Just Passing Through...

I just got back from our mid-year conference in Spain. As you can see, it is an incredible setting to spend 10 days during the month of January. (Not a bad incentive for those of you considering doing a STINT with us!!) :)

While I was there I helped coach some of our teams overseas and participated in all the aspects of the conference. It was amazing! I think I benefited from it in some ways more than the STINTers.

One thing that I walked away with was the fact that this is not our home. We are aliens and our life is but a brief mist in the large scope of things. It reminded me of a talk Bob Shirock gave last spring retreat in which he quoted some statistics on how the average life of 70 years...25,550 days was spent.

• Sleep - 23 years
• Work - 16 years
• TV/Movies - 8 years
• Eat- 6 years
• Drive - 6 years
• Leisure - 4 1/2 years
• Illness - 4 years
• Dressing - 2 years
• Religion - 1/2 year

While in Spain, I couldn't get over how much time I had to talk with the Lord & listen to what He had to say, read my Bible & focus on new & existing relationships. I realized that only a couple things had changed. 1) My mindset on why I was in Spain to begin with and 2) my lack of modern "conveniences". (or should I say inconveniences?) It wasn't like I wasn't busy at the conference, but suddenly I wasn't being ruled by my palm pilot, emails, texts & phone calls.

Now that I'm back, will I just jump into things like they were before? Will I allow my email to dictate my priorities or allow my cell phone to be my tether? It has already been a struggle but I intend to fight for the things that are ultimately important for all of eternity! I encourage you to do the same and choose each day who you will serve. The biggest asset you have is your life. How will you spend it & what will it count for?

Mary

P.S> This is for the staff team. (those who doubted) It is possible to travel to Spain with just a carry on & a back pack. :)

A song for each person on our great team!

Ann  Come On Feel the Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens Ann is proud to be from the Illinois. Also, she has a love for small town Midwest Americana and I think Sufjan captures that best…

Apostolos Hardaloupas The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks by the Eagles. Paul is proud to be 100% Greek. Paul and I share a love of Jimi Hendrix, but I could not pass up a song about Greeks.

Clair Darling Takin’ Care of Business by BTO. Clair gets things done like no one else. She is good at takin’ care of business… I thank God for that.

Jessica Heitz Turning Japanese by The Vapors. This song will take you back to the 80’s. Jess really has a great love for the Japanese culture.

Justin “Ozzy” Osborn Crazy Train by Ozzy. It had to be Ozzy, and I think that this is one of his best songs that also describes Ozzy best.

Kerry Nienhuis Money by Pink Floyd. Kerry is proud to be Dutch and is very good with money. Plus I like Pink Floyd…

Mark I Wish by Skee-Lo. Mark is my brother in music and I could think of many songs for him, but he has a history with this song, and it is the reason that he chose Brandon Inge as “his” Tiger.

Mary Lawrenz Anything by Dengue Fever. They are an indie band from L.A. so I doubt that you have heard of them. But Mary went to Thailand on a mission trip and was CONVINCED that she was going to get Dengue Fever. We will never let her live it down…

Nate Reynolds Easy (Like Sunday Morning) by the Commodores. Nate has the largest most eclectic music collection on our staff team. He probably deserves a more cool song, but he IS easy, easy like Sunday morning…

Nick Toth Nearly Lost You by The Screaming Trees. Nick loves trees and believes that they can speak to him. He graduated from MSU with a degree in Trees. This is a great song by one of the least known grunge bands from Seattle.

Rana Spariosu Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Rana literally seems to walk on sunshine. It is great to have someone like her on our team, but I do not think that her roommates appreciate it early in the morning.

Robin Langford Lovers in a Dangerous Time by Bruce Cockburn (live version). After 12 years this song still rings true. Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, you’ve got to kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight.

Jack Jumpin’ Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones. Even though the song does not describe him, the title does…

Nick Step by Step by Rich Mullins. Nick loves this song and it is the prayer of our family.

Feel free to make comments. You can also pick a song for me if you want… Enjoy.
Brian