This song has been rocking my world lately. It is called "More than Life" written by Hillsong United. I definitely had to learn this one.

Stand by everything You said
Stand by the promises we made
Let go of everything I've done
I'll run into Your open arms
And all I know

Chorus:
I love You more than life
I love You more than life

Fall back on everything You've done
Fall back on everlasting arms
When all the world is swept away
You are all the things I need
You're the air I breathe

How can it be
You were the one on the cross
Lifted for all our shame?
How can it be
The scars in Your hands are for me?
You are the king of all

So, I realized that I have written so little about my latest trip to Croatia and have not given it the just word pictures. My trip back from Rijeka was definitely one of the most interesting and insightful of all the former trips. So the following is a word layout of some of the highlights of that trip. I hope it is truly entertaining.

• The bus ride from Rijeka to Zagreb - normally this is a really easy and relaxing 2.5 hours on a bus, but this time it was a little different. For one, I got on the bus at 1 am, so that makes it more difficult to be fun. But the major problem was the heat of the bus. It was crazy humid and the bus was packed. So, I get on the bus and am looking for a seat. All of the back seats are taken up by guys laying across them (I was seriously tempted to push one of them over to make room for me, but I fortunately realized my witness was worth more than that). So, I took a seat next to a large Croatian man. I immediately start sweating profusely. So, the whole ride was the two of us rubbing our sweaty, hairy arms together while trying to sweat. Yeah! Pretty gross. Probably the most interesting part was the multiple men wearing no shirts. I kind of enjoyed the fact that people across the world are all a little white trash.
• This trip was where my ipod shuffle project started. A worthy project indeed!
• As I was waiting for my plane in Frankfurt, I sat next to a guy that ended up being really cool to talk to. His name is Mike and he was just finishing his time in the US Army and was on his way home from being stationed in Germany. He told me all about being in the Army and his two terms in Iraq with the latest conflict there. He was in the infantry and was in a town near Baghdad. We got talking and he found out I was a Christian, and so we started talking all about that. He was telling me about some very strange coincidences that made it apparent to him that God existed and was present in our lives. It was just really cool and encouraging to talk with him and see someone that has come out of some really tough stuff and really want to serve God with his life.
  
• On the flight from Frankfurt to Denver, there was this German guy on the flight that looked just like Dwight from The Office. It made me laugh quite a bit and probably creeped him out a lot to have me staring at him a lot.
• The most amazing thing to bring on a long airplane ride is slippers. Taking off your shoes is mandatory on those long rides, and putting those feet in nice comfy slippers is the best next step.
  
• We flew over Hudson Bay in Canada and it was amazing. Parts of it were frozen and it was sunny and beautiful out. It was really cool to see.
• As we were about to touch down in Denver, about 100 feet off the runway, the plane started to ascend again. I thought that was unusual. Usually, the plane continues down and lands, but not this time. We get back up a bit in the air and start to turn. The pilot comes on the intercom and informs us that he didn't land because there was something in the way in the runway. I started wondering what that might be - another plane, a person, a paper bag, a cow. I never found out. We came back around and landed the second time and unfortunately there was no cow carcass on the runway after we plowed through it.

• The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, which was nice and allowed me to get a little sleep. And once again, the flight ended in Portland where I went to the hospital to see my mom. I don't think I ever want to fly anywhere again. Every time I have left, my mom has gone into the hospital. No leaving for me anytime soon!

I hope you enjoyed that with me. Have a nice day!

The Mysteries of Signs - part 6



OK, take a minute and observe the sign above... I know, interesting! The writing might start to give us a clue to what the sign must mean. Skolska patrola - ok, I'm not a scholar in the Croatian language, but I think I've got this one. I'm going with School patrol... So, part of the mystery is uncovered.

But what is the school patrol doing? It appears that the patrol person is hitting the miniature people with his racket. John and I had a few discussions over this sign. We concluded that this must be actually a sign of future warning. You might wonder what they might be warning us of... clearly, I feel the answer must be a warning of the world without shuttlecocks (investigate here). This might surprise you, but it is clear that the patrol person is not doing his job, but is actually playing badminton with small children, which he should be protecting. Quite disturbing! It almost makes me sick to my stomach.

517 / 858 (60.3%)

I'm over 60% now! It has been an extremely difficult challenge, but it has been very rewarding also. I feel that I am over the hump of the most difficult stage. I just hope that I don't hit the wrong button and start the whole process over. It can and will happen!

CROATIA TRIP

So, I have been back from Croatia almost a week now and have had a little time to process the trip. It has been a little difficult to process with all that is going on here with my mom, but O have managed to fit time in to process between being at the hospital and watching tv (going overseas is horrible if you ever want to be productive ever again in the U.S. TV is really entertaining and there is always so much going on in tv peoples' lives that I never want to miss watching them).

There was a lot that went on and I know that I won't write about most of it. Some of the highlights were a trip to Sarajevo to visit John and a trip to southern Croatia with my buddy Dario. Both were great in different ways. The trip to Sarajevo was mainly focused around food and pictures. Bosnia is famous for its cevapcici (fabulous, tasty little meat fingers) and has great burek (meat pie) and kebap (amazing Turkish meat sandwich) - notice a theme around meat - John should be proud of me. The picture focus was all about the "John and Andy's" (blog here). And for those of you thinking that "John and Andy" was dead, think again!

The trip to southern Croatia was mainly focused around having fun and hanging out with my buddy Dario, who's a recent graduate from the University of Rijeka. We went to the cities of Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Primosten and Trogir. All of these places were amazing in their own ways, but my favorites were Zadar and Trogir. In the next few days, I'll put up pictures and explain more about these cities. Both nights we stayed with Dario's grandparents in a small town called Jezera. They were so nice and blessed us so much. We ate like kings! I was even made fun of because I couldn't finish my plate (if you've ever seen me, you would know that this was a feat).

Other highlights were hanging with friends (especially meals with Zoran and coffee dates with my ladies), talking with the summer project guys, seeing so many friends at my goodbye party, and just walking around the smelly, dirty city I learned to love. One of the funny, horribly ironic things was I think I used and learned more Croatian on this trip than I had in the previous six months I lived there before.

It was definitely a nice way to say goodbye to the friends I love and the city I grew and experienced so much in. I went back to Rijeka to gain closure and completion in my time there, and thank God, I got exactly what I needed. I can honestly say that this chapter in my life is complete (not that I will never go to Croatia again). Thank you, Lord!

379 / 858 (44.2%)

I have done this in honor of my most famous boss, Matt Mikalatos (blog here) and his current word count for his book he is writing. I am also undergoing a very special project. Mine is slightly different, though, because I am listening to music, not writing a book. My project entails listening to all 858 songs on my ipod nano on random shuffle without giving up and actually listening to what I want at that time. This project requires extreme determination and perseverance. I'm so glad I don't have one of those 30 GB ipods that have thousands of songs on them.

I'll make sure I keep you all updated on my progress. And thanks Matt for the example of determination. Keep it up just as I will!

The Mysteries of Signs - part 5


I was at the airport in Zagreb wasting some time in the Duty Free shop and noticed these warnings on the cigarettes and cigars. I was greatly amused by them. I had heard about these warnings, but always thought it was just a joke. I wonder if they work. I was so amused that I just had to buy a few for myself. Kind of contradictory, but whatever!

My warnings read: "SMOKING CAUSES FATAL LUNG CANCER"
"PROTECT CHILDREN: DON'T MAKE THEM BREATHE YOUR SMOKE"

Effective advertising - it's keeping me from becoming a chain-smoker.