Still awake...

Well I am currently on the plane ride back from Zurich to Atlanta stretched out over an entire middle row of 3 seats!  Our couple days in Zurich weren’t too eventful as we caught some stormy weather.  On Saturday, Dan set us up an appointment SportClinic Zurich where we received a tour and had a Q&A with one of their staff members.  SportClinic Zurich is sponsored by Swiss Olympic and consists of a sport medicine/rehab facility, biomechanics, and an exercise-testing lab.  Theresa, the lady showing us around, told us how the facility sees a mixture of both Swiss athletes and everyday people coming in for services.  Starting my Masters in the fall at USC in Applied Physiology (Exercise Science), it was really cool to see a view of the field internationally.  Upon leaving SportClinic Zurich, we went and saw Terminator Salvation, which I thought was much better than T3.  That essentially concluded our stay in Zurich, as we are now flying back to Atlanta and then to Savannah.

Below I just want to expand/comment/share on what this trip has meant to me personally, whether it be academically or spiritually…

Academically, I have been so fortunate to have such an opportunity.  With aspirations to teach, being around professionals like Dr. Dan Czech has provided me with an ideal way to enhance learning…make it FUN!  Again, the energy and attitude he brings into the teaching setting weather in a classroom or out on a baseball field in France has provided me with a wonderful illustration/model.  Do I want to develop my own “style”?  Yes, but I also want students leaving with the “fired up” mentality to learn more about the subject or even themselves like Dr. Czech does.  I’m looking forward to experiencing this in the Fall as a GA.

Spiritually, I don’t know where really to start.  Not always being one much of words, it’s hard to say (God’s grace in itself).  As I type, I am cautious not to try to write what sounds good or “deep”, but rather the feelings I’ve honestly experienced. As I mentioned in previous posts, and I won’t go into detail again, the Lord has opened my eyes to the ways he wanted to work in me on this trip.  He has romanced/wooed me revealing a greater love. It’s been a feeling of “Wow!  Look how minute and small I am”; yet He still wants a relationship with me.  Driving to/from Barcelona seeing the countryside, running in foreign countries, looking down from 6,500 feet above, seeing Dan’s heart ache from being absent from his wife/kids, being vulnerable with one another, Patty/Boris’ willingness to provide/help us; it’s these things that God has used to show me what his love is like.  It’s beautiful, it yearns, and above all else it’s sacrificial.  Lord, teach me to love.

Coming off this trip, I’ve begun to wrestle with a new outlook on living my life, at least for the time being.  I definitely feel as though if it’s the stage of “Cowboy” alive in me, but I have grown to have such an increased desire for adventure.  It’s a desire for more than college football on the weekends or just sitting around watching television.  (Disclaimer: I’m not giving up on going to USC football games and being a fan.  I enjoy that fellowship with good friends/family.)  It may be missing a game or two to partake in something greater…a greater adventure…a different adventure.  And you know what, maybe I’ll just bring others along.  Actually, I wouldn’t want it any other way but to be with others.  It’s been interesting.  Maybe since around the beginning of the spring semester, my interest/taste in music has expanded and grown so much.  I remember thinking back in the fall that my playlists needed something new, a different sound.  I believe it was the chance to attend a few small gigs in the Carolinas that sparked this new growth.  Growing up, sports were my thing.  It’s what I did.  I had a couple tries at guitar, but sports reigned.  Again, I’m still passionate about sports, teams, etc.  However over the past 6 months, concerts/gigs, some aspects of art, and the wilderness has surpassed with a more appealing beauty.  Being here in Europe, I was able to see/hear the differing cultures of such things.  Whether it was the American cover band in the packed out Irish pub, decorative yet sometime obscene street art/graffiti along bridges or train ways, or the snow capped Alps, I experienced a new high much like that of painting up at a nationally televised USC football game.  I realized that our God has created an amazing world for us, and I want to experience more of it.  To give a better illustration, I want to take mine and Joe’s Young Life guys camping, on road trips, to soup kitchens, volunteering.  I want them to EXPERIENCE God’s love and grace, not simply hear about it a few times a week from us.  I want to go to more concerts, especially small, non-mainstream bands that I’ve hardly heard of.  It will be interesting how this plays out.  I already feel like I’ll be in need of some sort of adventure these next 3 weeks between returning from Europe and leaving for Trinidad and Tobago.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to fill that void…

For the weeks following up until Trinidad and Tobago, I’ll be doing some lab work on campus at Georgia Southern.  I’ll likely post at the end to tell about what I’ve been doing.  Hope you enjoyed!