Past couple weeks...

A lot has happened since my last blog.  I went to Byron Bay, land of the hippies and amazing swell.  This trip was terrific and it was really fun to experience a totally different culture.  I went with Mitch, Chris, Natalie, Nicole, and Katie.  Mitch and Chris are my fun surfing buddies from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  No, the one from Massachusetts is no gay. lol  They are for sure two of my closest friends here.  Natalie is just a ball of sunshine right out of California.  Nicole and Katie are both always fun as well due to their worry free attitude.  Katie is actually from Augsburg college in MN which makes me soooo happy.  We will continue to have great times even once we get back to the frozen tundra. 

Byron Bay was definitely not as big and luxurious as surfer’s paradise, but that is why it was so fun.  The hostel we stayed at was sweet.   Let’s just say there were rainbows and hippies everywhere.  I do not agree with everything these people think or do, but I do appreciate the fact that they know how to have a "no worries" type of attitude.   Most of these people are walking around with barely any money yet a lot of happiness.  They appreciate the journey in life.   Sometimes I think that Americans can be overly uptight.  People are so concerned with making money that they forget to enjoy the journey of life. 

Another fun thing I did was go to a true Australian Rugby game.  I watched the Brisbane Reds play the Melbourne Rebels.  The reds stomped them 50-3, but it was still fun to experience a true rugby game.  The environment there was incredible and it was different than your typical American football game.  Hmmm what else did I do?  Rock pools!  These were awesome!  Mom, dad…. We are definitely doing these once you get here.  You can jump off these cliffs or you can go down this natural waterslide.  It was awesome!  I have already talked to some of my Australian friends about taking us!   Although it is not better than bridge jumping at the cabin in the summer… : )

There are a lot more stories that I hope to tell all of you one day, but unfortunately I am a little too overwhelmed with homework to tell you all of them now, but I will update you again soon!  I am going to Melbourne this weekend so I will definitely try and bring back some great stories. 

Who am I? Who should I be? What do people want me to be? What does the Lord want me to be?

WHO AM I???  This is a constant debate.  The world (friends, family, “the media”, etc.) tells me and makes me feel like I should be a certain way.  But how do I know that they are correct about who I am supposed to be?  What if I want to be something completely different, but I cannot be “myself” due to their judgments or criticism?   Maybe I am the only one who struggles with this, but I doubt it.  Self identity is a huge issue in this day and age.  I speak from experience.  I have always been overly concerned with what people think about me.  This has given people the ability to dictate WHO I am.  I realize that I am only supposed to listen to the Lord when it comes to these types of things, but it is easier said than done.  I know that people in my life do not purposely try to limit who I am.  It is my fault for giving their opinion so much power.  The first month in Australia I absolutely loved it because no one expected a certain behavior out of me.  This gave me the ability to determine what or who I want to be.  Most of the time it is about little stupid things, but that sense of freedom makes a big difference.  It may be as stupid as “am I a long hair or short hair type of guy?”  Or maybe “am I funny person in the group or am I the serious one?”  I know there are certain characteristics that I want to have, but that definitely does not mean I have them.  I realize I probably do not look as good with long hair, but it is something that I wanted to do.  It is hard for me to do something other than what people expect of me, but it is important that I learn how to be my own person.  Or better yet, the Lord’s.  I do not have all the answers to these types of questions, but I am working on finding the answers.  As I sit here reading my Bible, I come across many verses that talk about giving ALL of myself to the Lord.  I constantly pray that I can do this, but the truth is that I have failed at it.  I am going to do the best I can to base my answers on the Lord and not worldly opinions, but I can use all the prayer I can get. 

I had an interesting thing happen to me recently while I was spending some time with the Lord.  Those close to m know that I have recently been going through some tests of faith.  I recently had some sort of allergic reaction and it was not very good on my body.  Sometimes when you least expect it, bad things happen.  The question is, where are we going to turn when bad things happen?   While I am proud to say that I actually quickly turned to the Lord in this particular situation. In fact, something pretty powerful happened to me.  I was holding my Bible and praying harder than I have probably ever prayed.  I prayed that the Lord could work in my life and that I would stop giving Satan so much power of my life.  At that very moment while I was praying these words, I noticed a drip of blood hit my Bible.  I felt my nose and realized that I had a bloody nose; in fact, it was probably the worst bloody nose that I have ever experienced.  I realize this could likely just be a random coincidence, but I am not going to look at it that way.  I am going to look at it as a reminded that Lord is at work in my life.  It may not always be easy or visually appealing, but He is there and He is at work.  The Lord is “refining me through the fire.”  He has my complete attention.  I hope that in the future I am able to constantly keep my attention on the Lord so I do not have to struggle so much. 

A few things I love about Australia...

·         The WEATHER!!!  (90 degrees every day without a cloud in the sky)

·         The people (everyone is extremely nice!  I decided that there is no one in the world nicer than an Australian Christian!  Christians are nice and Australians are nice so when you combine them, wow!)

·         Elevation church is definitely a blessing.

·         The ocean and the beach (surfing, swimming, body boarding, running, and laying on the beach)

·         I definitely fancy the Australian way of communicating.  I am going to attempt to bring back some Australian lingo.

·         The nights here are a perfect temperature.  So relaxing.

·         I have met friends from literally all around the world.

·         Bandannas

·         No one here asks me why I am so tan!  I really appreciate this.

·         Subway! (It is definitely nice to occasionally get a nice big foot long from Subway.  Even if they don’t have the $5 foot long.)

·         The night life!  Except I must confess that I don’t have the endurance of a true Australian.  I still enjoy my sleep way too much.  Although I have seen the sun rise at the end of a great night.  (Eli’s birthday!!)

·         Hillsong!  (I am so excited to go to their church in a couple weekend!) 

·         Movie nights in varsity shores

·         Late night hot tub

·         Rugby

·         SINGLETS!!!!

Shout out to all my future roommates in "the cabin" next year!!!!!! :)

Slow down, take a look around….

Hmmm why do I constantly fall into a routine?  Why do I always forget to just slow my life down and soak in all the special moments.  My mind analyzes and picks apart every detail of my life.  I love to do things the best I possibly can and do them efficiently.  This can be an extremely good thing, but it also sometimes turns my life into a giant “checklist.”  It is easy to feel like I am constantly working or trying to “check something off my list.”  Life is a journey that is meant to be enjoyed.  As I sit here on a beautiful night in the center of Bond Uni campus overlooking the fountain, I cannot help but be overwhelmed.  It has been a full two months since I left America and yet the thought of being on the other side of the world still amazes me.  Life goes by so fast sometimes that it is hard to even sit back and appreciate your circumstances.  Every minute the Lord has given each of us is a blessing that should be appreciated.  As my very wise father has told me growing up, “each minute of your life is a minute that you cannot get back so take advantage of it.”  Or better yet, “life is not about the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.”  Or even better, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  Or best yet, “You plant corn, you get corn!” (Just kidding wonderful father; I love your wise quotes!)  It is true.  I have a lot of moments in my life that truly take my breath away.  Unfortunately sometimes I let a lot of moments pass without even acknowledges the fact that I am experiencing something amazing.  I know that I sound like a Sunday school teacher when I say this, but I think it is so important to count your blessings every single day.  The more I focus on my blessings, the more I fall deeply in love with the Lord; giver of each of every moment in my life.  It is a insult to the Lord every time you forget to even recognize your blessings.  We deserve nothing, yet still are continually blessed.

Life is a journey. (Definitely still one of my favorite songs!)  Make sure to enjoy each and every experience, victory, failure, laugh, tear, and every type of moment because life is something that is meant to be enjoyed.  Life can be whatever you want it to be. It is your job to start thinking what you want out of life because life is full of opportunities and it is easy to just let them go by.  In the end, all I want to say is thank you everyone for helping bless my life with many unforgettable moments.  I am truly blessed…..

                    Ps I love you Mom and Dad!!  Next month is going to be amazing!!! 

Oh hello….. you.

I thought it might be fun to write a little post about how different cultures greet you.  First of all, I have met hundreds of new people and I am not good with names so I have had a lot of moments when I needed to humbly apologize and tell them I have no idea what their name is.  That being said, even if I know the name of the person, I never quite know what to expect when I go in for a greeting.  I am friends with so many people from so many different cultures that it has almost become a guessing game for me.  Do I hug them, high 5 them, pound them, give them a “bro hug”, kiss them, or do I just awkwardly walk up and say “Hey.”  I if you go for the kiss on the cheek during a greeting, is it just one kiss or one kiss for each cheek?  This may seem like not a big deal, but it definitely can be.  You should have seen my face the first time one of my Norwegian friends kissed me on the cheek before I left.  I probably looked like a “middle schooler” who just had his first kiss.  I was slightly confused and thought to myself “Wow that was bold.”  I quickly figured out the whole kiss on the cheek thing, but it definitely gave me a laugh.  There are so many options which can definitely lead to some very funny moments.  For example, some cultures do not acknowledge the “bro hug.”  It is kind of awkward when you turn a handshake into a half hug….  But ultimately, I don’t care because these moments are fun.  Whenever I feel like I do something wrong I simply respond by saying “sorry, I am American” and then they laugh and we move on.   Or when in doubt just give them a huge smile.   :) 

DREW KLEIMAN IS AWESOME!!!!

 

Psalm 26:16-18

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.  The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.  Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins.”   

This is one of my new favorite verses.  There is so many different things that I love about it.  Every person can relate to the first verse.  Everyone has at one time felt lonely and afflicted.  That is a part of our human nature.  The world tells us a lot of different ways we can get rid of this feeling, but the truth is that all of the worldly will end up failing to take away ALL of your loneliness.  There have been times in my past where I was surrounded by so many amazing friends yet still went to bed feeling lonely.  I am now on the other side of the world and I miss all of my friends, but I feel less lonely than I ever have.  I recognized my feeling of loneliness and I gave it to the Lord.  He has given me a lot of strength as a man of God.  I have learned to love moments where I am alone because they present opportunities to get closer to the Lord.  A lot of people of this world have a fear of being alone, but I personally think it is nothing to be scared of because you will ALWAYS have the Lord.  Not only is the Lord always there, but he can make you feel more fulfilled and secure than any human could.  Your relationship with the Lord is the one relationship that you can be 100% will never end.  He is always there!

The second part of this verse is also extremely good for me because I tend to stress about a lot of things that don’t matter in the long run.  I give too much attention to the troubles of this world.  It is important that recognize that they are just that, troubles of this WORLD.  None of it is eternal.  I am continually trying to give my concerns over to the Lord because I do not benefit in any way by stressing about something.  No worries mate….  :)

The third part is great because it is asking the Lord to consider what you are going through.  I know the Lord always knows what is happening in your life, but it is nice to recognize the fact that he knows exactly what you are feeling and that he is there for you even when you make mistakes.  This verse helps my view of my relationship with the Lord because it acknowledges the fact that the Lord is not oblivious to my struggles.  He knows when I am struggling and he is there to help me and forgive me for my mistakes.  This is a very comforting thought.  

Shout out to my favorite new Aussie friend Aimee …..  Don’t ever be afraid to flash those pearly white teeth.  Your smile has power!   Tearna, you are a pretty sweet Aussie as well!