in the last 6 days ive:
- slept underneath starry skies on top of the aegean sea
- rode a donkey down santorini peaks whilst the sunset
- danced til the sun rose
- shared music and life with random people
- made music in the company of new friends
- climbed up the hills of patmos, encountered Him at St. Johns Grotto
- had chills ran up his spine at Ephesus
- drank smoothies on the sundeck every hour
- shopped til i dropped in Kusadasi
- slept and slept some more and still woke tired
- made friends with the most beautiful of people
- has forgotten what home somewhat feels like
- lived, loved, cried and smiled on the Aquamarine
...
theres so much more to write ... but all i know is, ive made enough memories to last an entire life time ... seen things that have made me cry, witnessed things that have made my heart beat fast ...
i miss home...
God has been so good... holding me, protecting me, guiding me, loving me and guarding me as the pupil of His eye this whole entire time ..
who wouldve thought ive come this far? not just in the 'overseas' meaning ..
heres some new lyrics..
"no matter where I go,
my heart will be Your home,
You're still all I know,
You're still all I know ..."
...
i will remember the works of Your hand upon my life, my Friend, my God.
You have been the strength of my weak heart.
*tear*
hello sydney.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Somewhere out there. Pt 2
*sigh*
It was actually quite a sad feeling leaving the Contiki group, I cant believe how good of friends one can make in a span of 8 days.
Hugs all around.
So here I am, all out on my own again...
I wish I could blog longer but I'm scraping it for money now ... Ive realized one thing about travelling... I can't make a life out of it.
I use to have dreams about rocking it globally with my music (and what a life it would be!)...
but certainly not for me. The more and more I realize things about myself, the more and more I find out that I am the sort of person that can't live 'spontaneously' for too long. I need to be settled, I need structure.
I guess that's why Sydney, FCF, Family, YD is something i'll always kinda have to be near to, somewhere I can settle.
The other day on the coach back to the Hotel from Liverpool I got to spend time with Him and I reflected on things back home and the dreams that I use to have about ministry etc.
Got teary for a bit. But I remembered what He told me at the Pergamon museum, and I'm still very much optimistic for coming back. (which is a big thing considering at the beginning of this tour, I hated the thought of coming back)
I left the guys today and Karissa left me a small note on my book which I thought was like ... woah.
It left me almost speechless, considering I didnt have any time to discuss my faith with her.
She left me one simple bible reference,
Hey Will,
Here's my favorite verse:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. a]">[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
Karissa
...
I know He's preparing my heart...
He has been the strength of it.
It was actually quite a sad feeling leaving the Contiki group, I cant believe how good of friends one can make in a span of 8 days.
Hugs all around.
So here I am, all out on my own again...
I wish I could blog longer but I'm scraping it for money now ... Ive realized one thing about travelling... I can't make a life out of it.
I use to have dreams about rocking it globally with my music (and what a life it would be!)...
but certainly not for me. The more and more I realize things about myself, the more and more I find out that I am the sort of person that can't live 'spontaneously' for too long. I need to be settled, I need structure.
I guess that's why Sydney, FCF, Family, YD is something i'll always kinda have to be near to, somewhere I can settle.
The other day on the coach back to the Hotel from Liverpool I got to spend time with Him and I reflected on things back home and the dreams that I use to have about ministry etc.
Got teary for a bit. But I remembered what He told me at the Pergamon museum, and I'm still very much optimistic for coming back. (which is a big thing considering at the beginning of this tour, I hated the thought of coming back)
I left the guys today and Karissa left me a small note on my book which I thought was like ... woah.
It left me almost speechless, considering I didnt have any time to discuss my faith with her.
She left me one simple bible reference,
Hey Will,
Here's my favorite verse:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. a]">[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
Karissa
...
I know He's preparing my heart...
He has been the strength of it.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Somewhere out there ... Pt 1.
*sigh*
this will be a short post ..
Finally started my Contiki trip and am LOVING IT! have single handedly conquered London!! and went through all of York, Oxford, Windsor and trekked through Scotland..
Whilst the choir tour was more of a chase for knowing God more and being intimate with Him, I kind of feel that this Contiki tour is more of a God allowing you.. to know you.
Does that make sense? In the past few days I've been schooled in the studies of 'me'.
How I react to certain things, make decisions, my character etc.
and to be honest ... i'm finding it quite challenging.
It is INCREDIBLY hard to get some alone time on this contiki tour ... though I love the people here, I feel over the past 6 months i've developed into someone who desperately NEEDS solitude daily... and lately I havent been getting it.
I know its not impossible though... I think its just alot harder.
On a more positive note, I have met good people here. One guy named Paul who lives in Manhattan, NY is going to hook me up with a place to stay if i ever decide to go there.
I have made good friends with a group of 4:
Erica - 22 y.o mexican girl
Michelle - 35 y.o lady from Pennsylvania
Paul - 32 y.o dude from NY
Mike - 26 y.o dude from Idaho
Kareesa - 27 y.o lady from Chicago
...
Theyre pretty cool .. i'm one of the youngest in the group but everyones friends here. What I find interesting is that Kareesa actually recited the life of Saul for me whilst reading my tattoo:
"when you were small in your own eyes ..." 1 Sam 15:17
I cant help but feel that a time of reflection needs to be set to meditate upon that verse, especially after a total stranger recites the life of one from the bible who has impacted yours.
*selah*
I thought alot today about coming home ...
...
and im optimistic.
*smiles*
He has been the strength of my heart.
this will be a short post ..
Finally started my Contiki trip and am LOVING IT! have single handedly conquered London!! and went through all of York, Oxford, Windsor and trekked through Scotland..
Whilst the choir tour was more of a chase for knowing God more and being intimate with Him, I kind of feel that this Contiki tour is more of a God allowing you.. to know you.
Does that make sense? In the past few days I've been schooled in the studies of 'me'.
How I react to certain things, make decisions, my character etc.
and to be honest ... i'm finding it quite challenging.
It is INCREDIBLY hard to get some alone time on this contiki tour ... though I love the people here, I feel over the past 6 months i've developed into someone who desperately NEEDS solitude daily... and lately I havent been getting it.
I know its not impossible though... I think its just alot harder.
On a more positive note, I have met good people here. One guy named Paul who lives in Manhattan, NY is going to hook me up with a place to stay if i ever decide to go there.
I have made good friends with a group of 4:
Erica - 22 y.o mexican girl
Michelle - 35 y.o lady from Pennsylvania
Paul - 32 y.o dude from NY
Mike - 26 y.o dude from Idaho
Kareesa - 27 y.o lady from Chicago
...
Theyre pretty cool .. i'm one of the youngest in the group but everyones friends here. What I find interesting is that Kareesa actually recited the life of Saul for me whilst reading my tattoo:
"when you were small in your own eyes ..." 1 Sam 15:17
I cant help but feel that a time of reflection needs to be set to meditate upon that verse, especially after a total stranger recites the life of one from the bible who has impacted yours.
*selah*
I thought alot today about coming home ...
...
and im optimistic.
*smiles*
He has been the strength of my heart.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Memoirs of a Vagabond. Pt.5
and so now I sit here in the British Airways executive lounge, waiting for a 6:55 flight to London...
Gosh, can't believe the choir tour is over. What a way to end my last year (hopefully) with the music department.
I can't really describe how I feel and what exactly is going on inside, all I can conclude from the whole trip is that He is so faithful.
I've said it so many times but it's true - He has been the strength of my heart.
*selah*
On the second last day of the tour we went on a 3 hour coach ride to Berlin from Leipzig. I didn't expect too much since the tour was winding down and well, nothing good supposedly happens at the end of a tour.
We were due to visit the Pergamon museum - Ive never heard of it.
It wasn't until they introduced the place to us on the coach that I started becoming really interested in seeing it.
We arrived and recieved the tour, and I learnt that one of the factors that made the Pergamon museum so unique and significant was that it contained monumental artefacts of the ancient world. Huge statues and architecture of several ancient cultures.
So we walked past the Turkey section and the Roman section and I was like yea this is cool! But it wasn't until we got to the Babylon section that I realized that God was trying to speak to me ...
and what I saw there absolutely floored me.
Our tour guide walked us through one of the main entrances to the ancient city of Babylon and showed us the inscriptions on the wall by King Nebuchadnezzer.
It suddenly hit me ... these ancient walls and massive entrance were the same buildings that the Israelites saw as they were taken captive ...
These were the walls they saw when Jerusalem fell, when there heart grew cold to God...
these walls and this gate were the very symbols of their captivity.
Could you imagine what they felt as they walked through those gates not knowing anymore whether they would see home? Not knowing if they'll ever be free.
*selah*
and so I sat down there and chills ran up my spine ... and I remembered parts of the Book of Jeremiah as he wrote to the captives in Babylon...
I cried there at the Berlin Pergamon Museum remembering Jeremiah 29:
After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive...
...
Only those closest to me would know the significance of that verse...
On the ride home I closed my eyes and asked Him, what are You trying to tell me Lord?
I broke down on the back seat of the bus as He whispered,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt ...
I'm bringing you back Will ... "
...
I wept for so long on the back of that bus...
and with a tender heart, I write this now at Frankfurt Airport feeling ready for the next part of my journey...
His love never quits, His faithfulness stretches to the skies ... He never fails.
*selah*
Still running hard. He has been the strength of my heart.
Gosh, can't believe the choir tour is over. What a way to end my last year (hopefully) with the music department.
I can't really describe how I feel and what exactly is going on inside, all I can conclude from the whole trip is that He is so faithful.
I've said it so many times but it's true - He has been the strength of my heart.
*selah*
On the second last day of the tour we went on a 3 hour coach ride to Berlin from Leipzig. I didn't expect too much since the tour was winding down and well, nothing good supposedly happens at the end of a tour.
We were due to visit the Pergamon museum - Ive never heard of it.
It wasn't until they introduced the place to us on the coach that I started becoming really interested in seeing it.
We arrived and recieved the tour, and I learnt that one of the factors that made the Pergamon museum so unique and significant was that it contained monumental artefacts of the ancient world. Huge statues and architecture of several ancient cultures.
So we walked past the Turkey section and the Roman section and I was like yea this is cool! But it wasn't until we got to the Babylon section that I realized that God was trying to speak to me ...
and what I saw there absolutely floored me.
Our tour guide walked us through one of the main entrances to the ancient city of Babylon and showed us the inscriptions on the wall by King Nebuchadnezzer.
It suddenly hit me ... these ancient walls and massive entrance were the same buildings that the Israelites saw as they were taken captive ...
These were the walls they saw when Jerusalem fell, when there heart grew cold to God...
these walls and this gate were the very symbols of their captivity.
Could you imagine what they felt as they walked through those gates not knowing anymore whether they would see home? Not knowing if they'll ever be free.
*selah*
and so I sat down there and chills ran up my spine ... and I remembered parts of the Book of Jeremiah as he wrote to the captives in Babylon...
I cried there at the Berlin Pergamon Museum remembering Jeremiah 29:
After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive...
...
Only those closest to me would know the significance of that verse...
On the ride home I closed my eyes and asked Him, what are You trying to tell me Lord?
I broke down on the back seat of the bus as He whispered,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt ...
I'm bringing you back Will ... "
...
I wept for so long on the back of that bus...
and with a tender heart, I write this now at Frankfurt Airport feeling ready for the next part of my journey...
His love never quits, His faithfulness stretches to the skies ... He never fails.
*selah*
Still running hard. He has been the strength of my heart.
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