I have a confession to make

This past week has been huge in the living a lie department.  The first male team athlete in the U.S. came out of the closet.  This has given me the shot of courage I needed to make my own confession.  Now I don't have fame or notoriety so no ESPN/SI for me only this simple blog to make my announcement to the world. 

You see I have been living a lie.  I'm not 100% sure when it started but moving overseas certainly sped up the process.  In my line of work, it's not OK to be like me.  People have the expectation I'll be like them.  In a personality inventory it was even pointed out to me by a colleague I was different from everyone else (and I got the feeling that was not acceptable). 

The pressure of living the lie has become to great. Constantly pretending to be something I am not.  Living overseas has pushed me to the edge.  I can no longer hide it.  I have slowly been acting out and doing things that are more natural to me and the pretending has just become to difficult.   I have to be honest with you and with myself.  I AM AN INTROVERT. That's it, it is out now.  That's right I like quiet, small crowds, a few friends, and my battery recharges with time by myself.  This does not make me antisocial, it makes me social in the way God created me.  It does not mean I don't love people.  It means I love people the way Christ sometimes showed his love, to small intimate groups.  I did not choose to be an introvert and love books and reading, and thinking.  God made me this way and I am proud to live out my life to the fullest in the way God created me. 

I by no means want to characterize Christ as an introvert or an extrovert, He was and is all things.  But he did leave us a model as an introvert (he models for the extrovert too).  He got away, he connected to the Father, he sought refuge in quiet.  I would argue that being fully God he did not need to do any of these things, he did it as a model for us. 

I hope you can accept me, I hope that you can accept me living the way God truly created me

The First of May

The first of May is a big holiday in Europe.  It is like our labor day in the U.S., as people get a day off form work and like to relax and spend time with family and friends.  (Although in Turkey, Greece, and France this May 1st people chose to protest unemployment, low wages, and austerity measures so that's a little different from the U.S. I suppose).  People in Belgrade like to get out of the city and into nature.  So being the city folk we are we joined some great friends and headed out for adventure (one of the many reasons these friends are so great is like us they, like the city, so nature means someplace with chairs, tables, a nice restaurant and shade as opposed to tents and roughing it).

We headed to a village about 30 minutes outside of town where there was a horse.  At the horse farm was a restaurant and a place to play for the kids and they got to ride horses!  We had an excellent day eating and eating some more (really we ate for three hours and finished with the greatest cherry pie ever) while the kids played and just had time with their friends.  Jen and I enjoyed the fresh air and great conversation with our friends.  God has been so good to us to give us good Serbian friends to spend these times with.

In the Stables

"those horses are this big!"

resting in the shade after way to much fun

happy girls waiting to ride horses

"I want down... I want down... I want down"

This girl likes riding horses

and so does this girl

great day with friends