Life Never Stops

You know the name I gave to my blog seems very fitting for what my every day life has become here in Croatia...Where God takes me. It says in the Bible that when a person follows God they are not promised an easy life, but I think that Christians sometimes forget that. I will be honest, I think this is especially so in America where though people do not claim God to be head of the state, it still follows many of it's Christian bases. We live in a time where a person can say they are a Christian and it will mean nothing and cost them nothing. I am not about to imply that my life costs me a lot, but I have come to appreciate that sometimes you have to sacrifice, face struggles, and press on. I have come to realize that when I say I am a Christian, that many people will think nothing of it and pass me off as any other person. I am not a Christian to people because I say I am, I am a Christian because my faith in and walk with God has compelled me to change my life, thus the way I live speaks to them. If you are living a life that glorifies God, then you are going to step on toes, challenge people, draw attention, and face struggles. God brought me to Croatia, and tonight I sat in the back of our car and looked upon this city that I have come to call home. Rijeka is a part of my heart and more than that, the people have captured me. This place that I call home right now is not a place that makes my life "easy", but rather it challenges me everyday. Whether that challenge come in the form of communicating despite my pathetic attempt at Croatian, or breaking out of the mold of a Christian. Here Christianity is passed by birth as though it comes in your DNA. Christianity is not in my DNA, so my only hope is that my life will speak of who I am. If I am allowing God to change my life, than I will always be an enemy to the one that would like people to continue life as they have. This last month has been hard on our team. I think I may have blinked three or four times, and March was gone. In the last four weeks we have said fair well to one teammate, had unexpected car issues, hosted visitors, had three big events, faced the deportation of the only other guy on the team, and now just said goodbye to him. So much has happened and honestly I am tired, I think we all are, but this is just another struggle to press through. I can only press through by relying on God, and in that I will grow. John is gone now until all the legal stuff is taken care of, and thankfully it's not a matter of deportation. But what do I say really, life is weird and it doesn't stop. I am left speechless, in a manner of speaking, at this moment about what life has given me at this point. What should be crazy and random is daily life, and what should be frustrating is just a speed bump. I don't want to dumb these things down, but how do I look at them remembering that this is where God has brought me. God is my Provider, my Rock, and my Savior. I have no desire to be anywhere else, but I don't expect life to get easier or more predictable. So tonight as I fall into welcome sleep I will praise God for where he has brought me and pray for the energy for tomorrow. Good night.