Small World: A JBU Alumni

Safa, a JBU alumni, and I.

You'll never guess what happened today! It was one of those crazy small world experiences. I popped into a local Christian bookstore today wearing a grey John Brown University t-shirt. After looking around a bit I start to walk out and the owner/manager asks me if I went to John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR. That had me pretty weirded out - I mean, what are the chances that someone in the middle east would know about John Brown University - this small, Christian school in northwest Arkansas.

Well come to find out, the owner of this bookstore is Safa, a JBU alumni from the late 90's. He went with JBU on their firstever summer studies trip to Ireland in 1998. Billy Stevenson and I had just been talking about him and his brother this summer. He went to JBU for two years, transferred to Asuza Pacific, then returned here eight years ago and married a Palestinian Christian gal. They have one son, Quais, and have another coming in the next month. He started this Christian bookshop - coffeeshop a few years ago.

What are the chances that in a large city like this I would step into the one bookstore that was begun by a JBU alumni? Then, on top of that, Safa's only at the store a couple hours a week - and he just happened to be there when I was. He'd love to get together for tea/a meal while I'm here, but we'll see. I'm not sure if there'll be the time to make it happen. But, he is hoping to connect with JBU's Abila archaeological dig group when they come in the summers - which would be really cool - for him and for them.

Anyways, I just shook my head, amazed at the small world we live in and excited for what Safa's doing here - in the middle east - and the role he has in this community. So, just had to share the crazy story of the day!

Travelling Adventures

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on here. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks: turned in the dissertation, got to climb a mountain and visit Donegal - two things I hadn't had the chance to do all year. JBU's semester team arrived at Lakeside, I said goodbye to friends, and so much more. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, with many a 2am morning.

As I type this, I'm laying on the couch in my sister and brother-in-law's beautiful apartment, watching, of all things, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' on arabic t.v. (an edited version, as they all are here) - and I could be watching anything from BBC World news to CNN to Al Jazeera to SAT 7. The mashup of cultures just blows my mind - as our world struggles to cope with/adjust/change/absorb/process globalization. Even in writing my dissertation about 1947-8, I was amazed at the level of globalization in the years following WWII - and here we are 60 years after that. Oh, to prove the point further, I wasn't in my sister and brother-in-law's apartment for 15 min before a friend from the US called about a possible job opening. It was so crazy to be hearing the voice of a great friend from AR on a phone in the middle east, having just left N. Ireland this morning.

Now that I have a week to rest and relax, I'll probably be posting about our adventures and sharing pictures. The first story, as I bring this to a close, was a bizarre cultural experience on the plane tonight.

My seat on the 6 hour flight from London Heathrow was 15c, an aisle seat. I took my seat next to an elderly couple. A couple hours into the flight, the man, sitting next to me, gets up and starts walking up and down the aisle. Shortly after he begins this routine, the guy across the aisle to my right gets up to go to the bathroom. The guy that was sitting right next to me with his wife plops down in this other guy's chair that's across the aisle from me, as if it was no big deal. I mean, the guy had his own personal things in the seat back pocket and underneath the seat - and yet the guy next to me had sat down in this stranger's seat as if it was no big deal. Come to find out, it was a cultural thing, because the guy returned and didn't seem too fussed about it - but I don't think they knew each other.

In the first four hours of the flight, the guy must have been up and down about half-a-dozen times. About four hours in, he and his wife both get out. When the husband returns he pushes me over to the window seat - where his wife had been. He doesn't speak English and I know enough about Arabic culture to know that you respect elders, but I wasn't really excited about moving or having someone else sit in the seat with my ipod and backpack right in front of them. Well, the wife comes back, and the husband just scoots over and I'm stuck in the window seat for the next two hours.

What made it slightly worse was the cultural differences in body odor. Needless to say, to an American nose, the BO wasn't the most wonderful smell in the world. Well, when he pushed me over to the window seat where his wife had been sitting, I just felt like I sunk into this fog of it as the smell settled over me. Bleh.

As we began to decend for our landing, the husband then leaned over me every couple of minutes to see if he could see lights and the city. In my mind I was like, 'If you wanted to see the lights, you could have kept the window seat?'

It was definitely a cultural experience in personal space, smell, and so many other things. It was my welcome back to this wonderful place that I got to spend 7 weeks in a few years ago. A very, very different place then Belfast or the USA, but so very wonderful in its own way.

Making it all the more wonderful is my 5 month old nephew Ben that I got to see for the first time tonight - which was amazing!! He's so adorable and his smile is the best thing in the world! His dad, Allen, was holding him and said, 'Here's your Uncle Daniel' - and Ben instantly reached out his arms to me and gave me a big hug. Oh man, it was amazing!! He's so adorable, loves hugs, and has this great smile. I'm so excited to get to be here for these 6 days with him and with my sister and her husband, love on them and get to rest in their company.

Chaos Ensues :-)

Oh man, what a day! Who would have thought that today, Tuesday, 8 September, would have been such a crazy day!

Today marks the one-week mark for my dissertation deadline. During my editing this morning, I realized just how much work I still have left to do this week. I'm just finishing editing Ch. 1 - so I have 2, 3, 4, 5, and the Conclusion to go - before figuring out how to format the more difficult parts, print it off, and get it bound before turning it. So, there's a certain level of stress involved there - and then the day got crazy! :-)

The JBU students arrived today - which was great and no big deal. The rest of the staff took care of welcoming them and getting them moved in while I worked on my dissertation. Then....

...about 2pm I get a phone call from John Lenschow my roommate. You see, for the last 3 weeks we've been trying to find out from Belfast Bible College whether or not they had students who were going to live here this semester. We had heard NOTHING from them, so Billy and I make the common sense gamble that they probably weren't going to send anyone - they'd been having major problems with visa's for their students. Well, John calls me at 2pm to let me know that one of the couple's arrived today and was on their way over - and, ON TOP OF THAT, there are 6-7 other students that will be hear by Friday/Saturday! Yikes!

Well, it took us a couple hours to get the breakdown of guys/girls in the Belfast Bible group - but once we did, it meant shuffling around nearly everyone. All the guys had to move rooms and all but two of the girls had to move. There's not as much room to spread out and everyon's living a lot closer together. The JBU students were great and understanding once we explained it to them - but to have moved into a room, be tired from jet lag, and then be told you had to move into another room with more roomates - they had a lot of reasons to not be too thrilled.

With the Belfast Bible students and JBU students, we only have 1 bedroom free in the entire house right now - until I leave in two weeks. Well, there's a JBU family coming in on Saturday to spend the night here until Tues - and it's a family of 3! Yikes! So, the parents are going to go in the one bedroom adn we're going to set up a bed in a spacious office room for their daughter.

Needless to say it's been a crazy day! I don't feel like I've made much progress on my dissertation and now that I'm sitting down to it I'm having a hard time focusing (obviously, since I'm blogging) since I've been busy all day having to trouble shoot rooming logistics.

So, there's a part of me that's loving having the students here and I kind of wish I was sticking around for the next three months to experience life with them (and Hadden Wilson could really use another driver). They've got a lot of energy and seem like an amazing group!

But, it's days like today that make me so ready for a vacation. The deadline for Fulbright and other scholarships are less than a month away and I haven't gotten to put enough time into those. So, I'll finish my dissertation next Mon/Tues and then start working on scholarship/grant applications. Oh, and the Oxford app's re-opened, so I need to try to get that app in ASAP to hopefully get some money from Oxford. I need to apply for jobs in the US - both substitute jobs and others, close down a bank account here, and tie up loose ends...

Man, it's a crazy time.

A Prayer

This summer Derek, the pastor at my church, asked if I might be interested in speaking at a Sunday night service. That didn't end up working out, but this week I had the opportunity to participate by giving the intercessory prayer* in the middle of the service. It was encouraging to be asked and a neat opportunity to be a part of a Sunday service.

I thought I'd post the prayer here, not because it's anything wonderful, but because it's my hope and prayer for us as God's Church around the world. For those of us in the Church, my prayer is that this would be true of us. For those who are not apart of the Church or who don't believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, I pray that, if and when they do interact with the Church or with Christians, this is the sort of church they would experience.

[Note: I've put in verse references to the passages from Scripture that are referred to, in case you were curious.]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples:

'A new command I give you: [...] As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another' [John 13:34-5]

Will you join me in praying that this would be true of us - as God's dearly loved children [John 1:12] - and of His church - who are His ambassadors to the world. [2 Cor 5:20]


Dear heavenly Father,

We come before you, deeply grateful that while we were yet sinners, you loved us so much that you sent your sinless Son to die that you might have a relationship with us, a sinful people. [Rom 5:8]

Father, we look around at this broken world and are daily reminded of the darkness that is here. Our hearts break for the young girl who was found, locked in a shed, 18 years after she was kidnapped. Our hearts break for her pain, and our hearts are heavy for those who perpetrated this crime against her - that one human could do such a thing to another is hard to believe. And our hearts go out to the grieving families affected by this week's accident near Newry.

Father, we pray that your Church would be agents of love and healing in both of these situations. May your Church, of which we are a part, be conduits of your love and healing throughout our city, our nation, and this world. May the World experience, through us, the richness of your love. Give us boldness and courage, that your Church might step into the darkest areas of people's lives and shine the light of your Son.

As students begin to return to University and others begin for the first time, help us to reach out to those in our community. That as you bring them into this place - whether it be for a meal, a chat, or to find You - they would experience your love through us. Father, may this be a place where, even as you reached out to us when we were sinners, in the same way, we would welcome - in spite of the colour of their skin, the quirks of their personalities, or the sin in their lives - all those that you bring through our doors. May our lives testify to the abundant life [John 10:10] we have in You and we pray, most of all, that through us and through this place, others would come to experience, for themselves, the freedom [Gal 2:4, 5:1] and joy [Phil 1:26] of a relationship with You in Christ!

Father, we reflect on our own lives and remember what Christ said his disciples: that the world would know they were his disciples by the love they showed for one another. [John 13;35] As we sit today, among your family - this body of Christ, of which we are a part - we think of those seated to our right and to our left, of those we enjoy spending time with and those we have not spoken to in years. May we spur one another on in love and good deeds [Heb 10:24] - that we might reach out to one another. If there are relationships in our lives, ways in which we interact with each other, that aren't loving, give us eyes to see and repentant hearts to change. May we lay down our bitterness, our anger, or our jealousy by serving one another, in love. Help us to make the decision each day to think of others as more important then ourselves [Phil 2:3] - and may we love and serve one another with that in mind.

Christ showed his disciples his love when he washed their feet the last night he was with them. [John 13:1] Give us eyes to see ways in which we might serve one another - and the humility of heart to do act on those opportunities. We are told that greater love has no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:13] Holy Spirit, grow us into a people that lay down our lives - every part of them - our pride and our preferences, our desires and our wants, our accomplishments and our egos - to serve those around us - this wonderful body of Christ we are a part of. [Eph 5:21] May we become the Family you have called us to be and, in so doing, be a beacon of your Light to the World that is around us and among us. [Matt 5:14-6]

Where there is hurt and distance, may we reach out in love and forgiveness. Where there is loneliness and heart ache, may we reach out in tenderness and compassion, choosing to be a part of one another's lives. As ministers of Your Gospel - in this world and to one another - help us to lay down all of who were are - for you, Lord - and for each other.

We ask that all these things would be true of us and of your Church around the world, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - who empowers us and enables us to show Your love to each other and to the World we live in that desperately needs you.

We pray all these things in Your name, Amen.

My prayer: That the Triune God, and His deep love for His creation, would be known by all through our love for one another.

*It struck me last night, when I finished writing this, that it isn't really a prayer of intercession...I don't think anyways. Oops!

The End, the Beginning, or the Middle?

The last of the laundry from this summer's JBU groups is done.
I'm really excited - a load takes over 3 hours between washing and drying.

In preparation for next year's staff - two great couples, the Goldfain's and the Beckman's, and my great housemate this year, John Lenschow - arriving at Lakeside over the next four weeks, I moved out of my room and into one of the guest's rooms. I move from this being my home to a place of transition. I leave in six weeks (hard to believe that I've been here for nearly a year!) and between now and then there's a lot that will happen - much of it for the last time.

Tonight I'm getting together with a group of friends from Queen's. While I'm guessing we'll get together as a group again before I leave, members of the group start leaving this week to head to jobs and graduate programs in the US. I'm still not feeling great (I've been down with a cold or flu since last Fri), but I'm going to dose up on medicine and my goal is to try to be there for an hour before I'm completely worn out. By far, this group has been one of the best things that's happened to me this year!

Having grown up as a missionary kid, attended a missionary school in Kenya, been a part of a mega-church in Little Rock, and gone to a Christian university, my life has been lived around evangelical Christians - whether simply cultural Christians or those who really do know the joy of life in Christ. Within minutes of stepping off the plane last September, I met three amazing people that have been wonderful friends this year: Megan, Jude, and Melissa. They come from really different backgrounds, with sometimes very different perspectives on life. Their experiences in life, their passions, their knowledge, and their beliefs have helped me grow in huge ways this year. They've stretched me to think about what I believe, what I know, and how I understand the world. They haven't always changed my mind, but I'd like to think that, through it all, we've sharpened one another.

Through them, and the beginnings of a four-person weekly dinner, the group grew into nearly 20 people who have been an absolute blast! I've made great friends from Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Pheonix, Missouri, Magrefalt, Dublin, Belfast, etc.. We all see the world in different ways and understand religion and belief from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. Through several of them, I was introduced to the joys of the Catholic church and the many there who love Jesus, Scripture, and God's heart for the world.

So, tonight, in many ways, is the last time we all have the chance to be together, as people leave. It begins a season of lasts, at least for the time being, for me. I'll turn in my last paper (my dissertation) to the history office four weeks from today. I rented what will probably be my last rental car here and showed friends around the North Coast for the last time this past week. I just finished the final loads of laundry for Lakeside. Here in four weeks, or so, I'll worship for the last time, for now, with the wonderful church family at Fisherwick - a family I've grown to love, who have welcomed me so warmly, and who I will deeply miss. In a few weeks, I'll go out for the last time with the S.O.S. Bus on a Friday night. I'll pay my last phone bill to Orange and order pizza delivery from Bella Italia for the last time.

This year has brought so much into my life. I am sad to see the end, but really, I'm more occupied with the wonders and the richness that have been a part of this year. The writer of Eccliasastes points out, rightly I think, that our life comes in seasons. This year was never meant to go on forever, but I'm deeply thankful that it's been part of my life. C.S. Lewis, in Peralandra, which I'm reading now, comments that an experience is wonderful because it's not common. This year has been anything but common and it has been wonderful.

This morning I posted on my Facebook status that moving rooms today meant the beginning of the end. In several ways that's true. It's one of the first events, with a number to follow, that mark the end of my year here in Ireland. A year I never expected 14 months ago would happen.

A wonderful friend, who's really more of a brother, Justin, pointed out that maybe it's really just the end of the beginning. Knowing Justin, I had to laugh at his quip, but there's truth to it. In many ways, this year marks the end of over 20 years of schooling. Sure, I hope to go on to a PhD, but that's really all that's left. The beginning of my life was characterized by institutional education. This marks the beginning of a lifetime of learning primarily in non-institutional forms.

After Justin, Dr. Robbie Castleman, one of my professor's at JBU who has deeply impacted, in awesome ways, my life, wrote that maybe this is 'somewhere in the middle of that which you know not at this time.' Probably in more ways then either of the previous two, her comment is true. I don't really believe life is what we make it or that we're simply on a predetermined course - that fate somehow has dictated the steps of our life. I think both extreme do not do justice to the experience of our lives. I would say that life is somewhere in the middle, in the tension of the two - that they hold each other in check. That we have the ability to make decisions in our lives, but our influence only goes so far. There's someone far greater than any of us, who's acting and moving at the same time. And it's my choice to follow in step with His movements, His lead, and His direction - but He'll never force me to. I'm not stuck in fate's predetermined track, nor am I left up to my own to make my way in this world.

And so it's somewhere in the middle of eternity that this year finds itself. For you see, I always existed in the mind of God and I will exist for eternity. So, this year - this wonderful, stretching, growing, life-changing, enriching year - comes as part of that story. In following Him, this year plays a part in what He has planned for me. Like everyone, I have the choice to follow Him.

However, after 26 years of incredible adventures, people, and experiences, I don't plan to ever stop following. I celebrated my birthday last week - as friends reminded me, if I was a fish, I would have been flushed down the toilet long ago :-) - and, perhaps more so then ever, this year in Northern Ireland and this year's birthday celebration have both solidified my commitment to follow Him - it's been one heck of a ride and I think the best is yet to come.

Life's Interuptions: An Unexpected Day

A Jackson Pollock painting.

Today felt like a 'Jackson Pollock' painting. Lines coming from every direction, unexpected, seemingly chaotic, that eventually come together to create a larger picture. C. S. Lewis has said that interruptions don't stop us from living, but rather, the interruptions are our life, given to us from God. That the interruptions ARE life - rather than simply events that interfere with life. The unexpected, rather than the planned, describe the majority of our days on this earth. Thankfully, unlike a Jackson Pollock painting, God promises that the 'chaos' has purpose and meaning (Rom 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11).

Today felt like a Jackson Pollock painting, with 'interruptions' coming at every turn. I had four things planned for my day, and by lunchtime I had to throw the plan out the window.

Today's 'Plan'

What Actually Happened

Work on Ch. 5 Take a taxi to Forest Side Visit with Catherine Bike to and from gym Go to Gym Stop by Library

Read Lonsdale Article Sort out rental van for friends visiting next week Visit with Seth & Julie Seth & Julie give me a lift to Forest Side (a huge blessing!) Visit with Catherine Bus drops me off downtown, so: Fill up empty bus card Get haircut Stop by pharmacy Pick up gift for a friend Go home, then bike back to gym Stop by library Get feedback from Megan on ch. 3 & 4 (Much appreciated!!) Get feedback from supervisor, Prof. Jeffery, on Ch. 4 (also much appreciated!) Go to gym (only to find out membership has expired) Offend a friend after misunderstanding what he had offered to do Bike home Eat dinner Write blog Still to happen: Take shower Hopefully some work on ch. 5

Needless to say, this hasn't been the day I expected. It was full of changes and surprises. I definitely thought my gym membership was good through the end of September and didn't see the offer from this friend coming - making my offense even worse. Didn't plan on spending the afternoon downtown waiting on a haircut or running errands, nor meeting with Megan or Prof. Jeffery.

This morning I posted on my Facebook status that there are days where I just have to trust God to work out the details because life feels like it's falling apart. That was today. I have no idea how I'm going to get this chapter written before Sunday morning, nor how I'm going to fit in all the other pieces that need to be sorted before friends come - train tickets, car rental, house ready...but I'm trusting that what needs to happen will happen. I'll work to remain faithful to the tasks God guides me to do or places in my path, and trust Him. Trust that God, whom Lewis says brings these interruptions, knows what He's doing. (At almost 26 years old, I've learned that He does - but man, sometimes I wish I could see the whole picture! :-)

It's been 'one of those days'. It's also been a day that I realize I need to learn to roll with 'one of those days' better, to flex with the changes and roll with the punches. To really trust God in the midst of it and go through it in joy and gratitude. I'm working on it and I'm sure there'll be more chances too. So, here's to future chances to grow and be stretched.

When I Don't Rest

Van Gogh, 'Noon: Rest from Work'

I worked straight through this last weekend. It's not something I usually do. With two weeks till friends visit and behind on deadlines (self-imposed deadlines, I should add), I felt the need to keep working through the weekend. Chapters 4 and 5 were due Monday and I was way behind going into the weekend. In the end, neither were completed by Monday and I just finished up chapter 4 yesterday.

Working through the weekend, and missing the deadlines, has reminded me of something I had forgotten. Simply put, it's this: every part of me needs the break of a full-day away from work. There's a lot of reasons for this:

(1) A seven day week has turned into 10 days, and my body's wondering when the weekend is going to come. After a 10 day work week, my body is exhausted.

(2) Not taking a break has meant that the breaks during my days don't feel restful, because they're never enough to make up for what I skipped. Whether I take two hours for a movie with friends, go work out at the gym, or take a nap, at the end of each of the activities my body, mind, and spirit beg for more.

(3) As a result, I'm constantly looking for 'more' and my discipline and focus wains. This attempt to find that break comes out in all sorts of ways. Ironically, I blog a lot more when I haven't had breaks - it's a chance to get away from the paper or book I've been absorbed in. I sleep in later than I normally would; I spend more time on Facebook; I watch more T.V. These, and a host of other things, are all attempts at getting the break my body needs - but they're never enough.

(4) What had started as a 'work weekend' to get more done, has left me feeling tired, antsy for a chance to stop thinking about the project, a chance to let my imagination roam, to stop being productive for more than 30 minutes at a time, to rest.

It's a need for rest, not a break or a nap or a distraction. All of those are short and focus on the fact that there's something to get back to. They, inherently, infer that there's something we're stepping away from. Rest brings with it a sense of stopping, of ceasing from activity. It's what I realized I need.

Perhaps I'm the only one like that. I have friends who seem to always be working or thinking about working. I don't know if they ever take a full-day off and rest. Maybe they've been going 24/7 for so long that their minds and bodies have gotten used to it.

I've come to realize this week that I need that rest. I need to take a day in my week where little has to be done. Where my mind, body, or spirit can wander: through a novel, the outdoors, a devotional book, or a Psalm of David. It's that chance to give my whole being a break, not just who I am phsyically, emotionally, or spiritually, but every bit of me.

There's a word for it. It was something I've been told ever since I was a young boy. Truth be told, it's something that's been said for thousands of years. It's been abused through the years, like so many words and ideas that were supposed to be good for us - love, fear, submission, humility - that have been twisted, misunderstood, or abused.

It's a simple word, from an old language: sabbath, or, in the Hebrew, shabat. That day which God put into his ideal for the world, before sin ever entered it. The call to rest, having finished all the week's work. I forgot this week how much I need that rest. I forgot that the 'sabbath' was made for me - not as another day to have a list of things to accomplish - but as a rest from that productivity. My body, my soul, and my mind - all that I am, entirely created by God - needs it.

I think this weekend, I'll be taking a break. Scratch that. I'll rest and take a sabbath.