Long Time, No Blog

I apologize for the long delay in an update to the blog. I spent five days in London last week. I got to take in two incredible Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concerts, the sites and sounds of England, some time with a good friend, and all the Dr. Pepper, pork, and Starbucks coffee a man could ever want. It was a great week, but it's just too much to try and write about. If you want to hear the details, you'll have to run me down in çarşı or catch me on Skype.

But that week in London is over, and that reality has set in. I saw a great quote today from Philip K. Dick, a science fiction writer from the 50s up until his death in 1982 and who is seen as one of the most influential in his genre. He says, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

I guess I had stopped believing that Turkish was a hard language to learn. Maybe I had stopped believing that this was a hard place spiritually. Maybe I had stopped believing that life was hard and sometimes lonely. If I had, then I must confess that they are reality, because they still exist here. I'm still struggling in this language. I'm still struggling to make friends. And I'm still struggling to be a joyful person in a place that is still very foreign to me.

With all these realities I must acknowledge, I don't want to leave out the greatest. Our God is a mighty God and worthy to be praised. He left Heaven, which is a billion times better than London, to come to this grummy earth. He lived with people that hated him worse than any Muslim has ever hated Bush. He died to save the same people that I claim make my life difficult. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so that I could be here. Not "here" in Turkey, but "here" in his grace and in fellowship with him. That is something I can not stop believing in, because it is reality. A reality I would like to make known to the people I am about to go visit.