Interests:God! He's all I need! I also enjoy music, guitar, reading, and spending time with my awesome friends! Expertise:Sarcasm, exaggeration, and like a hundred billion other things. Yeah.... Right... Occupation:Student Industry:Other
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Maggie asked me for help with an assignment today.
"Dear Committee,
I am super smart and great for this job. You don’t know me,
but I know God has called me to wherever you are because He always tells me
exactly what to do.I don’t even know
whose hands this will end up in, but I know it will be the right person’s hands
because God wants me to have lots of money, a nice car(that drives for me) a
sweet job, and also get paid for doing nothing, really.If you aren’t willing to give me these things
then my personal opinion is that you are most likely the ANTICHRIST and I will
tell the whole internet accordingly.
I remember just a few entries back, (though in my world over 6 months ago) when I stood in the cathedral in Lourdes, staring out over the interior of the underground basilica, a frightened, confused, foolish child who had been called by God into the ministry. Here I stand, just over 6 months later, a much less frightened and much less confused (though just as foolish) young man. Much has happened over the past 6 months, and though I can't even begin to explain it in its entirety, a feeling of insomnia keeps me up and I might as well spend it writing. :)
It all began when I returned to Marion. Our pastor was in the process of leaving, and after she left, they asked me to speak. Other than three weeks, I ended up speaking every week of that entire semester. It wasn't what I had planned for my life, but fortunately, God had much bigger plans than I. So, after I graduated, they asked me to stay on as interim pastor! I've been taking classes online, and working there at Central Christian Church in Van Buren. They've been an amazing group of people, and in my 3 months as their interim Senior Pastor they have blessed me more than words can say. I've been extremely busy, trying to live at least 3 lives at once, but it's been an incredible time, and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
So, that's been the general gist of the life of Will. Slowly but surely, I'm growing up and moving forward. And I'm so proud of my church- they've been taking steps to move forward, too. We've got our video projector up, and hopefully will get cables run in the next few weeks. If everything keeps moving, I believe that church has a very bright future ahead of them.
Hey guys! This is my second entry from my new computer! The last entry consisted of 10 minutes of laughing into the voice recognition and then attempting to play a song for it. It resulted in lots and lots of hilarious gibberish. I thought it was funny, and someone told me to put it on Xanga, so I did. ^_^
Lots has happened over the past 3 months. First, my trip back from Europe was awesome. I toured the Loire River Valley, saw lots of incredible castles and amazing rivers, and had a day-long layover in Paris. Strangely, I loved Paris my second time there! I watched the sunset from Sacre Cour, I watched the changing of the guard at the Eiffel Tower, and I ate dinner at a small pasta shop that made watching Ratatoullie when I got back a nostalgic experience. Then, I got on a train for an overnight ride to Frankfort. There, I spent the day going to Museums- a fortunate thing, for there was a special event with museums that weekend. So, I saw lots of awesome stuff for 5 euros- the cost of getting into just one of them! So, I saw lots of those, then went to sleep that Saturday night, expecting to get up in time to make my flight the next morning.
The next morning, I got up and went to that huge, magnificent cathedral for their church service. It was a beautiful, magnificent cathedral, and as I sat in the back row, people started filing in for Sunday morning mass. Now, the people at this church were all pretty old, and as I sat in the back, I started to realize that I was really out of place. I hadn't come across a shower in a few days, and I had run out of clean clothes a few days ago. I was also carrying around a huge backpack, and I can bet that in every way I looked like a bum. And the parishioners let me know it, too. I got so many angry glances from people around the church! You'd think I had the plague or something. It was ridiculous! But they all seemed incredibly angry with me for being there.
So, I left. I got up and walked out, feeling dejected, thinking I'd just get to the airport early, get cleaned up, then try church back in America. As I was walking out, though, a lady stopped me and said in broken english that she was glad I was there. We talked for a minute, and she told me it was a special day for the church- the day of their patron saint, and that it was a special service and she'd be glad if I would stay. I thanked her, smiled, and walked halfway down the street before I realized that I really did want to go. Her words of kindness warmed my heart- so as I turned around to head back towards the cathedral, I saw literally thousands of people pouring in- from all over the surrounding area- to celebrate this church's special patron saint's day. I grabbed the only empty seat I could find near the back corner, and sat and watched and listened to the most incredible service I've ever experienced. I didn't understand anything but the words for God, Jesus, and a few other miscellaneous words, but to listen these people lift up worship to the Lord in languages I couldn't understand was a life-changing event for me. As the service drew to a close, I left there changed. I never would have gone had that woman not stopped and said something. Dear ones, stop and say something. It's worth it. Then, I flew home. Maggie met me at the airport, as well as my family, and we got to spend a few days together before heading back to school.
.... So, there you have it. That's the end of my travels in Europe. Sorry for the delay. And soon... I'll let you know of all that has happened since then- an occupation or two, and some madness that has been life. ^_^ Very soon. I promise.
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Well, today is the end of my time here in Pau. In 6 hours, I shall board an overnight train to begin my last adventure, ending at the Frankfort Airport. Classes have finished; I presented my last project today for the most worthless class I have ever taken. It was supposed to be on Marketing, but we just didn't do anything.... but I digress, that's not the purpose of this entry.
This entry is about my trip to Barcelona, Spain 2 weekends ago, as well as a quick description of Lourdes last weekend.
Both went super well! There ended up being not many of us going to Barcelona because the tickets were so expensive (I got a ticket for much less because of my Eurail pass- $300 less. If any of you ever come to Europe, get one of those.) We arrived on Thursday evening and all went to the Hostel we'd reserved in advance off a website, but instead of what I'd expected- a nice hostel in a nice part of town- we found a hostel that was kinda a dump. But with a good location. From there, we went to a street called Las Ramblas, a main street well known for its performers and artists. There were some awesome dudes there, though there were also some scam artists around, too. It was pretty sweet; but more on that later. We went back to the Hostel, to find it about 11 billion degrees, completely full, and not really that nice. At least they had safe lockers to put our stuff in.
The next day, we went and got a 2-day tourist bus pass. It was pretty sweet, they drove us around the city and showed us cool stuff. We got to see a lot of the works of Gaudi, that was awesome- he was a super incredible artist who really seemed to have a deep faith in God. His buildings were totally crazy, too- he basically invented his own style of architecture by combining things he saw in nature with buildings. It was fascinating!
After that, we went to the olympic park. It was cool. On the way, we saw a bunch of stuff, including a park that Gaudi designed. It is known for a big, really comfortable stone bench that is made like a snake and curves around a large portion of the park area. There were a lot of great street performers there. It was a fun atmosphere.
After that, we made it to the olympic park to find it mostly closed and under construction. We were all kinda bummed at that, but there was at least a food court-type area and some botanical gardents there, so we got to see some of that. It was cool. We then went and rode this huge gondola-thing (like the ones they have at amusement parks, but each of the gondolas were able to hold 6-10 people) up to a castle at the top of the hill. It was cool, and I always love a new castle. Plus, the view was amazing. After that, we went to dinner and had an incredible seafood and rice dish. It was so great! Then we went to Las Ramblas, that street I mentioned earlier, for a while. I saw a mime! He was hilarious. There were a bunch of other performers, too. Some of them were really good! I had a great time there.
After another night at 2 million degrees, we headed for the train and went back to Pau! It was a pretty fun trip, all in all, though none of the insane adventures that the first half of my trip seems to be known for- this part was much more the usual tourist experience. Maybe this coming trip will be more exciting... :) At least, I hope so.
Oh, and this past weekend, Mike and I went to Lourdes. It's a town I went to a while ago, but I missed a few places... so, we started by visiting a hilltop chateau. It was cool, had a little museum inside, and had some incredible panoramic views. I like good views. ^_^ Fortunately, it seems each city I've been to has had their fair share of 'em- from hilltop chateaus to Sacre Cour in Paris.
After that, we went and saw the great cathedral of Lourdes, where the waters are said to have healing powers. I drank some of the water, and I still don't feel any more sanctified than last time, though I felt a bit of a cold coming on and now I don't. Maybe I needed to go into the bath houses... but the line was super long, and plus... no, drinking the healing waters is enough for me, thanks. (though only about half the length for the guys' bathhouse as the girls' bathhouse... apparently there are a lot more girls in need of healing? or maybe guys are more macho and refuse to go into a bathhouse to bathe in healing waters...)
Anyways, after seeing about a million candles (it was so great!), we went to an underground cathedral. It was so awesome! It is apparently one of the biggest in the world, and was almost completely abandoned, so Mike and I sat in the front row and talked about life and God and stuff. It was good days. After that, we walked a trail with statues depicting the last days of Christ, and then headed back to Pau!
Well, my time draws short, so I wish you all God's blessing! I'll write one last entry once I return to Athens. Unless I find a computer between now and then. Or get mauled by bears.(if you check the link, make sure to read the quote by the cop. Priceless.) Assuming that neither will happen, I shall speak to you all soon!
