All the Way to Lithuania

The scenic route is often cheaper:  Kansas City to New York, $50; it also took me a week, but in the process I got to rest and relate to friends, and see some sights I hadn't before.  I went to Berlin instead of Riga ($300 cheaper), and got a long layover in Ottawa, long enough for a free tour of parliament.  Taking advantage of that, I visited old SLI friends in Frankfurt (Oder), Lodz, Belchatow and Vilnius on my way to Klaipėda.  When I look at the list of places I've been in the last month...it's insane:  Auburn, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Dallas, Norman, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York City, Ottawa, Berlin, Frankfurt (Oder), etc...looking back, I don't know how to explain this as part of a missionary lifestyle, except to assure you that I spent less money than a direct flight from Los Angeles, and that with the exception of the War Museum in Ottawa, I paid for my own museum visits by setting up my guitar case out front...Since the 2nd of June, I've spent a maximum of three nights in the same bed.

The length of this journey doesn't make sense to me, but God certainly had a lot of interesting points and interactions on the way:

-A three hour testimony on the bus to Texas.
-A twenty-mile bike ride to lunch with my old roomie.
-Various back-to-back convos and prayers on campus corner in Norman
-A mini-road trip to KC with Sam and Jes!

-Helping my buddy Sam's parents move, which ended up being a job of sorts.  (It paid, and was work.)  The most fun part was getting the truck unstuck though.  :)
-Went to a Catholic service and watched The Green Mile in KC.  God spoke to us collectively through both, I think.  The Green Mile was really moving, afterwards we talked about Jesus' compassion and how the main character was a type of Christ and that love.  It was something sacred, the way the film spoke to us.
-Exploring Kansas City and talking about plants and life with Jas.

-Exploring Chicago alone, but paying for it through street performance!
-Unpacking my brain and life, learning some salsa and teaching some piano, in Cleveland.  Three days of rest.

-In Pittsburg a man on the bus, having heard me talking about missions with one of my Oklahoma friends, upon hearing I'd be spending the night waiting for the bus, took me in.  This was an answer to ya'll's prayers, a sure sign of God's provision, and a cool demonstration of God's love.  I mean, I've read about opening your home to missionaries, but strangers have never done that for me!  SO COOL!!!!
-I got to see my sister and an awesome missionary friend, in New York City!  And nearly got lost. (but didn't)
-In Ottawa, this lady at the bag check at the War Museum, she started talking to me about missions and her desire to be a missionary.  And so I prayed for her, gave some advice, and encouraged her to seek things out.  It made me late for my parliament tour time, I missed about a third of it.  But you know, I asked God to interrupt my schedule...and sure enough.

-In Lodz, I decided to go out and play guitar in the park, just to de-stress and refocus.  I ended up giving a post-midnight concert to 6 or 7 teens, and we ended up talking about God and praying.  I was about to play Sustainer, one of my worship songs, and one guy looks at me and says "Do you believe in God?"  And I'm like "Yeah, actually this is a God song I'm about to play."  And then afterwards they asked me to explain it.  The students were dumbfounded.  "You REALLY believe."  After I prayed, thanking God for this interaction, one of my new friends, slightly intoxicated, prays his prayer.  "God, I don't really believe in you, but James, he really believes in you, so take care of him..."

-In Vilnius, I got to help lead worship at a bilingual church, and bike around a huge portion of the cool parts of Vilnius, and have great conversations with Julija and David O.!

Now I'm here in Klaipėda, the first students for SLI will arrive tomorrow.  Along the way, so many people have done little things:  feeding me, giving me a place to sleep, helping me process, praying for me.  Each one played a small part, but in the whole, it's so obvious to see God's provision and love in all of you.  Thank you so much.  And thanks be to God.  Keep praying.  SLI is already intense!