Night of Reflection

Today was pretty good.  This morning, we went to a Jewish cemetery for our morning devotional.  This morning we talked about faith in God and walking by faith.  We read from Hebrews 11, looking at the sections on Moses and Abraham.  After we were done, we had some time to pray and just spend with God.  As I sat in prayer, I came to the realization that walking by faith and finding my identity in Christ are the same.  To have one, is to have the other; and to not have one, is to have neither.  If I walk by faith, I do so knowing that my identity is in Christ, my savior; to know that my identity is in Christ, is to walk by faith knowing God will provide and be there with me.  To me, this was a pretty huge realization and something that I hope will help me through the rest of my life to know that I am a son of the most high God.

Sharing today was ok.  Patrick and I talked with one guy at lunch, but it didn't move to a spiritual direction, it stayed very superficial and surface.  But that's ok.  I think after so many rejections yesterday and feeling like I needed to impress Uli, the head guy in Germany's Crusade, that just taking this step to talk and be friendly was good.  After lunch, we asked two guys about the survey and both said no.  The third guy we asked, was willing to talk.  We had a lot of small talk but we also were able to ask him about his spirituality.  He said he didn't know much about Christianity, I asked if he wanted to learn more about it but he said no.  Hopefully he will someday reflect on God and desire to know more about Him.  I think without this hope, that one day the students we meet will consider Christ, I would burn out and maybe give up.  But God is hope and my hope is in Him and His power.  

Tonight was the night of reflection, where we just take a night to spend with God or as Jarrin would put it, date night with God.  I went to the garden at the Tiergarten and just spent some time in prayer; talking to God about how I don't always find my identity in Him and that I hope to find it in Him solely.  I wanted something to read and the first thing that popped into my head was Song of Solomon.  When I turned to that book, the first passage that came to me was 2:16a "My beloved is mine, and I am his".  It just reminded me that I am God's, no one can take me away; that my identity is in Him.  God's spirit just works in wonderful ways.  He knows what to say to break down your walls and remind of your brokenness, and in the same moment comfort you and lift you up in His strength.

3 Weeks In

Last night during the Argentina-Mexico game, some of us played a game called Fishbowl or Can of Worms (people call it both).  It was a lot of fun.  It started off just random questions but then Austin asked if there were anything scary or intimidating about the opposite sex which lead the girls to grill him and I about how guys view this or that.  It was a lot of fun.  For a while they wanted to know about how/why guys communicate and I was able to explain most of that stuff from what I learned in school, which was kind of cool.  I felt like those of us playing really bonded and connected during that.

This morning,  we talked about what we find our identity in other than God.  It really helped me to see that I find my identity in relationships and my grades.  I never would have thought until now that I find part of my identity in relationships and grades.  We just did some serious self analyzing.  I just realized how much I identified myself with my relationship with Amy and now that its over, I had a hard time identifying myself.  I realize now that I found too much of my identity in our relationship.  I think its ok to have some identity in a long lasting relationship but I think I put too much into that.  When I was introducing myself to people at school I didn't know, I'd say "I'm Chris, Amy's boyfriend".  Hopefully now that I know this, I will let God work in me about how and where I find my identity.

Today at Humboldt, it wasn't quite as good as other days.  Aaron and I went sharing and only had two conversations and shared the gospel once.  I know its not a numbers game, and I'm ok with what we did today for God.  The first guy didn't want to talk about religion but still wanted to talk with us.  He was really nice.  He grew up in a unique household, his father was a communist and his mother was Lutheran.  I really wanted to know how that affected this view on religion and God, but he didn't want to talk about it, which is cool.  The second guy agreed with the bible intellectually but couldn't believe in God.  I think for both of these guys, God had in mind just for us to talk and maybe get them to think about Him in a new way or for the first time in years.  After the second conversation, Aaron and I just talked and got to know each other on a much better level.  Him and I just really haven't connected much on a personal level and it was great to do that today.

This evening, we did a personality test.  It revealed that I am an extrovert, that I I use my intuitive sense over my other senses, that I got my feelings over thinking things through.  It was really interesting.  I think I would agree with those assessments of myself.  I know for a fact that I usually go my gut feeling over thinking things out, but I didn't think I relied on my intuitive sense instead of of sensory organs to describe something.