2 Tenths

Now I'm done with two weeks. I'm currently sitting outside in my bathing suit in 80 degree weather and getting a sun. For all of those concerned, the answer is "No, I'm not wearing sun screen lotion." I don't know where it is in this house and I'm not going to rummage through my host parents' drawers.

I had a very cool experience yesterday. I went to a concert with my new, very good friend Dugan, his sister Breeze and their good friend (now Dugan's better friend if you know what I mean) Haylee. The band was called Starlight Radio and they were pretty folk rockish. Very good sound. Great music. The lead singer has amazing vocals. It was really up my alley. What was cool was not necessarily the concert though. What was cool was there was a guy in the front row just raising his hand and even stood by himself once during the show just praising (I'm assuming) God. The band wasn't a Christian band. They weren't singing praise songs. No one else was praising with this guy. But there he was. Praising. Appreciating.

I was confused at first but then the more I watched this guy I started to realize something. This man was not praising the band or with the band or to the songs being sung. This guy was praising God for allowing his ears to hear such incredible beauty flow out of something earthly. This guy was praising God because His beauty was being revealed to us. It wasn't in a form of a Psalm. It wasn't in a hymn. It was everyday life exuding God's beauty. It was an incredible reminder that God is truly everywhere. Everything on this earth is God's and God can be revealed through everything. It is his beauty that shines through the beautiful things on earth. It is merely our choice to praise him for it. I hope that we choose to. I hope I choose to.

Beyond that, I am finding myself a little better around old Heartland Community Church. I'm getting involved in a small group and I'm probably going to even co-lead it. I'm writing some scripts for some sketches and announcements and videos so that' s fun too. I'm just moving all the time though so feeling productive is not really a priority. I'm not in one spot long enough to really accomplish anything. Maybe that's not what I'm here for. Maybe I'm here just to soak. I don't like that though. I want to be of some value. I want to be good at what I'm doing. I don't feel like I'm good at this. I just feel like I CAN do this. It's not hard to sit in meetings and give input or no input. I think I need a project to accomplish. And again, maybe that's what the real test for me this summer is going to be. It's going to be me not being in the lead. I have to follow. I just have to listen and accept. Ideas are okay to give but they are most likely only going to be ideas that feed off of others' vision. That's hard for me. This should be a great summer. We'll see what happens.