| 10,000 Reasons |

". . . do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4: 6-7.  (My emphasis.)

With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Where to begin?  I am overwhelmed.  Whenever I stop, think, and reflect, my knees should hit the dirt in worship.  My hands should constantly be lifted in thankfulness.  I should be joyful.  And yet, I find myself retreating into the cave of anxiety and doubt more often than not.  Too often I forget.  But today is a good day to remember.  To remember and be grateful.  

My parents.  What they have done for me is beyond comprehension.  My dad joining the military twelve years ago to support his then family of three children, now five.  My mother's willingness and desire to home-school her children, not flinching from the challenge of being a mother 24/7 and raising five children through two deployments.

My wonderful siblings.  Micaiah, for your straight shooting wisdom and advice.  Abi, for being my constant companion in ridiculous schemes and adventures.  Bear, for bringing the love of baseball into my life.  Belle, for the reminder that the ordinary is extraordinary.  

Friendships.  The list can go on for awhile, and I count myself a wealthy man indeed for it being this way.  I have been blessed with friendships all over the world.  But I am especially thankful for the Romo clan, whose impact has outlasted time and distance.  Also for my roommates from last year.  Kip, Luke, and Levi.  You have challenged me more than I could ever have imagined in my first year at college.  And for that, I am grateful.  Benjamin and George.  Thank you for being there to listen to my rants.  Thank you for setting me straight.  

To my teachers in the past and present.  For extended family.  Especially Mimi and Grandma.  Uncle Corey, thank you for all the runs and sports talk.  Uncle John, thanks for teaching me how to calk.  Uncle Wes, for the travelling advice on which part of France will yield the best wine.  

Also for late night talks.  Laughter that makes your bones ache and face sore.  Tears that heal.  Hugs that crush but don't break.  Coaches that push.  For long drives with friends.  Naps.  A well done burger.  For a book that you can't put down.  For school work that you want to put down but have to build the perseverance to keep up.  For reminders.

And last, but definitely not least, for the Giver of all these things.  Without whom, I would still be in the dark.

| A Little Rest and a Sharp Look in the Mirror |

Dear blog,

What's it been?  Three weeks?  I don't know if it has been quite that long, but I definitely have been taking a hiatus from creative writing.  But, here I am, rectifying that.  History papers have a way of consuming every bit of energy that one may have left over from the rest of school.

For that fact, I am quite appreciative of Thanksgiving break.  It couldn't have arrived any sooner.  I was definitely starting to feel the pull of the holidays, and the drain of not being around family for those times.  And also, sleep.  To be able to sleep is something that one shouldn't lose touch with, but I have managed that with flying colors.  So, this last weekend was spent in getting back in touch with it.  And also, catching up with my Bible reading.  The was another thing that I allowed to fall by the way side. Currently, I'm working through Deuteronomy, and I was reading a passage in it the other day of the importance of having multiple witnesses before convicting someone of a crime.

And it struck me that I do that all too often.

More specifically, how easy it is to jump to conclusions without knowing exactly what is going on.

This thought sunk in again the other day while I was working at a local coffee shop.  A friend walked by and we ended up having a really good conversation.  We covered a lot of ground, but one of the things that came back to me was how easy it was to make a judgment call on a friend or acquaintance.  I've noticed how quickly I can jump to conclusions when it comes to certain events, people, or things.  I assume that my small sample size with them counts as the whole story, even though I know that there may be more to it than what is evident.

And in our conversation, we discussed friend groups.  Friend groups can be a paradox.  It is wonderful how great it feels to be included, and then the ensuing growth and maturation of friendships because of it.  And yet there is always a danger to a blessing, and the one that I've noticed is the development of cliques.  Or the sensitivity that we develop in regard to other friend groups.  It is easy to see and point out how many flaws that they have, but yet we fail to regard our own groups mistakes and weaknesses.  The classic log in your own eye.

And that is something I've been learning about in the last few weeks.

So hopefully, next time I start making a judgment call, I'll take a sharper look in the mirror and evaluate the situation with more grace.

| Like a Screen Door on a Submarine | Reformation 500

"Faith without works is like a song you can't sing, it's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine." - Rich Mullins, Screen Door.

Faith without works is an all too common topic of conversation on Reformation Day.  Maybe even more so today, since it is the 500th anniversary.  (Can I get an 'amen?')  So, I'm not going to rehash the whole conversation in this post.  If I do accidentally, I pray that you would forgive my error.  (If you don't forgive me, I may just have to indulge in an indulgence.  Okay.  Fine.   Maybe I forced that one?)  Rather, I guess I am seeking an application of this topic.

What kind of song do you sing?

The sophomore class was met with a change this school year.  After having all four of our classes together last year, we only have two core classes.  The other two are electives.  This obviously isn't a complaint, because it is fantastic that we get to choose a couple of our classes each term, but it does change the dynamic of the class.  It was easy then.  We all had the same classes, and so we saw each other on a daily basis. 

But now. . .

Not only do we have the challenge of not being in the same classes this year, but many of us have gotten jobs since freshman year.  It is more like life now.  We are settling in.  That is how it should be.  But, I've found that I have to be more intentional about making time to spend time with my friends.  Friendships are similar to faith in the regard that the idea of it is great, but the application of it is hard.  It can be easy going for a while, but then something happens, and it takes the winds right out of your sails.  Friendship requires sacrifice on both ends and it can be uncomfortable at times.  But it is real.  Faith should be real.  It should be made manifest in how we live.  It is the nitty-gritty of every day life.  From the opening of a door to buying a coffee for someone, it is required in every situation.

Faith is work.

It is hard.

But it is a song worth singing.

Sophmoronic Musings: Finding the Right Value to Survival

Last year, I roomed with three fellow freshmen.  Needless to say, we were all very excited about the upcoming school year.  We all got along very well and it didn't take people very long to give the four of us a nickname.  (Granted, showing up in matching outfits for the first day of class didn't exactly help that.)  But I distinctly remember us sitting down on day one, to make sure that we didn't form a clique.  We didn't really want to be known as that group of guys.  

And so, we made the effort to seek out other people in our class and be more intentional about hanging out with our fellow freshmen. But, something funny ended up happening about three weeks in.  Instead of hanging out with each other for fear that we would come across as a very exclusive group, we careened into the other ditch to the point where I felt like I hadn't gotten to know any of my roommates at all.  (We had decided to do this for a number of reasons, but I think that the biggest reason was that we had all experienced both sides of the coin.  We had known that invincible feeling of being included, and also felt that insufficient feeling of being excluded.)  But after last year, I think I might have found the middle ground.  I think the initial thought of trying not to exclude people was good, but what happened after that may have been worse than our initial proposition.  

Over these last couple of years, I have found that I really enjoy connecting with people and finding out about their story.  I like building solid friendships.  But I think I deceived myself into thinking that I was an extrovert at the beginning of last year, because I was so excited for this stage of my life to begin.  Then reality kicked in, and I just seemed to hit a social wall.  By fall break, my energy levels hit an all time low.  That is when I started to come to the conclusion that I would need a core group of friends.  

I guess I'm an ambiavert, but I've noticed that when I go to big parties, I gravitate toward smaller groups.  I find that when there is a large group conversation, it is hard to actually get to know someone despite being apart of the same group for three hours.  Don't get me wrong, I think there is a time and place for large class parties, but there isn't much time allotted for catching up with or getting to know a person at these gatherings.  

This and many other things brought my attention to the fact that having a group of friends that you can rely on, seek advice from, and rest with when life hits you hard, is very important.  I count myself a very wealthy man indeed with the friendships that have been forged over the last year or so.  Obviously, there is a balance.  And sometimes, you'll find a great group of friends, and then not want to meet other people, because it is uncomfortable.  I totally understand that.  I think I fall into that trap more often than not. But it is something I'm working on.  Lewis put it very well when he said: "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, it has no survival value.  Rather it is one of those things which gives value to survival." 

Here is to finding the right value to survival.

To Ethrandil Thomiathin Brogelund

To Ethan Thomas Berglund.

As I sit here and try to think of something deep and meaningful, something that describes our friendship, I draw blanks.  How do you describe it?  We're hilarious.  We laugh at the smallest things.  Our laughs are really similar.  And that makes us laugh whenever someone (normally one of our sisters) looks at us askance and asks why are we like that?  Laughter.  That describes our friendship.

To think that the kid, who I met in a bowling alley on the small base of Hohenfels three years ago, would become one of my closest friends is awesome.  I'm really stunned how fast three years can fly.  And the past two have been a blur of memories.  A blur of laughter.  

Only a few weeks ago did I make your nickname that is now the title for this blog post.  Ethrandil (your elvish name) Thomiathin (Biblical name.  Like, Leviathan.) and then Brogelund (your gangster name).  I must say, it is a complete nickname.  It will definitely stick. 

What can we say?  We like looking classy.

You're always there with a stupendous grin on your face.

Definitely one of my favorite pictures of us.  Nathan (middle) wanted to see if we could get rid of his hiccups.. it worked.

There we are again, looking manly.

He plays guitar, has a bowtie, and has suave hair.  He's perfect for y'all, ladies.

That slicked back hair.

Random.  That's it.  We're all random.

Brothers.

Throwback Tuesday to the extreme.

Bowties are cool.

Crazy.

This pretty much sums up you.

Ready for Hawaii

As you get on that plane, remember.  And laugh.  It's been an awesome journey, bruv.  Stay who you are, love God, and keep laughing.  You've been an awesome friend, and I know our paths will cross again one day.  Have fun in Paradise!

Photo creds: Jared Patterson, Mrs. Mote, and Micaiah Lopez.

Once a Teen Knighter, Always a Teen Knighter

Teen Night has been a blessing that has just grown over the last 18 months.  My friends who are in it, make it what it is today.  The fellowship, the discussions, the food, all have been a blessing.  Although we come from different denominations, we still worship and learn about God every Friday night.

For the past four or so months, we have been practicing some dances.  We've been learning the steps, then reviewing, and then finally memorizing them to near perfection.  (Emphasis on near) ;)  We've been building up to Micaiah Lopez's and Emiko Patterson's big graduation celebration.  Or Commencement.  As it is the beginning of a bigger and better chapter in their lives.

So in honor of the past weeks of preparation, dancing, and studying I just wanted to show you some photos of the actual Commencement and the fun we had at and before it.  The majority of the Hohenfel's Homeschool community turned out for the event, so around 100 people were attending the celebration!  Needless to say, alot of work went into this from alot of different families!

Photo creds: Jared Patterson.  We get hyped for the Word. ;)

Photo creds: Jared Patterson.  He takes the majority of the photos you'll see here.  He takes that camera everywhere.

This picture was taken at Micaiah's birthday party.

Also at Micaiah's birthday.

This one was actually taken by Mrs. Vass.  Food, fellowship, and fun.

Table tennis is intense.

These guys really are loud at basketball games!  Make me feel supported :D  Again, way to catch the moment, JP.

Class of 2014 (middle)  The two on the outside are random Sophomores.

The FAB group together.

All Hail the Seniors!

Thank you for all the great times we have!  Once a Teen Knight, always a Teen Knight.

These past two years have been amazing with y'all!  Teen Night has been so special.  And a special thanks to Emi and Micaiah!  Thank you so much for being the mom's of the group.  I cannot remember how many times you two have told me to put my jacket on, while playing ball with the others in the cold.  *sigh*  You just don't get it.

Seriously, you two are amazing women, and I don't think this group would've been the group it is without you.  And Micaiah, thank you.  I love you.  To the Teens of the Round Table.  Well done, and thank you.  Way to dance.  Way to laugh.  Way to fellowship.  Way to eat.  Way to tease.  And way to laugh through the tears.

Once a Teen of the Round Table, always a Teen of the Round Table.

Blessings

I've been living in Germany for almost three years, it has been an amazing journey.  All the places I have been, all the food I have eaten, and the things I've experienced.  But above all that, is the relationships I have been a part of over the years.   I have grown so much (spiritually and physically) and it is mostly because of the people I have met here.  It's been a blast.

The fellowship and friendship I have experienced has deepened throughout the years, the time has flown.  We've grown together, we've danced, had fun, and experienced hurt.  We've experienced pain and we've fought through it, we've grown closer.  Teen Night has been such a blessing, and I'm so glad to enjoy it with these friends.

Photo Credits to Jared Patterson and my sister, Micaiah: (Amazing photograph and friend)

"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance!"

Teen Night has been so amazing!

The homeschool community has grown :)

For some reason Nathan wanted us to try to get rid of his hiccups.. it works.

At the football game.

Friendship

I felt like I left the past post unexplained.  Love.  And friendship.  Friendship should be based on love.

We'll define love as the Bible defines it, "Willing to lay down one's life for another."  Friendship is based on that concept of love.  Not that mushy-gooey love, but one that you would be willing to sacrifice all you had to make sure that that person lived.  In today's culture, friends are just those who have common interests.  Of course that can be an easy thing to gravitate to.  If you and another person, say, love hockey, then you probably enjoy doing it together.  And you can't forget that you probably enjoy hanging out with each other, thus making it easy to hangout with that person.

All of that is great and good..  but what is true friendship?  What makes friends become strong, so that nothing will separate them?  Yes, being ready to lay down your life is one of the things that make up a strong friendship.  But also being able to stand up to them, point out where they err.  Yet also, at the same time, offer encouragement and a helping hand.  (Maybe even a manly hug now and then)

I think this quote sums it up nicely, "A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down."
Arnold H. Glasow