Once again, my day has been long and full; I got up andran this morning with several interns at a local park, then was equipped until lunch @ Techno University. I came back to read and fell asleep for a few hours before teaching english class for the second day – it went wonderfully I might add. and tonight I have been attempting to clean out Anna’s computer so that it will be faster and work better for both of us, as I use her computer when I get to use any; tonight we went to an italian resteraunt here that was expensive comparably and yet still only cost about $3, the food was good and the main table had two of our students as well! Tonight we went out for Karaoke and it was a blast, we had a lot of fun. I will say however that there were several songs that I had issues with, and moreover I had issues that we were singing or listening to some of them. I seem to be tired, so therefore prone to thinking about what I am doing wrong or could do better in life, but I have beenstruggling hardcore recently with the line between being exposed to culture (i.e. music and movies) in order to relate to people, or the call to stray from profane, perverted and crude material in our lives. Our group recently watched Anchorman, and although it was funny, it was not the type of humor I want to dwell within me, it is not a movie I would want to watch sitting next to the King of Kings. I mentioned this to Anna this afternoon in passing, and had to leave the karaoke place for a while because I don’t know how to handle it. I pray for God’s guidance and direction, his wisdom and strenght, patience and mercy, that I may love the people and not the actions… not the sin. I just don’t seem to understand how a person can teach about the love of God and the importance of biblical values and then go and quote Dane Cook, Family Guy, or movies like Anchorman. I feel as if those of us that are here are masters of putting on faces, religious ones, social ones, and relational ones at different times depending on the circumstances. I want to be real. I want to be open and transparent. It hurts. It aches.
I know that these are issues that are valid, but I also recognize that Satan is using them to distract me from my purpose here. I must ask that you pray for me as I strive to maintain a loving attitude, a humble attitude, a content attitude, and an attitude that is focused on and bringing glory to Christ.
I have been reminded of James, the Russian orphan from Arkansas, repeatedly the last few days. Please pray for him and the way that God is revealing himself to him.
Blessings… Adam
Mom and Dad said,
June 13, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Of Course we’re praying for you. I’ve been praying about this specifically for a while now – it has been a struggle for you all of your life. STAND STRONG – you are right in your convictions. God WILL get you through this with love and grace. Being Christ-like will never be easy, but it honors God and you will be blessed. We love you so much!
Amber said,
June 13, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Sorry I haven’t been keeping up!!!!!! I am bad.
I know what you mean about all that entertainment stuff! I watched Anchorman last semester and I thought it was terrible too. Will Ferrel just isn’t good anymore. I used to like Dane Cook when I was first introduced to him. But the one thing I didn’t like about him is that he just started cussing for no reason (not that there is a good reason to cuss) to make people laugh when they weren’t into his jokes. That was lame. Some of his jokes are funny, I just don’t like how he cusses all the time. You can almost not even quote a whole joke without skipping over a curse word. I also feel bad cuz I introduced Zach to Dane and now he likes it and I don’t listen to it anymore. What a good example I am…
Sounds like you are really getting some perspective over there! Stay safe…and I am gonna catch up on the blogs I missed! =D
Spencer Hemphill said,
June 14, 2007 at 10:17 am
Adam, hey man, I’m praying for y’all and I hope you’re having a great time and that God’s using you to bless his people!
Hope y’all are having a great time and staying safe!