Captured By Love

Here at the castle we’ve been doing a lot of talking about the characteristics of God. One of the main things that God has been revealing to me about his character is the way that he loves. He loves us wholly and unconditionally. That’s something that is hard for me to wrap my mind around; the fact that the God of the universe loves me, and I didn’t do anything to deserve it. I could never do enough to deserve it! He just loves me. He loves everyone. Every single person. He thinks as many good thoughts about me as there are stars in the sky, fish in the sea, and sand in the deserts. As corny as that may sound, it’s the truth, which is staggering. Not only does he think an immeasurable amount of good things about me, but he thinks them about everyone. He thinks these thoughts about people past, present and future, all at the same time. It’s impossible to wrap our heads around.

As incomprehensible as this is, I find it comforting. If I was able to fully comprehend the God that I worship, what kind of God would that truly be? I think that the fact that I can never fully understand Him speaks about his power and might. Would I actually be content to worship a God that I could place in a box? If I knew everything about God and could understand all that He is I doubt that I would have had the desire to let Him into my life, or want to dig deeper and grow with Him. He is so much bigger then I could ever imagine. He is so much mightier then I could ever measure. He is so much wiser then I could ever understand. And this God, who is so great and immeasurable, loves someone as tiny and insignificant as me.

So what have I learned about love? To love someone is not an emotion, but a choice. Loving someone is choosing to see the highest good in that person. God chose to love us, and saw the good in us, so He gave us His son so we could have a relationship with Him.  Jesus also chose to sacrifice himself so we could have a relationship with his father. God sees past all our faults and failures to the person who we’re meant to be; the son or daughter who is blameless and perfect.

Here on Earth we won’t like everyone. It’s a fact. No matter how hard we try our personalities wont mesh with everyone else’s. But that’s ok. We’re not called to like everyone, but to love everyone. I am called to see the highest good in that person; to see Jesus’s characteristics in them. God knows that I love people, so this is what He challenged me with: To look at everyone and see Jesus in them, and love them like he would; to love them without condition. Every person is deserving of love. Every single person, no matter what.

I praise God because He is so loving. He is love itself! I still have a lot to learn about love, but God is love, so as I continue to seek him I know that I will discover more and more.

First of all, I need to apologize for the procrastination of the log awaited (hopefully long awaited at least!) first entry of my blog. First my tumblr blog isn’t working for some reason in Germany. It refused to load and I was getting very frustrated and discouraged. Secondly the Internet at the base is the pits. There are lots of AMAZING things about the base, but the wifi connection is not one of them. It makes the camp Internet look like high speed! Thirdly, I’ve been pretty distracted having the most amazing 3 weeks of my life!!!!!

It’s a little hard to believe that I’m starting my 4^th week in Germany already. It seems like just yesterday that I left Vancouver, by myself, for an entirely different continent. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a tiny bit scared. Being a full grown adult can be stressful at times… especially when you have the maturity level of a 6 year old! But the reality of where I was didn’t completely set in until I actually had my baggage in hand and walked out of the airport doors. Let panic start in 3…2…1… PANIC! I started playing the what-if game in my head. What if I get on the wrong bus? What if the bus driver doesn’t take bills? What if I end up on the other end of town? Needless to say I took 5 minutes to calm down a bit, and then mustered the courage to actually get on the bus. I was so preoccupied that I didn’t realize that I never actually paid the bus driver until I arrived at the actual base and was already in lecture! Oops! At least I want caught by the German police… I know about 5 words in German! From there I got on the train and ended up in Lobau. I got picked up there and arrived at my new home. I got there, dropped off my bags, and ran to the lecture that was already in progress. I managed to defeat jet lag in that one day by staying up till 10pm, on about 4 hours of sleep, and not getting any continuous sleep on the plane. Lets just say that I probably wasn’t all there the first day… but then again, when am I ever all there!

On a typical day I wake up, go to worship every morning, get my books and go to lecture, have a coffee break, go to lecture or core groups, do my work duty (which is working in the kitchen), and then learn photography. The order may vary and there might be some omissions but that is my general day. It is so amazing learning photography from this staff. They are so open to questions and able to help in so many ways. The main photography leader has actually been displayed in the Louvre, so I feel honored to have the privilege to learn from such knowledgeable and accomplished people.

The amount of art here is amazing. I’m in the largest DTS in all of Europe (about 100+ of us), so there is a wide variety of people. We have dancers, fine artists, writers, musicians, and graphic designers as well as photographers. So spontaneous randomness and epic events are bound to happen with this much creative people in one place! I heard someone put it this way, “I’m living in a castle, in a German forest, with a bunch of hipsters from around the world.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

The speakers that we’ve had have been amazing as well! The first speaker we had was Donna Jordan, who we got to have for 2 weeks. She was a joy and a privilege to learn from. She taught us on learning how to hear God’s voice. The first week I can honestly say that I cried every day… more than once! Not crying in the bad way though. I didn’t realize that I had so much pent up baggage and hurt that I had to let Him in and heal.  The second one was Ceelo, who taught on the fear of the Lord and having an intimate relationship with him. It was also amazing. I’ve never laughed so much in a lecture in my life! He has so much wisdom and personality.

Through all the speakers I’m leaning more about God’s character and how dedicated he is to perusing me and my love. Learning about his love is just so humbling because he loves so unconditionally and wholly. He has showed me so much since I’ve been here, and calmed my heart in so many areas. God is great. Just so great.

There are a few random little things that I miss about home (besides my family). For one, they don’t have ranch dressing here. DESTRESSING! I had pizza here and had the hugest craving for it but couldn’t find it anywhere. I also miss chips. I would give my left arm for some salt and vinegar Ms Vickies chips. But the little things that I miss don’t out way the amazing things and experiences that I get to have here. Where else could I crowd surf, play sardines/hide-and-seek around a castle, buy mass amounts of chocolate for dirt cheap, and hitchhike legally!

I’m super excited to be in my 4^th week here and continue learning what God has in store for me here. God has a plan for me, and I’m excited to just be along for the ride.