: Saturday, July 31, 2004 :

 
Life on repeat.
It's all looking too familiar
And I wonder sometimes
If I'll ever break out
If this continuing cycle
Hellos & goodbyes
And blows to the heart
Is all I'll ever know of life
On this side of Heaven.

rambled on byThais 11:49 PM

: Friday, July 30, 2004 :

 
Listening to: Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
 
It's 1:38 am and...
I wish my jet lag would go away.
I wish my friends would all come live in Geneva.
I wish God would answer my prayers faster. (but maybe I don't know what I'm wishing for, there)
I wish I had my life figured out. Or even just the next few months.

I wish I could tell you everything.

How you speak to my soul.

 

Peace, be still, and know that I am God. [- Psalm 46:10]

rambled on byThais 1:21 AM

: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 :

 
Listening to: Mae - Destination: Beautiful
 
Well this time, I am writing from Macalester College, MN. How bizarre to be back in the place where I spent 3 years and a half "prospering to the higher mind". In some ways, it feels like I never left. But then I think of the person I am today, and the person I was 2 years ago when I graduated (or the person I was 6 years ago when I came to this place for my first semester), and I feel like it was a lifetime ago!
 
I am getting to see and hang out with a lot of people from those college years, though, and that's fun.  It reminds me that there is a world that exists outside Geneva and the general bubble I generally end up in.
 
I also visited Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, which is a SWEET church that prioritises being relevant to the post modern generation. Half their building doubles up as a community center for the neighbourhood kids (the church is in a pretty rough neighbourhood). Their sanctuary is set up in a circle and consists of an abundace of couches; they have a music studio, an art gallery, a massage room. They have a food shelter and ESL lessons. Wow, this is Church like it's supposed to be.It serves the surrounding community, it is a community, it worships and learns about God together (the sermons are pretty interactive, apparently, with time for questions and comments).  It inspired me!
I ordered an audio version of The Message, so I've been listening to the book of Acts and making notes on what the early Church looked like. I am really interested in figuring out what Church really is and how it's meant to work. Church services on sundays have generally left me wondering if we haven't misunderstood its purpose. It seems that we are more concerned with having top notch sound equipment and multimedia tools than we are with helping the hurting families outside our parking lots. Ayways... I'm sure there'll be more on that soon...
 
I get back to Switzerland on Saturday - hopefully, my entries will get more regular then! This trip has been great - a great break from life at home, and a great opportunity to see some quality friends :)
 
Time for lunch! Buffalo wings at the Green Mill. Mmmmm! 
 

rambled on byThais 6:47 PM

: Friday, July 09, 2004 :

 
Listening to: tara's bizarre music

So I don't know if anyone actually comes here anymore. You've probably all given up on me, thinking I would never update again. Ah, but no, that is not the case. Here I am again. This time, I write you from California :) I had forgotten how much I like this state. Much better than the midwest!
I'm visiting a really good friend, and laughing much.

Cornerstone was amazing. I don't have the time to recount many stories, but listening to Don Miller speak, and talking to him was definitely a highlight. I also bumped in to Jeremy Camp, which was fun. Got to talk to members of Noise Ratchet, Brandston, Cool Hand Luke, and others. The people who drove us back to Chicago were really fun - and creative :) I loved the kind of people that were there. It was definitely not your average normal preppy American crowd.

Alright, well, we are going to Long Beach today, and it's looking like we are ready to leave. Pray for me - I want to be spending more time with God than I am currently. But He so often gets lost in the business of travel. Ack!
rambled on byThais 7:30 PM