34
I got on a big plane and flew to Germany when I was 18. I think my parents let me go because they wanted me to expand my horizons and have an "experience".
I experienced a lot of beer and a belly button piercing. Then I flew home and experienced my mother reading my diary and finding out about the belly button piercing.
And that's why I don't have a diary.
I just have a blog...that everyone on the planet can read.
It's like Derrick says, I don't stay long in the Land of Reason.
But, I'm not talking about the Land of Reason, I'm talking about EUROPE! Anyway I had a lot of fun, and I drank a lot of beer and went to bed at 4 a.m.
I was a party animal, sans moustache
It seems like I missed the experience my parents were hoping for. To be fair, I did travel extensively with my German friend and her wonderful family. I saw a lot of castles. I ate ice cream shaped like spaghetti. I ate spaghetti (it was safe, I could read it on the menu). I went to a lot of churches.
The churches were old. They were beautiful. They were empty.
I returned home two months later to America and her church. I went from gold inlay and silent footsteps shuffling to summer camp with rock and roll and 800 kids playing games with water balloons, to the glory of God of course.
It was an experience.
That summer I learned that Christianity can be cultural. I learned that it isn't necessarily normal for large crowds of Christians to gather and canoe together on a mountain lake. There are some places in the world where that doesn't happen. Not every country has religious summer camps. There are some places in the world where you will be killed if you talk about Jesus, or you'll go to jail. I don't know what would happen if you tried to organize a Christian water balloon fight, but I doubt the outcome would be worth it.
The bible tells Christ followers to be salt and light to the world. To season the world in a delicious way. Salt is yucky if you don't sprinkle it around. It's inedible.
Where is God leading you?
I like to be comfortable. You like to be comfortable. But bad things happen when we stay comfortable. Our muscles turn to flab. The market for high heeled shoes crashes. Uggs prevail.
Seriously though.
I'm not saying you have to move to Germany. Maybe you just stop closing your garage door before you get out of your car. You know, sometimes your neighbor is a country unto themselves...especially if they have 11 cats. I'm just thinking that perhaps we need to stop grouping up and over-salting the soup.
My friends are going to Thailand to be long term missionaries. They're taking their four year old and one year old with them. You can check them out on facebook HERE or read their blog HERE. They would love to have you praying for them.
