Archive for October, 2007

Yesterday began at 5:45. It was so early because I had to make it to the train station by 7 am; in order to do this I had to catch Tram 26 at 6:17. After shaking the cobwebs out on an early Saturday morning I made it to the tram station with time to spare, BUT as I stepped onto the tram it dawned on me that we were leaving the country and going to Bratislava, Slovakia for our 1st place show down with the Monarchs. The thought was. “Do I need my passport?”

So I wrestled within myself, “Am I really going to need it?” Ultimately, I think it was the Spirit prompting me, but I tried my hardest to convince myself that the paper copy I carry in my pseudo-man-purse was enough, because the last time we went through as a team in 2005 they didn’t check. Well, my rational didn’t make sense with my coach and after trying to figure out what I should do I decided to grab a taxi, get the passport and then catch the bus before it got out of Prague! Thus a little early morning adventure on the streets of Prague began.

Praise God there was a taxi right there, but it wasn’t the trusted AAA company and I didn’t have time to wait so I prayed and asked God that this guy wouldn’t rip me off! The next 20 minutes spent in his taxi were humoring considering he didn’t speak any English and my Czech is light years better than 6 weeks ago when I arrived, BUT this taxi ride began before 7 am on a Saturday morning after a long, full week of language class. So needless to say my “Czech mind” wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but we got the passport and caught the bus! Thus ending my little morning adventure. I then found $20 on the street as I got on the bus (not really, but that story seemed to die so I needed to say something to attempt to redeem it). Oh, and he didn’t rip me off! It was a fair fare.

Anyway, to the game. We lost. It was the junior team’s first lost of the season and it came after a HUGE win over our cross-town rivals, the Panthers, last week. So it was a bit tough for our guys to get up two weeks in a row and that equaled a 6-0 defeat. At half time it was 0-0 and we were winning most of the battles, but didn’t win the war of the whole game. Our defense was playing great and they (Bratislava) weren’t doing anything. Our offense would put together drives and move the ball, but wouldn’t be able to finish it with a score. Their only score came on a 4th and 1 70-yard quarterback sneak. Yeah. No fun.

Good comes from defeats like this. It’s a learning experience for down the road and it hopefully shows these guys that if they were to up their work ethic they would see more success. Another plus, is that losing produces a healthy brokenness. Jason (another American missionary involved with the Lions) and I saw this on the way home, as we both had significant conversations with guys. We are both excited to see what God will do with the junior team as we coach. Please pray that God would grab a hold of some of theses guys’ hearts!

Well, maybe not. It would be nice if they did. So in all my “Mac evangelism” I’ve seen the occasional friend do the big SWITCH (that is from pc to a Mac), the latest is my good friend from Ohio, Troy Havens. Last night was a huge blessing because Troy and I got to get on iChat and catch up with one another and pray for each other! Priceless indeed! Thanks for taking some time for me Troy! Check out some snapshots of us chatting, Troy even showed me his black eye. I don’t think you shared that story with me Troy! Well, I have to get some time with God before going to have my daily drilling in Czech class! Be a Revolution, even if you’re getting drilled by a ridiculously hard language!

So this is what I woke up to on NFL.com:

What a great way to start the week! Especially, since I got a few calls, messages and etc. about the pack being 4-0 and how they were just going to spank my Bears. Words, spoken to soon? Well, I have to get going. Language class in my Greg Olsen football jersey awaits! Have a blessed day.

So those of you who know me well, know that I have been swept off my feet by Steve Jobs and everything Apple. It is one of my missions to get people on Macs. For more reasons than I care to type up in this moment of procrastination, but one of the reasons is because of iChat. iChat is “videoconferencing for the rest of us.” Pretty much I want to talk to you and I only have two buddies on my list. So go out and get a Mac so we can talk and if you have a Mac let me know! Okay, I have to get going on something else than blogging!

“October will be rainy.” That was one of the main headlines I understood as I read the morning addition of 24 Hodin, a newspaper produced daily here in Prague. One of my morning regulars, as we commute to language class, is picking up this free newspaper from the lady at Staroméstka metro station. It has been fun speaking my bad Czech to her telling her that she is helping me learn as I attempt to read this newspaper every morning on my tram ride to school. Anyway, I really didn’t need to read this in a newspaper to tell you this. Last week our junior team (I coach the skill positions), played Brno home and we got dumped on (see the pic below). Let’s just say I’ve learned words like deÅ¡tivý (rainy), mokrý (wet), suchý (dry) and more in very, very practical ways as of late. I’m grateful that my dad bought me some rain gear right before I left the States. I just got it because I didn’t have any, but my trusty orange Columbia rain jacket has become my most prized possession thus far. Thanks Dad! Okay, I need to get some time with God, work on my prayer letter (sorry its late), and maybe right some thank yous. Blessings to you this Saturday!

That is me right now. “Why?” you ask. Well, I have the internet in my flat in Prague! Not only that but my new Apple Airport Extreme Wireless Base Station and Vonage line is up and going! What does that mean? It means I have wireless net throughout my flat and with the Vonage line I have an American phone number (my old cell number) to make calls in the States with. So now I have a corner of my living room that is filled with wires and glowing lights (see the pic). Beyond the obvious reason I’m so excited, I’m excited because it was easy. Yes it was easy. It feels like everything I have done in the last month has been hard. Like a constant reminder that we live outside the Garden, in a fallen world, where everything is working against us (see here). God graciously gave me a moment where something worked and it was easy! Praise Him. Praise Him as well for the hard stuff, like my shipping ordeal. Please continue to pray for it. It is still sitting in Chicago but the hope is that it would be out soon. God is good in the midst of even this. He’s teaching me a ton, and working and shaping my character through this. Very cool.

Those four words were the subject to an email I got this week and it was a little bit of joy! My good friend Andy Wojtowski knows how to bless a guy, here is what he wrote:

I just wanted to drop you a quick line and tell you not to order the new Driscoll book coming out in Feb. I just ordered 2 copies and one will be coming your way as soon as I get it. By the way it will be signed by Driscoll and his co author Dr. Gerry Breshears. Saw it on the resurgence site and thought of you. Hope this helps make your day a little easier with language classes.

“Yeah!” Thank you Andy! I was and am so excited by your kind act and I can’t wait to get the book. The only sad thing is reading is tough for me right now. With language school whooping my rear there are quite a few books I have on my bookshelf that are collecting dust. In time… You need to check out the Vintage Jesus site and order a bunch of copies of this book. I loved the topical sermon series that this book stems from that Driscoll did a year or so ago. In fact, this is a book I will probably buy a lot of copies to use as a ministry tool with nonbelievers. Thanks Andy for the little bit of joy!

I’ve wanted to posts these two pics for a week or so now and haven’t had a chance to, but here they are tonight! These two young men you see in the pics with me are two of my newest friends here in Prague. Jason is on the left and Earnie (Matt) is on the right. Jason works at another friend’s hostel (The Czech INN) here in Prague, but will be a co-owner of a new hostel opening up in the next year, called Mosaic House. Ernie works for a missions organization in a town about an hour away from Prague but is in Prague for at least 5 months (pray its 10!) studying Czech as well. Earnie also doubles as my roommate; so that means he has to put up with me! So anyway, one of my prayers was that God would bring some guys at my life stage into my life here and He has! He’s so good. I’m so grateful for the deep friendships I have with these two in such a short time! Love ya guys!