david crowder "surely we can change"

And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something

And the problem it seems
Is with you and me
Not the Love who came
To repair everything

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Let us be brave
Where there is misery
Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Oh surely we can change
Something

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change

seven years of czech

the pictures from the past seven years of czech experiences are scattered all over the place, but i'll try to find some to chronicle all of my experiences there!

my first time in czech was actually in 2003. i had been planning to do an English camp, and my family was going to drop me off there after our visit to England. the trip with the church was canceled, but my family still went to czech for about two days. but...no pictures from that!

2004 - the ugliest camp shirts ever. this was my first camp with pardubice when we were performing the camp song in church.

2005 - camp dance right before we left.

2006 - in keeping up with the theme, they're doing the camp dance right before we left.

2008 - internship. hanging out with keith, amanda, and helena at the castle in Pardubice

april 2009 - Stramberk castle with Tessa and Krupa

fall 2009 - the cottage with Bohumin and the students i taught at the Christian International School of Prague

2010 - everyone at English Camp

how God has blessed me

for seven years i've been wanting to say this...

i'm moving to czech!

this is a picture of my team from the first time i did an English camp in 2004. after that experience i was determined to move to czech.

and my desire to move there hasn't always been prevalent. i remember one such time specifically

at one point when i was student teaching in prague in 2009. i was loving living there, and i wanted to eventually move back. i went to visit a missionary friend and we visited a castle

(as you do in czech). we sat and prayed for a bit, and he prayed that if it was God's will for me to move there that i would just feel it in my bones. it made me kind of sad because i didn't feel such a strong desire and i wanted to. make no mistake: i felt a huge burden for czech and really did feel that God would have me back there at some point. but at that time i wanted to be there but didn't feel that God did.

this summer i returned for another English camp, and i knew when i returned that it was

time to start praying about going back there full time. my best friend, Tessa (on the right from the English camp we did together in 2006), and i kind of started praying one night that God would move us there together. and the next day, Tessa had an email waiting in her inbox asking if she and i would like to move to czech and run a school.

the ironic part is that we had been asked to do this before. and at that point, the timing was bad for Tessa, and i was so afraid of raising support that i didn't even really consider it.

but this is completely God. his timing, his plan. everything keeps coming together. this next year before we move isn't going to go as smoothly as these last two months have.

so please pray with us: that we'll be fixed on why God has called us to czech right now, and that we would feel burdened for the czechs we'll be encountering once we're there.

thank you God for granting me this desire in your perfect timing, seven years later.