Following Jesus with my Pañuelos

Pañuelos are the Spanish equivalent to Kleenex. I have used way more pañuelos in the past year than I might like. The subject comes up again today as I am battling my monthly respiratory infection. Being sick one week of every month this year makes me think, what is wrong? While some of my theories and solutions might be interesting, I want to offer a more universal observation. Basically the human spirit is set on having a good life, the best life. We all have our own vision of it. Whether it is considered or largely unconscious, we are in search of the good life. Parenthetically those of us from Nebraska may have a distinct advantage to the rest of the world, since Nebraska is objectively the state of "The Good Life".

This week on campus I asked a lot of students what was most important to them in life? The most common response is family. But one guy this week said health. A unusual response for young people, who usually don't consider that it is hard to enjoy life when you are not healthy. How do you know if you are living the good life? Well you have joy! You are enjoying life!

So here I am this past week, with too many things to get done, and a cold that is slowing me down, and frankly not enjoying life all that much. The weird thing is that when I get exhausted I find it can be harder to go to God. When I don't feel good I think I have this rather strange idea that maybe I can control God by not loving Him until he makes my life better. There are these frequent moments in life when I would rather have my way than have God! Of course God certainly doesn't become any less worthy of my love when my life doesn't go the way I would like it to.

I guess this is all as old as the serpents question, "Did God actually..." For me today it is "God, do you really know what is best for me?" Well if God doesn't know then who does? My own choices in life have shown me that I probably don't know what the good life really is. It makes sense the creator of life knows what is really really good. And it is Him! In a love relationship with God we have the best!

No, I don't think disease is God's best for me, but it does lead me to truly find my joy in what is best. Health is good, God is better.

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
(Psalms 16:11)

Linda, madre linda

This is my beautiful mom, Linda. Linda means beautiful in Spanish. It is hard to even know just how much your mother influences who you are. My mom's unconditional love and pursuit of godliness bless me every day. My mom is compassionate, encouraging, a teacher, a steady doer, interested in culture and merciful to those in need.
My mom taught me to get a job done and done right. Her help and encouragement with all those 4-H projects taught me a variety of skills. Thanks mom! My parents lived in Germany for a few years and my mom also helped place international students with host families in our community. It was cool to get exposure to different cultures as a kid even though we couldn't travel overseas. My mom is compassionate. She worked in special education for several years. She also is constantly making herself available to single mothers or other women who need support. Currently my mom is studying to be more effective in counseling people from a Christ centered perspective. She is a blessing to many many people.

I Love you Mom!

Bomba Lacrimogena revisited

I cried on campus today. The police bombarded the campus with tear gas (bombas lacrimogenas) for several hours. We had planned to have a party on campus today. We are trying a variety of things to see what works and what doesn't to gather students.
For two weeks now there have been protests by students in secondary education because of increasing charge for the PSU (like ACT of SAT) and inefficiency in distributing the transportation ID for low cost transportation. The police showed up at campus to try and disperse the crowd of students with tear gas and other tactics.
Four days in the past two weeks I have showed up to campus to find the main entrance closed. There is always another way in. For the most part we have been able to keep doing things on campus. Today I spent four hours on campus. It was sweet to be able to interact with lots of students. Our exposure of the freshman class and other efforts to get connected on campus are paying off. We are constantly running into students we know.
Schedule seems to be one of the major obstacles. We hope to start a number of groups so students that really want to get involved can find a spot that fits their schedule. These groups, which we call "Punto de Encuentro", will be the basic community where students can build or explore a relationship with God.

Happy Dia Del Trabajador

Well it is the beginning of fall here after all. And what better way to celebrate Labor Day than with a day off work, so you can go downtown and... start a riot, walk around naked with burning flags and destroy stuff. All the action was just two blocks from where I live! "Bomba Lacrimogena" is among the many new words I have been learning here in Chile. Luckily I left early in the morning to climb a mountain with some friends. With a minimum wage of $247 a month clearly there is need for change. Maybe some of the leaders we will influence on campus in Chile in the coming years will help bring change so the workers in Chile can have good jobs and a fair wage. I hope that we can see Matthew 5:16 being realized in this an many other ways.