Ok... confession time. I found out Wednesday that I'd have internet everyday until the last week. Yes, that means I can get on and Facebook (not video chat too much data), post blogs frequently, etc. but I don't think I will. I'm in this fantastic country of Jordan we amazing people and tons of things to do. I really don't want to spend time sitting on a laptop talking to people in America or updating them on how I am doing. I want to experience every moment I have here with these people I'll probably only get to know this once. I don't want distractions.
But I also realize that this isn't fair to my amazing friends back home. They want to hear from me as well, know I am safe, know all my great stories and partake in this experience with me (trust me, I want to guys here with me so much). So this is my apology for all of you. I'll get on every once in awhile and update you on what is happening, but not very often. I'll chat with you in emails if you wish, but don't expect quick replies. If I disappoint you, I'm truly truly sorry but My attention needs to be focused here for what God has for me (and He has wonderful plans that I am only starting to realize).
Do not fret though!!! I am keeping a daily journal of the events and such things and I will share these (or selected ones) on the blog once I return and have less of a life to invest in. You can also ask to look at my journal and I'll let you read it no problem, I want to keep it forever.
So here is my brief update. I love it here so much!!!! Yeah it can be rough but it's all worthwhile and amazing at the same time! I love the people in our group, I love the locals (though I can't really speak to them well), I love the location! Harta is a small village about 2 miles south of Syria and it's beautiful in a sense. Lots of fig and olive trees, seas of grain, and the lights of the city at night (from a roof) are brilliant. Being an archaeologist is tough but fantastic as well (though I'm only just training now and waking up 2 hours later than I will be on Monday). I was talking to one of the girls last night (a bunch of us were on the roof) and I was letting her how easy it would be for me to live here if I only knew the language.
God has given me this love for the country and the people. He is protecting me and guiding me while I'm here. How do I know this? everything here is exactly what I'm scarred of. Snakes, Scorpions, Spiders, getting lost, doing work, cold showers, heat, sleeping on a desk, Jordian food, strangers, waking early, squaty potties. The list goes on but God has given me a peace about these fears and guided me through them into a place where I'm in love (not romantically). I'm going to leave here and be so sad but so happy at the same time.
Please don't mistake this enthusiasm for an ignorance of bad things or thinking I've only not hit them yet. Things have been difficult, and still are. I know even harder things are to come, but I'm ok with this. I know God is leading me every step of the way and I know He won't abandon me. He has me here for a very legit reason. I believe he is leading me into the next step with my relationship with Him: Evangelism. I know many people stress that and always talk about telling my non Christian friends about God, but as I grew up, I never had friends like that. There was hardly anyone I know that I could tell or there was but the situation never fit (like the idea never came to mind or we knew each other only a small amount of time). I see this now as protection from God. He was keeping that training for another time. He would have someone else evangelize to others I could have in the past (several times that exact thing happened where I was about too but someone else came in instead). I'm not sure where He's leading me in this but I know He is and I trust Him. SOunds all messy on the computer but makes more sense in my brain =). I hope you are all having a fantastic summer and I'll update eventually. bye!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Jordan day 2
This is the last day I'll have confirmed internet. After this, it will depend on whether there is an internet cafe nearby or not. So i'll take this chance to explain my first true day in Jordan. After going to bed at 2, Luke (my roomate for this brief part of the trip) and I woke up at 5... yep. 3 hours. We weren't tired so we got up, talked, and got ready for the day. Had a good breakfast at the hotel, and started our group orientation. The group consists of 6(?) JBU students, 4 senior staff members, 2 high school students, a girl and her mother from New Orleans, a guy from Australia, another from cornerstone university, and 2 girls from another place in the USA. There is another girl but I don't recall her story. Racheal Cotner (also from JBU) lost her passport in Chicago but will be able to make it here tomorrow or the day after: which would be nice because I really could use a friend right about now. This group is pretty great. I can get along with people, but I've never been much of a talker and these people certainly don't know me so it's kinda difficult, especially since almost everyone came knowing someone on the team pretty well.
So we had orientation in the morning. Learned more about the culture, who and where we'd be working on the dig site, and how camp life will work. I was/am pretty excited and can't wait to leave for the site tomorrow morning. For lunch, we walked around Madaba with two of the senior staff members. They helped us exchange money, buy lunch, and then showed us two crazy awesome archaeological cites within the city. The first was a Greek Orthadox church with a mosaic map of the holy land on the floor. It's from the 6th century and pretty much fantastic. The second site was a tell (a spot where something was, destroyed then rebuilt over). It contained a Roman road and temple, a mansion, and two churches. Lots and lots of mosaics as well.
We made it back around 5 and Luke and I (we only have one key) went to our room to rest. We were planning on going swimming but I fell asleep and I wake up to him leaving. By the time I was able to get up, he had already made it down to the pool with the key. I couldn't lock the door, I couldn't go down there,he left me stuck in my room. So I fall back asleep hoping he'll get me up for dinner... nope, he wakes me up at 9 once he's already eaten and hung with the group and all. So I went today without lunch and dinner. (oh right, I ordered lunch but the guy never brought it to me, I guess he wasn't happy I didn't order a drink). It's a very good thing my mom bought cliff bars for me.
So that's my first day. Full of ups and downs but a wonderful day I'm sure. Keep praying that we'll be safe and that I'll make some friends here
So we had orientation in the morning. Learned more about the culture, who and where we'd be working on the dig site, and how camp life will work. I was/am pretty excited and can't wait to leave for the site tomorrow morning. For lunch, we walked around Madaba with two of the senior staff members. They helped us exchange money, buy lunch, and then showed us two crazy awesome archaeological cites within the city. The first was a Greek Orthadox church with a mosaic map of the holy land on the floor. It's from the 6th century and pretty much fantastic. The second site was a tell (a spot where something was, destroyed then rebuilt over). It contained a Roman road and temple, a mansion, and two churches. Lots and lots of mosaics as well.
We made it back around 5 and Luke and I (we only have one key) went to our room to rest. We were planning on going swimming but I fell asleep and I wake up to him leaving. By the time I was able to get up, he had already made it down to the pool with the key. I couldn't lock the door, I couldn't go down there,he left me stuck in my room. So I fall back asleep hoping he'll get me up for dinner... nope, he wakes me up at 9 once he's already eaten and hung with the group and all. So I went today without lunch and dinner. (oh right, I ordered lunch but the guy never brought it to me, I guess he wasn't happy I didn't order a drink). It's a very good thing my mom bought cliff bars for me.
So that's my first day. Full of ups and downs but a wonderful day I'm sure. Keep praying that we'll be safe and that I'll make some friends here
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Jordan day 1
So bear with me if this gets long but it was a very long 24 (?) hours. So I got to DIA (Denver International Airport) at 3:30 PM. Everything went perfectly ok, read some at the gate, got on the plane. As the plane starts to taxi, it hits me... I'm leaving. To cope, I automatically start saying Psalms 23, still not sure why I said it but it helped me so much through this crazy trip. God's word has that effect, to calm you when you start to freak out, and a bunch of other things.
So the plane takes off, and about half way to Dallas, I look out my window and see a rainbow. So I wondered... The story of the flood and the rainbow seems so much like a myth, quite like the Greek and Egyptian ones. It's some crazy impossible thing that explains why we have something people couldn't explain back then. I guess I kinda had always though of the story that way too, well in regards to the rainbow, not the flood itself. thought on it for a bit and realized, a rainbow is made from water droplets, signifies God's promise not to destroy the Earth by a flood, and usually appears at the end of a rainstorm, maybe during it. Suddenly it makes a whole lot more sense to me that God really did create the rainbow as a promise. Noah and his sons and their sons and etc. all knew the story of the flood and it's perfectly understandable that they would worry about another flood every time it rained. But God didn't give them the rainbow to comfort them DURING the storm, He gave it to show He had kept His promise at the END of the storm. Same idea works with many aspects in Christianity. We have to have faith through the bad times (or all of life) that God is really in control and keeping us safe. Then at the end of the trial, God shows us that He really was in control, mainly with the fact that the trial ended with you alive.
So I landed in Dallas with ten minutes till I started to board my next flight. It was dinner time, I was hungry. I'm starting to worry as I get off the plane, how will I make it to my gate AND get food. ok first lets get to my gate... God was looking out for me because my gate was just on the other side of the concourse, not in a separate one, which is usually what happens. Not only that, but there was a McDonalds on my way to the gate with nobody in line. By now, sitting still had taken its toll and I kept forgetting my order number and almost taking other peoples food (mine was slow for some reason). The food guy thought this was so funny, he gave me a free apple pie =). I made it to my gate, slowed down, and ate my food. I had just finished my pie when they started boarding my flight. God is good =)
The flight to London was odd, as was London for that fact. I sat next to a nice British women and in front of an American who had made this travel many times. He kindly advised me to take some Tylenol PM during dinner on the flight (wow two dinners!!! I needed it) and use a eye sleep thing... not eye patches but like two of them. I decided to watch a movie while I waited, I watched Chronicle.... biggest mistake of the trip. The movie is such a great movie but it is SO SAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just in this shock while watching it, I really couldn't eat much of my dinner, then I found it hard to sleep because I was still in shock! I really recamend this movie but just be prepared, it's pretty crazy. But I finally slept, about 4 hours, woke up with breakfast on a tray in front of me. That was nice, lol. Slowly ate that as my body disagreed about the time and he amount of sleep. Stayed awake so I could fly over cardiff =) that was brilliant =) no window seat though so I couldn't see Rose's house. OH speaking of houses, I'm pretty sure I flew really close to Lauren's if our digital map flight path was correct =) Fell asleep as I landed in London, got up and followed maze into the connecting international flights area
London does it different than America. For one, their security is less strict. (I had to go through another security thing). Also, they only open the gate of a flight about an hour before it takes off. If your gate isn't open, hang out in the MASSIVE sitting and shopping area. SO many people, probably half of them spoke English, shops only took pound (not euro's, that's important to know), and I was very lost lol. I had a 5 hour layover and I couldn't decide what to do. I could sleep, but someone might steal my stuff, so I locked up one bag and decided I'd sleep on the other... but now I was thirsty. to the exchange desk to get some... English money? doesn't Rose always call it quid, no Shane, you know this. it's a pound. I still said Euro to the exchange lady, ha! I got some pounds, exchanges other money to Jordian Dinar, bought some post cards (no Tardis) and some water. and some British chocolate =). I had a lot of "fun" trying to figure out how to use pounds, pence, and what the different coins meant but I managed to not make a fool of myself to any clerks! Took a 2 or 3 hour nap in the terminal, said it was nice to talk to a couple who sat by me while I napped and she asked if I had a good nap (I love when people play along) and I went to my gate.
Got on the plane. Well by this point my brain was gone. I made several mistakes on the London flight (attendant asked me if I would like chicken or Lasagna and I said I hadn't ordered yet, lol) but this flight was kinda the worst with that lol. I just was kinda clumsy, fumbled around, nearly knocked a lot of things over, took me awhile to figure out the tv thing, yeah I was just a mess lol. People would ask me a question and I'd just look at them.. realize they asked me something, then ask what they said. but I finally was able to focus and watch 2 movies: Sherlock Holmes 2 and We bought a Zoo. I had seen Sherlock, but it was still good to see it again since I was just in London. We bought a zoo was an increadable movie that finished literally right as we taxied into our gate in Jordan. Along the way I was able to see the amazing lights of Europe, specifically the lights of Athens Greece... Oh Athens I will visit you too one day. I've always dreamed of going to Greece so it was fantastic to see it, even if only by street light.
When I landed in Jordan, I started crying. I don't cry but the mixture of disbelief, joy, fear, loneliness, and emotions from the movie just caused me to silently (thankfully) break down. I was so happy that I finally made it to the place I had only dreamed of. God had got me here and I was so thankful, but this was just before the hardest part. I had to navigate immigration, customs, and a taxi to get to my hotel, by myself. GOd got me there. He set up events back in the states and here so that I got a good taxi driver and I wasn't scared when he drove off onto dirt roads in the desert. I made it to my hotel at 2 in the morning and slept very very nicely on a bed. a bed =) woke up 3 hours later with the sun and got online. More to come eventually =)
So the plane takes off, and about half way to Dallas, I look out my window and see a rainbow. So I wondered... The story of the flood and the rainbow seems so much like a myth, quite like the Greek and Egyptian ones. It's some crazy impossible thing that explains why we have something people couldn't explain back then. I guess I kinda had always though of the story that way too, well in regards to the rainbow, not the flood itself. thought on it for a bit and realized, a rainbow is made from water droplets, signifies God's promise not to destroy the Earth by a flood, and usually appears at the end of a rainstorm, maybe during it. Suddenly it makes a whole lot more sense to me that God really did create the rainbow as a promise. Noah and his sons and their sons and etc. all knew the story of the flood and it's perfectly understandable that they would worry about another flood every time it rained. But God didn't give them the rainbow to comfort them DURING the storm, He gave it to show He had kept His promise at the END of the storm. Same idea works with many aspects in Christianity. We have to have faith through the bad times (or all of life) that God is really in control and keeping us safe. Then at the end of the trial, God shows us that He really was in control, mainly with the fact that the trial ended with you alive.
So I landed in Dallas with ten minutes till I started to board my next flight. It was dinner time, I was hungry. I'm starting to worry as I get off the plane, how will I make it to my gate AND get food. ok first lets get to my gate... God was looking out for me because my gate was just on the other side of the concourse, not in a separate one, which is usually what happens. Not only that, but there was a McDonalds on my way to the gate with nobody in line. By now, sitting still had taken its toll and I kept forgetting my order number and almost taking other peoples food (mine was slow for some reason). The food guy thought this was so funny, he gave me a free apple pie =). I made it to my gate, slowed down, and ate my food. I had just finished my pie when they started boarding my flight. God is good =)
The flight to London was odd, as was London for that fact. I sat next to a nice British women and in front of an American who had made this travel many times. He kindly advised me to take some Tylenol PM during dinner on the flight (wow two dinners!!! I needed it) and use a eye sleep thing... not eye patches but like two of them. I decided to watch a movie while I waited, I watched Chronicle.... biggest mistake of the trip. The movie is such a great movie but it is SO SAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just in this shock while watching it, I really couldn't eat much of my dinner, then I found it hard to sleep because I was still in shock! I really recamend this movie but just be prepared, it's pretty crazy. But I finally slept, about 4 hours, woke up with breakfast on a tray in front of me. That was nice, lol. Slowly ate that as my body disagreed about the time and he amount of sleep. Stayed awake so I could fly over cardiff =) that was brilliant =) no window seat though so I couldn't see Rose's house. OH speaking of houses, I'm pretty sure I flew really close to Lauren's if our digital map flight path was correct =) Fell asleep as I landed in London, got up and followed maze into the connecting international flights area
London does it different than America. For one, their security is less strict. (I had to go through another security thing). Also, they only open the gate of a flight about an hour before it takes off. If your gate isn't open, hang out in the MASSIVE sitting and shopping area. SO many people, probably half of them spoke English, shops only took pound (not euro's, that's important to know), and I was very lost lol. I had a 5 hour layover and I couldn't decide what to do. I could sleep, but someone might steal my stuff, so I locked up one bag and decided I'd sleep on the other... but now I was thirsty. to the exchange desk to get some... English money? doesn't Rose always call it quid, no Shane, you know this. it's a pound. I still said Euro to the exchange lady, ha! I got some pounds, exchanges other money to Jordian Dinar, bought some post cards (no Tardis) and some water. and some British chocolate =). I had a lot of "fun" trying to figure out how to use pounds, pence, and what the different coins meant but I managed to not make a fool of myself to any clerks! Took a 2 or 3 hour nap in the terminal, said it was nice to talk to a couple who sat by me while I napped and she asked if I had a good nap (I love when people play along) and I went to my gate.
Got on the plane. Well by this point my brain was gone. I made several mistakes on the London flight (attendant asked me if I would like chicken or Lasagna and I said I hadn't ordered yet, lol) but this flight was kinda the worst with that lol. I just was kinda clumsy, fumbled around, nearly knocked a lot of things over, took me awhile to figure out the tv thing, yeah I was just a mess lol. People would ask me a question and I'd just look at them.. realize they asked me something, then ask what they said. but I finally was able to focus and watch 2 movies: Sherlock Holmes 2 and We bought a Zoo. I had seen Sherlock, but it was still good to see it again since I was just in London. We bought a zoo was an increadable movie that finished literally right as we taxied into our gate in Jordan. Along the way I was able to see the amazing lights of Europe, specifically the lights of Athens Greece... Oh Athens I will visit you too one day. I've always dreamed of going to Greece so it was fantastic to see it, even if only by street light.
When I landed in Jordan, I started crying. I don't cry but the mixture of disbelief, joy, fear, loneliness, and emotions from the movie just caused me to silently (thankfully) break down. I was so happy that I finally made it to the place I had only dreamed of. God had got me here and I was so thankful, but this was just before the hardest part. I had to navigate immigration, customs, and a taxi to get to my hotel, by myself. GOd got me there. He set up events back in the states and here so that I got a good taxi driver and I wasn't scared when he drove off onto dirt roads in the desert. I made it to my hotel at 2 in the morning and slept very very nicely on a bed. a bed =) woke up 3 hours later with the sun and got online. More to come eventually =)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Updates
So I haven't written in awhile, not sure why. Guess I just haven't been feeling like writing. I guess I also don't think I have anything to write about, not anything meaningful or important. Even now I'm not sure what to say.
The past two weeks haven't been uneventful, they have been pretty goo. Went to a baseball game, saw Matt Carney in concert (You jelly Gabrielle?) watched the hunger games with my friend Joel, went for a great run with Alec, staying up way to late talking to Sarah and David. Really great moments spent with great friends, but I miss Arkansas. I miss college and the work/adventures/laughs I had there. My friends here are wonderful but I've been away for too long and it's hard to relate to them when I've changed so much this past year. Life here in Colorado is good but it's slow and uneventful. I'm ready for August, for the Robbie's wedding as well as the start of the semester.
So I leave for Jordan this Saturday. The closer I get, the less and less excited I get. I keep thinking I haven't prepared enough, I'll never make it through the airport, I'll accidentally ruin an artifact. I'm mostly afraid it will be another extension of this summer: No growth, just me doing stuff and not being poured into or pouring into someone. I know the trip will be great but there is a difference between a great experience and a meaningful one.
In case you didn't know, having a mentor/being a mentor is something I've been struggling with this past year. I want so badly for someone to invest in me, to help me. Someone wiser who has been down the path of life: but God just isn't putting anyone there. I don't know what He's planning but I know He's saying He is enough for now. guess that's my trust issue again. I also really want to mentor someone else and I know several people I'd love to mentor, problem is I live in Siloam Springs and not Greeley Colorado. I could have counseled them when I lived there but it just never clicked in my brain then.
I guess finally, I'm very mad at this world. I hate the greed and pride our world thrives on. I despise how this world is groaning and causing such disasters for people (There are several really big fires in the USA right now, one which is close to me. It blots out the sky with it's awful smoke, except at sunset when it's beautiful). I want to make a difference and fix this world but I know I'm a part of the problem and only God can. more trust issues ha.
In summery, I'm very homesick right now, both for my home in Siloam Springs and for my eternal home in heaven.
I think this blog sounds a lot more depressing than how I'm actually feeling so don't worry to much about me. I started ranting and just putting my thoughts from the past couple weeks on here. I'm perfectly fine and content (much to the disagriance of my mom, which is another story,) with life so definitely don't read to much into all this. I hope you all have a fantastic summer because this will probably be my last blog post till I get back from Jordan. I may be able to post a couple depending on the internet there (I'll probably post a quick one when I get in Jordan) but I'll try to keep a personal journal then digitize it for all of you to read. Have a wonderful summer my readers.
The past two weeks haven't been uneventful, they have been pretty goo. Went to a baseball game, saw Matt Carney in concert (You jelly Gabrielle?) watched the hunger games with my friend Joel, went for a great run with Alec, staying up way to late talking to Sarah and David. Really great moments spent with great friends, but I miss Arkansas. I miss college and the work/adventures/laughs I had there. My friends here are wonderful but I've been away for too long and it's hard to relate to them when I've changed so much this past year. Life here in Colorado is good but it's slow and uneventful. I'm ready for August, for the Robbie's wedding as well as the start of the semester.
So I leave for Jordan this Saturday. The closer I get, the less and less excited I get. I keep thinking I haven't prepared enough, I'll never make it through the airport, I'll accidentally ruin an artifact. I'm mostly afraid it will be another extension of this summer: No growth, just me doing stuff and not being poured into or pouring into someone. I know the trip will be great but there is a difference between a great experience and a meaningful one.
In case you didn't know, having a mentor/being a mentor is something I've been struggling with this past year. I want so badly for someone to invest in me, to help me. Someone wiser who has been down the path of life: but God just isn't putting anyone there. I don't know what He's planning but I know He's saying He is enough for now. guess that's my trust issue again. I also really want to mentor someone else and I know several people I'd love to mentor, problem is I live in Siloam Springs and not Greeley Colorado. I could have counseled them when I lived there but it just never clicked in my brain then.
I guess finally, I'm very mad at this world. I hate the greed and pride our world thrives on. I despise how this world is groaning and causing such disasters for people (There are several really big fires in the USA right now, one which is close to me. It blots out the sky with it's awful smoke, except at sunset when it's beautiful). I want to make a difference and fix this world but I know I'm a part of the problem and only God can. more trust issues ha.
In summery, I'm very homesick right now, both for my home in Siloam Springs and for my eternal home in heaven.
I think this blog sounds a lot more depressing than how I'm actually feeling so don't worry to much about me. I started ranting and just putting my thoughts from the past couple weeks on here. I'm perfectly fine and content (much to the disagriance of my mom, which is another story,) with life so definitely don't read to much into all this. I hope you all have a fantastic summer because this will probably be my last blog post till I get back from Jordan. I may be able to post a couple depending on the internet there (I'll probably post a quick one when I get in Jordan) but I'll try to keep a personal journal then digitize it for all of you to read. Have a wonderful summer my readers.
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