Radovan Karadzic is one of the world's most wanted men

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia after more than a decade on the run.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7518543.stm

Google maps now has street view for Columbia.  Crazy.

View Larger Map

sometimes i wonder if the look people give me when i sit on the floor of an airport is one of disgust.  Perhaps I'm a little old for that, I'm not really sure, but I love sitting on the floor, and it's so much easier than trying to find a crazy chair to sit in. And, the floor is usually closer to outlets, which are important in airports with free wireless, such as Phoenix.  I've never been to Arizona before.  I mean, a one hour stop in the airport doesn't really count as such.  But I think I might like to visit someday.  It's not at the top of my "places to go" list, but eh, it's probably on there somewhere.

Anyway, I guess all this travel by myself makes me want to communicate every once in a while, hence the crazy blog posts from airports.  Maybe I'll do something more productive until we board, like reading...

I finally just uploaded a quadrillion photos to facebook, since I finally had the time to do it.  Lazarus (my "back from the dead" computer) has never really been quite the same after his little incident... and well, let's just say he's a little "slow" if you know what i mean.

Anyway, so if you want to keep up with my craziness, the photo albums are actually the way to go.  The short version, without graphic enhancement, is this:
I started in Columbia.  I got a ride to Charlotte.  I flew from Charlotte to LA.  I took a shuttle from LA to Pasadena.  I was in Pasadena for about 4 days for EXPLORE, a seminar that was about opportunities with Frontier Mission Fellowship (FMF), the overarching organization of the US Center For World Mission, et. al.  After being filled with information and having a bit of fun doing it, I took a train to San Diego, where I met with my friend Emily.  Since then, we have been trekking around the city via public transportation, visiting everything that's free and making good use of my 4-day Metro pass.  On Thursday, I'll be flying to Dallas for the Perspectives national conference.

Well, that about sums up the short of it.  Check out facebook for more photographic details, and talk to me later for an actual story. 
Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123960&l=afd88&id=502690056

Part 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124018&l=3185c&id=502690056

Philippians 2:1-11
 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 6Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 7but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 8And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

A few days after graduation, I realized that it's been a long time since I've really had a consistent devotional/Bible reading time.  So, I decided to just start small, and do one verse of a chapter every day.  I somehow landed on 30 as a good number, and Philippians 2 is that many verses.  So, I started reading it.  Apparently God's decided to cause life to be one big object lesson along with my daily reading.

As I was going through the first few verses, I was really realizing how much I love all of my friends down here, and how amazing it is that we've actually been able to find some community among all the mess and craziness of our lives. 

Last week Sunday, I randomly ended up going to a night church service with a few friends.  The message was on this exact passage.  And a lot about what Jesus gave up to become God incarnate.  That was the point when I was really struggling with "becoming nothing" and realizing just how much I have given up in the world's standard.  There are so many things I could have done differently that would have put me in a place of financial stability, independence, and all those other things we all grasp so hardly to find...  Apparently God's path likes to take those away from us a lot.

Yesterday, I had reached verse 8.  The verse about becoming obedient, even to death.  Something in me knew it was probably going to be a bad day... I mean, obeying to the point of death on a cross isn't very pleasant.  Well, in fact, it turned out more difficult than I had even assumed.

Along with all of the uncertainty and change of graduation, I have since found that, while I am currently jobless, I am also soon to be homeless, and now have found out I will also be car-less.  My car overheated the other day, and I took it in yesterday and found out it had blown a head gasket.  My little '93 Dodge Spirit with 172,000 miles on it isn't really worth fixing something that big on.  So, I am now without my own transportation.  Which, while finding a job for such a temporary amount of time was already looking to be difficult, it is now even more so, seeing that I have no means to get there.

On top of all of this, I was informed yesterday about some very difficult things some of my friends back home are going through.  This tore me up pretty badly.  It always amazes me how the sin of one or two people can have such a vast impact (think Achan, Joshua 7). 

Along with all of these things, I'm trying to figure out transportation to and from and in between all these conferences I need to go to soon, trying to book flights, and money for all of this stuff...  And come June 1, I'm going to need places to stay...  I've had a few offers already, so thank you for those.  Those of you who know me well know how much I hate to have to ask for anything.  Well, I am now in a position where absolutely everything I need is going to have to come from other people.  Transportation, lodging, money... pretty much everything.  It's a hard place to be when all you want to be is independent and financially stable and debt free and autonomous and create a name and a place for yourself in the world... It seems God enjoys destroying our towers for the greater good (Genesis 11). 

So anyway, if you see me, you should probably give me a hug.  Because I probably need it.  And if you think of it, shoot up a prayer for me.