Thursaday Morning...

Today I had the chance to go with a girl named Betsy to her English club. It was awesome... I basically sat in a room with 15-20 Kyrgyz, Russian, and Uzbec college students and talk about life in the US and life in Kyrgyzstan... It was so awesome just to share stories of life together... I think they were more interested in hearing my stories than telling me theirs but I was intrigued by their lifestyles, family values, and ambition for hope... This was seriously one of the coolest things I have done here...

It was kinda funny because they kept asking what it was like to be famous in the US... They already had this mindset that we are famous rockstars but I realized Betsy also told them that I was a champion wrestler back home as well (wrestling is huge here)... It was akward saying "Really, I am not a famous rockstar at all back home... and the wrestling thing... I was, for all practical purposes, pretty good, but people make fun of guys rolling around in tights in the US..."

Even after that though I realized that anything I had done to them just seemed so impressive... They then asked what was the most exciting thing I have ever done... I have to tell you, I almost got teary eyed when I had the opportunity to say... of all the things I have done - "None of them have brought as much joy, excitement, and passion as following Jesus... It is that journey that has lead me to music, has lead me to my wife and taught me how to treat her (still working on this), has lead me to have something worth competing for, and in many ways it is what brought me to their country" - The fact that I could say that, and mean it... I mean, really mean it... God has changed my life... I have hope... I experience a rescuing from a world that otherwise seems to have no end to the struggle... I am blessed beyond measure and it has everything to do with my decision (which is really more of me being drawn) to follow Jesus...

May we all realize the beauty of His call...

Much Love,

-J