Sunday, August 15, 2010

8882 Miles Later...

To all who are interested:

Because I know my attempts of consistency will fail, I'll say now, these blogs will be random.

What is it like out here?
Plenty of cool beaches.  They drive on the left side of the road - finally got used to looking right instead of left when crossing the road.  Customer service out here is pathetic.  We take for granted how good it actually is in America.  I'm not sure if the no tipping is a result of that or if bad customer service is the result of no tipping.  But either way we don't have to tip.  And the price you see is the exact price you pay at the register.  No more of having to calculate the tax before hand to see if you'll have enough money to buy it.  That's pretty sweet.

What is church/school like?
To say the least Hillsong/Sydney is AWESOME!  The leaders and pastors and teachers are all phenomenal  - or as they would say out here - legends!!  I go through gum 4x faster than back home.  It appears this is the result of sitting in about 6 services a week, not including all the classes I attend in the church throughout the week. With that said, you can imagine how many times we get to listen to the same worship songs.  It's a good thing Hillsong arguably puts out some of the best worship music in the world, otherwise I couldn't imagine having to listen to songs I don't enjoy that much over and over.

The classes I'm taking are Intro to New Testament, Christine Doctrine, Church History, and Personal Evangelism, and World Religions.  All so far seem tremendously interesting and I can't wait to get deeper into them.  I was never a big fan of kids and never saw myself working them, but it seems as though God has a different mindset than me - who'd a thought huh?  For the next year or so I'll be working with the youth in the city campus - ages 13-15.  And based off the way things have started I can see myself thoroughly enjoying working with these youth.

What's the most helpful thing I've learned so far? 
We ALL have an enormous amount of untapped potential inside of us and it's a shame it took a bunch of strangers to point it out to me.  Potential I can't see or touch or even imagine but I know it's there.  God has a journey already laid out before all of us and the more we tap into God the more we tap into His journey.  And I for one fully believe God's journey for my life will bring more joy, excitement, satisfaction, fulfillment, friends, and blessings than any other journey I can create for myself.  And what's awesome about this untapped potential is that it's waiting for us.  It's waiting for us to turn the "possible" into the "actual."  But it gets even better.  Whatever we feel like is the best possible outcome for our lives isn't enough for God.  God has something in store for us that will exceed what we can ask, think, or imagine.  We aren't meant to just be average.  We aren't meant to just scrape through life hoping we turn out to be someone of significance.  We are meant to experience the unimaginable Godly blessings throughout life by tapping into our Godly potential.  This school will help me see and develop this potential into the actual.  And without having to mention others, for that reason alone, I know I'm in the right place.

More to come in the near future...

3 comments:

  1. Dude you are awesome! Hope everything is great and I'm praying for you. I start college next monday so please pray for me! Don't forget about us at home :P

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  2. Eric, i'm so happy for you and i'm really excited to read this and be inspired more and more. Reading all this does make me a little sad though, because it makes you being gone and so far away that much more real! And i don't say this enough, or ever, that you are an amazing brother. Love and miss you more than you can imagine! Can't wait to see you! :)

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  3. that last paragraph was good stuff E R. The guys that are still at the center and know you ask how you are doing so they will appreciate your words of encouragement. Keep listening to the Holy Ghost,He has a lot more to say. Love ya
    Dad

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