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.

the beach.

on saturday i went to the beach for the first (and last) time this summer. it was glorious.

i

was with this lovely girl, drew. as i pulled up to meet her she gave an excited little jump of glee (i fe

el the same when i see her!) and waited a couple minutes for another girl who we weren't sure was coming. during that time we stared down several cars, inspecting them to see if she w

as in it, scaring drivers.

so we left, stopped at wawa

for coffee (for me) and slim jims (for drew). stopped at wawa again for my bladder. finally made it to 8th street in ocean city and drove around forever. pa

rked on 13th, ran to the bathroom again. paid the young boy who was being paid to sit there $5 to be allowed on the beach (rip off!). set up our stuff, ate

food, put on sunscreen, and sat in the sun warming up. we cautiously went out to the water, unsure whether our belongings would be stolen (the

y weren't). we swam for about five minutes because the waves were serious and i kept m

ooning everyone. ate more food, made bracelets (mine was just a bunch of knots in a piece of string), ran to the bathroom again. ate more food, listened to music

(adele, simon & garfunkel, moody blues, tracy chapman - i had my parents' ipod), took naps, got burned (on the top of my foot, a sliver of my ankle, the back

s of my knees, botto

m of my butt, and my chest).

bought fudge, drove to 30th street near drew's beach house. got pulled over by a cop who was following me:

i had a brake light out. seriously? in manheim you get pulled over for going 20 over, not for a brake light. it's common occurrence here to race another vehicle to the closest parking spot, to not stop at stop signs (and even if you do you don't care if another person was there before you), to go 15 over everywhere, and to drive big ol' gas guzzlin' trucks. who gives a rip if your brake light is out?

ocean city policewoman cared. i like policemen; i even confessed that to drew earlier in the day. i don't like policewomen who pull me over for a brake light being out. then i of course didn't have an updated insurance card (i probably threw it out accidentally knowing me - and there's one on its way in the mail as i type). but she "cut me a big break" - i think she didn't want to deal with me and actually thought i had been under the influence of something - because drew didn't know where the beach house was, and i kept flicking my turning signal on and off because she was randomly pointing everywhere :)

after that we went back to the beach, took pictures,

i got my butt wet while taking pictures, ate more, and went on our waybecause we were planning to stop at chic fil a.

we left, typed "chic fil a" into the gps, paid an extra toll

to get there, and it wasn't there. there was a mall, so we thought it might be inside. i slipped sweat pants over my wet butt, though may it be noted i still had a wet butt, and we went inside. there was no chic fil a, just a cheap knock off called "chicken now". so we decided reluctantly to get food anyway in case we couldn't find one. we ate and ran (i had to push drew away from her favorite stores), i of course went to the bathroom again, and were on our

way.

a couple exits later we saw a sign for chic fil a. so we took the exit, finally found it, and had our chic fil a. it was wonderful. all we had wanted and more. but by then of course we didn't have time to stop at wawa because we had to get home.

and that was the beach.

august worship playlist (which will get added to!)

matt redman: never once

matt redman: you alone can rescue

natalie grant: your great name

chris tomlin: God of this city

hillsong: the stand

hillsong: hosanna

chris tomlin: our God

matt redman: my hope

tricia brock: you are my shepherd

jeremy riddle: furious

feeling God

at camp in czech there was one girl who i adored right off the bat. she's heard the gospel before and hangs out with a youth group who's been praying for her for a while. she believes the gospel, but she wants to feel God before she becomes a Christian. no doubt there are other things in the way, but i feel like this is pretty valid. moses saw signs from God to know it was him, Gideon asked God for different signs, even his disciples had to see Jesus after the resurrection to believe it was him.

so...what do i tell her? that she may not ever physically feel God in the way that she wants? thoughts?

oh czech.

there's something about czech that always captures my heart. being there has only renewed my focus of being there. the next step of the journey is praying about moving there.

these beautiful people were just at camp with me for a week. they're the new crew who i've fallen in love with. there's so much to say about the camp, but i learned two great things.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

i experienced great weakness before czech, and i prayed for it for the team while we were there. during training one of the things that was talked about was praying without ceasing. in thinking about how to get to that point, i realized that with weakness there's more prayer, and therefore Christ is stronger. my weakness appeared in ways i wasn't expecting - different distractions and struggles. but God granted me them so i could rely more fully on him.

there were also some things that happened, or almost happened, that upset me a bit. while i was praying about it i clearly heard God telling me that his plan is greater than mine, and i couldn't see nearly as far as He does. and so i let this struggle go. it's his, and i trust him.

i made some great friendships. i was encouraged by the czech christians who were persecuted by their families for their faith. i watched it unfold at one time and saw the discouragement my friend felt. but what amazing people they are. i'm so thankful for them and their solid faith.