Saturday, 16 May 2009

• Day 4 More of the same but better!

  Healthy eating
  
  I don’t think I have eaten this good in a long time. In fact I don’t think I have eaten as organic ever. It’s been quite a treat. I really like the family I am staying with, despite the slight discomfort I feel for damaging one of their cars. Nevertheless, we had another great breakfast with Chicken and Apple sausages and waffles.
  
  The morning did not begin with a run. Instead I got to talk to a friend of mine who recently moved to Mexico. It was slightly unfair since he got to also see me but I could not see him due to him not having a webcam. But it was still great to catch up with him.
  
  Soma School
  
  The morning went by fast. We went through training on how to do dialogical teaching. Somewhere in there I had a phone conversation with an insurance company about the car accident. It was pretty official but it went alright.
  
  Lunch was spent with the Romanians who are at the conference. We struggled to decide on a place for lunch and ended up at a local “melting pot” restaurant, as one of the owner said. It was a good opportunity, albeit brief, to get to know some of the people I will be working alongside for the summer.
  
  The afternoon was an extended sermon on four truths about God. These are:
  
  God is Great so we don’t have to be in control.
  God is Glorious so we don’t have to fear others.
  God is Good so we don’t have to look elsewhere for satisfaction.
  God is Gracious so we don’t have to prove ourselves/defend ourselves
  
  It was a powerful discussion on the gap that we so often have between what we believe in our hearts and what we know in our head about God. The thoughts from the discussion will continue in my head and in my conversations for this weekend.
  
  One of the memorable phrases I wrote down was about how much God loves me (or any other of his children): If God has a refrigerator, your picture is on it!
  
  Dinner and brothers of the leaf
  
  After we got done with the discussion we got back home and had dinner with the host family. I was really glad I had vetoed the offer to go to the indian restaurant for lunch because the family had prepared an awesome Indian dinner. We had a good time talking about Christianity in Africa, Banjos, Mandolins, and LOST. We may have some converts on that last one.
  
  The evening ended with a visit to the house I stayed last year. We were invited for a special night called brothers of the leaf. Yes, you guessed it, it is a group for single men who are deeply concerned about going green. Actually, that couldn’t be farther than the truth. These boys smoke pipes for pleasure and have some deep conversations over a glass of scotch. I won’t go into the discussion over the use of tobacco or alcohol. I did not smoke but I really enjoyed the conversation. I got to know the story of a couple of other guys that were in town for the conference and overall had a good time.
  
  Lessons about myself
  
  My words bite!
  
  I am still not over the trauma of getting chased by a dog (part one, part two).
  
  I am not as good ……. (fill in the blank: looking, talker, friend, man, etc.) as I think I am but I also don’t need to try to be since it is not what God looks at.
  
  I really need to find a balance between Filip driven by reason and Filip led by emotions. Suggestions welcome.
  
  
  Thoughts on the fourth day of last year.
  
  
  
  

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