reason why latvia is the bomb #12: sabats

latvia is where i first began to practice the spiritual discipline of sabbath regularly. it has been life changing for me! it brings focus to everything i do throughout the week. i spend a day focusing on the Lord and resting in Him. this practice has awaken a desire for constant fellowship with God that has long lay dormant in my soul. this may sound obvious and trite to some, but i had never experienced this desire consistently in my life. it had been hit and miss my whole life before i began practicing the sabbath.

throughout college i tried to practice the sabbath, but often found that i would allow my days to be filled up with busyness. i rarely made the effort to stop and spend a significant amount of time with the Lord and observe how He had worked the previous week. this brought to the surface a lot of pride and insecurity in my own heart. if i were honest, i felt that God needed me to be busy in order for Him to work through me. we can quickly see in Genesis that this is not the case and that God rested because He had worked;

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3)

God certainly did not need to rest, but He set the example for us. i can rest because God has worked, is still at work, and will continue to work! this was a switch in my thinking that took place over the last year. it is not all up to me (praise God for that)! i rest, not because i did anything great over the past week, but because He is constantly at work! i rest because of what He accomplished through Christ. observing the sabbath has been an act of acknowledging and trusting that God is at work even while i rest. it is a day to remember what Christ did for us on the cross and how that affects us today.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God..." (Exodus 20:8-10)

my ceasing from work is more for my soul than for my physical body and need for rest. it has become less about "ceasing doing," and more about "resting" in who God is and "observing" how He is at work. i pray that you will find time throughout your week to reflect on who God is and how He is at work throughout the world! may you find true rest in Christ. Amen!

Re:update on ilja

here is what a broken arm looks like after two and a half weeks...

reason why latvia is the bomb #11: tēja

in latvia, tea is a way of life. people here drink it allllllll theeeee timmmmme. meetings sometimes feel like an excuse to get together and drink tea.

over the past 18 months i have gradually learned to enjoy a warm cup of tea. for a long time i could not get past my "arizona state of mind" that was against drinking anything hot (or even remotely warm). but this mentality has changed with the weather, as latvia usually has around four months of good weather per year. with the abundance of cold weather i grew to appreciate a warm beverage from time to time.

the other reason for my change of heart was that i found a local tea house (thanks to my good friend chad little) not far from my apartment where i go every monday to spend a few quiet hours with the Lord. i take my Bible, journal & ipod and head to the tea house to sip on tea and spend time in fellowship with God.

and this time, the tea is not the reason for the gathering :)

Jāzeps

today is my name day!!! a good friend of mine called me to let me know it was my name day today (march 19th)! haha, good to know. the latvian calendar has three or four common latvian names on each calendar day and when your name comes up your friends and family are supposed to give you gifts! think of it as a second birthday.

so... i will give you all a pass this year (since i didnt even know about it), but next year i will be expecting gifts! haha.

ps-im sure you already remembered, but Boļeslavs name day is on saturday (the 21st). you might want to get your gifts a little early this year.

youtube of the month: march

a few days ago i had the idea to share a few of my favorite youtube videos with you. i will put one of them up every month and i hope you find them as funny as i do!

i thought this would be a good one to start with, in honor of ilja's recent surgery/anesthesia.

meet david. after the dentist.

reason why latvia is the bomb #10: pirts

sauna.

unbelievable.

update on ilja

he is back home and doing well.

he still needs prayers as his arm continues to heal.

nasty! nasty! NASTY!!!

march 9th

hello.

tensing

last week we hosted a team of 48 czech students who came to latvia to put on rock/choir concerts in a few schools and a church here in riga

we want to do a music camp this summer and used these concerts to gauge the interest in having something like this in latvia

their concerts are high-energy, interactive and a lot of fun

the name of this group is "tensing" and it was started by two missionaries as an outreach to the community in czech

they were a pleasure to have in latvia and i look forward to when they can come back!


"now throw your hands in the aiiiiiirrrrrrrr, and wave 'em like you just don't caaaarrrrrrre"

a goodbye song

reason why latvia is the bomb #9: čipsi

i have recently begun venturing out and experimenting with various types of food in latvia. one of the foods i have begun experimenting with is the chip. thankfully, latvia has a decent selection of chips to choose from. i found out about "hops" (pictured above) mostly by accident. the store i shop at had a 3-for-1 sale and the cheapskate in me could not resist giving them a try. i was pleasantly surprised. the thing that initially threw me off was that the chips came in long strips and it felt like eating a chip flavored ruler... except they tasted good! as far as taste goes, i would compare them to the pringle and it is no surprise that they similarly addicting. once you pop of these hops, you cannot stop!

speaking of oddly shaped chips... where else can you find heart-shaped chips? thats right, latvia.

conquering my fears

...one (small) swing at a time! :)

BRRRRRR

the good news... is that we have had five wonderful days of sun over the past week!

the bad news... is that it has been bitterly cold everyday! it was nine degrees fahrenheit yesterday and walking around in that temperature with any bit of wind, feels like a slow painful death. i walked to the store the other night without a beanie and regretted it. i thought my ears were going to fall off of my head. the cold weather has done some good though... i have realized that God created me with a built-in weather gauge. when i can feel the hairs on my mustache starting to freeze, it means IT IS FREAKING COLD!!! anyways, enough about the weather. here is a pictures of the beautiful sunset we had the other night. enjoy!