Creative

We had a halloween costume party on Friday night…

My original plan was to be the Jolly Green Giant, but 730pm snuck up on me and so I got creative real quick (I was the SLOW KID).

It was great fun!

Cold

Well it’s time for me to start complaining about the cold again!  It was in the upper 30s for most of the day with rain and wind.  The season hasn’t been around long, so I’m not terribly upset by it yet.  The week has been a little bit of an off week as everything calmed down after a crazy Mid-term week. 

Speaking of crazy… David and I were talking the other night about how things have changed since we came to the apartments.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the quiet refuge that my private room can bring, I also miss however the spontenatity of dorm life and crazy nights where everyone is in the hall at 2am duck tapping someones door shut.  (Big fire hazard! lol)   

The fact is that this year is just a lot different.  As Juniors we realize that we are getting into the core of our classes, graduation is quickly appraoching, and for many relationships are growing in seriousness.  As we “grow up” many of the crazy things that we have done fall behind us, even though there are still random things that happen that bring humor to our lives. 

One of those instances happened just a few weeks ago after some of our friends (girls) who live downstairs were complaining about how loud the guys above they were.  They said that time and time again they would wake up at 1am to pounding on the floor from speakers blaring, or what sounded like people wrestling.  Now keep in mind that the building that we live in is extremely nice, but by no means are they sound proof.  The floors and ceilings lack a certain degree of thickness.  So late one night (or early one morning)  the four of our apartment mates went across the hall directly above our friends and began to jump.  Up and Down we pounced for about 35 seconds, knowing the girls would be sound asleep.  Well needless to say they woke to the “earthquake” and became quite enraged (an understatement).  Within 1 minute all four of the girls were marching down the hall.  Like a SWAT team they beat on the door, and like the little boys that we are we first hid and then beat back on the door.  After playing with them for a few minutes the girls became extremely confused when the four of us guys retreated from our foxholes.  It was a great night(morning)!

All of this is to say that I will be looking for more opportunities to capitalize on randomness.

In His Eyes

I was standing at the salad bar fixing my healthy snack when I noticed something different.  Someone who at first instinct I wanted to avoid… someone who was different… someone who was odd.  The flesh within me toiled for those first few seconds as my heart reached out. 

Going about my business I noticed that he too was preparing a delectable feast.  He too was filling an emptiness inside of himself.  He too was probably going through a similar toil in his body about my peculiarity.

We continued on in our struggles…

His plate was piled to overflowing, literally it spilled over onto his shoes… again my flesh told me to stay clear, but my heart tugged me to service. 

I DID NOTHING!

Then he did something. 

He looked up at me. 

Square in my eyes,  Jesus pierced my heart. 

Through the eyes of this stranger, this one who society would label as different, handicapped, “un-fortunate”    I saw Jesus, but I did nothing!

Why do I miss such opportunities to fall to His feet and serve.  I did not wash His feet like He washed His disciples…I did not reach out my hand to my brother who is the object of Jesus’ love/death on the cross, I did nothing!

“Whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me”

Joyful through the season

If there is one thing that I’ve learned in the past few days it is that we go through seasons of rain, drought, flood, and storm.  Last year in one of my updates I made an analogy that I felt as though I was trudging through the river and was struggling to keep my footing while tiptoeing to stay above water to grab one more uninhibited breath.  There have been other times when I wrote about how God is working and moving,  times when His presence was so evident one would have to be intentional to not experience it. 

Once again I am convinced that we go through seasons in our life.  It is imperative that we remain connected to our Foundation through those seasons.  Rob Bell produced a Nooma Video called “rain” in which he took his son on a walk.   Before he knew it a storm swept them into its embrace as the two reached the farthest point from the cabin.  A clear picture was painted of a Father pressing on through the storm with his young child on his back.  As the storm’s center drew close to the duo, the child began to scream.  With the child screaming in his ear the father did everything he could to press on, before long the father brought the young one from the hiking pack and embraced the youngest close to his heart.  During the last mile or so of the trip the Father whispered sweet promises into the ear of the child.  Even though the child was to young to speak, even though the child could not fully comprehend the meaning of the words the Father spoke, the child and the Father grew intimate through the storm.  It was an experience that the Father would not trade for anything! 

In the same sense I am finding out that God, our Father, wants to draw us near- Whispering sweet promises into our ears and hearts.  Tonight we shared this video with 28 juveniles at the Madison County Juvenile Center. (prison ministry)  How in the world do you share with teens, many of which do not know what it means to be loved by a parent, how the Father God loves and cares for him/her?  It was a beautiful thing to be a part of the discussion and hear the kids talk about how Jesus should be our Solid Rock and we should resist the things that set us up on shifting sand.  These teens are so hungry for God! 

Through these experiences and more I have come to realize that seasons are not easy… sometimes the storm seams to overturn every part of our life… sometimes the rain pours so hard that we find ourselves about to drown…

Here’s the stuff (as the Juvenile kids would say): Through Christ we have hope, through faith, prompting love.  Persevere through the hard times to remain joyful in affliction.  Stay connected to the source of life we must! (Yoda) 

As I read just a little while ago Satan has two tricks: discouragement and doubt.   He knows that if we get caught up in our heavy hearts, if we let the storms of life drag us down, if we are discouraged than we can be of little use to others.  Doubt in a similar sense disconnects us from the source of life that comes through faith. 

Father God…. I pray that my roots may be established even deeper with in you so that as the seasons come and go I might remember where my help comes from!  My help comes from You God!  You are my purpose and my passion.  May I put you first in all things as I seek to love you with my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Turn my grief into Joy so that you will be exalted!  Discouragement and Doubt have no place in my life and I relinquish those struggles to you.  I press on through the storm, through the trials, seeking to honor you with all that I am.  May I remain Joyful through all seasons!

Father God,

              “I want to live like there’s no tomorrow, dance like no one’s around, sing like no one bodys listening before I lay my body down… I want to give like I have plenty, love like I’m not afraid, be the man I was meant to be, be the way I was made…”  -except from Chris Tomlin’s album “Arriving”

Praising you through my life and love, thought and deed, waking and sleeping, walking and running, wandering and persevering is my aim… that goal which feels so far from reality

Through every time and season teach me to find identity in You more and more. 

Direct my thoughts toward actions that reflect your love, not for my gain… but for your praise!

As I travel may I see You in the eyes of those I meet…

Grow me in You… May I be grafted into your vine so that I find my strength only in You!

My longing heart YEARNS for more of You and less of me.

Social Alien

One day I was sitting in my high school lunch room when it seemed as though my conciousness drifted outside of my own body.  I looked down from above as my body went through the motions of eating and sitting there while conversation buzzed all around.  This one experienced marked the realization of being a social alien. 

There was not one song that I recognized, not one joke I could tell, or one piece of information to give that would contribute to the conversation.  My insides became mute as my mouth sealed from the inside out.  Inside there was this longing to fit in, a longing to fit the mold. 

One day it hit me… I chose Jesus because I wanted to be different.  I chose Jesus because I saw the meaning of true love.  I chose Jesus because I realized that He held plans for my life.  I chose to let Him define me… I chose to allow him to take control. 

I’m not saying that to be a Christian is to be culturally irrelevant.  I’m not saying that to be a Christ follower you can’t know the jokes, recognize the songs, or be able to let info flow.  What I am saying is that if you claim Christ… if you claim to follow the One who died for you on the cross the realization that I have come to find out is that He must mark and define everything you do.  (Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength) 

For me that meant being a social alien… I was and still am different.  I don’t fit the mold of the “normal.”  I can’t always contribute to a conversation, but I know that those things do not define me…  fitting in does not define me!  I seek and strive to have Christ define who I am, no matter the cost.  < O how I am learning more and more what that cost truely is> 

Even though people consider me a “nice guy”…

Even though anywhere I go in my community there is someone that I know…

Even though I can carry on a conversation with most I come in contact with…

I feel like a social alien

But I am a Christ follower! May Love be my Identity  (1 John 4)

Time line for Uganda trip

If you are interested here is my time line marking the Uganda trip! I can’t describe to you the excitement that is pulsing on campus.  This listing is also important dates if you were thinking about helping me finantially for this trip.  Thank you in advance! 

**Not yet listed on this time line: Meeting with Health Services to go over basic safety in working with the HIV and AIDS infected and affected community; Fund raisers conducted by you as a group; Get-togethers to begin to get to know one another and Uganda

27 September: Confirmation with Cassie

29 September: Deposit due to travel agent ($100/person paid for by Leader Development of the Church of God)

27 October: Yellow fever vaccination complete (and make sure to have the person administering the vaccine give you a yellow card with the signed info on yellow fever vaccination- they should know what this means. Basically, it’s proof of your vaccination and you can’t get a visa or in the country without it. You can also keep track of your other vaccinations on it). It would be a good idea to get any other of your shots that you can at this point as well, if possible. AU Health Services has offered to help with these.Shots needed:Yellow Fever, Hepatitus A (two shot series), Hepatitus B (three shot series…or I may have those two reversed),  Sometimes doctors have another one or two recommended at the particular time.

Pills:Typhoid (you can do this either in shot or pill form) and Malaria (pills only)

30 October: Passport, filled out Visa application form (available at http://www.ugandaembassy.com/visas.html), two additional passport photos (they’re taken in sets of two and the Tri-S office can take these for $3), and $55 to Stuart at Campus Ministries

10 November: $1187.10 due to Stuart at Campus Ministries (to cover the remainder of the plane ticket)

27 November: All shots completed and prescriptions acquired.

1 December: Final $180 due to Stuart at Campus Ministries (pays for all room and board expenses while in Uganda)

28 December: Leave from Chicago (O’Hare Airport) at 4:30PM- need to meet at the airport around 2:00PM

10 January: Return to Chicago (O’Hare Airport) at 12:15PM

Uganda

This week we received more information about our trip to Uganda, Africa.  After two special chapels this week my heart is yearning even more to be there.  Let me explain to you more of what I know…

As you probably already know Africa has a huge epidemic on its hands that comes in the form of aids. 

An estimated 24.5 million adults and childrenwere living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2005.

In Uganda alone: 

1,000,000  people living with HIV

6.7% rate Adult (15-49)

520,000 Women

110,000 Children

91,000 Aids deaths

1,000,000 Orphans due to Aids

If these statistics don’t move us to action, what will?

The hearts of AU students and staff have been stirred to the point that we have stepped up to partner with East Africa to play our part in walking in the journey to wholeness.   The group that I will be traveling with over Christmas is a group that has been hand selected to begin this process of relationship.

We will be working with the TAPP center for Aids in Uganda and forming relationships with local churches and organizations to find out where the need is.  A movement has begun on campus that will send as many AU students as possible so that a union is made.  At the same time we are hoping that the door will be open for students from Uganda will be able to come and study here at AU. 

My heart already go out to the children of this Aids stricken land, but there is more…

Recently in the news you might have heard that there are peace talks going on in Uganda between the government and the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army).  These talks, along with cease fire come after 20+ years of ambush and bloodshed.  The LRA live in the dense bush that is not easily accessible… they raid villages, outside the city where families live.  When they enter the village immediately they begin killing the adults and abducting the children.  With brutal tactics they force the children to be killing machines who then raid othere villages and the process continues.  Because of the threat of abduction children who live in villages, for quite a while now, make a “night commute” to sleep in abandoned buildings, street corners, churches, and verandas.  Usually walking 2-3 hours (if not more) the children face rape, ambush, and natural elements during their commutes, because their own home isn’t a safe place. 

If you need to know more like I did you will visit this website:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php

My heart go out to these children who live without parents, face abduction, have been inflicted with AIDS because of no fault of their own, or are severely malnourished. 

SO I’M GOING TO AFRICA!!!

Here’s what I need…

1. Your prayers as we prepare and while on the trip

2. Financial Support- the trip after a $500 subsidizing from COG ministries Leadership Development I will still need around $1500 plus the cost of shots and plane ticket to Chicago over Christmas

3.  You to ask questions:  The more questions that I have to answer the more that I will prepare my heart and mind for what is in front of me.

You can always be in touch with me through this blog site… just leave a post…  you can send me an email at Jweiger@charter.net … or you can write me at:

Joshua Weiger

Anderson University

1100 E. 5th Streeet

Anderson, IN 46012

Thank you for taking the time to be involved, I look forward to hearing from you!

There will be more in the future as information comes to me

Love God love people!

Pray, Serve, LOVE!