Saturday, December 12, 2009
Last night.
anyways, since I have time to kill (which I havent in what seems like 3 months) im gonna recite my memory verses Im trying not to forget from the final test. (oh by the way, school's over)
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Eph 2:8-9
Rom 5:8
John 3:16
Rev 3:20
John 6:37
1 John 1:9
Psalm 119:105
1 Peter 5:7
Matt 6:33
Phil 4:13
Trust me, I memorized the verses, but for times sake, I'm moving on. Look em up. Their all exelent!
So heres the scoop: Its the 12th, School is out, graduation was yesterday. All the students are gone on their sepparate ways and we have said all our goodbyes. oh yes, 'twas a very sad day today indeed. Josh and I are still here at Tauernhof using the internet while we still can. Although the reality of it all just hasn't quite settled all that much. Still being here is just wierd. its too quiet, and things are just ghostly. seriously, I can still look out of this window and imagine anybody walking past as if we were still in school. Everybody is gone, most of them I will probably never see again, however, theres a lifetime ahead and now I have connections to people from every continent of the world exept Asia and Antarctica! this could mean for some cheapo travelo!
It's been an amazing time here. We have all learned SO much and seen SO much, and had SO much fun, its rediculous. It's sad to say goodbye, but at least it wasn't unexpected and unprepared. After hearing all these speakers (12 in all) doing at least 15 lectures each week, you would think that we have the bible printed on our tongues and can say any verse. But like Rob Witteker said to us, we haven't learned anything, just heard alot. I kind of agree, but at the same time, I am going home a different person now, so long as we all continue to hang on tightly to God and his LIVING word. the best thing about being here wasn't learning about that big fat book we sometimes forced to stuff our noses in, but getting to know Jesus Christ personally and through a direct relationship. It always sounds silly. you can't even see the guy and you put your life in for him? but it makes alot of sense.
So now we're comming home soon, and we have 10 days to think about what we have learned and mull it over and stuff while we are still here in Austria (Österreich auf Deutsch) before we come home. Its might be dark and gloomy, or it might be happy and full of the Spirit, or maybe Crappy and full of Spirit, or happy but full of darkness... (hope I didnt go too profound there :P) Please Pray that Josh and I don't break our necks from thinking too hard about bible school while attempting a 3-6-5-4-3-6-5-1080!!! and pray that our traveling goes SMOOTHLY this time! (ya ganau) thanks!
Josh has risen from his slumber... and has reminded me that we need to go move into our new home, Hause Shüttes. this would be good cause its 2:48 pm, and we said we would be there approx 11-12... close enough, right? we also need a nap, after a mostly all nighter last night party with everyone (so sad, but also glad)
So thanks to everyone for the prayers!
This has been another episode of..
THE J-SQUAD MISSION ADVENTURE ACTION SHOW 5000 X Z.
Peace to all ye.
oh and Merry Christmas.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
hello!
So I realize that its been a wee little while since I updated everyone on what's been goin on.... Its Tauernhofs fault! It's too much fun and exiting and relaxing and interesting and growing and crazy and cozy, and just... plain... AWESOME! so I hope thats all I need to write for now... KIDDING!
actually I'll come back to you on that. Elaboration thru procrastination! I promise!
Sooner than läter... hönestly :)
ßye! for now..
J Squad... over 'n out!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
week uno and dos.
So, to sum up the last week Josh and I had, which was the first, it crawled by. being so far away from home, having to meet so many people, study the bible and go to plenty of lectures, everybodys mind was WELL occupied. Not to mention how awesome the lectures are here. but that completely depends on how you take it in. needless to say, Josh and I have been blown away and had our jaws dropped plenty of times last week. In the lectures, we had a German guy whos life story is really cool (the latter part, anyways) and he had alot of knowlege and wisdom to share. since my brain and body is so tired, I cant remember exactly what he talked about :P but it was good :=)
Besides those things, we did alot of getting to know people, make friends, and do some awesome Hiking. Let me just say this now that having Josh come with has made so many things easier to get into! Its awesome to know we can share memories of this trip later on in life, instead of just a camera and some people you most likely won't see again after. If anyone wants to do something like this, for the first time, I would encourage them to take a friend or close one. But they say being alone is a more gaining experience. First timers should definetly go with someone they know, though!
anyways, YEAH things we did... Well, we played alot of Volleyball (Josh way more than I) and I hiked the Planai Mountain (without Josh) which is the mountain that Tauernhof is at the base of. A good 2 hour hike. I got lost on my own by myself, but its not hard to navigate to the base of a mountain you are currently on. Oh, and Josh and I, last week saturday, went to the Guttenburghaus... I dunno how to spell it, but its a chalet at the top of the Guttenburg mountain, which was a good 1.45 hike up. then we got to the peak, took some amazing pictures, and Josh, me, and a friend jogged down in 40 min... beat the record going down of the guy whos record was 51 min going up! pretty impressive, eh?
and then THIS week... Quite different. we got to know everybody pretty well, Im pretty good on the names of 61 people. and, for some reason its just been dragging on! I don't know what the problem is, but everybody would have to agree that its been very slow! but not boring :) reading 5-6 chapters in the bible can get a little irritating though, cause I am a slow reader. BUT the Lectures... we have a new guy namde Hanns Peter... have been also amazing! hes focused more on getting to know the Bible, and getting to know Jesus personally. I have really had my mind blown from time to time, and hes challenged us alot to explore what it means to know him. same with the last week guy too, actually. but its been great, and were learning and experiencing alot!
today Tauernhof took most of the students in a bus to a waterfall place which was a nice 45 min hike to a freezing cold lake, which of course Josh and I were just shaking to go swim in it, which was actually a chilling experience. It really shook me up, and it was a shocking experience. (yeah, those were puns). So, the amazing part is what Josh did. I just did a 3 hour walk/20 min Jog to get back. Josh took the crazy long way! he went with some other guys ready to do it, and took the 6 hour detour around a mountain in the opposite direction, and I think over 2 montain tops! in the ALPS! just ask him, i dont know the full details, but it sounds pretty tough. Him and the others showed up during supper to a big round of applause, sharing their heroic sotry of conquering the Alps.
So tonight is movie night, which I'm missing because I have something better to do. read the bible, and call my girlfriend! (probably mostly the latter)
So God Bless, thanks for reading my novel, and I probably miss you if you are reading this... But I donÄt know for sure.
homesickness hasn't hit me too hard yet... but it has its moments.
ummm... I think thats it.
This is James, representing the J squad.
siging out, over.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Update update UPDATE!!
Sept 18 3:15 pm
Hello everyone!! J-squad reporting. I am in a very happy mood right now We are in GERMANY!! Frankfurt, to be exact. Accually, we had very little time to spare because of the time the train left, when we got here, and other fun details I’ll mention late ;)
The flight from Vancouver to Chicago went well. Josh and I kept eachother entertained. We showed off our cameras and took some beautiful pictures of the sun set. At one point, one side of the sky was night, and the other side was day. We got pictures of that, too :) If my battery hold out, maybe I can upload pictures… well for the time being its best not to. I gotta actually send this ASAP to keep you all updated on the happenings of our journey.
Right now I am sitting on the ground because the train is PACKED. I think I heard somewhere that’s normal.
Kape. Back to our tale. We Boarded the next plane for Frankfurt with just enough time to reliever ourselves, and for them to close the door behind us. What is it with us and making things late??? Seriously were trying our best!! :P must be cursed.
The flight itself was something less of ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and was only Awesome met a capital EH. What sucked is being separated from Josh for 8.5 hours and instead being stuck with a German who pretty much didn’t speak. Which is Ironic, cuz he didn’t mind having his face inches from mine while sleeping. I got about 3-4 hours of sleep. I woke up to the intercom, a seatbelt light, and the good ol blinding sun attepting to remove my vision.
Wow this is long. Battery aint so good, so I’ll make the climax short n sweet.
Our bags never showed up in the baggage pickup. We went to the desk and gave information like crazy, so they will know where it is by tonight, and will ship it off to be delivered to us at the school itself. In the meantime, they were kind enough to give a bag of toiletries, and 50% off any clothing before the bag is located and 100% off toiletries through reimbersaries. At this point, we are still having fun, and can’t WAIT to have a fun story to tell. It’s our request now that you the reader could bless us with prayers that the Lord can reunite us with our lost luggage. I’m confident this will happen, because Gods already done so much more for us :). Thanks, God. His will be done. Even if our stuff happens to get lost, He’s gonna have us under his wing. The real objective is to get to school by the 20th and learn and grow.
Thanks for everybodys prayers and salutations!! Miss you all :)
heres the next one I would have sent:
Saturday night, September 19th.
Greetings from Salzburg, Austria. Today, we had our free breakfast after staying at a youth hostel. That must have been the first full meal for me since supper the night before I left! And so far it’s the only one of the day. Neither Josh or I can get our debit cards to work! So without any money, we can’t buy a train ticket or food or anything. Thankfully, we got to sleep at the hostel again tonight in a room in the basement for free. Once again, God is good. He keeps on providing! We are praying for a way to get to school on time tomorrow! We also ask for yours.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
Team J Squad
Rolling out.
Heeeeeres the next one:
Monday, September 21, 2009
Gee, did I miss Sunday?? Yet another adventure well, to US newbie travelers, anyways.
On Sunday, we woke up and pretty much went straight to the ATM to see if Josh’s debit would work, after his parents spoke to his bank and he sent an email. The first one was out of order. What a tease! But 10 min, later, we were shouting and stuff with 300 euros in Josh’s hands!! So it worked…. Uh oh that’s the dinner bell, brb!
Anyways, we went to the train station, and figured out our ticket, then FINALLY went to burger king they call them big kings what we got, and it was a lot smaller. It was all we could eat. Just one burger! THEN we got on the train, met a guy from Australia named Tom, a girl from Germany, both of whom were traveling a lot by themselves. We got off the train, met with about 5 other Canadians!! Our first encounter of fellow Capernwayers! Walked 15 minutes, and badabing, we arrived at the school!! We finally made it and the people we met we got along awesome! There sure are some mighty fine people with cool lives and interesting stories ’n such. That night we had supper the first time, which was yummy then had a meeting with all the people that had showed up. About 1/3 of the people here (20/62) are from Canada! 4 are from Abbotsford, 1 from Chilliwack!! We got a Vancouver islander, someone from Langley, Prince George, couple from Winnipeg, Manitoba, a Bramfordian, 2 ontarioians, and so on and so forth. One is from Idaho which is basically BC. I could go on and on about where people are from, cuz it’s just so darn exiting.
Only downer this day was still not having Luggage. We were praying still for it. All we had was what we were pretty much wearing, plus a few things from my laptop bag and Josh’s little “pouch”, and the small bag of toiletries the airport gave us, and who could go on without a little “hope”. Sounds corny, but true!
SO for today… which is now yesterday cuz I’m so slow, was the 1st normal day with a schedule and bewildered students trying to establish a “system” of how to do things. Its incredibly exiting to be here, not only the far away place and the people, but I can’t believe what a relief it is to have homework again and stuff to keep busy with, dorm and all, and I’m finally in that world of “college” I always felt left out of! And the set up here is amazing. The dorm I’m in is really fancy, and my 5 roommates and I get along fantastic. It’s a really friendly environment here. I checked my email FINALY via the secretaries computer. We had a message regarding luggage!!! :D we were gonna get it that day!!! MAN what a relief! Happy times, I tell ya.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
And I tell ya hwat, we did!!! SUCH a relief!! MAN first thing Josh did was shower and change. I waited cuz I had to have Bistro training Yup! Tonight, I’m workin at “Starhofs”, Tauernhof's li’l coffee shop. I can make you a hot mocha for only 80 euro cents! So but THEN I took my shower and changed!! Boy was that a taste of heaven!
So I think that’s what happened worth mentioning yesterday…
I don’t think I'm gonna do a daily daily update, I think that’s a little absurd… I could always talk about the lectures and what I thought and what I had to read and all the homework… but that’s too much. If you want that, go through all my notes when I’m home, K?
TODAY nothing also really amazing happened. Well… ok so I am sleeping in a dorm and taking bible school and making new friends and learning things and stuff, but that’s not that great Just kidding! But one thing is I got to play guitar!! Man that was awesome!!! My hand actually got tired from doing fairly normal things. It was like finding an oasis when I got to play it! I played for like an hour and a half, with people and talking and stuff… what an awesome time!
So, now that we are ALLL caught up and I know all the internet times (4-6 and 8-10) and stuff, life is pretty much all settled in. nothing left. All organized. No missing luggage. No blocked debit card. No unsent blog updates. Just normalness. *sigh*
So thanks for bothering to read my rants. Oh but I could go on I got other things to send and homework to do (so happy I have homework!!) and people to miss… I really do miss home even though I’m having the time of my life. This place is truly phenomenal. I wish I could just absorb all the awesome things were gonna be studying, just in like a day. But 3 months is gonna suffice.
This is James from the J-squad.
Signing out.
Peace.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tickets from Heaven
This is a pre written thing from facebook I wrote half an hour ago... anyways enough about that, read read READ!!!!!!!
Ok, so Josh and I have an amazing story to share. Just an hour ago give or take, Josh and I had to come running through the airport to get to the flight. when we got there, there was no bird outside. :( the flight attendant told us our flight left already. We were not but 3-4 minutes late. Needless to say, our mood took a nose dive. we were pretty down and worried. We went to the guy who could help us get tickets and he said "you guys chose a bad day to miss your flight to europe"... then he said "all europe flights are sold out." At that point I bowed my head and our prayers began. Time kept ticking and he said nothing, so I told Josh I'd go find an internet hot-spot and send out a prayer request. I did that, and I had a whole prayer request typed up and everything to send, so I went to Josh, and this is what I ended up typing instead:
Ok, I take that back. I just went to Josh to see what he thinks of what I was sending and instead he showed me 2 tickets to the EXACT same locations, only with a different flight company. It leaves at 2 pm today and I am in tears of gratitude to our amazing gracious truly REAL loving God.
We are so amazed at his grace. Words can't tell how moved and thankful I am right now. Praise the Lord! He is good.
Thanks to all who prayed for a safe trip, they were definetly answered :)
James and Josh.
Is that not amazing? So thanks to Gods grace, our trip continues on and we are going to Austria to do the amazing things He will make us do and learn. I can't wait to share this testimony at Capernway :) Though crazier things HAVE happened :)
Thanks again for all the prayers! God Bless!
this has been:
James
and
Josh
or
Josh
and
James
depending on who you love more :)
mmmmmmbye.
signing off at YVR airport, Vancouver
Testing...
This has been James... see you in austria! :)