I love listening to music, but I especially love listening to music that was recorded live. when a band performs live you get a much better feel for what they’re all about. sure they aren’t going to sound like they do on their album, but that’s not the point. the music is stripped down to just what the band can play on stage. it’s the core of the music, the essence of it. so sure all the extra things they do on a studio version are great but they’re just that, extra, not necessary to the song.

so it’s christmas break. hooray. back in kiev to see friends and family, go do things downtown in the square, and generally have some good times. (move forward about 3 weeks and i decided to write some more.)

here’s a couple pictures from home before i move on.

city streets ^^^

classic architecture ^^^

and some sledding with the brosef ^^^

so anyway, back at school now, ending week 2 of classes. sitting up in my apartment after having finished 2 sandwiches, 2 bottles of iced tea and 4 episodes of “how i met your mother”…huzzah thursdays. so i think over the course of my year of not having class i definitely forgot how much reading school requires. not fun. the thing that really sucks is that it’s all interesting stuff and i’d really like to read all of it and take time to actually get what i’m reading when it’s more likely that, to get all my reading done, i’ll have to fly through as many pages as possible per hour. so while i’m excited for this semester it’s also going to be a challenge to break all my old bad habits and get into the habit of doing school right. anyways, just some thursday thoughts.

i hope to God You come down

no shave novemBEARD. week one.

so i’ve been sitting here listening to some Mumford & Sons and some Jónsi and doing nothing. so i decided to throw some of the things i’ve been thinking about lately up here. so pretty much since this past january i’ve been kind of a nomad. i’m taking a year off from school and it’s been good but it’s also been kinda hard. i spent the spring in Orlando, FL where i lived with some friends and worked a terribly boring job. i got to know some of the people at the church i went to and had a good time with them. for a good part of the time i was there i wasn’t really sure what the summer, the fall, and the next year of my life held in store for me, and for most of the time i was ok with that. i didn’t really think about it a ton and just sort of went with life there and had some fun. so i finally decided to go back to school in the fall and that was pretty much set.

then i did this mk2mk internship over the summer. at that point in my life, it was probably the best thing i could have done for those 3 months. i got to spend that time living, learning, and growing with 14 other awesome interns. together we went through 3 weeks of training on how to run 2 back-to-back summer projects that would have about 40 high school students on each one. we spent 2 months living in addis ababa, ethiopia, in what some would consider bad conditions, hanging out with high school kids, leading them through different ministry opportunities, and getting to know them all at the same time. that time was so good, and so hard at the same time. every day was a struggle but thanks to the group, most days were victories. during that time i was reminded of how important community is, and i don’t mean community in the sense of the people you just hang out with and do stuff with. real community comes when you all are striving towards the same goal and are united together in something greater yourself. i know without a shadow of a doubt that without the people i spent this past summer with i would not be who i am today, and would not be in the same place that i am now. as i sit here and write this i can hardly stop staring at the picture of our internship that i have sitting on my desk next to my computer. i keep thinking back to all the great, not so great, and even the frustrating times we had that summer together, and i think about how i miss that sense of togetherness that i had with all of them, and miss each of them. 

as i think about my future, which right now really just means what i’m going to be doing 3 months from now, the only thing i know for sure is that i want to be in a place where i can be growing with a community like the one i had this summer. i know that finding it will take time, but as with all good things, it’s worth it. i just need to be patient and put myself out there and be vulnerable enough with people to say that i can’t do life on my own. being in austin this fall has really made me remember that,going to Austin City Limits by myself made me remember that, going to movies by myself made me remember that, watching college football by myself made me remember that. it’s sort of hard to shared memories with yourself, and it’s no where near as much to reminisce about stuff you’ve done by yourself as it is with other people. so my mind is sort of starting to drift off, so i’m going to conclude with this last thought. it’s not so much the path you walk, but who walks it with you.