Today I officially finished the Winter Semester 2010/2011 at Justus-Liebig! It is so nice to be free and to not have to think about Klausuren or Hausarbeiten! The weather seemed to know how I felt and was sunny and warm. I went for a long jog in the woods. The air was so refreshing and I was almost too warm in my hoodie. I can feel spring in the air! It is so weird to think that already the winter has passed and so has six months here in Germany.
I have so many exciting things ahead of me in the next month! Mom and Dad are coming to visit a week from Friday. I have a bunch of things planned for them. However, I have kept it simple as I know they like it. Then the same day they fly back home to the USA, I am flying to Israel! The trip was very spontaneous and I don't think I thought it through much. I found a really cheap ticket, talked it over with Adam and parents and bought it! I don't really know what I am going to do or where I am going to go. All I know is that I have a ticket and I am going! Adam has tried to get me into contact with some people he knows there and I hope that goes through. Otherwise, I will be staying in youth hostels or couch surfing. I am excited and bit scared. I have never done anything like this before. Sure, I have traveled through Hong Kong alone and found my way from Frankfurt to Giessen. However, going alone into the Middle East without knowing anyone there really and having no plan is something totally different! I am not sure if I am being adventurous or just crazy!
I am looking forward to learning more about the conflict in Israel and perhaps beginning to understand what the people are going through. However, the thing that I am looking the most forward to is meeting new PEOPLE! One of the joys of my life is meeting new people and learning new things from them. The world is so full of wonderful people but I never cease to be amazed as I keep meeting them. I don't want this trip to Israel just to be a vacation. I want it to be an opportunity for me to love and bless people. I want to be able to share Christ with those I meet. In fact, I want the focus of my whole life to be about Christ and his Kingdom.
I recently have been reading a lot of Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I did research paper on him. He talked about how Christians often focus so much on themselves and their own sinfulness compared to God that they forget what being a Christian is really about - glorifying God and working for his Kingdom here on earth. Basically what that means is bringing glory to God by loving everyone around you so that they feel and come to know the love of Christ. Love is such a powerful thing and there is nothing the love of Christ can't heal.
