Abroad

So, first of all, I would like to state that this is being composed on an iPad, so you must forgive any typos.
Now, we get down to business! This week I have been to London, Paris, and I am currently residing in Florence, Italy. Tomorrow I am heading to Rome.
I was definitely impressed with London and Paris, but today Florence stole the show. The people, the culture, the language, the FOOD. There is this great easy going atmosphere in Florence. I also love how the people really love their city, and that really shows when you converse with them.
It is bothersome to see the church seemingly not present in the places that I have been to. I have seen beautiful cathedrals, but no action or even sense of the presence of Christians. Paris and Florence are deeply entrenched in catholic culture, but definitely not in a holy way. It's sad to see such apathy towards Christ, which definitely shows that there is a need for missions there.
On a lighter note, I have decided to get a soccer jersey from every place I visit. So far I have one for Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Florantina. Tomorrow I hope to get a Roma Jersey.
That is all for now, good bye.

It's 12:15 A.M. and I am sitting in my comfy chair. I was about ten pages into A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens when I realized that I was not nearly in the right mind to read A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. Then it hit me that I have a blog. So why not update it?

I am leaving in T-Minus 3 hours to go to Fayetteville, where I will get on a plane to Atlanta. From Atlanta I will go to London. I will be joined by my family and another family, and it will be a grand time. We are visiting London, Paris, Florence, and Rome. There are optional detours, the most exciting of which is to Versailles. I am looking forward to seeing Louis XIV's great palace (I just took a Western Civ. test that dealt with Louis XIV and other Monarchs of his time).

I have never been outside of the States so this should be a great trip. Armed with several novels and a D40x, I am prepared to be cultured. I hope I don't run out of clothes. Anyways, I might just update this thing with a few thoughts or pictures while abroad, and you should look forward to it. However, if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breathe on that. So maybe you shouldn't look forward to it, but just casually wonder if Taylor might have updated his blog. Yeah, I like that better.

I've been chewing on Romans 12 this week. Today, I have focussed more on verse ten, which says: "Be Devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;". Where does that period go? Who knows? More importantly, what does "give preference to one another in honor" mean? From what I can figure out with my humble Greek abilities, it is something along the lines of "with honor, consider one another better." So maybe it has this idea of honoring one another by considering them better than ourselves. That makes sense now, and I feel kind of silly for not getting it at first. Nonetheless, there is nothing like seeing some thought process, right?

What a great verse, though. Especially in the context of Romans 12, titled by the NASB as "Dedicated Service," and is kind of describing some of the things a christian should do (like serve...). So let's do it! Let's think of others as more important than ourselves and honor them by treating them that way. I should have many opportunities to do this whilst on a family vacation, because there is always fatigue and frustration that leads to self-centeredness on long trips.

Well, that's all I've got. Stay tuned for more!