My Christmas Story

Since its Christmas, I thought I would share my Christmas Story.  Yes I like the presents and really like the time spent with family, but as most of us know, there is something much bigger to celebrate.  There is nothing in my mind that is more epic than the birth of Christ and what his birth means for me today.  I was listening to a sermon online the other day and this quote inspired me to write about my life below:   "One of the things you lose when you run through a little argument and give up on God is your capacity to deal with other people as precious eternal valuable souls and persons whom God has a wonderful plan for; both for time and eternity." Dallas Willard, Philosopher USC

In order to have a better understanding of what I mean, let me tell you about my life in 2005. 

I was at the University of Northern Colorado and struggling a lot.  I was battling a case of depression from being alone, having my heart broken and making bad decisions.  God was not giving me the answers I wanted to my prayers.  School and work consumed all my time and the only time I felt “good” was when I was at the bars or drinking at home.  I fell away from my faith, something that had been so important to me for years before.  I found it easier to do what I wanted to do and not worry about what kind of life God wanted me to live.  Through all this I became cold to those whom God has called me to love me most.  Today, I joke with my students that I have no feelings because my heart is made of stone.  In 2005, it was very true and came out in the ways I treated my athletes, co-workers and students.  It was wrong.  I was wrong, but did nothing to bring myself out of it.  My time at Northern Colorado was filled with test; both the academic and spiritual.  I failed miserably.  Those failures led me to be a person who had no intention of loving my neighbor as myself.  If you were to ask the students at UNCO about me, most would rightfully have horrible things to say about me.  They would tell stories of how I yelled at them, was blatantly and intentionally mean to them and made them feel like they were 2 inches tall.  I wielded my new authority with an iron fist and it was my way or get the hell out of my way.  This also spilled over to my athletes to the point that I was no longer helping them, but became a deterrent in their healing process.  Who wants to go to an athletic trainer that has no feelings of sorrow or empathy?  Who wants to spend an hour a day with a guy that is straight up mean?  By the time a year had past, I was no longer actively seeking a relationship with Jesus.  Instead, I was doing the opposite.  Hiding and doing everything I could that I knew was wrong.  There were many times I felt like I had an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.  I spent more time listening to the devil.  This lasted for about a year before I started to slowly crawl out of the dark hole I had dug myself into.  Thankfully our God is an awesome God and waited patiently for me to realize He was with me the whole time, always willing to help if I were willing to ask.  My second year at UNCO was better from the standpoint of having friends, but I was still cold hearted and emotionless towards most around me.  I didn’t realize exactly how bad I was until I went to Ghana and had lots of time to think about it.  I was an awful human being, one who never even tried to love my neighbor.  It was a very hard time of my life that I am recovering from today.  One of the biggest issues was love.  I had loved and been destroyed by the loss of it.  I had a hard time thinking that I would ever be able to feel that again.  And really, did I want to and have it destroy me again?  It was easier to just be than to try to love those around me.

Now let’s look at today.  Each year my students say the same thing to the new sophomores in our program and the freshman on the teams: “You guys are lucky, Bosh use to be so mean….”  It seems to be the ongoing joke as my first year and my fifth year have looked completely different.  The reappearance of emotion and love has come from a variety of sources.  

The first was my dog Tag.  Sounds weird, I know, but very true.  Some of you will laugh and other will know exactly what I’m talking about.  Its been said many times that dogs are the definition of unconditional love towards their masters.  I’m lucky, Tag has unconditional love for everyone J.  He is goofy.  He loves the little things in life (chasing a ball or just being outside to run free).  He makes me laugh out loud, which is weird knowing that its usually just him and I.  He’ll run down a ball, but when the grass is wet, he slips and falls or does a somersault when running down a mountain in snow.  He sighs when he is bored, which makes me laugh because I can only imagine what’s going on in his head.  He greets me every time I come home with a tail wagging and can’t wait to just be around me.  Talk about turning my heart from stone back to normal.  I will freely admit that over the last 5 years, I’ve cried twice.  Both of those were due to my dog.  For me, it’s amazing to think how God used Tag to demonstrate the love I should be having for those around me.  

The second thing that brought me back to the path was great friends.  Some in Spokane and others scattered around the world.  If it weren’t for their willingness to put up with me and my many faults, I wouldn’t be where I am in my faith journey.  They have been encouragers, accountability partners and great listeners.  As I posted in “30” friends have come and gone in my life, but in looking back, each have played a role in who I am today and the relationship I have with God. 

The third is the big man himself.  He never left my side as I struggled.  He gave me numerous opportunities to let Him help me out of my problems, to depend on Him and not myself.  Even though I rejected His helping hand numerous times, He continued to offer.  He propped me up during hard times and has blessed my life with so much.  I’ve said in other post the many things I’m thankful for so I won’t repeat it, but just know, God is good and His grace is forever thanks to the birth of Jesus Christ, the one who has made eternal life possible through his death on a cross.  His birth, the reason we celebrate Christmas, is a reminder to me of the life I should live; one of love and acts of service.  Serving not because I have to, but because I am called by the One who loves me to love others.

I guess my whole point in this is to let you know how much I’ve grown in one area of my life over the last 8 years.  I’m sure if I wasn’t so stubborn and prideful, I would have learned much sooner :).  I lived the quote above.  I let my life’s problems ruin my ability to treat others with the love that God treats me with.  I still struggle with it today, but not nearly like I use to.  God willing, I’ll continue to grow in this area of my life and be able to teach others about the love and grace of God.

Blessings to you and yours during this wonderful holiday season.   

Jon

England

I know its late, but as promised, here is a little bit about my trip to England and Ireland.

I must not have interacted much with the people I sat by on the plane from SA because I'm having some problems remembering who they might have been.  My guess is I took some sleeping pills and slept for most of it since it was an overnight flight and I was due in London at something like 6am.  I spent some time talking to Amy about this portion of my trip before I left SA.  To be honest, I was a bit nervous.  I had spent roughly 3 months with in Ghana with the people I was about to stay and hang out with.  Since we left each other, I had been at Whitworth for 4 years.  They had lived the lives of University students and were starting their adult lives.  We had talked some in that 4 years, but not a ton because life has a tendency to get in the way.  I was nervous because people change in 4 years.  Especially after University.  I had the same nerves heading to SA and things turned out great.  Thankfully, like SA, England was fantastic because Si, James, Rachel and Jamie are such great people. 

Si picked me up at the airport (evidently he hit major rush hour traffic) and we started our trek to Rachel's place outside of Liverpool.  It was a 4 hour drive but we had a few things to do on the way.  Being an American bloke who likes soccer, we decided to tour Wembley stadium.  It was huge.  In fact, when the NFL plays its game in England, its played at Wembley.  Part of the design was based on the NFL.  Soccer teams use two locker rooms for a game, but  the NFL needs two per team, which is the only time the 3rd and 4th locker rooms get used.  They also had the FA Cup on display so I got to see part of soccer history while there. 

 

After that it was time to hit up a castle.  Why a castle?  How can you go to England and not stop to see a castle.  That's how people use to live.  It was great to see living history.  Below you can see where Si thinks Americans belong

After that we headed to my first English Pub and boy did we find a doozy.  It wasn't a doozy in the sense of great bar, but it doozy in there were a few characters.  These two brothers evidently had been going to this same place for years and the same bar maid was working there.  The brothers had tabs to pay and seemed to have plenty of money to do so.  I drank my first English beer paid for by the brothers.  It was my first and probably the best I had while in England.  After a few beers we hit the road to Rachel's and, we got lost.  Of course we did because that seems to be what I do.  Si's iPhone was dying so we had to stop at a Blockbuster to charge the iPhone, so we knew the address.  I was finally able to meet Dean, the man that swept Rachel off her feet.  Rachel and I had numerous God conversations while in Ghana and I'm very happy she found Dean.  After that Si took off and left me with Rachel.  I crashed early that night because Rachel and I had big day of exploring a house where Shakespeare preformed and downtown Liverpool by.....Duckmarine :)

Yep, this is what I toured downtown in.  Liverpool has a series of canals that run though the city.  Our boat tour was just of a little downtown area, but the riding tour took us all over.  I'm glad I know a little bit about England because I understood some of the jokes.  Man, English tour guides are funny.  After the tour we continued sightseeing on foot.  I saw where the Beatles first performed and essentially most of downtown Liverpool was dedicated to them.  We also went to a beautiful Angelican church.  This place was huge and reminded me of the cathedral I pictured while reading Pillars of the Earth.  The day ended as all days should...drinking a beer and a train ride to Birmingham to meet up with Si once again.  On our drive to his house we stopped off for my first real fish and chips encounter and it was awesome.  However I had another dish call mushy peas and it was not as delightful as the fish and chips.  Si's parents were kind enough to let me crash at their house for the night.  The next day was going to start early and end late.

I woke up super early and thankfully Si was ok with taking me to the airport to catch my plane to Dublin for the day.  Yep, for the day.  I was taking 1 day to fly to Dublin for the sole purpose of drinking Guinness from the place it was created.  One of the best stories is the flight.  I took budget airline Ryan air.  If you've never taken Ryan air, imagine an airplane where everything and I mean everything cost money.  Most of the seats were without tray tables or seat back pockets and entertainment magazines were 3 Euros.  For seating, imagine Southwest with no order.  That's right, legitimate first come first serve.  They make every person put there bag in the little basket to make sure their bags were too big for a carry on.  If it was, 30 Euro to check it, which was more than the flight itself.  Needless to say, watching people get upset and others running to plane made for an eventful morning.  After landing in Dublin, the line through customs was a breeze.  The agent who stamped my passport loved that I was there to drink Guinness.  With map in hand I headed off to Dublin city center.  Since my only purpose was to drink Guinness the logical first place to go was the Guinness Storehouse.  However, me being me, managed to get lost.  I saw LOTS of downtown by foot, but don't worry, I eventually made it to the Storehouse.  Its a self guided tour with a free drink at the end.  They also have a room where you can practice pouring Guinness.  The line was about an hour wait so I decided to head to the bar that is all glass and drink my free one.   For those of you who love Guinness (the healthiest real beer option), it taste way better there.  My theory is because its so fresh.  The view from bar showed the beauty surrounding Dublin.  I can't wait to go back and explore the countryside more.  After the storehouse I spent some time walking around the city.  I was amazed at how many bakeries there were.  I felt like it was one on every corner.  I was pretty tired from walking around all day so I spent a lot of time in a park reading a book.  I also spent a few hours in a restaurant eating Irish stew, fried Mars bars and using the free wifi and of course drinking Guinness.  By the time I got back to the airport I had drank 5 of the best beers I have ever had.  It was one of the greatest day trips of all time (would have been epic if I had someone to join me)  Some pictures below.

The next day I slept in and Si's dad took me to the train station.  I was heading back to where my journey began: London.  I had planned to stay with my brothers friends that night and head to a Fulham game that night.  I arrived in London and did some sight seeing before heading out to Fulham.  The game was awesome.  Granted, it was against a pub team and Dempsey was still on holiday, but it was a great start to my English soccer experience.  We were 3 or 4 rows up from midfield and at Craven Cottage, that means your pretty much on the field. The stadium is old and has a ton of history.  The seats are still wooden and I was told that back in the day, the season ticket holders would carve their names on the bottom of the seats to claim their place.  The names still exist and the majority are still held by the same families.  How cool is that legacy?  The game was dominated by Fulham and there were cheers the entire game.  The Irish team brought a strong contingent of fans who were loud and stood the whole time, but the players on the field were just out matched.  We ended the night with a few beers from the local pub.

By now it was already Friday, which meant I only had two days left in London.  I spent the entire day in downtown taking a double decker bus tour.  If your ever in London, this is the way to see it.  They have multiple routes with a jump off and on as many times as you wanted to.  I saw everything possible.  Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The London Eye, Tower Bridge, art museums, statues and lots of parks.  My favorite was Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament building.  Westminster's history was crazy.  So many people buried there from so long ago.  The tombs were immaculate and created so long ago that they are still considered immaculate.  I can't image the time it took early in the 1200's to make some of the stuff I saw.  I wish I had pictures, but they are not allowed to be taken.  I didn't go into the Parliament building, but the Gothic design blew me away.  I'm not a architecture guy, but this stuff was amazing.  I ended up doing a lot of walking as well because I wanted to.  Just another tourist wondering around. 

 

Tower Bridge (some think London Bridge, but they would be wrong)

Parliament Building

 Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

That night I stayed with James, who happened to live very close to where I stayed the night before.  I got to his house and the nice guy that James is had dinner ready for me.  We then hit the pub and talked for 2 or 3 hours catching up.  The pub we were at had some Sierra Nevada on tap so he was lucky enough to try an American beer in the presence of a true American :).

My last full day in London started with James sleeping in.  The kid had been working long long hours so I didn't mind.  It allowed me to explore the area and I knew I was close to Stamford Bridge.  But, once again, I took the "scenic route".  My dad taught me to use that term :).  I tried to get in, but it seemed to be locked down tight.  Still cool to see.  One day I'll attend a game there.  Once James was up and moving we headed to a market place to eat lunch (not far from where Amy Whinehouse died the same day) and then downtown to meet up with Si and some of his friends.

 

 James enjoying lunch at the market

I got a surprise visit for Jamie as well.  We ended up kicking a soccer ball around for a while then heading to bar for me to experience my first Cricket game.  I asked lots of questions, but really I was there for the company and the beer :).  The rest of the day was hanging out, eating some great Indian food, going to a club (for an hour) then another bar.  My last night was spent with 3 guys I had experienced so much with in Ghana.  Si, James and I had done our two weeks of travel together and had some very hard times and many great times.  Sitting in the bar reminiscing for 3 hours about our time in Ghana reminded me that no matter what happens in our lives from here on out we will always have the mutual experience of Ghana.  Yes, our lives will move in directions, but no one will understand the things we experienced together.  It those experiences that took my nerves away, made me feel very comfortable around these great friends from England.  That is what England was to me.  A time to reconnect with people who make the same face I do when they hear the word Banku or Fufu, who laugh when we talk about the taxi cab incident, who smile when they think of Kofi, Samual and the many other kids who lived in the compound, who describe a Trotro as a death trap, know what its like to shower with a cup and have played Kwamoso Clued.  I smiled as I wrote the last paragraph because it makes me happy to know that these people will forever be part of my life.  Even if we never see each other again (don't worry, we will) we would still talk about our common bond in Ghana and now my trip to England.  I'm excited to see where life takes these young people.  James is newly married and working his way up in the company he works for.  Si is a physio and headed for a job in New Zealand at the start of the year (anyone guess where I'm headed next?).  Rachel is getting married in April and continuing her work as a Physio.  Jamie headed to Africa not long after I saw him to climb Kilimenjaro for charity and he continues to come up with ideas to help raise money for different causes.  All will do great things for the people around them and I'm glad I get to call them my friends.

Not much else happened on that trip. The next day I boarded a plane for home.  Took a bump, ended up in Chicago for the night and finally to SLC where my mom picked me up.  My trip to SA and England were one of those trips that many people would never take.  Many think I'm a world traveler.  I laugh.  Many, many other people have been to far more places than I.  But, as a kid from small town Pocatello, I'm doing pretty well.  Thanks for reading.

Blessings

Jon