Well this summer has been quite the adventure. To give you a brief run down I left Doha for Washington DC where I spent time with Nathan and Laura for a few days till Micah flew up from Florida so we could spend some time together over the weekend. Then I flew to Louisville KT to visit my good friend Josh and spend some much needed time together. Then I was off to Columbus to see my parents, my sister, and start my masters classes. After two weeks in Columbus I few to Kecskemet Hungary to finish my summer classes at the Kodaly Institute there. Once those were complete I headed to Budapest where I stayed, exploring the city and making friends until I came back to Doha just a few days ago.
Like I said it was quite the adventure! I learned so many things both professionally and personally. And I found some solid rest and relaxation and I can say that I am ready for the kid's to come back next week.
This year I decided to start a new hobby. Photography! You can be expecting some (hopefully) good pictures from my adventures throughout the year. Here are some of my favorites from this summer enjoy!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Oman and stuff
Oman is beautiful with beaches and mountains and green things...I've missed the green things. Above all, Oman was quiet, soooooo quiet. There was no construction that started at 4 am everyday. There was no person standing below my window in the morning hawking the biggest logie known to mankind. And the beds in the hotel were amazing.
The driving wasn't that bad, but I'll come back to that. There are a few things I don't like about Qatar, but 90% of it wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't construction everywhere all the time. Oman is not under construction and therefore was peaceful.
The first day I layed by the pool, read and slept for the entire day. If you've vacationed with me you know I'm not that kind of person. But for this vacation I seemed to spend most of my time sleeping, reading, and relaxing.
Daniel and I tried to get out and see the sites, but I think most of the time we just couldn't be bothered to do much. And that was just fine.
We did rent a car which saved us some money, but it was my first time really driving in the middle east and frankly it was super easy in Oman. The driving isn't as crazy, which was nice, but we did see at least one crazy thing. While sitting at an intersection Daniel and I witnessed a man work his way into oncoming traffic while on a motorcycle and get hit by a car. Now all of this was at pretty low speed, but the guy still fell off his bike in the middle of the intersection. Two police officers just happened to be right there and as they walked up to the accident the man jumped up and ran away. The officers then moved his bike and talked to the driver and waved everyone else on. Daniel and I just sat there in awe of what we had just witnessed. It was nuts.
After getting back from vacation I have hit the ground running. I have a musical next week with the 4th grade. The 5th grade is working on their end of the year project which requires some part of the arts helping out. And tonight I have a choir singing the national anthem for the university graduation where there will be many big names in Qatar like the Emir himself.
Life is crazy right now but summer is quickly approaching. I hope to be able to see a lot of you while I am home this summer, but my plans are not solid yet. I'd like to try and see my brothers and if I can make it out to Arizona to see everyone there. However, I will be spending most of my summer in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute for my masters degree.
If you could keep all those things in your prayers over the coming weeks Lord know's I need it.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
When Life Gives You Watermelons
It's weird because most people told me it would feel like a weight has been lifted, and I really don't feel that. Am I glad to be done with it, sure, but as a single man in my late 20's I didn't feel like they were a big deal. I probably wouldn't have paid them off if Bible didn't recommend it as a good idea. Also, I don't know what else I would spend my money on. The reality is I am a pretty simple guy. I love simple things. When joy comes by complex means it is stifled by stress. I like to read the news with a cup of tea in the morning. I like to read a book when I go to bed. I enjoy the occasional tobacco pipe in the early evening and an intriguing TV series like House of Cards. Traveling can be fun every now and then, but I live in another country and for now that's enough.
Feeling content is a rare activity for me though, and it's something I wish I could enjoy more often. I'm certain God brought me out here for a reason, and I am pretty sure I know what it is. I've asked Him my whole life to make me into the man He wants me to be, and I have always strived to be someone else. Here I have a chance to grow up without expectation of who I am or what I think people want of me. I can just be. And like a cat stuck in a tree clinging on for dear life I haven't let go very well. I've hurt some of the people I love dearly in the letting go process and that haunts me.
However, this week is a week of celebration. I am debt free. Thank you all for your prayers. If ever I have needed them now is the time. Pray for wisdom with my next life decisions, and healing from the past. I love you all.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Recent Adventures
Life in Doha has been an interesting beast for the last couple of months with all the holiday travels and end of term shenaniguns (yes, they do call it term here, and yes we are split into four houses, sadly no I don't work at hogwarts). Over winter break I was able to make it home to Ohio and spend time with the entire family. The day after Christmas Micah moved to Florida and I gave him a hand so at 5:30 in the morning He and I jumped in the biggest truck we could get without a special license and embarked on the 14 hour journey to Jacksonville. Once we got him unloaded and the rest of his family got there I boarded a plane for yet another adventure to Arizona. While I was there I got to spend some much needed time with friends there. If there is anything I've missed about being abroad its spending time with those I love and it did my heart a lot of good. After 9 flights and over 10,000 miles of travel my winter break came to an end and I settled back into Doha.
At the moment it looks like the next big step for me will start with a couple weeks in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute in Budapest. Kodaly is a music methodology that I have been learning and studying about since my student teaching and I'm really excited about the possibility to study at the Institute. I'm trying to figure out just how much I can do there that will count towards my masters degree at Capitol and there is a small chance I might not be able to do it. But I do hope it will all come together.
Here are a few pictures from Christmas with the Doyel Family.
At the moment it looks like the next big step for me will start with a couple weeks in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute in Budapest. Kodaly is a music methodology that I have been learning and studying about since my student teaching and I'm really excited about the possibility to study at the Institute. I'm trying to figure out just how much I can do there that will count towards my masters degree at Capitol and there is a small chance I might not be able to do it. But I do hope it will all come together.
Here are a few pictures from Christmas with the Doyel Family.
The Doyel Clan
Hey Audrey! I love this girl so much I can barely stand it.
When she waves and it melts my heart.
Here she is admiring the Christmas tree.
I wanted to finish this post up by saying thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. Life has been pretty intense since I left Prescott last year. Most, if not all, of you who read this love and pray for me so much its is truly humbling. Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming. God is doing some crazy things in my life right now, and you're prayers are being answered daily. God is providing me ample opportunity to grow, and in a lot of ways I have. But I still have a long way to go. If you pray for me please pray that He will give me wisdom in the coming weeks as I try to plan where I will be this summer. Also I need prayer for continued growth and healing in this season of life. Thank you all for your love. It means a great deal to me. Also...call sometime I'd love to hear from you :)
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Culture Shock
If I could describe my overall experience of the last month it has been one of culture shock. For the last three to five weeks I have been struggling. I have been dealing a sincere amount of confusion and depression and it has only been in the last week or so that I've started to notice why.
As someone who has traveled a bit I thought moving to a new country would be relatively easy. Obviously there would be some major cultural differences, a new language barrier, and the whole adjusting to actually living abroad. I thought I had in myself what I needed to do this successfully with little difficulty. Boy, was I wrong.
In the last three and a half months I have learned more about myself than I ever cared to know and frankly I don't like most of it. Most of you know I'm a pretty optimistic guy who likes to have fun and always enjoys a good laugh. And you'd be right to say that because I do. However, I am learning that I am an eternal optimist. Even when I feel like the building is collapsing on top of me (which somewhat accurately describes how I've felt since about February) I could tell you with ease everything I enjoyed about the process of being crushed to death (hyperbole intended). Though this is an asset most of the time when I have some legitimate problems that need to be addressed I tend to overlook them, and then do a bajillion things to try and cover up how the problems make me feel. All of which end up making it worse and usually end up hurting people around me. What I've found is that, though I try to be an honest person, I lie to myself profusely and unapologetically.
So you can imagine that I haven't been coping with culture shock very well. If you don't know much about it a basic google search can give you the basics, and really that's all I know. Culture shock is pretty common for expats, and happens more or less to everyone when they live outside of their culture. The main idea is that there is a honeymoon period where everything is great then there is a realization that things are difficult, then there is a homesickness combined with loneliness and depression and then there is no escape until you die. Just kidding, after the period of difficulty you learn to adjust and cope with life in new surroundings. Here is a great visualization of what culture shock can be like:
Though I think I'm at the confronting deeper cultural/personal issues I don't really know. I do know that some days are better than others. And that my mind is regularly occupied with depressing thoughts. The hardest part is that I genuinely find it difficult to care about fighting it. And yet, the optimist in me finds the whole process fascinating.
Needless to say life is very confusing at the moment and I would appreciate your prayers. Here are some specific prayer requests:
1.) That I would be able to work through this depression in such a way that nothing is rushed and that I could really grow and learn through it.
2.) That I could feel the love of the Father on a daily basis. I really struggle with accepting the love of others, and I'm finding that I don't accept the love of the Father despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
3.) I'm going home for Christmas. During my stay in Ohio I will be road tripping it down to Florida to help Micah and his family move to Jacksonville. Pray for safe travels as I will be doing a lot of it this December.
Thank you all for your continuous love and support.
As someone who has traveled a bit I thought moving to a new country would be relatively easy. Obviously there would be some major cultural differences, a new language barrier, and the whole adjusting to actually living abroad. I thought I had in myself what I needed to do this successfully with little difficulty. Boy, was I wrong.
In the last three and a half months I have learned more about myself than I ever cared to know and frankly I don't like most of it. Most of you know I'm a pretty optimistic guy who likes to have fun and always enjoys a good laugh. And you'd be right to say that because I do. However, I am learning that I am an eternal optimist. Even when I feel like the building is collapsing on top of me (which somewhat accurately describes how I've felt since about February) I could tell you with ease everything I enjoyed about the process of being crushed to death (hyperbole intended). Though this is an asset most of the time when I have some legitimate problems that need to be addressed I tend to overlook them, and then do a bajillion things to try and cover up how the problems make me feel. All of which end up making it worse and usually end up hurting people around me. What I've found is that, though I try to be an honest person, I lie to myself profusely and unapologetically.
So you can imagine that I haven't been coping with culture shock very well. If you don't know much about it a basic google search can give you the basics, and really that's all I know. Culture shock is pretty common for expats, and happens more or less to everyone when they live outside of their culture. The main idea is that there is a honeymoon period where everything is great then there is a realization that things are difficult, then there is a homesickness combined with loneliness and depression and then there is no escape until you die. Just kidding, after the period of difficulty you learn to adjust and cope with life in new surroundings. Here is a great visualization of what culture shock can be like:
Needless to say life is very confusing at the moment and I would appreciate your prayers. Here are some specific prayer requests:
1.) That I would be able to work through this depression in such a way that nothing is rushed and that I could really grow and learn through it.
2.) That I could feel the love of the Father on a daily basis. I really struggle with accepting the love of others, and I'm finding that I don't accept the love of the Father despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
3.) I'm going home for Christmas. During my stay in Ohio I will be road tripping it down to Florida to help Micah and his family move to Jacksonville. Pray for safe travels as I will be doing a lot of it this December.
Thank you all for your continuous love and support.
Monday, October 6, 2014
A Quick Update!
Hey! It's been a while since I posted last so I thought I'd throw out a quick update.
Things in Doha are going well. School is moving along and I feel like I am starting to wrap my head around the new curriculum and all the new ways of doing things. This weekend was the celebration of Eid al-Adha so I have the entire week off! So far I have done some hardcore relaxing and it has been great but I'm tired of being lazy so tomorrow I'm going to a water park with a friend of mine Then on Wednesday I'm revitalizing an old tradition I used to do in college called "Adventure Day"! It's literally a day where I stock up on water and food and walk around the city seeing what kind of stuff I can get myself into (I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done!)
After Eid break my life will get crazy busy. I am playing soccer twice a week after school, I'm going to be coaching 4,5 soccer after school once a week and I play in a wind ensemble once a week as well. On top of all that I have to teach! It's gonna be nuts.
All in all I can't complain. Life in Doha is pretty easy, busy, but easy. I just bought my plane ticket home for Christmas so if any of you are in Columbus during that time I would love to see you!
Thank you all for your continued prayers you have no idea how much they encourage me. There are many days I need them desperately. Here are a few specifics:
1.) The next nine weeks are going to be incredibly busy. I am going to need strength to get through all that I have to do.
2.) The Lord has been pressing a lot of deep questions on my heart lately and sometimes dealing with them can be a rough going. Pray that I won't back away or run, but that I will press into Him and have the courage to hear what He has to say.
3.) My friend Jeff moved back to Detroit this weekend. Please pray for a smooth transition for him as it was all rather unexpected. And that for his health to steadily recover.
Things in Doha are going well. School is moving along and I feel like I am starting to wrap my head around the new curriculum and all the new ways of doing things. This weekend was the celebration of Eid al-Adha so I have the entire week off! So far I have done some hardcore relaxing and it has been great but I'm tired of being lazy so tomorrow I'm going to a water park with a friend of mine Then on Wednesday I'm revitalizing an old tradition I used to do in college called "Adventure Day"! It's literally a day where I stock up on water and food and walk around the city seeing what kind of stuff I can get myself into (I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done!)
After Eid break my life will get crazy busy. I am playing soccer twice a week after school, I'm going to be coaching 4,5 soccer after school once a week and I play in a wind ensemble once a week as well. On top of all that I have to teach! It's gonna be nuts.
All in all I can't complain. Life in Doha is pretty easy, busy, but easy. I just bought my plane ticket home for Christmas so if any of you are in Columbus during that time I would love to see you!
Thank you all for your continued prayers you have no idea how much they encourage me. There are many days I need them desperately. Here are a few specifics:
1.) The next nine weeks are going to be incredibly busy. I am going to need strength to get through all that I have to do.
2.) The Lord has been pressing a lot of deep questions on my heart lately and sometimes dealing with them can be a rough going. Pray that I won't back away or run, but that I will press into Him and have the courage to hear what He has to say.
3.) My friend Jeff moved back to Detroit this weekend. Please pray for a smooth transition for him as it was all rather unexpected. And that for his health to steadily recover.
This week I have been listening to a group called "Page CXVI" they do modernizations of Hymns and this hymn has brought me great comfort over the last few weeks.
In the Lord there is Hope.
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change, He will remain.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
To guide the future, as in ages past.
Your hope, your mind, your will let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's joys restored.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Hospitals in Doha
Last night I spent three hours in the Emergency room with my friend Jeff. Jeff had a major surgery this summer and was suffering some intense abdominal pain and went to the hospital. He was in the ER for close to seven hours waiting for a room to open up. My friend Teri and I went and spent time with him last night until he was given a room. As we were talking about life and religion I realized that last night was only the fourth time I had ever been in a hospital. I was born in one, I had a weird cough once as a kid, my friend Sean busted his head long boarding, and last night. It's one of those times I realized how blessed I am.
In fact this whole week God has been showing me how blessed I am. Since I have been here everything has gone smoothly. As of this week all of my paper work for acquiring my residency permit is complete. I am officially a resident of Qatar. This last weekend I passed my drivers test and got my drivers license. I'm sure that sounds like a small feet, but let me tell you...that test was not easy. Out of the 25 American's that went only 8 passed. Most failed on the 2nd test where we had to name the parts of a car engine. Thanks to JJ for teaching me all I know about cars! Unfortunately one guy made it past that stage and failed the driving part by accidentally running a red light on the inside of a roundabout. He now owes a 6000 qar fine (roughly 2000 usd). On top of all the paperwork my bank account got set up quickly and I got paid which is nice. I think I can say with a good amount of accuracy that my transition into Doha could not have been smoother. Mainly thanks to all the the people who are in charge of that stuff here at the school. There is only one thing left to do and that is to move into permanent housing. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about these things. A friend of mine posted this verse on facebook the other day and it made me think of all of you who have been persistently praying for me.
Prayer is a powerful and awesome act. To stand before the throne of God covered by the blood of Christ and know that He is actively listening and responding to what we have to say truly inspires me. Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and lifting me up in prayer of over the last few weeks. It means so much to me.
Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray for Jeff. This season of his life has been incredibly difficult and he is truly seeking the Lord for the first time in his life. Please pray that he will come to a saving faith in Jesus. And that he might experience some joy in this time of his life.
2.) Please pray for school. I am struggling to really understand that PYP curriculum. Though things are starting to make more sense it is all very new and rather overwhelming. Pray that I can continue to know and understand what I need to do here at QA in order to accel.
3.) Church & Community. Please continue to pray for the expat community here at QA. That we can grow closer together as a family of expats. Also for a church that I can really settle down in and grow into. I have been to two churches, both of which have their pro's and con's. Praise the Lord for my friend Curt who has been taking me to church with his family the last two weeks. They are great people.
4.) Lastly, please pray against the spiritual warfare here in Doha. I am finding that there are times when I truly feel under attack from the enemy. It has never been associated with anyone or anything here but there are recurring things in my mind that I am confident aren't coming from me. Mostly while I'm sleeping. Please pray that my relationship with Christ will be strengthened while I'm here and not weakened.
Thank you all for your ongoing prayers.
In fact this whole week God has been showing me how blessed I am. Since I have been here everything has gone smoothly. As of this week all of my paper work for acquiring my residency permit is complete. I am officially a resident of Qatar. This last weekend I passed my drivers test and got my drivers license. I'm sure that sounds like a small feet, but let me tell you...that test was not easy. Out of the 25 American's that went only 8 passed. Most failed on the 2nd test where we had to name the parts of a car engine. Thanks to JJ for teaching me all I know about cars! Unfortunately one guy made it past that stage and failed the driving part by accidentally running a red light on the inside of a roundabout. He now owes a 6000 qar fine (roughly 2000 usd). On top of all the paperwork my bank account got set up quickly and I got paid which is nice. I think I can say with a good amount of accuracy that my transition into Doha could not have been smoother. Mainly thanks to all the the people who are in charge of that stuff here at the school. There is only one thing left to do and that is to move into permanent housing. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about these things. A friend of mine posted this verse on facebook the other day and it made me think of all of you who have been persistently praying for me.
"I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live."
Psalms 116:1-2
Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray for Jeff. This season of his life has been incredibly difficult and he is truly seeking the Lord for the first time in his life. Please pray that he will come to a saving faith in Jesus. And that he might experience some joy in this time of his life.
2.) Please pray for school. I am struggling to really understand that PYP curriculum. Though things are starting to make more sense it is all very new and rather overwhelming. Pray that I can continue to know and understand what I need to do here at QA in order to accel.
3.) Church & Community. Please continue to pray for the expat community here at QA. That we can grow closer together as a family of expats. Also for a church that I can really settle down in and grow into. I have been to two churches, both of which have their pro's and con's. Praise the Lord for my friend Curt who has been taking me to church with his family the last two weeks. They are great people.
4.) Lastly, please pray against the spiritual warfare here in Doha. I am finding that there are times when I truly feel under attack from the enemy. It has never been associated with anyone or anything here but there are recurring things in my mind that I am confident aren't coming from me. Mostly while I'm sleeping. Please pray that my relationship with Christ will be strengthened while I'm here and not weakened.
Thank you all for your ongoing prayers.
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