iWant

I've been consumed with doing my best at pronouncing what God wants for my life and consumed with every possible angle of what He could want for my life, and then I realized I'm more worried about MY life then GOD'S will. I realized that my first problem was being consumed with my needs/wants/desires and not first devoting myself to the desires of my Creator. i.e. Everything is judged by how it affected me.

In David Platt's book "Radical" he states,

"You and I have an average of about seventy or eighty years on this earth. During these years we are bombarded with the temporary. Make money. Get stuff. Be comfortable. Live well. Have fun. In the middle of it all, we get blinded to the eternal. But it’s there. You and I stand on the porch of eternity. Both of us will soon stand before God to give an account for our stewardship of the time, the resources, the gifts, and ultimately the gospel he has entrusted to us. When the day comes, I am convinced we will not wish we had given more of ourselves to living the American dream. We will not wish we had more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably, taken more vacations, watched more television, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of this world. Instead we will wish we had given more of ourselves to living for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around the throne and sing the praises of the Savior who delights in radical obedience and the God who deserves eternal worship."

Truth. Being saved by God's grace means that I get to stand, praise, exult, worship, and adore God. In my worship and prayer and listening to the Word, His shalom [Peace] will well in my soul so that I will leave with a glad sense of personal blessing- a great lift. But that is a byproduct, not a goal, a further evidence of the generous grace of God.

I'm starting to understand that by calling myself a Christian I must understand that worship is the ultimate priority of my life.

Jesus said "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak for Myself. he who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. -John 7:17-18

Notice the capital letters signifying God in that verse. It is all for the glory of God. He teaches us. He knows us. It's all about Him. His love. His grace. I think David wrote it best in the Psalms "O Lord, You have searched me and know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it."

Yes he knows and still died for me. If you feel like you've let God down, you have to realize you were never holding Him up. He is our Alpha and Omega. Our beginning and end. He already has all the glory, it is by His grace I am able to worship Him and live by His Spirit. Amazing grace.

Jup. Holland. Jup.

Here's are group with Guus and Ellen. It was an evening of conversation and great friendship that I will never forget. To think that 8 weeks ago I never knew any of the guys that I went to Guus's house with, and less than a month ago I randomly met Guus and Ellen through happen stance at a restaurant in the Czech Republic. The 6 of us shared a lovely dinner and evening together in Holland on the evening that the Netherlands was playing for the World Cup final. Wow. God is good. Praise the Lord, and thank you all so much for your prayers for our night with Guus and Ellen. God was definitely present.

Here is the fish that Ellen brought out to us on the back patio as soon as we got to their house. It was raw Herring. It is a Dutch tradition for everyone at the table to stand up and swallow the whole fish. So what's the Golden rule? Love your neighbor as... wait.. no I mean, "When in Holland do as the Dutch do!" So we picked up the fish, with lake water still dripping off of it, and dropped it in our mouths. Three of the four of us did it no problem... I'm not going to mention the (city boy- Jake) who made up a 15 minute excuse that he just got off a 2 hour "hot" train ride (that was air conditioned), and his stomach wasn't feeling well so he could only nibble on the fish.

Believe it or not I actually really enjoyed it and ate 3 more! I've never had such fresh fish in my whole life!

Here's a picture of one of the streets as people were gathering to watch the game. In most towns there were huge screens set up outside in the city square that showed the world cup games. It was pretty amazing!

I had a huge test today that I actually spent more time studying for than I have for all of my tests combined in my college career. It was a pretty good size, six essay exam. Anyway Chris, Taylor, and I decided that we were going to bring our "A" game for this test so we came down at 8am for the test "dressed for success."

Tomorrow we're going to Brussels to visit the European Parliament. I'm pretty excited about this visit and I'm definitely going to ask them to give me there true opinions on the Greece Sovereign debt crisis.

I can't believe we only have a week left in Holland. We have another exam Friday, A presentation and ten page paper due on Tuesday. Then we'll be on our way to Paris on Wednesday. Again thank you all so much for your prayers and I want to leave you with a few lines from a song that has been playing in my head all day.

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it's suffering I do drink
Of it's work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

Namaste.

Trav

Waffle Me.

I don't know if I've ever experienced anything like it before. Rich chocolate being poured across my plate of strawberry's, vanilla ice cream, and most importantly giant waffle. This is what they call the world famous "Belgium Waffle". Oh that I may partake in consuming such a marvelous creation..

It didn't come without a price of course. Along the way many became faint of heart and turned back, but those who kept their eye on the reward, basked in it's grandeur. Indulged in it's effulgence, and consumed it's sumptuousness. Yes, we were the few, the proud, the Belgium Waffle Brigade 2010.

When we started we had two maps (only one that actually was relevant to where we are in Europe. I gave the other one to a few other guys so it would keep them occupied for awhile), a high chance of rain, and 27 people very excited to conquer the Belgium Waffle. Five minutes into our trip the floodgates of the heavens opened up. Immediately two of our compatriots turned around and headed back for shelter. The rest of us pressed on.

Once we came to the first town called Tillburg, we took the biggest hit to our numbers. We had a planned stop in Tillburg to get cash out and grab some water for those who needed to, and also so we could find a path to Belgium. We told everyone to meet back at the bikes in 10 minutes. We waited 20 minutes, had to cut our losses (5 people), and moved on. Over the course of the next hour there were two bike wrecks and a few emotional break downs that cut our number to 17. After almost 3 hours we finally made it to the land of milk and flowing waffles.

On another note Holland is in the World Cup FINALS!!! It's really funny that no matter where we go people are always trying to get us to buy Netherlands soccer jerseys. They think that since we are Americans we are all rich or something... HA! Anyway, the game is at 8:30pm Netherlands time on Sunday. It works out really well because the Dutch Business man some of us guys met one night in Czech Republic invited us to go to dinner and watch the game with him and his wife on Sunday. It's definitely going to be a night to remember.

On a side note... The Dutch business man is named Guus and from our 2 hour conversation in Czech, I didn't gather that he knew the Lord as his savior. He is 60 years old now, very wealthy and very knowledgeable. God has put it on my heart to share with Guus because who knows if he'll ever sit down with another group of Christians for dinner. The challenge is Guus is being very hospitable and generous in having us for dinner so I don't want to be a young rude Christian who shoves Jesus down his throat.. Well I want to... because I know we're talking about his soul for eternity here... but I don't think that will be the most effective and lasting impression on this type of man. My point is please pray that the Holy Spirit will direct the conversation between us on Sunday and that his heart is tender to the gospel. I am very nervous because my heart is burdened for Guus and I want to see this man saved.

Namaste.

Trav

My Hog in Holland.

There she is! Such a pretty little thing. Yup, I'm a lucky man... She's mine, all mine for 3 weeks! This is my mode of transportation to get around Holland. Well, there's a train but who wants to pay for that? I won't even pay to swim at the pool, (I jumped two barbed wire fences) why would I pay for a train ticket? Haha instead I've decided to spend hours on my "hog" cruising from town to town. It's actually been really enjoyable riding through little towns and across the countryside.
And... As far as I can tell, almost everyone in Holland feels the same way. Below is just one of the bicycle parking lots in a town I was at yesterday. They actually have entire underground parking garages for bicycles! Wild!
We've been taking trips in groups just in case someone has a problem with their bike and they are an hour from Oisterwijk, our home location for the next few weeks.
As you can guess, even in a community of so many bicyclist, we stick out like a sore thumb. I don't know if it is because we ring our bells on our bikes to wave at people and say "Hello", and instead in Holland it means "Watch out" or "move, I'm coming through". Or if it's the fact that we don't wear our shirts half the time because we want to get a tan when everyone else is fully clothed and on their way to work or the store... either way, when we are riding through town in our big bicycle brigade, i feel as if we're being looked at as creatures that has never been seen before. Quite humorous to say the least.
Home Sweet Home! They grow a fair bit of corn outside of the town we're staying in... it's kind of funny but it does make me feel more at home.

We started International Trade & Finance this week which has been very interesting. I love to see how we are interacting with the world through trade and how we, as the U.S., have such a huge impact on the rest of the world. I've been reading several essay's and articles about globalization and international trade and what a Christian Perspective looks like in these areas. It's been very encouraging to me to see that Christianity and God can and should play a huge role in this process. I just read an article today that was Written by an atheist titled "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." He was not being facetious, but was honestly stating the need for Christian morality to drive globalization in Africa. This has also been the thought of many other respected economists not only for globalization in Africa, but globalization in general, no matter what country we're talking about.

Personally, this makes me very happy. Being a supporter of Free Market economy myself I see the need for some sort of moral guiding principles and a small governing role to set guidelines in market exchange. I am a Christian by thought and practice, so I would make an argument that the moral guiding principles for market exchange can be found in the Bible. Many have the view that Free Market exchange and capitalism are the tools to make the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer. I believe that this undoubtedly has been the case since the top 1% of the world population is richer than the bottom 56% of the world population combined. To even think that these two groups mentioned above live on the same planet is astounding. 5/6 of the World lives on $2 or less a day... I can't argue that some of this is at the expense of capitalism. By capitalism, I mean private companies using and abusing some 3rd world countries.

On the other hand a "restrained" free market exchange can be an indispensable tool to give the poor a hand up if used in the proper way. In Brian Griffiths essay "The Challenge of Global Capitalism, A Christian Perspective", he explains that the basis of the early Jewish economy was land, and when the promised land was settled, each family was allocated a plot of land. The laws took great care to protect property rights, but these rights were never absolute the ultimate ownership of the land belonged to God and property rights carried obligations. Freed slaves were not to be released empty handed but given resources to look after themselves. Those with wealth were to give generously to those in need. Those who borrowed were not to be treated as debtors. When fields were harvested the edges of the field were to be left unharvested for the poor and the stranger.

The right to property gave each family the freedom to buy and sell, to save and invest, to take risks and innovate. But it was not a laissez-faire system (An economic theory that argues that an economy works best when it is governed solely by market forces). Restrictions were imposed on the labor, capital, and property markets to ensure that each individual and family was treated on the basis of justice. The sabbatical year was an occasion when the land was to lie fallow, slaves were to be freed, and debts forgiven, and land returned to its original owner. One of the consequences of this redistribution was that each family retained permanent stake in the economic life, which was land, in the community. It was a way of preventing the development of a permanent underclass. Restrictions were also imposed on the capital markets to prevent the exploitation of people in need.

This is some of God's standard for economic life, and because of that, it contained principles which have relevance for us even today. It respected the dignity of the individual, their right to own private property and their freedom to do business. It was organized by way of a simple market economy set up with an agriculture background but still has relevance today. It was a market economy that was guided by some regulations to ensure justice.

There is hope! The UN has stated they are trying to make what they believe a tangible goal of achieving universal primary education by 2020. That means that every kid that is born in 2020 and after will be able to obtain a 6th grade education. In today's world education is the same as owning land back in the time of the Jewish economy I was talking about above. Technology is blamed for 80% of the continuing separation between the rich and the poor. So when you give a person some sort of education you are giving them a chance in today's economic system.

The other problem I see on the horizon is that globalization can cause materialism and selfishness. Do we really want to spread the same thing that we fight as Christians in America. Is there a way to use globalization to spread the gospel and improve living conditions without spreading materialism? I think it's possible. One thing to watch is that with increased income there is a direct correlation with spending on unnecessary materialistic things. The Bible warns us about this... When a man acquires more worldly possessions he starts to hang on to his life and falls in love with the world. Our goal as Christians is to not hang onto our life and separate ourselves from the world in that way.

I guess that's something to think about. Namaste.

Trav

Spinning Out of Control.

Above is a view from 16,000ft on Mount Blanc in France. We were able to take a day trip to the mountain and again... I was brought to my knees in view of God's creation. How small are we compared to the World? Sometimes I think that my problems and my life are so big that I'm afraid to give it to God to even handle. Then I see things like this and realize Ecclesiastes 3 is telling the truth when it says, "I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before."

While we were up there I was standing and watching a group of climbers making their way up the mountain. It seemed as if they were only moving a few feet every couple of minutes. That's what really put it in perspective for me... Can you imagine how we all look to God wondering through his creation. Someone beside me said, "Man, I hope they don't fall in that hole." (We saw a whole in the snow in the direction they were traveling.) I looked at him and said "I think that hole may be as big as the dorm we're staying in... I'm sure they'll see it!" Now thinking about it, I wonder how many times in my life there has been a "hole" in front of me as big as a college dorm, and God put red flags all around it but still I missed every sign to stay clear and walked right into the enormous hole of pain, sin, and suffering.
On another note me and some of the guys saw some fresh powder that was waiting to be broken in. But what were we to do without sleds, ski's, or snowboards? What's that... Body Sled of course!!
We made our way over to it, counted to three, and took a running start. We all slid feet first but I quickly started gaining speed and went into a front flip and heard a "Riiiiip". Once I came out of the front flip I ran into Mike, as you can see above, and then we both went into another flip and I heard another "Riiip".
Then as you can see I ended the 100 yards of spinning out of control with an ending none short of Shawn Johnson's 2008 Olympic gymnast floor routine.

I got up, humbly accepted the applauses, and looked down only to see a 10 inch rip down the middle of my Jeans... If I had a dime for how many pairs of Jeans I've ripped this year... Right Ma?

We've finally finished up Comparative Economics and Global Marketing and now have a couple days off before we start International Trade and Finance. We visited the World Trade Organization two days ago and had a meeting with a guy who worked as a negotiator for a number of years. It was really cool to see how over 140 countries have to come to a consensus to put Trade laws into effect, who said "We all can't just get along"? haha, yes I know that doesn't mean there is World Peace but it's still kind of a cool thing. And Yes, dad I tried to have a talk with them about getting China to lower their tariffs :)

Namaste.

Trav

Refreshing.

What a Honda in Switzerland?! Good Man!
I was very tired and needed a place to sleep, so I found a nice bear sitting on a bench to snuggle up beside.

We traveled from Lucerne to Geneva today. On the way there we stopped to eat lunch in the valley that you see in the picture above. Me and four other guys decided to go exploring and found...
A WATERFALL! It was amazing! I finally have seen a waterfall. It's always been a dream of mine to bathe under a waterfall so me and the boys did just that! Took a little shower under a waterfall in the Swiss Alps. Refreshing.
Obviously I had to rehydrate with fresh mountain water, before the rest of the hike... water has never tasted so good!
We continued the hike up to a ledge that overlooked the valley. The view quickly silenced the 5 of us boys and almost brought me to my knees.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Mathew 6:27-29

Psalm 104

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

² He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent

³ and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.

⁴ He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.

⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.

⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.

¹¹ They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹² The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.

¹³ He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate
bringing forth food from the earth:

¹⁵ wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.

¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷ There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.

¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

¹⁹ The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰ You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹ The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.

²² The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.

²³ Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

²⁴ How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number
living things both large and small.

²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ These all look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.

²⁸ When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹ When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.

³⁰ When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works-

³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.

³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD.

Love and Miss you all. Namaste.

Trav

What is a man?

Every boy grows up to become a man. How does that happen? For some, their circumstances make it happen fast. Others slow, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.
How do boys know what a man is or looks like or what that even means? For me all I have to do is look at my dad. My dad is a Man. He has showed me what it means to work hard and take care of his family. He has worked his whole life to support our family the very best he possibly can. I know if he could go back in life he probably would have chosen a different career, but like he say's he chose what he chose and now he works at it as hard as he can. Almost every person that comes home from working 25 years in the Honda factory is groaning about how bad they have it, and how bad their job is. Not my dad. You know what I've always heard.. "Ya sometimes it gets repetitive but I'm blessed to have a job, and God has blessed me with certain relationships with people that I never would have met otherwise." Another thing that I always hold near to my heart is that my dad never chose work over family. He had opportunity after opportunity to get a promotion and make more money and have a better job.. but guess what.. He wanted to coach my Baseball team, he wanted to be at home every night to have dinner with us!
My dad has shown me what it means to Love your family with everything you have. I think he would be the first person to tell you he hasn't done everything right as a parent or as a husband but I will be the first one to tell you he has done an amazing job, second to none. I know that he wore the same two pairs of jeans for 8 years so he could spend his money on buying me American Eagle and Hollister clothes through middle and high school so I could be "cool". I know that if I ever find myself in any sort of bind all I have to do is dial his number and he will jump in his jeep and be there before I hang up. I know that I can be at my lowest of lows and he'll be the first to lift me up. I know without a doubt in my mind that there is nothing on this earth besides his relationship with God that means more to him then my mom, sister/paul, and me.
My dad has shown me that a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that matters in life. He has shown me that there is nothing more important than spending time with our Savior. He has showed me that you can spend time with the Savior in anything that you're doing, whether we're working on the car, or riding a roller coaster. When my dad shows me love I know that it can't come anywhere else but from the Savior. He has told me who he was before he was saved and I see who he is now. He shares his stories so that I know the only way him and I can control our stubborn personalities is through Jesus.
My dad went to almost every College football game I've ever played. No matter the distance, no matter what he needed to get done, he came. Him and my mom wouldn't let anything stop them from showing their support for me. I thank God for letting me be the son of Rock Powers. He has been the most influential man in my life and I am so very grateful for that. I feel lucky to have been raised by a loyal husband, loving dad, and wonderful Christian man. I hope that one day I may be able to be as great of a dad as he is. He has more love for me than I can ever realize and I know that.

I love you Dad. And I want to thank you for being the Man that one day, I hope I can be. Happy Father's day Dad.