I kissed a boy

I kissed a boy! ... I thought that would get your attention! The statement is true, but probably not in the context you  imagine. Turns out, here in Belgium people greet one another with a cheek to cheek greeting while making the kissing noise, but I thought it was just a kiss. Needless to say, one of our friends that we met here in Leuven was saying goodbye to everyone in this manner and I didn't feel super comfortable, but didn't want to offend him, so I just kissed him on the cheek. Poor boy handled it well, but my teammates made fun of me!  You learn a lot by just living life in a foreign country. You learn how to start a race in different languages and quickly learn that what appears to be a hand washing station near porta-potties are actually urinals! 

This is sort of the what my walk with The Lord has been out here in Belgium. A huge part of me desires to have all of the answers to my future and to have all sorts of dramatic experiences where I see and feel God at work, but it seems that for now, God is teaching me that I simply must walk with him and learn as I live life. Just as the kissing the boy was not a dramatic experience, but a fleeting embarrassment, The Lord is slowly molding me and using me as I walk through life listening to his spirit. 

We are studying Ephesians with the team this week. We talked about what it means to have the Holy Spirit in us. Paul writes to the Ephesians that he asks God to give them "the spirit of wisdom and revelation so you may know God better and that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which you are called." Through my time out here, I am learning that life is all about knowing God more through the life course that he leads us in as we obey his law. Jesus said in the book of John, "if you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever- the spirit of truth." And he tells us this so that our joy may be complete! 

As I spend th next few weeks out here with my team and continue to race, I am trying to just rest in the freedom of the life God has offered me. my first race went surprisingly well. I ran a 4.20 and felt great. There were a ton of Americans in the race and I had so much fun racing them. I raced again in Liege and felt confident I could break 4.20 but I ran 4.22. I was able to look at Heather Kampf during the race, but it turned out to be a pretty low key race. I am looking forward to another race on Saturday in Heusden. Jamie Cheever will be in my race along with my teammate, Katie Porada. I am looking forward to continuing the process of living life each day and being led by the spirit to become more and more like Christ. hopefully I won't find myself kissing anymore boys or embarrassing myself further!