them home for me b/c I have too many!

18) Thanks to my bro, I’m a big fan of celebrating Cinco de Mayo

19) One thing I love to do more than anything is to laugh. Someone that makes me laugh more than anyone is my best friend Rodney. He has a special gift to make even stressful situations humorous.

20) Out of all the places in the world I’ve been, my favorite things I’ve seen or done include: spending a night in the IceHotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden; riding a camel in front of the great pyramids in Egypt; standing in awe on the train tracks in Auchwitz Concentration camp in Poland; driving a reindeer sled in Kiruna, Sweden; attending a Bryan Adams concert in downtown Budapest with my brother; waiting in the hospital waiting room and finding out that Hannah was born (see #10)

21) I hate answering the question ‘what do you see yourself doing’ or ‘where do you see yourself 5 years from now.’ Seriously, as if 5 years ago I had ANY clue that I would be BACK in the Lake Wales area after living overseas for 2 years and planning to move back? I have NO CLUE what I“ll be doing in 5 years!

22) I’m a huge fan of people watching. Not just in airports or malls like most, but in life. It may not make sense, but I I think everyone has something that they can teach me so I try to learn from everyone as I stand back and observe. One person that I enjoy observing right now is my boss b/c I feel as if he is one of the most Godly leaders I’ve ever met. He inspires me to be more just by the way he lives.

23) My most embarrassing moment in life came when I was a first grade teacher and I mixed up the ‘Ch’ in the name ‘Chucky’ with the ‘F’ in the name ‘Fabian’ and asked ‘What’s a F#(*y doll anyway Chabian?’

24) I feel as if I had been deceived by every weatherman I had ever watched on tv growing up until the great weatherman Steve Jerve enlightened me about 3 years ago. Did you know that when they say ‘there’s a 20% chance of rain’ it DOESN’T mean that there’s a 20% chance that you’ll get rain today? It really means that 20% of their viewing area will get rain today. And I don’t care what you say....THOSE STATEMENTS ARE NOT THE SAME THING!

25) If the only thing that was on TV was college and NFL football, college basketball, The Office, 24, Lost, The Amazing Race, and Jeopardy, I would be VERY happy!
25b) I love playing ”Jeopardy! ” while watching the show...in fact, I actually keep score while I’m watching with friends. Thanks guys for putting up with my idiosyncrasies!


There you have it...now you know me 25x better than when you first started reading!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Bible in a year

I’ve tried to go through the bible in a year many times. It’s usually a new year’s resolution, but I’ve rarely had success with it. This time is different though. This time I actually have a plan and have a guide that tells me what to read each day. It used to be where I just started in Genesis and tried to go all the way through the bible. Now, I’m focused...and now I’m excited! And I have partners doing this with me. Thank you Tam and Maggie for your dedication. I pray God’s continued blessings on you as you go through His Word this year!

It started off in John then jumped to Genesis. Halfway through Genesis it moved to Job and that’s where I’m at now. As I read through some of Genesis I decided I wanted to be like Enoch. If you look at Genesis 5 it gives a detailed lineage of Adam all the way to Noah. What caught my eye is that for each person (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah), it says how long they lived before their son was born and then whether or not they had more sons or daughters, and then finally how long they lived. Enoch is different though. It doesn’t just say that he had a son, then more kids, then died....no, he stands out because it says ‘Enoch walked with God’.

This really got me thinking. I wonder what people say when I die. What will my legacy be? If I’m written about after I die, will it just be about the formalities (Aaron was born ___, he got a degree from ___, lived overseas, worked as ____, had x-amount of kids, and died)? I hope that’s not it. I hope that people see that I walk with God. I hope that I stand out in the lists of people. I pray that as I go through this year of reading the bible, people begin to see that not only am I living, but that like Enoch, I’ll be known to walk with God.

Then, each of Enoch's ancestors before him ‘died’. However, in Enoch’s case, ‘he was no more, because God took him away.’ He didn’t die...he didn’t experience death like all his ancestors before him. God took him!

I’m living my life different from today's cultural norm. I’m determined not to die. I’m determined to be taken by God. Don’t misunderstand me...I’m gonna die at some point, but because I’m walking with God, I have more promised to me after death. I’m not just going to die. I’m taken somewhere else. Praise be to God!