Pilgrim Footsteps

So...in two days I leave for Germany!  I'm going with fellow German classmates in our German Exchange Program (through GAPP), and I'm so excited! But, I'm not only excited to live in a German home and see the Alps and all this awesome Germany-stuff.....I'm excited to bring the fire of the Gospel with me!  As a Christian, even though it may not be a mission trip, it is my job to make it one, because our entire lives are meant to be a giant missions trip.  So, for my trip to Germany, I am excited to see whose lives I can touch with the Spirit of God that goes with me everywhere I go.  I want to at least touch one person, be it someone in my US group or someone I meet in Germany.  I've been praying over the family that I'm staying with as well as for many opportunities to spread God's love and fire.  I'm sure I'll have awesome stories of how God worked in lives when I return!  God bless!

I realized something that, really, we should all realize a lot earlier than I did (which was just the other weekend): True laughter is not from something being funny, it is from feeling joy.  It seems like a pretty simple concept, but I really think that many people miss the point.  I mean, think of it this way - everyone who goes to a third-world country sees destitute and starving children who laugh and giggle often and wonder why they are laughing.  Because they have joy!  They do not need "funny" or things to make them happy, they have joy!  And yet in America and other world powers have everything they need to make them "happy" and hanging out and joking makes things "funny," but what about true joy?  Happiness and joy are most definitely not the same thing. True joy makes you laugh.  True joy is a tangible taste on your tongue.  True joy makes you want to dance and sing.  True joy comes from God.   So, I started right i...