a bit of light

I was trying to figure out why I couldn't post. And then I realized... I wasn't logged on. There's a phrase in German that's close to epic fail: totaler Fehlschlag. Not exactly perfect for this ocassion, but it was something I was reminded of. :)

I'm glad you two Marine-labbers were able to go to your class retreat! It sounded awesome. I'm definitely missing IV folks.
Thanks for posting too Jason. God is amazing. Reading through what you learned helped encourage me as well as teach me.

I've been struggling to hear what God wants to speak to me through my devotions. I just recently realized it's been hard because I haven't actually been listening. I didn't figure this out till I was doing my devotions this morning at 100% awakeness (what's the real word for this?), and finally realized that God's been trying to point out my dumb pride to me.
On Thursday, we were with Irina, who's one of the teachers of our morning class, and she asked us to talk about our excursion to Wolfsburg, where the VW production facility is located. After each person shared, she would comment on their oral skills. The others got great comments. When it was my turn, however, she said I didn't speak loud enough, was too slow, and had no rhythm. Inside, I immediately flared up, although I knew in my head that she was just giving me these comments to help me improve. I couldn't explain to myself why I was so perverse that even when she gave me a chance to improve and told me to repeat my last sentence, I barely increased my volume and made no other changes to my mumbling. I think what made her comments harder to bear that day was because I had just been complimented on my improved German that very morning before class by a fellow classmate. I became prideful to the extreme.
When I read my devotions today, it was no different in theme from the previous chapters, but I finally saw that, yes, I do have something in common with all these groups of people that God was condemning in the book of Isaiah. These people all had one thing in common: they all took pride in themselves for what they were able to produce seemingly without any external help.

I thank God that He persisted in trying to get through to me. It's humbling and encouraging at the same time because He renewed in me the hope that He will keep communication lines open between Him and me. God is good.

On another note, I'm asking for help in finding good resources on Mormonism compared to Christianity. One of the other 3 Dukies taking these January classes with me is a Mormon, and after I declined her offer to go with her to a Mormon church, I became aware of my limited knowledge of the Bible. I do not know for example, what in the Bible would preclude the existence of more prophets like Joseph, the founder of the Mormon church. So, help with that would be appreciated.

It's been going okay with classes and all on the whole. There's probably room for feeling healthier/not sick, but that's the kind of state I'm in most of the time anyway, so not a big deal. I'm still find myself fortunate to have what I have here (e.g. nice host family, nice resident director). I'll be praying for you and your roomate Jason. It looks like a great opportunity, and I'm glad you're up for it.