"Good morning Budapest"

It was great to wake up in my own bed in Budapest! I was so exhausted last night, I went to bed around 10 pm. After a week spent outside the city and traveling into the city for work, I'm ready to start the new week only a few minutes away from everything here. I said good-bye to the family last night. Here's a picture from last Fall when we were in Krakow. I'm actually going to miss their day to day schedules. Their bickering made me laugh and reminded me of growing up with my siblings. Things that really didn't matter but were worth picking a small fight about usually happened in the morning on the way to school or after school. I'll miss the chaos of family life here just outside the city. It's been fun and it's been real. It's been real fun. :D
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On Sunday at Alexandria Bookstore we had our church service in the coffee lounge/shop. Jeff asked me awhile ago if I would talk in April at Alexandria. Talking has never been a problem in my family. I don't know, could be me and my opinion on the matter but ask anyone in our family and I'm sure they won't be at a loss for words. He asked me to talk on pop-culture, self-image and God's thoughts towards us. It was a bit odd to realize the message was being heard throughout a Hungarian bookstore. Bruce helped MC the Q & A time at the end. Someone took a few blurry pics, so here you go.


There were a few people who would wander in, sit for awhile to listen and wander out. The primary points of the discussion was that most of us are looking into one of three mirrors to define who we are-- the mirror of pop-culture, the mirror of self-judgment or the mirror of God's word and depending on which mirror you stand in front of, you may be basing your identity on things that are not anchored in reality. I tried to keep it inclusive for guys too. I was surprised to find while researching the topic that there's actually been a rise of anorexia among men. Surprising, I know. Also, magazines like "Men's Heath" and "Muscle and Fitness" have encouraged an increase in steroid use with men based on the specific pressures they may feel to be fit or "buffed".

I enjoyed the Q and A time as it brought out different elements of the discussion. In two weeks, I will talk on the final part of the topic -- the mirror of God's word and what happens when you look into that mirror to define you. Personally, I have to be reminded of these truths here in Eastern Europe where the women are sooo beautiful, dressing to the hilt just to go to the post office. It's quite obvious they are dressing to attract the attention of ANY man and ALL men. And the men -- well, eye boundaries do not exist. Most men don't reaize they are playing into the hands of these women who want exactly what they are giving -- they want it but don't want it.

They say that body language is about 70% of communication. A lot of the guys here in Budapest are checking out every girl who comes on the metro, bus or tram. A lot of girls are communicating "Look at me." You'd be surprised what I've seen on the streets of Budapest. The worst is when guys are holding and hugging their girlfriends, but still blatantly and openly checking out the girls coming on the tram. YUCK! So, you can see why so many girls are insecure. They want to be the only one in the story. I'll just speak for myself but probably for others too -- it gets old. It's like, come on guys! All I have to say about that is there is something about guarding your eye gaze that actually protects your own soul too, I think. I know that's true for me. When guys are staring at you and you have no place to go on the bus.....then staring at the next girl and the next girl, obviously and openly and sometimes even lustfully, it's like....enough already! It's in those moments that "people watching" (one of my favorite pastimes) gets old and I choose to look out the window. Get me out of this trap!

All that to say, the topic of looking into mirrors -- where you get your identity and what you base your worth on is a desperately needed topic here. They say that when you speak on something a lot of times you are also re-learning whatever it is you're teaching. I think that's true.I have needed this reminder too so it's been good.One of the girls (Oxana) came up to me after Sunday and said, "We should talk about this every week." Well, that would get old, but seriously. I was glad to see a few girls I invited from the university at Alexandria. I think they enjoyed it and church in this setting was not "weird." I like meeting at Alexandria for church. It's so unconventional. I love the fact that anyone can wander in and it's in a bookstore so it's not like you're going to some strange church building. Anyways, it's been an adventure for sure.

Have a great week everyone!
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