Culture Shock

It's not until the aroma of roasting chestnuts fills streets and kitchens throughout Croatia that autumn has really arrived. This year, for the first time, we found a vender selling chestnuts in Orahovica. Although we hope to take a trip the woods to look for chestnuts ourselves we were excited to get our hands on them without the effort. Here's David's first taste of chestnuts. 

Heard a song that made some sense out of the world There are a lot of things on U2's latest album I can relate to. (Hence the series of Songs of Innocence  related posts ). But the influence the Ramones had on Bono - as sung about on the first track of the album - is impossible for me to resonate with. Instead, I'll reflect on an early and constant influence on my life. I was raised on the Bible. My first memories of church are filled predominately with listening to Bible stories and memorizing Bible verses. Most evenings after dinner we read devotionals and memorized some more. Besides my family, there was nothing that influenced my childhood more than the Bible. Over time, my identity was shaped by the stories and principles the Bible teaches. Of course the verses that summarize our beliefs most concisely (ie John 3:16) were the ones at the foundation of my memory base. But the Lord as a shepherd, Scripture as a lamp and righteousness as a breastplate were pictures...

Last year, I asked our kids to pick out a few of their favorite things; 1 book, 1 movie and 1 toy they really like. I recorded them telling about their choices. You can watch it here . As it turns out, watching themselves talk about their favorite things is one of their favorite things to do. So, we decided to do it again. Here's an updated version of their favorite things: Enoh's Favorite Things Ian's Favorite Things Emily's Favorite Things David's Favorite Things (According to his siblings)

You've got a face not spoiled by beauty Your eyes, blue heat Fueled by pure joy Melt the iciest of emotions Your jagged smile underlining And curling around  Up to the top with giggles Flanked on both sides  The flames are untamed Sparks too bright for sight If there is a light you can't always see And there is a world we can't always be If there is a dark that we shouldn't doubt And there is a light don't let it go out Excitement personified Comes from a mysterious source Still unknown to the mediator And though obliviously You are leading the believer To the way away from doubt You let me into a conversation A conversation only we could make You break and enter my imagination Whatever's in there it's yours to take Like a child Words spill teasingly stylized imperfection Thoughts bound only by innocence Spoken freely yet expecting Confirmation, redemption If there is a light you...

Every Breaking Wave (Best if read while listening to the 2nd track on U2's Songs of Innocence - still free on iTunes) Levin had been married for three months. He was happy, but not at all in the way he had expected. Every breaking wave on the shore Tells the next one there'll be one more At every step he felt like a man who, after having admired a little boat going smoothly and happily on a lake, then got into this boat. He saw that it was not enough to sit straight without rocking; he also had to keep in mind, not forgetting for a minute, where he was going, that there was water underneath, that he had to row and his unaccustomed hands hurt, that it was easy only to look at, but doing it, while very joyful, was also very difficult. If you go your way and I go mine Are we so helpless against the tide? Baby, every dog on the street Knows that we're in love with defeat Are we ready to be swept off our feet And stop chasing every breaking wave? As a bachelor, seeing...

The thing about music is that you can always describe it to someone, but they can never listen to it through your ears. Sure, we have ways of comparing bands, singers, styles, genres, tones, textures, and to some extent they help a listener know what to expect. Yet it will always be possible for two people to hear the exact same song/piece and come away with two completely different reactions. That's one of the characteristics of music I treasure most. You cannot tell me whether a song will stir something inside me or not. I won't know until I listen to it. A few days ago, U2 released their new album,  Songs of Innocence , without a buildup preceding it. The price for 11 songs and a booklet was a few minutes of my time. Yet I valued it because reviewers hadn't gotten their hands on it yet. They hadn't had time to judge whether the melodies were ready for pop radio or if the lyrics measured up to whatever standards they defined. Bono's vocals and The Edge's ...

“In the morning you can sleep as late as you want,” our leader announced in Serbo-Croatian, “Just know that you need to be at your next location at 07:30 and it takes two hours to get there.” We were in the middle of nowhere. Over 60 teenage and adult Royal Rangers from more than 10 different European countries had gathered for the National Training Trail (NTT). Our assignment, simply put, was to hike from place to place around a village in Serbia called Krivi Vir while carrying all the food, shelter and supplies we would need throughout the four day expedition. Our camp sight on the second night was a place even our leaders had trouble finding. There was no way to get there by car. And the map we were using was over 40 years old. Still, we found it. And once we did the exhaustion we felt after our 15 kilometer hike set in; we were ready for food and water.   But we would need to make fires and cook our food before we could eat. We also learned that we’d need ...