It is amazing to me how I can be halfway across the world
and still feel incredibly loved. A
couple nights ago I sat in the lobby of a fairly sketchy hostel in Stockholm
working on sketches and listening to my preacher Mark at LSCC share his “I’ve
got your mat” message. I was so excited
to listen to his past few sermons posted online because I haven’t been to since
I left! Anyways all it took was his
voice and the low chatter of our congregation in the background to make me more
homesick than ever. In his messages I
was reminded once again of my purpose on this trip. Yeah, traveling and seeing these places has
been awesome, but lately I have gotten more out of the challenges this trip
presents. I realized that even though I
am far away from home, I am still carrying people’s mats, and to be able to do
this all over the world has been far more life-changing than seeing a famous
building or plaza. I have had the chance
to get to know people that I may never talk to at home. It has been a challenge to be “stuck” with
some of these people, but the longer I spend with them, the more I am amazed at
how much some of them are hurting in life.
It makes me even more thankful that I have a great life to go home to
when I get back. Being with the same
people every single day gets beyond annoying, but the sermons have given me a
new outlook, or I guess a new tolerance for everyone. Traveling with 25 acquaintances for 4 months
is not exactly something I would wish for again, but it has presented a pretty
cool and unique opportunity to me.
Whether I like it or not they have been my family since January 3 when I
arrived at the Indianapolis airport. I
have gotten really close to few of them to discover their struggles, fears, and
emotions; and I am shocked to find that as different as we are, our
insecurities are quite similar. This is
the part where it gets awesome. I try to
shower them with your love and carry their mats with them across the
world. I can’t pretend it is easy
because more often than not I just want to strangle some people, but every now
and then God gives me a burst of tolerance.
It makes me better too because if you know me at all, you know that
tolerance is one of my weaknesses! Also
I hope that I am doing everything I can because I will be the first to admit
that I need to be carried quite often as well, just like Mark explained. Thankfully I have some great support at home
from friends and family.
I hope you haven’t been able to tell, but lately I have become extremely calloused to cool things on the trip. This would explain my lack of interesting journal material, at least I think so. So, if it gets a little boring on this last leg of the trip I apologize! And regardless of how my blog sounds, I should tell you that I really am having a fantastic time, especially since I am back in Europe! I suppose I should say something about Berlin now.
Northern Europe is officially my favorite. The last 3 cities Helsinki, Stockholm, and Berlin have all been equally awesome! I don’t even know what it is that makes me like it so much. Genus Loci is a highly overused term we use in architecture but it is all I can think to say; it means the spirit of the place. Berlin is a unique place because when the Berlin wall was torn down, a ton of land was available for development in the center of the city. Instead of having an old city center which is very common to European cities, Berlin has a completely modern one. Most buildings and infrastructure in the center were built in the past 40 years. I saw all kinds of great things today including Germany’s government buildings, Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, The Holocaust Memorial, and Daniel Leibskin’s famous addition to the Jewish Museum of Berlin. The Jewish Museum was particularly important to me because during field trip week last semester I was able to see Leibskin’s other famous museum addition to the Denver Art Museum. To be honest the Denver Art Museum is still my favorite, but I am thrilled that I got to see the Jewish Museum as well. We had independent study time in the afternoon so we walked around and experienced as much of the city as we could without freezing to death, then ate dinner and returned to the hostel because we were all exhausted. All in all, a great day in the great city of Berlin!
I hope you haven’t been able to tell, but lately I have become extremely calloused to cool things on the trip. This would explain my lack of interesting journal material, at least I think so. So, if it gets a little boring on this last leg of the trip I apologize! And regardless of how my blog sounds, I should tell you that I really am having a fantastic time, especially since I am back in Europe! I suppose I should say something about Berlin now.
Northern Europe is officially my favorite. The last 3 cities Helsinki, Stockholm, and Berlin have all been equally awesome! I don’t even know what it is that makes me like it so much. Genus Loci is a highly overused term we use in architecture but it is all I can think to say; it means the spirit of the place. Berlin is a unique place because when the Berlin wall was torn down, a ton of land was available for development in the center of the city. Instead of having an old city center which is very common to European cities, Berlin has a completely modern one. Most buildings and infrastructure in the center were built in the past 40 years. I saw all kinds of great things today including Germany’s government buildings, Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, The Holocaust Memorial, and Daniel Leibskin’s famous addition to the Jewish Museum of Berlin. The Jewish Museum was particularly important to me because during field trip week last semester I was able to see Leibskin’s other famous museum addition to the Denver Art Museum. To be honest the Denver Art Museum is still my favorite, but I am thrilled that I got to see the Jewish Museum as well. We had independent study time in the afternoon so we walked around and experienced as much of the city as we could without freezing to death, then ate dinner and returned to the hostel because we were all exhausted. All in all, a great day in the great city of Berlin!
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