Update from Europe #2

Hello All,
So I am now here in Germany. It took me two flights from Boise to Frankfurt. I stopped in Chicago on the way, and I just watched the video from last night in that city. Obama is now our president. Lets hope that he can do all that he says he can do, and may he make the right choices in leading our counrty. Pray for him as he starts the most important job of his life.

When I aarived in Frankfurt I was met by Kyle and his friend Anne. We walked to down town and ate lunch. It was a beautiful autum day, and we sat outside in the square and ate some sausage. Good times. Then we went to the small twon north of Frankfurt named Gießen. It is a nice little city where Anne goes to theology school. We are satying with one of her professors who is Canadian. We have our own room and it is quite nice. We will be leaving here tomorrow and heading to Rothenburg for two nights. We are renting a small appartment from a old lady. That will be nice because we can cook for ourselves. Then we will be off to Munich for the weekend. After Muinch we will be heading for Austria.

I am so glad to be here. It feels so natural to be walking around with Kyle in Germany. I am predicting a wonderful trip with great growth spiritually and relationally.
Here is a video update that we filmed this morning. Enjoy.
Blessings.

Epic trip #1

Hello all,
This is the fist video blog of hopefully many.
In this video I am preparing to leave Boise for Europe.
Here I come Kyle!

Sigur Ros Concert

Here are some videos of the Sigur Ros concert in Portland on October 6th. It was a wonderful show.


Svefn-g-englar



Glósóli



Festival



Gobbledigook



All Alright



Untitled 8

Ramblings

So this is a place that I love. I don't know anyone who doesn't love it. I have left this place, and I am going on to be a citizen. Malibu is a place that is truly unique, and as Gilbert Fuller says, "everyone must go down the inlet someday." So the real question is: what can I take with me from Malibu? Is it the people, the place, or is it something much bigger? I believe that what Malibu is in it's location, can be exported. It is my job to make sure that every moment is filled with the love and purpose that Malibu has. A taste of the Kingdom is truly sweet, and I want to taste that in other communities. What kingdom do I belong to? I can choose my citizenship.

I am back in the States, and it feels interesting to say the least. It is nice to see strangers on the street and remember what it is that I like so much about the northwest. It is sad to see people's need to have things, and buy things, and sell things. It is sad to see people's lack of care for others... selfishness. It is sad to know that those same tendencies are in me and it is a constant fight to keep them away. I don't win that fight most of the time. So Christ is calling me to something more than wanting a new cell phone, or getting the right job; in fact Christ is calling me to love more. Love God more, and love people more.

My mother talks all the time about how we should be different enough from the rest of the world that people notice. She has people come up to her sometimes and ask what about her is different. I am not that different yet. I look a lot like the rest of the world. I feel like if we look like the rest of the world we are loosing the battle. I don't think it really takes much to be different. It might be as complicated as loving everyone freely and honestly.

So the challenge to myself is to not be like the rest of the world in it's bad ways. I want to live differently. That means that I need to eat differently, consume differently, talk differently, trust differently, think differently, see differently, and love thoroughly. I want my reasons for living to change, and for my objectives to be different. What is my purpose? Christ has a purpose for me and everyone that is way better than the world's purpose, or the American purpose (also known as the American Dream). Side note: I am not sure that there is anything wrong with the American Dream, but the American dream from 100 years ago is a lot different than the American Dream of today. Health and wellbeing are great... but what is all of this extra crap that we drag along?

Anyway. This is an ongoing, Spirit lead, thought experiment for me. I have been thinking about this a lot for the past few months, and I don't have any solutions except for the ones that Christ gave us a long time ago. I just need the trust and courage to follow Christ. I wrongly think that I am better off doing things for myself, when I really just need to let go of my selfish ambition and take on Christ's ambition.

I have big plans for the next few months. I am in Tacoma right now, and then I will be in Seattle for a few days. I will be heading to Portland for a couple weeks, and that visit will end with a Sigur Ros concert. From there I will be heading to Idaho to see my parents and go camping with my dad for a few weeks. Then I am doing something fantastic. I am meeting my best friend Kyle in Europe to backpack for a month and a half. I am not proud of the money that I am spending on it, but I know this trip will be very good for our friendship. That is my weak justification for the trip. I really just want to be with Kyle and see Europe. However, if Kyle just wanted to camp in my parents backyard for a month and a half, I would still spend the money if I had to. So it is important to me. Side note: I realize that this last thought might contain some inconsistent thinking, but I am trying to make my thoughts and beliefs consistent; sometimes it is a rocky road. My mother calls this the age of inconsistent thinking, so I seem to fall victim of that quite often. That is a good topic for another time.
After Europe I will head back to Idaho for Christmas. Then, depending on how God leads, I will be moving to Portland to hopefully live with Kyle.

I hope this finds you well... I actually hope that it finds you, or that you find it. I mean; this is the next worst thing to talking with me face to face.
Love
Abe

The moon doesn't produce its own light, but it reflects the light of something much greater. There is a great spiritual analogy here, and I need not spoon feed it.

I can't believe that it has already been over a week since I was in Oregon. Malibu has a way of wrapping you up and taking you away. There is a lot of momentum here.
Oregon was good. It was so good to see people. I was surprised at the interactions I had with old friends, and shocked at my visit with one old friend in particular. As usual, God had things under control, and my prayers were answered. They were not answered in the way I thought they would be, but who cares anyway.
So the trip to the States strengthened my faith. I was afraid of the opposite, but talk about a good change in plot.

Before I know it I will be back in the U.S. with real world problems and complicated solutions.
I am excited though. It will be really good to be real for once. Life hasn't been real much in the past few years. What is real life? I suppose we can live a life that seems very real to us, but is quite fake to others and visa versa.
I will do my best with the Holy Spirit guiding me.

I hope this read finds you well.
Blessings

Surprise party

So I am sitting here in the Boise airport and I am listening to a nice song called “The Ice Is Getting Thiner.” My music is loud because there is a man with a heavy “western” accent almost yelling into his phone. I guess he thinks that he is on a walkie-talkie (insert Brian Regan reference). It is funny how people don't know how they are perceived by other people around them. I guess I am guilty of the same naivety. Hopefully I will grow out of that. Yes... I am still growing. I still get growing pains too. The pains seem to be getting worse as I grow more. Growth is a good thing; it is better than the alternatives.

This trip was supposed to be a surprise for some people, and I think it has surprised me more. I still have a few more days, but they will be long days. I am flying back to Portland where I will see some people, and surprise some people at a wedding. And then I will be driving back to Canada for the rest of the summer. I should be there until late September.

I am now trying to drown out the kids in the arcade across the terminal who are screaming at the top of their lungs. Where are their parents?

So the U.S. has surprised me. There are five ways that I have been caught off guard:
1. I have been living in a wonderful community in Canada. The best things about this community are that everyone lives in the same place and eats the same food, we all work together, fellowship together, worship together, pray together, and play together. There seems to be nothing to strive for. We were all placed there by God for different reasons, but we all work under one good reason. There is no symbol of status other than people's clothing, and even then, most of us were work cloths a lot. So as I left camp I immediately noticed the difference. Everyone was waiting in lines, driving fast, talking on their cell phones, and trying to make money right now (insert another Brian Regan reference). Some would call this whole game the rat race, or the pursuit of the American Dream. Almost everyone is doing it. So I have been thinking about it and I can't see any way around participating in this game at least a little. I think that the real challenge is how you play the game. Even Jesus held down a day job, but I am sure that the difference was in how he worked, and how he lived in the real world. The problem with Malibu is that it is not real. I can stay there for a while and pretend like it is real and I don't have to leave, but sooner or later I will have to step into the rat race. The hope is that I can live the Kingdom of Heaven in the rat race. I have to live in it, but I don't have to do it the same as the rest of the world. I feel like the more you let Christ into the rat race, that the less it looks like a rat race and the more it looks like God's Kingdom. When we let Jesus in our lives we can't help but be different. If I am not different, then maybe I am not letting Christ in enough.

2. I am worried about what I am going to do when I get back from Canada. It is easy to just disengage from the world I left behind. So I guess in a way it is good the be here and start thinking about what I need to do in a few months.

3. It is hard to surprise people when you need a place to stay or someone to pick you up from the airport.

4. I might be the reason that my friendships are not good sometimes. I can't always blame them. Nothing beats intentionality.

5. I know a lot of people in Boise. It seems to be calling my name to move here... but I don't think I will give in. Nice place to visit, but not what I am looking for.

I am sure that in the next two days I will be surprised even more than that. Lets hope it is God that surprises me.

Here is a little game for those who read this: How many times have I used the words surprise and grow in this blog? The answer will be at the end.

The next morning:
So I was picked up at the Portland airport by one of my most dear friends. We then went to wonderful Mexican food, and that burrito was one of the best I have ever had. It was really good to catch up with my friend. We were able to talk about ways that we have hurt each other in the past, and resolve a lot of it. It is always good to be honest and get things out into the open. It is trying to develop Shalom in relationships, and that can only be done by the grace of God. We talked about spiritual struggles, and encouraged each other. She encouraged me and strengthened my faith in ways that she doesn't even know. It was one of the best lunches I have ever had. Good food, and redemptive conversation. Nothing better.

I didn't want to come back here because I was scared. I was scared that the world I knew changed and I didn't. I have come to discover that I have changed as well. I haven't grown in as many ways as I would have liked, but I have changed. So the scary thing is how the world I know has changed. I am worried that the things that I have become so comfortable with will never be the same. It is good though, because things would get really boring. Things are very different here. It will be interesting to see what life will be like for me when I come back in September.

There is more to come tonight. The wedding will be great. I just found out that I have to drive to Canada right after the wedding to make the first ferry of the day tomorrow.

Answer key:
Grow - 8
Surprise – 9
If you got it right, then I will give you a big hug next time I see you.

Blessings

Malibu #2

Life at Malibu is fast. The only time it slows down is on my day off. I get one day off a week and it is on day 4. This means that I get a day off on the fourth day of camping a week. It is a different day of the week every time. This week it is Sunday, but last week it was Monday, and next week it will be Saturday. I am so excited because my parents are coming up here in about a week, and it will be really good to see them again. I have seen them more in the last few months than I have in the past few years. Between graduation and Malibu I will have seen Mom three time and my Dad two times since late April. I am excited for Mom to be up here without kids to lead. It will be nice for her to just enjoy Malibu for once. Dad hasn't ever been here before, and it will be really great to see what Mom and I have been involved in for so many years. I think that I will have him work with me for at least one day. It will be really cool show him the things that I do from day to day. Dad and I didn't really have a good relationship when I was a kid, and I am excited now when I get a chance to be with him. It is different now because we are both adults and we have a lot of the same interests. It is cool because I know things that he doesn't know and he knows things that I don't know, so we share a lot of that knowledge with each other. In the fall we are going hunting together. I don't have a tag, but I will still go and camp with him for a while. He will probably go for about a three weeks, but I might just camp for a week or so. I am excited to just spend some time with him. Now that I am out of collage, I don't know how often I will be able to spend with my parents. I would love to make that a priority.

Speaking of family and being able to visit with them, I have been thinking of that for a while. Being up here I have seen a different way of living life. I have seen more of a Kingdom-like way of life. I have just noticed that the pace of life is a lot different up here. More healthy. We all work hard and get A LOT of work done, but it is not killing any of us. Is it possible that we do not have to work the way that we do as an American culture? It might be possible that we can have more healthy communities and families if we work hard, but less. I think it might have something to do with our false need to have more more more. What if I just worked for what I need to live, and then just kept that up? I have grown up in a culture in which that is a scary thought. Not only would I have to live within my means, but my means would have to be only what I need, and not what I want. Or what the market tells me I want. So if I work less and live a more care free life, then wouldn't I have more time for important things such as family? My relationships would be more healthy, and I could take the time to focus on the important things. I have a friend who had worked hard all of his life and has done very well in a worldly sense. He is a good father and husband, and he loves God. The thing that stands out to me the most about this man, is he works hard when he does work, but his work is not his priority compared to God and family. All of this makes him seem very relaxed and loving. A slow start in the morning, a long lunch break, and quiting early with the same amount of work accomplished. I guess what I am talking about here is work ethic. Has my generation lost that ideal? Hard work when work is done. Why not enjoy everyday of your life, rather than losing most of your life to working so that you can then retire and be bored. Right now at least, I am going to live my retirement every day in little segments. Minuets at a time.

I don't want it to seem like my life up here is easy. I work hard and sweat every day. There are frustrating moments when things go wrong. God has been challenging me a lot. There are a few staff members for this session and the whole summer that I have to pray for patience with. That is a hard one for me. We are also trying to change the way I view women. I see women in a very sexual way, rather than in a healthy, respectful way. I noticed that I tend to gravitate to women that I find more attractive, and try and be friends with them before I try and become friends with someone I don't find attractive. I know that this is very shallow, but I am being honest, and I am trying to change. It is frustrating to know this about myself, but I know God will help me through this. I guess another phrase for this is “objectifying women.” I don't want to be that guy, and I am sure God doesn't want that for me either.
This job came at the right time in my life. I love it up here, but I don't think that God brought me up here because he thought that I would like it. I think God brought me here so I could heal and learn. Praise the lord for that. My hope is that I can be open to both. You can pray for me in that.

It is now time for me to get out and enjoy my day off.
Blessings