Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours

For the past 3-4 days, it's been raining here in Blagoevgrad. It's only rained one other time and so it's been great weather here and typically I can appreciate the rain. But, this rainy week so far, hasn't been appreciated in my book. I think it may be because I've been so caught up in studying and having to get things done, that I haven't been able to take those great rainy day naps.

I've been to one lecture today and most of the time I come out of that class a little disheartened. Today though, was just not good in any way. Christianity has had a huge role in the way society is shaped today, it's true, no denying it. But, to think of it only as that, as many do here, is just hard for me to comprehend. I believe in the Bible and it's entirity with every single part of me. I just can't imagine me wanting to know so much and believe in Christianity with the intensity that I do, just because it's a cultural thing. After being saved, I just knew that I wanted to pursue God and put everything secondary to Him. I don't understand how my interests could change that drastically from just plain old information, which is why I believe what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 of us becoming a new creation. Looking back, I really see that something had to change within me quickly for me to really be that faithful in the Bible.


Last weekend I went to Thessaloniki with a girl and it was really a nice weekend. We only went for one night because it's only 4 hours away and we saw the city and I liked it a lot more than Athens. On the way to Thessaloniki on the train, Chrissy (the girl I traveled with) and I met a guy who goes to school there and was traveling back from Moskow and we could tell he spoke english and so we talked to him the whole way there and it was really entertaining. He told us that we were the first Americans he had ever met and although he took english in classes he said that he learned english from "cereal boxes and south park" and then Chrissy and I were slightly worried about what kind of english he knew haha. We also went to part of a arts festival that was going on called the Dimitria festival, but unfortunately we went on not such a great night. A band called Basement was playing and to me sounded like a mix of post-rock and Kammerflimmer Kollektief, which....... don't mix. It was the weirdest hour of my whole life. Overall, the trip was a success and a nice getaway.

I'm considering many options on how to spend my next few weekends here. In 3 weeks, I'm heading to Izmir to see my aunt and uncle in Turkey for about a week and then spending some time in Istanbul, totally stoked. I can't believe how fast time has gone by here, before I know it, it will be time to get back on a plane to come back to Arkansas.

I have been so blessed in my life, so blessed. I really don't believe I could be where I am today without God having something to do with it. I originally didn't really look extremely forward to going to Arkansas State, but now I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. I would never have imagined to study abroad, but here I am. I'm only 20, but I feel like I've seen so much and then I look at my parents life and I realize how much more I have to go. It'll go by fast, but it doesn't feel like it will. I want to use up my time wisely, excluding my few lovely naps which are time well spent on occasion, and just live it up for God. Sometimes it's hard being a Christian, but I can always at least say I'm happy, happy for the sacrifice of Christ. Even if I'm going through a tough time, I can definitely always rely on my Creator to dazzle me.

Life is good, even though it has some hard times.

I got a birthday card from my mom (even though it was a month ago, it's okay because of the mail lag) and it made my day yesterday and also reminded me of how I should be sending postcards.

I can't wait to see you guys back home and just eat cookies with you. But, I'll miss the people here more than imaginable because I don't know if I'll ever see them again.

Do you have any new suggestions for good music?
Lately I've been listening to:
-Trampled by Turtles
-Mumford and Sons
-The Tallest Man on Earth
-Chad Vangaalen
-Radiohead
-Big Band Jazz: Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington

One More Thing:
I'm improving my Bulgarian skills.