Tidbits by Tyler

2011-09-22T22:22:00.000+02:00

How does it feel after one month since returning to the States after my summer in the Czech Republic? Well let me tell you...

I am still blown away by what I saw the Lord do. To see students come face to face with the living God is something that only makes me more and more in love with my Savior.

My heart still burns for the lost young people of Czech, as well as for those young Czech leaders who have no real opportunity for any theological training or ministerial experience. This summer was not a one-time thing - God has very much confirmed my calling to have a part in training up this next generation.

I want what I have learned to not just stay in Czech, but to live the same way here in Chicago. I want the same burning desire for Jesus' name to be lifted high, and a readiness to share the gospel as well as exhort and encourage those who have believed it.

But more than anything, I want to know Jesus more.

Thank you for standing with me throughout this summer of ministry. Would you continue to stand with me as I manage our on-campus coffee shop, disciple high-schoolers at Grace Church of DuPage, and lead worship for the students of Moody Bible Institute?

I know this is only the beginning of the many journeys I will embark on with the Lord!

2011-08-09T12:42:00.001+02:00

On July 20th, 2011, there was a multitude of angels in heaven rejoicing over the spiritual birth of a new daughter of God!

During our first discussion group, we asked everyone what their hopes or expectations were of camp. Many said, "I want to learn better English," or, "I came to meet Americans." Aneta's response was quite different: "I'm here because I want to find God."

As we stayed up late in our discussion group flipping through Scripture and answering questions, it was so obvious to both Ryan and I that the Lord had a firm grip on this young girl. We knew He would complete the work He had started and draw her to Himself.

And on July 20th, 2011, this lost sheep was found. Her eyes were opened to the glory of Jesus Christ and her own need for a Savior. Let us all rejoice for our new sister in Christ!!

Luke 15:3-7

So [Jesus] told them this parable:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Aneta has an incredible story of God's faithfulness amidst much pain and struggle. I can't wait for you to hear the whole story in heaven one day! But really, her story is just beginning. Aneta needs much prayer as she begins her walk with the Lord. Being a Christian in the Czech Republic is not a popular thing, and she will likely face opposition from her family and friends. There will be times where she will no doubt feel alone. May she find her comfort and satisfaction in Him alone!

Would you pray with me for this newborn child?

2011-08-02T00:12:00.000+02:00

An unexpected highlight during our second camp with the CB church in Poděbrady was getting to teach an English class with Ryan! We were both very wary of the whole English aspect of camp, but for this camp there was a shortage of teachers and we jumped right in!

And what an incredible experience it turned out to be. Tomáš, Martin 1, Martin 2, Michael, Aneta and Mája were great students. Plus Ryan and I totally feed off each other and have a lot of fun in the process of teaching!

Each morning we spent three hours teaching vocabulary, playing games, and helping the students be more comfortable conversing in the English language. Czech young people learn a lot of grammar in school, but aren't as confident in actually speaking. That's why English Camp is so great!

But a huge highlight for me was our evening discussion group. After listening to stories about different people "colliding" with Jesus, the whole camp would break back up into their English classes and spend an hour talking about the stories and wrestling with issues such as grace, forgiveness, peer pressure, and decisions about Christ. Several nights our discussion time went far beyond the normal time - up to three hours! It was a special time of sharing our lives with each other and proclaiming the gospel.

I really came to love these guys by the end of the week! It was awesome to see God move so powerfully within each one of the students in my class, whether believer of unbeliever. Soon I'll tell you more about how God moved in their hearts!

2011-07-30T18:00:00.000+02:00

For as long as I have lived in the Czech Republic, Chuck Norris has been a very important cultural phenomenon. I remember turning on Czech TV to Walker, Texas Ranger, hearing Chuck Norris jokes at school, and more recently seeing Chuck in a special T-Mobile television campaign. His popularity has risen immensely in the past couple years once again as an example of a true man's man.

What many people don't is that Chuck Norris is a committed evangelical believer, who loves Jesus with all his heart. When Tyndale publishers released a book last year titled The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book, which combines the best of Chuck Norris jokes with Chuck's own testimony, Josiah Venture had it translated into Czech. It is now being distributed at English Camps this summer along with a Norris-style gospel tract, titled The Source of Chuck Norris' Strength.

We begin with a deep chasm which even Chuck Norris can't jump over - sin. This separates us all from God.

Not even Chuck's best intentions at being a good person allow him to come close to God. A successful life, good deeds, and religion are all vain attempts at matching up to God's standards.

But God did not leave Chuck (or us!) in despair - He sent his own son, Jesus Christ, to make a way to God.

Now Chuck - and whoever believes in Jesus Christ - has access to God and eternal life. The price is paid - we can now enjoy fellowship with holy, holy, holy God!

What a great reminder to students that even an all-powerful legend such as Chuck Norris is still under God's authority, and needs a Savior just as much as we do.

2011-07-29T00:23:00.000+02:00

While the primary purpose of English Camps is evangelistic, the effectiveness of a camp extends far beyond numbers of conversions. In a country where faith in Jesus is entirely counter-cultural, even small steps toward God are considered huge. For someone to come to camp not believing in God and leaving with questions about Him, that is a success. For someone to come to camp having never read the Bible and leaving with a Bible of their own, that is a success. And of course, for someone to come to camp not knowing Jesus and leaving with a new heart, that is an enormous success.

I want to share with you some of the things the Lord did in my discussion group at our first camp with the CB church in Ostrava!

The first evening talk of the week was titled "A Collision Between Christ and Christianity." The main idea was, "Don't let your preconceived ideas of Christianity keep you from getting to know Christ Himself." We prayed for open doors to talk openly with the five students in our group openly from the first day. He answered!

I was able to share the full gospel the very first night - with guys who were leaned in and fully engaged, asking lots of questions and wrestling with the ideas of grace and justice. I remember T saying completely honestly, "That doesn't make any sense." But as the week progressed, you could see lights coming on and the dots being connected as he finished my thoughts and began understanding what Jesus is really all about. This young man is in the Lord's hands, and I believe that God is not finished with T just yet! Coming to camp not having ever even thought about God, T left seeking. These are huge steps.

L was the one with the most questions. He was always thinking about the evening talks and eager to jump right into spiritual topics. It came from a very soft and sincere heart. L was very touched and struck with the injustice of Jesus' crucifixion and innocent death. Ryan especially poured into this young man, explaining why Jesus had to die and how it affects each one of us personally. I received a note from L at the end of camp: "Tyler, thanks helping me understand God and Jesus."

At the end of the week, we gave each one of the guys in our small group Bibles. Ryan, Michael and I each wrote a dedication in the front with some passages of Scripture. I feel like the Lord gave me very specific verses for each individual. It was so exciting to see their faces light up with thankfulness as they received their gift! As we rode back to Ostrava in the bus, almost all of them had their Bibles out and read them throughout the trip.

These seemingly small steps are all apart of God's plan of redemption for these students. Not all will choose to follow Jesus. But many will receive the grace He gives through His blood and go on to be strong men and women of faith. It is through these individuals that God will bring about revival in their home country of the Czech Republic!

2011-07-26T23:54:00.000+02:00

I am so astonished that the Lord chooses to use ordinary people to accomplish His purposes. He is powerful enough to work completely on His own, and yet He chooses to allow us to join in the work He is doing. There are three people I would like to highlight from our first camp with Ostrava that I saw the Lord use mightily - in word and deed.

Adam Parma was the Czech leader of the Ostrava camp, and is probably one of the most capable men I have met. He is the Czech Renaissance man! Throughout camp I was astonished at how he was able to switch from making sure details were taken care of, to preparing an evening skit, to caring for his team, to playing any musical instrument you could imagine! He held the whole camp together. My dad worked very closely with Adam during the production of the EXIT 316 TV series, and it was a privilege to work with Adam myself for the first time. He has an enormous heart for Jesus and for the church, which was so evident throughout the week of camp.

Todd Roughton was so clearly God's man for this camp. The youth pastor at University Fellowship church in Eugene, OR, Todd led his team of high schoolers with strength and humility. God used Todd to reach the students through the evening talks. Each day we walked through a story of people in the Bible "colliding" with Jesus. From Zaccheus to Pilate to the two thieves on the cross, the students sat captivated and engaged. It was so fun to see certain young people getting "front row seats" as the week progressed. Todd was God's man. His boldness and love for Jesus made an eternal impact.

Michael Novotný grew up as the son of a pastor and Bible translator, and has been in the CB Ostrava church since his early teenage years. At 25, he just finished his studies to be a lawyer, and brought so much wisdom to our evening discussion group when talking about God's justice and righteousness. The way he engaged with the guys in his cabin was awesome to see. They really respect him - and rightly should! He is a man after God's own heart. I personally loved hearing about his heart for discipleship and commitment to the Word. The Lord is going to use this man in incredible ways to bring this nation back to Himself.

These are three men that I would love to serve with in the future again. No joke! Such studs for God's kingdom. What got me the most excited was how God used them in the lives of the young men at camp. We need solid men in the church who are passionate and bold for the gospel. Praying that God would raise up more and more men like Adam, Todd, and Michael!

2011-07-25T13:44:00.000+02:00

This past month has been FULL!

Full of travelling.

Full of camps.

Full of fun.

Full of new relationships.

Full of the Gospel being boldly proclaimed.

Full of changed lives.

I will take the next week to give one update a day to catch up on everything that the Lord has been doing in the month of July. I hope it will be an encouragement to you and give you an even greater fervency to pray for the last two and a half weeks of my ministry here!

2011-06-28T21:21:00.001+02:00

What a privilege it was to be able to speak to the youth group in Poděbrady last Thursday. I spoke out of a well-known passage, Ephesians 2:8-10. We were pleasantly surprised to see the room fairly evenly split between believers and non-believers - posing a challenge for me as the speaker! How do you communicate something that is applicable to both those who know Christ as well as those who are still under God's wrath?

The answer was simple - preach the Gospel! Preach Christ crucified and risen. Preach grace.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

This was also a very important sermon for me - it was the first time preaching in the Czech language!

Pray for these students, and all the students that we come into contact with - that they would see the grace of God and have no choice but to respond.

Speaking on grace revealed to me how little I do understand grace. I suppose I never will comprehend it fully - but I will continue to seek for my eyes to opened so I may love my Lord more. Praise Jesus that the power of grace does not rest upon my own comprehension of it!

2011-06-25T13:42:00.002+02:00

Our first camp of the summer is with the Církev Bratrská church in Ostrava. Ostrava was known for its industry under communism and is one of the most densely populated cities in the Czech Republic. A "heavy spiritual cloud" still hangs over the population from the days of hard labor. We definitely felt the darkness and the spiritual need as we walked the streets and looked into the eyes of people.

However, God is moving. As we interacted with students from the youth group and attended church on Sunday, we were so encouraged by the hearts of the Christians and their burden for their city. Jesus is being glorified!

One cool thing - When my family moved to the Czech Republic almost 18 years ago, this church was one of the first that my dad partnered with. It's fun to be back and be serving with them! This is a picture of my family (minus dad) in downtown Ostrava many years ago!

Our team was able to spend three days interacting with students in Ostrava last weekend - what an encouraging time! Especially exciting was our meeting with Adam - the Czech camp leader, and Přemek - the current youth pastor at the church. These are two very gifted and passionate men of God. It will be such a joy to serve with them!

Camp starts on July 2nd, and will go till July 9th. Pray that the Lord uses this week to bring joy, hope, and salvation to the lives of many young people!

2011-06-16T22:21:00.003+02:00

During our intern leader retreat at the end of May, we began to study the book of Colossians together. Our Czech intern teams will reunite three more times throughout the summer, and we will eventually make our way through the entire book. It is a great way for us leaders to refocus on Christ, as well an opportunity for us to bond and encourage one another amidst the frenzy of the summer. It's also great to just let loose and have fun together!

While going through chapter 1 at this leader retreat, a particular passage especially stood out to me, and has become my prayer for the summer.

Colossians 1:28-29 - "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

My three points of prayer are as follows:

1. That we would "proclaim" Christ with boldness - "warning" unbelievers and "teaching" believers, that both may see the glory and fulness of the gospel.

2. That our goal would be the building up of the church - to "present everyone mature in Christ."

3. That we would "toil" and "struggle" this summer, but that it would not be in our own strength. Rather, that we would serve sacrificially "with all his energy" so that Christ would be glorified and we might be vessels of his grace.

2011-06-16T10:02:00.001+02:00

The town of Poděbrady through the artistic lens.

2011-06-14T17:30:00.002+02:00

Allow me to introduce you to my team!

Ryan Rayburn is my co-leader. I am so blessed to serve alongside him! We actually attend the same church in Warrenville, IL, and serve together as volunteers in the youth group. What a joy it has been to carry over that relationship to this summer! Ryan has a huge heart for evangelism, and is also a (very talented!) rapper.

Sean Smith is a returning intern from last summer, and a student at Grace College in IN. It is such a joy to have a kindred spirit like Sean on my team. We are both far more introverted than our other team members, and love to think hard. Whenever Sean speaks, I listen - he has incredible discernment and wisdom.

Kelli Fleck is a recent graduate of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL! Growing up in a non-Christian family, the Lord drew Kelli to Himself about six years ago. She is able to relate to just about anyone - and does it really well too! Her unashamedness of the Gospel and commitment to the Word encourages and spurs us all on.

Nicole Khal, a resident of Oregon, has dual citizenship in Syria and the USA! Her parents are full-blooded Syrians, and Nicole speaks fluent Arabic. After coming to Czech on a short-term church trip last summer, the Lord called her back again this summer. Nicole constantly pours herself out for others with a very genuine servant's heart. It has been so cool to see her reunited with students that she formed relationships with and faithfully cultivated even across the distance since last year.

2011-06-13T23:43:00.001+02:00

Who am I now in Christ?

Where am I now situated with Christ?

These were two questions that were answered as we walked through the book of Ephesians during intern training 2011 at the Malenovice training center. We all had the privilege of sitting under the teaching of a very gifted and strong man of God - a particular Dave Patty! (doesn't he look familiar? I just can't seem to place my finger on it...)

Being reminded of our identity and position in Christ was such a great way to initiate the summer. My team and I have often referred to things that my dad said, especially in relation to the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 and battling against spiritual warfare. It has been a great comfort to be able to stand firm together in the truth of Scripture and to pray for each other as we serve and minister in the Czech Republic this summer. I'm sure this is true of all 17 intern teams headed to many different countries in Eastern Europe to pour out their lives for the gospel!

We have been in this part of the world for about two weeks now. June is the month of school visits and camp promotion, so we spend a lot of time with students - both believing and non-believing. Would you pray that the month of June would be a time of fruitful discipleship-on-the-go, and that God would bring many young people to Himself through the work of these interns?

I will introduce you to my own dear team very soon!

2011-04-01T22:18:00.000+02:00

Getting excited for this summer!!

But before we get back to that, I want to share something with you. This is a mediation of Thomas à Kempis that D.A. Carson included in his commentary on John, specifically John 14:5-14. Read this, and may your heart be glad to know such a Savior as this!

"Follow thou me. I am the way the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth, the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated."

2010-11-23T08:04:00.000+01:00

There was an evening a couple weeks ago when I was in just the right mood for writing music. I had been listening to Hillsong worship for the majority of the day, and as the evening was drawing to a close and night was approaching, an idea hit me.

"Why don't you translate a worship song into Czech?"

This has been something that people have asked me to do in the past, but I never really took it seriously. I was probably one of the best equipped people to translate songs from English to Czech, understanding the nuances of both languages. But I never got around to it.

Being here at Moody this semester, I have really missed Czech. Particularly the language! My roommates can attest to this fact. (I have woken them up several times this semester by speaking Czech in my sleep!) I feel as if my understanding of the Czech language has actually improved since I've been away. And with no one to speak with, the only thing to do is practice with myself.

So I decided to try my hand at translating! It took me about two hours, and I did some minor corrections later, but I was for the most part very pleased.

I picked a newer Hillsong song, titled "The Greatness of Our God."

So here's a little preview of it! I was able to perform at Live Music Monday up at the coffee shop I work at on campus tonight, and this was one of the songs I chose. It was really fun to be able to share it with everyone, even though they couldn't understand it! I'm even more excited to share it when I go back home to Czech for Christmas.

2010-11-14T06:20:00.003+01:00

In reading "The Consequences of Ideas" by R.C. Sproul for my Philosophy class, I came upon the chapter on Soren Kierkegaard.

Kierkegaard considered the clearest example of true faith in the patriarch Abraham. He says that Abraham's great struggle is to obey God's unthinkable command to kill his son Isaac. With the moral law clearly written on his heart, Abraham cannot fathom the conflict before him.

Then came this quote:

"Martin Luther's beloved wife once said to her husband that she could not believe the story of Abraham and Isaac because God would never treat a son like that. "But Katie," Luther replied, "he did treat his son like that."

Yes, He did.

And how much more must this have sunken in for Katherine as she marveled at the purpose behind God treating His son like that. If we are struck by the injustice of Abraham's story, we need only look to the cross to be put in our place. A sacrifice must be made. And while God redeemed Abraham's story by sending a ram to die in Isaacs place, Jesus took full responsibility upon Himself and was obedient unto death.

For us.

I need to let that sink in.

Kierkegaard believed that truth has no meaning if it does not change the way we live. (I wouldn't agree with everything Kierkegaard said, but it definitely gets you thinking.) How is the Gospel changing me today?

A good reminder that the Gospel is not just for the unbelievers, but even for Bible college students!

2010-11-13T18:55:00.000+01:00

One of the things I love most about reading other people's blogs are the photos. I always take this into consideration when writing a new post - "How am I going to communicate visually as well as verbally?"

Well, you're in luck! Here is a little look into the world of Tyler Patty at Moody Bible Institute. I don't have much to say except that I love it here. The Lord is so good to have brought me to a place like Moody to grow in my knowledge and love for Him among such incredible men and women of God.

This semester I started working at JOE'S - the student-run coffee shop on campus. I love being able to serve the Moody community by not only making lattes and caramel macchiatos, but also by asking questions and engaging with their lives. There is a supernatural blessing over JOE'S - every time I work I feel the Lord's presence.

2010-08-05T11:42:00.000+02:00

Even though I only got to sleep for three hours, I'm feeling quite chipper! It was a bittersweet goodbye with Nathan, Lauren, and Bronwen at the airport. I do pray that I get to serve with them again someday - it has been such a privilege.

On the drive back to Stevo and Sarah's house to drop off the car, I was completely soaking in God's glorious creation as I drove through the rolling hills of Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia as the sun was rising. Such a cool way to start the day!

I'm off to the train in about 45 minutes - thought I'd share with you what it looks like when Tyler Patty travels.

2010-08-04T23:15:00.004+02:00

Just a quick post to let you know that my last day in Rijeka went smoothly! After driving Jamey and Meredith to the airport in Zagreb, I spent the day cleaning the house, packing, and enjoying these last hours with my teammates. We ended the day with italian pizza at a very cool restaurant downtown. It was a great way to end these two months. I am SO thankful for these three individuals, and I will miss them greatly!

Next steps are - drive Nathan, Lauren, and Bronwen to the airport in Trieste, Italy, tomorrow (Thursday) morning; train ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia, to be with my extended family (Josh & Kristi & the kids) for three days; meet up with my parents and Caleb and Claire and spend ten days on vacation with them in southern Croatia! I am really looking forward to time with my family after all this to process the summer, as well as think about next steps.

The story does not end here. I believe this summer is just the beginning of what God has in store for me. He has answered so many prayers while in Croatia, and has given me a greater understanding of ministry and a deeper love for Him and His bride. I am very excited to see where the Lord takes me next, and am just as as excited for you to continue travelling with me.

Will you continue to pray for me during these next few weeks? Pray that the lessons God has taught me would become very apparent and alive in my life. Pray that I would return to Moody ready to learn, be molded, and to serve. And pray that the Lord would make next steps of where He wants to take me in life more and more clear.

THANK YOU for how you have stood by me this summer. I am incredibly grateful to the Lord for your ministry to me over these past months!

2010-08-01T23:04:00.002+02:00

This day was always meant to come. I just guess I never thought it would come so quickly. There's no turning back now, I've stepped over a line that no one has been able to take back. In life we must all face such days, moving boldly ahead. No turning back.

Of course, what I am talking about is my 20th Birthday! I am no longer a teenager. That's pretty crazy! I haven't had a zero in my age since I was ten! Haha. Indeed.

So, after the second camp was finished and we sent off the American team, our intern team had a couple days of rest. It was a great way to regain strength after working hard for the past two months. The first day the four of us interns drove 3 and a half hours to Venice, and spent the day walking through the windy alleyways of the old Italian city. The second and third days were more individual - great time alone with the Lord.

Then we were able to hold another youth group, and were so encouraged again by the number of students who came! Jamey spoke about asking the Lord questions, and I know it made an impact on us all.

The following week was spent meeting up with as many students individually as possible. We had a lot of fun, and it was really fun listening to them look back on camp and reflect on how they were changed through it.

On Friday we had the privilege of seeing most of the campers come together to our big English Camp reunion at the house. We grilled burgers, sang songs, danced camp dances, and had an awesome time together. I got to do video interviews with a lot of the students about their experiences at camp, and am looking forward to sharing some of them with you once I compile a video!

With only four more days left, a lot of thoughts are going through my head. I will share those with you at a later time, but until then, pray that we would all finish strongly. Pray that we would run this race till the end, to the glory of our Lord. We still have some students to meet with, so pray that those would be good connections, and that the Lord would work in the lives of the students through them.

Thank you for your incredible support throughout the entire summer. It has been a huge blessing to know that so many stand behind me and are praying for me and this ministry. I am excited to share more with you again soon.

2010-07-19T21:50:00.000+02:00

Camp has officially finished! But the work God is doing has not. God is the same God both at camp and when we all return to our lives. This is one thing that we really wanted to stress to the students - encouraging them to continue searching for the Lord once camp is over. "Take God home with you!"

On the night of the labyrinth God worked mightily. We were overwhelmed by how God was obviously touching the hearts of these students. We felt again like a wave rushed over the camp, leaving no student unaffected. Thank you for your prayers! Keep praying that leaders would rise up from among these kids that would change this country for Christ.

I was able to give the final talk on Thursday evening, dealing with the topic of "the perfect world." I got to share some stories of my family's sicknesses over the years as an example of how broken and hurting this world is, and how much it needs redemption. I explained God's plan of redemption for the entire earth, and how Jesus is preparing a specific place for those who believe in Him. A very important part of what I was trying to communicate was how God is redeeming us here on Earth to be His people and His church in preview of the New Earth.

The week ended as usual with many tears and many hugs. It is kind of sad to have camps behind us! But it is so satisfying to look back and see how the Lord used them.

But as I said - things don't end once camp is done! We were so blessed to have 17 students from the two camps come to youth group on Saturday. We hope to continue leading these while us interns are here, and hope to create good models so that things can continue once we are gone. Excited to see what the Lord has for us in these last two weeks!

2010-07-14T15:22:00.000+02:00

A couple more days into camp, and I have been having a blast. I feel an extra portion of grace from the Lord this week! I have had so much strength and so much joy and feel like I've been able to engage with the students in a good way.

Discussions have been also going very well. Last night's story was of David and Bathsheba - a very powerful story indeed! It really made the students think and reflect on their own lives in light of God's grace in that story.

We have another two days here - it has gone by very fast! The evening talks have been really culminating up to tonight, where Nathan will share the story of the woman at the well, Jesus' offer of living water, and present the Gospel. Then all the students will get to participate in a "labyrinth" to reflect on their own lives, how they are connected to others, what they need to forgive and be forgiven for etc. They will reflect on the Romans road Scripture, and then have their hands symbolically washed and oiled to signify what Christ did on the cross. It is a very powerful night, and we are praying that God would do mighty things.

Would you join us in prayer for tonight, as well as the rest of camp, and follow-up after camp? Pray for an outpouring of the Spirit and a clear presentation of the Gospel that would affect the lives of these dear children of God for the rest of their lives.

2010-07-11T20:39:00.000+02:00

What a great last couple of days! It has been so fun to watch the students, a lot of whom are at camp for the first time, to engage - in games, sports, classes, evening program, music, discussion groups.. It's been awesome across the whole map!

I myself have really enjoyed leading evening worship - teaching the students songs full of truth that point to Christ. It's been a pleasure to have several US team members play along with me as well! And it's a great privilege to lead everyone in this way.

Tonight's talk was the story of Joseph told from the perspective of Judah. Jamey did an excellent job drawing in all the listeners, and I think the story struck a lot of chords for the students. I am apart of an evening discussion group, and one thing that came up a lot was how difficult it is to fully forgive someone - especially if that someone is a family member.

Please pray that the students would continue to open up and be genuine - both in discussion groups and in the one-on-one conversations that happen. We expect the Lord to show Himself and do some pretty incredible things!

2010-07-09T17:18:00.000+02:00

I am very excited to tell you that our second English Camp camp has started!!!

We had a couple days off after the team from Arizona left back home, and then we were back up and running full steam.

The second team from Arizona arrived two days ago, and after a full day of training, we were off to Fuzine again! It has already been a huge privilege serving with this team from Phoenix. The Lord has really brought us together as one team - which is such a blessing.

What I am working on right now is exactly what you see in the lower picture! I am in charge of registration and have been welcoming students, handling money, and sending them off to their rooms (with the help of Sarah from Phoenix!). It has been lots of fun making these kids feel welcome!

The camp is off to a great start already. But we definitely need your prayers. Pray for a special covering of the Holy Spirit at this camp - that nothing would interfere with Christ being proclaimed. There are also many more first-time campers this time - pray that they would be affected for the rest of their lives by the things they hear, talk about, and experience this week. And pray that they would have fun! :)

I will be updating you more regularly this week - so please check back!

2010-07-08T16:22:00.000+02:00

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion..." Philippians 1:6

As a team we have been studying through the book of Philippians this summer. I have been so incredibly encouraged and challenged by this letter of Paul and by the brothers and sisters I am studying it with. The theme of the book is often defined as "joy." That is what I want to communicate to you about this last week's English Camp!

The entire week was characterized by joy that can only come from the Lord. We were all able to build relationships with the 18 students that came through sports, games, English classes, evening programs, and discussion groups.

We felt an incredible wave rush over the entire camp, leaving no student unaffected by the Message communicated and by God's love. Although not everyone made a profession of faith, the Lord is drawing every single one of them closer to Himself.

And, just as stated in the verse at the top, we believe that the work is not done. God will continue to do His will in the lives of these young students. It is a process, and especially in a country as dark as Croatia it is slow work, but we trust that the seeds that were planted this week will cause faith to grow. And we are constantly rejoicing in the Lord for those who did make professions of faith!

Please pray for the faith of these young believers - both new and who grew up in the church. All of them need discipleship, and able men and women to disciple are scarce. It is our team's goal to invest in the lives of these hungry individuals while we are still here, but we won't be here for much longer. Pray that God would raise up leaders of the church in this needy country!

2010-06-25T07:20:00.000+02:00

Here is another video I put together. In it the interns introduce themselves, and talk about what God is doing here in Croatia through this English Camp! Enjoy!

2010-06-23T18:39:00.000+02:00

ENGLISH CAMP HAS BEGUN!

We are into our second day at Fuzine, and are really excited. We have 18 students and 19 american staff - a great bunch. We have already been amazed at the openness of the students and their willingness to participate in activities! Last night we had "Vegas night" - lots of card games, candy, and karaoke.

Thank you for your prayers - we definitely feel a covering. Please continue!

2010-06-21T22:19:00.003+02:00

For those of you who know me well, I love being creative. This comes out in different ways and areas - music, art, writing - but this summer, I have a very special creative project.

I have always loved photography. I get it from both my parents - dad loves the technical aspect of photography and has been doing it since he was in high school, and mom never fails to capture a special moment on our Nikon D80. When I was still living at home, I was dubbed the "official photographer" on family vacation. I loved it.

But, when I went off to college in Chicago, the camera stayed in Frydlant. For that whole year I didn't have many opportunities to develop my photography skills or even take many pictures.

As my internship in Croatia neared, I knew I needed a creative project to help me relax in the midst of the busy and demanding schedule. Photography was an obvious choice, as it could accompany me wherever I go! However, the family digital SLR camera was still to stay at home.

Then I remembered - my dad's old film SLR camera! It is a Pentax with all manual controls (focus, aperture etc.). I was a little intimidated in the beginning, but have been enjoying it so much after I figured everything out. I'd like to share some of my favorite pieces (so far) with you! Enjoy!

I just love the feel that film has. And the colors! I have been very impressed. Digital has still not been able to match up to good 'ol film. I've been learning so much from going back to how it all started!

2010-06-20T22:41:00.000+02:00

God is so good!

That's all that has been on my mind during these past two weeks. Our days have been packed with visiting schools, preparing talks for camp, organizing english material, and constantly checking our hearts as we serve this summer. We all really desire that CHRIST be the reason we are here as interns.

That has been one thing that the Lord has been really convicting me of in the past days - is my purpose in life service or is my purpose in life Christ? I truly desire it to be the latter!

(Lauren, Bronwen, Nathan, and I)

God has blessed our team so much. He has answered our prayers in ways beyond what we could have imagined - especially in the area of unity. Each of us four interns have very different personalities and gifts, but we work so well together. We spur each other on, encourage each other, make up for the other's weaknesses...it's so cool to see the Body of Christ so visible among this team. Thank you for praying for us - God has definitely answered your prayers!

The first church team from SOMA in Arizona just arrived last night! We will spend tomorrow in training with them, and our first camp starts Tuesday the 22nd. Please pray for us!!! We have 20 Croatian students signed up. We are still praying for 30, expecting that God can do miracles, but trusting that He will bring just the right people to this camp. Nothing is outside of His purpose and plan.

So, please pray for:

- unity between our two teams - the intern team and the SOMA team
- more students to sign up for both camps (praying for 30 each!)
- that deep relationships would be formed and the Gospel clearly presented to students at this first camp (June 22nd-29th)
- for me, as I prepare to give one of the evening talks on the last day of camp. My topic is "the perfect world," and I will be speaking on God's plan to ultimately redeem the entire world, and Jesus' promise to go prepare a place for those who believe in Him.

Thank you again for your partnership in this way - it is a huge blessing. Please continue praying with me and thanking Him for the things He is already doing!

2010-06-08T23:42:00.000+02:00

The Lord has been so good!

Since Monday we have been spending our entire days (from about 7:30 AM till 4:30 PM) visiting schools, going into classrooms, talking with students, and handing out flyers. We were not sure at all what to expect, as the reception from students as well as faculty has not always been the most welcoming in the past. But God has definitely gone before us.

Although the responses and conversations have been great, we still need students to sign up for camps. Please pray that what we have been saying about English Camp would remain on minds of the students, so much so that they have no choice but to sign up! As the day draws nearer, I am more and more excited to spend intensive time with these students, teaching them English and pointing them to Christ.

Please pray for energy and strength, as going from classroom to classroom having to be enthusiastic and engaged all day is not the easiest thing to keep up. But it is truly an amazing experience.

I'm going to get some rest and prepare myself for an early morning again tomorrow! Thank you so much for your support especially in the area of prayers - it is so important to this ministry and means a whole lot to me!

Join me in prayerfully applying this verse:

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:14

2010-06-05T14:39:00.002+02:00

I have safely arrived in Croatia! After an incredible week of training up at Malenovice, we drove 12 hours to the Vuletics' house in Rijeka. The past three days have been spent preparing materials for camps and interacting with students from the local youth group.

One of the most fun experiences I have had so far was during a youth group meeting yesterday. Our intern team sat in while the planning all went in Croatian. One thing I have been very excited about has been to learn the Croatian language while here, and this was my first opportunity to really listen and see how much I could understand. Knowing Czech certainly helps! With Stevo's daughter Nina's help with some words, I was able to understand about 25% of what was going on!

One big project that I have been working on has been a magnification of the camp logo on a big poster. It's been great to get those creative juices flowing and working with my hands! Here's the finished product:

And one of Marko Vuletic and I:

More creative hard work! (Bronwen, Nina and Marko):

And lots of fun on the trampoline! (Lauren, Nathan, Nina and Daci):

This afternoon we are having a Campus Crusade group over for dinner. They are serving in Croatia for a couple months and we are wanting to connect with them and hopefully do some street ministry with them throughout the summer!

It has been an incredible blessing to be at Stevo and Sarah's house. They are great hosts. It's a very restful environment, even though we're definitely being worked hard! Alrighty, back to painting!

2010-05-31T01:04:00.002+02:00

Although it's really late, I just couldn't help but get a post out there!

We safely arrived at Hotel Malenovice, and have begun intern training. We have two days behind our belt, with two more to come. It has been an incredible blessing to be surrounded by so many men and women who are dedicated to listening to the Spirit and serving the Lord through camps this summer all over Eastern Europe.

The Amazing Race, a team-building exercise all interns are "subjected to," was a really incredible time of growing as a team. We started off in Vienna (Austria), then travelled to Bratislava (Slovakia), then to Brno (Czech Republic), and finally to Frydlant nad Ostravici (CZ), my beloved home town. Hotel Malenovice is only a couple minutes away. We grew so much as a team during that time, and had a lot of fun along the way as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We as a team have really felt protected and cared for since being here. I will write more about team Croatia later, but just wanted to let you know that we are doing well!

I compiled some footage from the Amazing Race, and wanted to share it with you as well! Hopefully this is the first of many videos to come.

Prayer requests:
- for further healing for our team leader Jamey Hutton, who sustained a leg injury on the Race
- for ears to listen and hearts to obey the Spirit's voice even before we head down to Croatia, as well as while serving throughout the summer
- for a blessed next couple of days at training while in sessions and fellowshipping with other interns.

2010-05-24T20:28:00.000+02:00

Praise God for a successful surgery and slow but sure recovery for my dad!! We got to visit him on Sunday. He should be home on Tuesday! Please pray for these next couple weeks as he rests and heals.

It's been an incredible couple of days at home in Czech. Have had some great conversations over lunch and Kofola (the Czech soft drink), as well as making quiche with my good friend Jonny! Getting ready for the amazing race on Wednesday...more information on that to come!

2010-05-18T06:53:00.001+02:00

I'm home!!

It's great to be with my family again for a couple days before serving down in Croatia for the summer. We got to attend a wedding of a close friend of ours on Sunday (which is why we're all dressed up!).

On Wednesday the 26th I will head down to Vienna to meet up with the rest of the Croatia team, and then we will participate in the "Amazing Race" to get back to the Malenovice training center. I am very excited to meet everyone and get this summer rolling!

An incredible answer to prayer has been your generosity in supporting me this summer. I am at full financial support! It is such a blessing and I am giving much praise to the Lord! Thank you.

Please continue supporting me and our whole team through prayer during these next months - you are an essential part in the fruitfulness of this ministry. Please check back regularly for news, pictures, and prayer requests!

Also, please be praying for my dad. A couple weeks ago doctors found out he has a faulty heart valve, and they would need to repair it through open-heart surgery. That day is today. The operation will take about four hours, and although the surgery has a 99% success rate, it is still crazy. Please be especially praying for his recovery, which will not be easy. But I am so glad that the Lord allowed me to be here when this happens. He's definitely got it all under control!

2010-05-10T00:56:00.000+02:00

God is doing something. There is no doubt about it! With my internship coming up in only a few weeks, God is already starting to prepare me. The question is whether I will learn from and embrace His discipline, or fight it.

Something happened today which was definitely not in my plans. Actually it threw off all my plans. I made a mistake, and definitely paid for it.

God, what are you trying to teach me? I know that I have a hard time when my plans are disrupted. Well, not just a hard time, I usually crumble. Especially in this situation, it is very hard for me to not continually blame myself and over-think things to the point of psychological overload. I know these things about myself, so why does God have me deal with them?

When something like this has happened in the past couple months my mom has always told me, "God knows you struggle with this. And during your internship you will definitely be in situations where things don't go your way! I think He's being gracious by making you aware of your weaknesses now."

Ok, God, then what am I supposed to learn from this? I obviously have to realize that only you hold things in your hands, and trust you with everything. But how do I make that truth my own?

These were the things going through my mind this afternoon. And then, out of the blue, I started instinctively singing the verse to a song we sang at church this morning.

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It suddenly dawned on me what I was reciting! That is what God is teaching me. When life is peaceful, and when life is full of chaos; whatever happens, it is well with my soul. God is still in control! My mistakes or my faulty plans don't really matter in the long run. Jesus is still Lord. And nothing is changing that any time soon!

Continue to teach me, Lord, so that I may walk even closer with you.

2010-05-09T00:28:00.001+02:00

It's hard to believe that it's almost over! That's right - I have one more week at Moody Bible Institute as a freshman.

I had my last class this Friday, and finals week is coming up fast. But next Saturday I will fly out of Chicago home to Czech, where the first leg of my journey begins.

God has given me the incredible blessing and opportunity to serve with Josiah Venture this summer in the beautiful, and spiritually lost, country of Croatia. I will be serving on an intern team under the leadership of Jamey and Meredith Hutton, alongside Nathan Rehm, Lauren O'Dell, and Bronwen Vogel. Much of our time will be spent with country leader Stevo Vuletic as well.

There is so much I could tell you about the summer. But I'll unfold as we go during the next days and weeks.

I have a request - will you join me in this journey? I realize, now more than ever, the power of prayer and its necessity in my service this summer. I need men and women who will faithfully support me in prayer throughout the upcoming months. Will you pray for my team and I?

Please check back often during the next couple months, as I will be updating more frequently with news, pictures, and prayer requests.

Let me just say how I excited I am for you to be apart of all the things God is going to do!!! This is a team effort. So let's jump in together!

2010-04-14T04:11:00.002+02:00

While working on a large New Testament Summary paper tonight, I got to thinking.

What a blessing it is from the Lord that I have been given the opportunity to study about His Word!

Every once in a while this thought will dawn on me again. I have been given the incredible privilege and gift of attending one of the best colleges in the world to study the Bible.

I love these moments of "realization." They really humble me and help me re-focus my heart - I am here because God wants me here. I'd better make the most of it!

Honestly, these first two semesters have gone by so fast. It's so strange to think that in one month I will no longer be a freshman! What a journey it has been.

Moments like these put me in such a sense of awe in the Lord. He truly does have a perfect plan for me, which is already working out right now! I am not only training for ministry at Moody Bible Institute, this is my ministry field.

And now back to writing my paper!

2010-04-05T06:26:00.000+02:00

I drove back to Chicago this evening with two friends after spending Easter at one's home in Wisconsin. On the way back, we listened to Steven Curtis Chapman - whom I am slowly rediscovering my love for. Again and again I am astounded at his musical prowess and lyrical depth, as well as his heart-wrenching testimony. Steven is a man after God's own heart. A particular song stuck out to me while driving - a song called "God is God":

God is God, and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God, and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God

What difficult words to say! To anyone who is lost, such words betray weakness. Yet in these words we, as sons and daughters of the One and Only God, find hope.

A lot has happened to me in the course of the past year. I went from being a high school student living in the mountains of the Czech Republic to studying at Moody Bible Institute in the heart of Chicago. I have gone from life dependent on my parents to independence. But those are just a few of the visible changes; the changes that matter are of the heart.

I could talk for hours about all that God has been teaching me, how many times He has broken me down only to build me up again, and how Jesus has become an even more personal Savior than ever before! He truly does deserve all the praise. But there's only one thing I want to mention today.

This lesson is contained in the lyrics above.

Only God is God! I can only see a part of the picture He's painting.

Looking back at my first two semesters of college, there were so many ways that the Lord put specific things in my life that put me on the path I am on today. Although many seemed insignificant at the time, God has been incredibly faithful! He continues to surprise me with his genius plan for my life. I have been so blessed and enriched by the people God has given me, the opportunities to serve and use my gifts in, as well as the classes I am taking!

Yet I am not the main character even in my own story. It is the Lord -- who was, who is, and who is to come.

And good thing! My story would be hopeless without Him.

I have much excitement ahead of me as I finish out my second semester at Moody Bible Institute and prepare to serve as an intern with Josiah Venture in Croatia this summer. I want to continue pursuing Him, expecting great things.

And I hope to continue sharing with you through this blog the many stories of how God is making His name great.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - Jude 24-25

He is risen -- He is risen indeed!

2009-05-19T23:30:00.003+02:00

Last day at school...

And also last recital with Hannah! This was a day full of joy and sadness mixed together... We both felt really good about the songs we played, especially since we decided on them a week earlier! It was also great having Caleb play with us.

We played three songs: Fearless by Taylor Swift, Gravity by Sara Bareilles and Mighty to Save by Hillsong. It was a great mix of songs, and a great way to end this "era!"

I was most proud of Gravity.. because I learned it on the piano in three days! :D And the cello is just amazing with it.

On the way out of the music school after the recital we were all talking about how if Hannah comes to Moody to we'll have to do music together again.. It just reminded me that this is not over!! We'll definitely get a chance to play together again. Looking forward to whenever that is!

2009-05-18T13:35:00.000+02:00

These past three weeks have been absolutely insane...but so amazingly full of blessing and encouragment.

First - BMA weekend retreat!

This was the first BMA event led solely by students...teachers were only there to offer support, all the technicalities and organization was taken care of by the Christian kids at our school. It was such a powerful two days! About 26 students were at it, a third of which were non-Christians! We had three Bible teaching sections, with discussions afterwards. In the last session I translated for Jonny Lobel, in which he shared the Gospel for the first time to a group of people. He did an awesome job!

Since the weekend, some of the non-Christians have started coming to Bible studies led by Christian students...God's doing some really awesome stuff!!

The highlight of the weekend for me was leading worship for everyone. We had lots of fun getting the kids jumping and singing to great songs about Jesus! It was a really energy-packed group, and it was really awesome being able to do that for them.

Then the next weekend was JV Spring conference! This was a tough conference full of goodbyes...to the Pitchers, to Becca, to the Longs, to the Woodards...and to me! But I was really blessed by the fact that with me it didn't feel like a goodbye forever...I was sent out. It was really encouraging to stand before my whole JV family and hear words of wisdom and love from them!

It was a little strange talking about college and the next years ahead, my mind is still in Czech. Especially with maturita in a week, I don't have brainpower for anything else! But back to that later...

I led worship for the JV kids one last time with Hannah as well. That was such a priviledge and such a joy! I'm really gonna miss those kids.

One highlight was definitely the Ostrava Zoo on Family day! We figured out that the last time I was there was 10 years ago...crazy!! It was really cool being back there. Dad had a fun time too! :D

And then this Friday our band had the great opportunity of leading worship at a conference in Ostrava! The theme was "Send it on" - meaning share the Gospel with people! On Friday we had teaching and worship, and on Saturday everyone went to Jihlava to the Dizmas concert and to put into practice what they learned about evangelism. Unfortunately, I got sick and lost my voice during the worship and had to go home that next morning. But God totally held me together! I was having a hard time singing during practice, but as soon as the program started, it was fine. Then as soon as we were done, my voice was so hoarse it wasn't funny :D Just shows you how God's got everything under control!

I'm super excited about the things God has ready for our worship band. We've been working for about 7 months, and PDT on Friday was our real debut! I was super encouraged by it. Last night I couldn't get to sleep I was so excited about what God's got planned for us!

In two weeks we get to lead a worship concert for youth groups in Ostrava, which is going to be amazing. I cannot wait!!

But with all this awesomeness there is also lots of stress...I have my big end-of-high-school oral exam - maturita - next wednesday. Starting tomorrow, we have what is called "Holy week", where the graduating class has off from school and is set aside for cramming and catching up for maturita. I can't wait for it to be over...be praying for me!!

Here's the BMA graduating class of 2009...I'm really gonna miss all of them! I just finished my last day of normal school...no more classes. That's really crazy!!

If anything, God's shown me how much he is in control in the past weeks. So I guess I don't have to worried too much about what's up ahead either! :)

2009-04-30T00:22:00.004+02:00

It's late. I'm working on putting songs together to play at the BMA weekend retreat starting in two days. We have band practice tomorrow...hence the preparation! Preparation pays off.

Also, our band needs a name! hmmm...

Anyway, this is my name in Japanese! In Japanese they don't have the "L" sound, and the "R" is like a mix between an "L" and an "R"...it's pretty cool. So you would pronounce this "Tairaa." How fun!

I wish I could sleep during the day and stay up all night! I'm much more a night person. I'll stay up later just because I feel guilty wasting a perfectly peaceful evening! I really should try and get more than 6 hours of sleep at night. It's something to think about! Haha...

2009-04-28T23:39:00.000+02:00

With exactly a month till maturita, our big end-of-high-school-oral-exam, you'd think I'd have lots of time alloted for studying. And I really should! Yet God has been putting so much responsibility on me in these past few weeks. And with that responsibility has come amazing blessing!

My weekends have been especially full, and especially encouraging!

This last weekend started with dinner with friends. After the great time we had together at the mall in Ostrava (mentioned a couple posts back), we decided we had to spend more time together before some of us have to leave BMA and Frýdlant! So we all got together, made dinner and had a great time laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying the friendships God has given us. It was truly an unforgettable evening!

The next day, on Saturday, Adam Hlávka, a friend from the second year class, came over to our house! Adam is one of the most mature and Godly young men I know. It's truly a blessing to be with him! We grilled shish kebabs for dinner, then walked over to the Till house for an evening of Civilization - a very fun and complex strategy board game.

The next morning Caleb, Adam and I met up with Robert to lead worship at a chuch planting conference in Frenštát, a town 15 minutes away from Frýdlant. Mark Krupa was kind enough to drive us there with all our sound equipment, and ended up staying with us for the whole time! While there weren't many people there, God definitely blessed the time there, and we were so happy to serve them by using the gifts God has given us!

Then our weekend took a very unexpected turn. More acurately, Mark took a very unexpected turn on our way back to Frýdlant!

We suddenly found ourselves on top of a wonderful little hill, surrounded by the beautiful Beskydy mountains. It was amazing. Then one of us had the idea: "We should get out the camera and take pictures!" So we did!

Then we thought to ourselves: "We should set up our music equipment!" So we did!

We had so much fun. Mark did a great job of taking pictures! I came home that day very refreshed and encouraged. Though it was a packed weekend, it wasn't at all draining. I can't even name all the blessings I've received in these past couple weeks. God is amazing!

I'm quite curious about these next three weekends though! All three are heavily packed once again. This first weekend I'm helping lead a weekend retreat for the students at BMA. We're expecting 25 students, a third non-christians. I can't wait to see what God does there!

In two weeks we have JV Spring conference. I'll be leading worship for the kids along with Hannah! I can't wait.

And in three weeks the worship band I've been apart of starting in our youth group has its debut! We had practice yesterday, and I must say I'm ecstatic!! We've been stretched so much in these past months, and we're seeing the fruit of the hard labour now. I'm so excited to be able to serve at PDT (a team-building conference) along with Caleb, Honza, Klára, Kača and Pavel.

Then I'll have one weekend before maturita! It's a lot. But I know God's got a purpose in this, and I know this is where he wants me. It's all for His glory!

2009-04-25T12:46:00.001+02:00

Yesterday morning I walked to school.

I love Czech!!

2009-04-14T22:44:00.002+02:00

What a day! I feel so blessed.

In the past year I've really broken out of my shell and learned to love people more (sounds weird, but I was quite the loner)! God's really provided for me with some really Godly friends at my school, and I had a great day with those people today!

BMA is just an amazing school for bringing very different people together. Because BMA is so small (about 80 students), we're all one big family! And the truly amazing part is the 20 brothers and sisters in Christ. A highlight of the week is a 15 minute prayer time, led by students! I am so blessed by a community where I not only have strong Spiritual siblings, but also have the opportunity to openly share my faith with the rest of my BMA family.

One of the Christian teachers at BMA told me: "This sort of ministry is one of the hardest. The kids you're ministring to see you 5 days a week for four years. They see everything you do, and everything is a testimony. They even see when you screw up. Only by Jesus being a the center of your life every single day can you be effective in sharing the Gospel with these students."

It's a challenge. At an English Camp, you can get pumped up for God for 10 days, give it your all, share your faith and make a big impression on everyone, and then mellow out and no one will notice. At BMA if your faith isn't real, it's visible. Your whole life is a testimony.

So back to the beginning! It is so encouraging to have other brothers and sisters in Christ with you on the battlefield every day, going through exactly the same things as you. And it's great to sometimes just get away and have some fun! We're at war, and it's important to know your fellow soldiers well!

So today our whole school took a trip to Ostrava to go see a play! Afterwards 9 of us, among which were some of my closest friends, went to the mall and saw a movie together! I also got a haircut. It wasn't so much about what we were doing, but about what was happening between us. I'm so thankful that God opened up my heart and gave me friends that I can trust, cherish and admire. It will be a very sad goodbye in a couple months!

2009-04-10T16:44:00.002+02:00

As many of you know, I've always been by far the healthiest of us Patty kids over the years! I have had no surgery, and the first time I even broke a bone was last winter snowboarding!

Yet there is one thing that comes every spring like clockwork - strep.

But this year it didn't just come once and then leave...it came back for an encore! So even though I fought off a very high fever and sore throat a month ago, I woke up last tuesday with strep (or as we call it in Czech, angína).

While the first round went to sickness and I spent three weeks in bed, the sunny weather of the second round was enough to give me hope that I didn't have to be beat so easily this time! Obviously it's not good to play around with strep, and if not rested out properly could do bigger and longer-lasting damage, but this time I had hope!

A couple weeks before I got sick a second time Hannah Ellenwood asked me to play with her at her voice recital. She's been taking voice lessons for a couple years, and singing even longer! One thing I'm really going to miss is singing with her!

As it happened, her recital was on the Tuesday I woke up with an infected throat. So I went to the doctor, and then took a train to Český Těšín to play and sing in front of 50+ people! It was awesome! God really pulled through and I think we both did a great job.

The two songs we sang were I'll Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie and Broken Strings by James Morisson and Nelly Furtado. We rocked! (well, Hannah rocked, I helped rock!)

And, so you can stop worrying, after the recital was over I took a train home and have rested ever since. A week and a half later, I'm happy to say I'm feelig much better! I'm super thankful God healed me before Easter so I can fully enjoy the days in remembrance to what He did for us all!

In ten minutes I'm actually going up to the Malenovice training facility to lead worship with Caleb for the Easter Friday service. Christians from all over the Czech Republic will be there, I'm really excited!

And it's gorgeous outside. Just the way I like it...not too hot, not too cold! God's creation is so inspiring!! This is what it looks like outside my window, right at this moment!

2009-03-30T01:56:00.001+02:00

Well hello there! *shy wave*

No, I have not fallen into a well, or been run over by a Trabant (Mr. Trabant and I are good friends..as is apparent from the above picture)...or anything else that would keep me from my good 'ol blog! It sure has been a while. Though one of the first rules of writing blogs or updates is to never apologize, I do feel the need to in this case. Four months is simply not acceptable.

So, though I may have lost many readers during the course of these four months, I do hope I can regain your trust and win you back. I have a few tricks up my sleeve...so stay tuned!

These four months have meant a lot for me. It has been a time of reorganizing my life and making sense of my priorities. Through some tough and complicated times God has brought me closer to Him, and is continuing to prepare me for the next step in my life - moving to Chicago.

Yes, you heard me correctly - moving to Chicago! That's that big city in Illinois. Over in the United States. A long way from Czech. A long way from home.

My last post was about sending in my application for Moody Bible Institute, and I am very pleased and excited to tell you that I have been accepted!! This is such a blessing and I know that this is where God is leading me next. So downtown Chicago, here I come!!

Though the transition will be hard and nothing can replace Frýdlant and the people here, I can't wait for the growing I'll be able to do in a completely new environment! The ministry needs in Chicago are huge, and though I have NO idea what I'll be getting myself into, I know God will use me!

One verse in Mark has been on my heart for a long time now, and I'd like to share it with you! It's Mark 10:29-30: "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."

These words of Jesus give me complete peace about starting the next phase of my life. And as for persecutions - I say bring 'em on!! I know that God will take care of me - financially, relationially, spiritually - as long as I focus my eyes on Christ and the hope that we have in the gospel. Sure, there are things that scare me in the future, but God's got a big plan. And I know I'm apart of it! Not that I deserve it, bug His grace is that big that He can use someone like me. So bring it on!

Four years at Moody, and then who knows? I'd love to return to Czech and join JV full-time. I can't wait to share the JV vision on campus and get people excited about what God's doing over here in Eastern Europe!

That's all from me for now. I probably shouldn't have had that coffee earlier (I had to study!), and now it's almost 2 in the morning...funny how I get most of my inspiration during the late hours. If only I could sleep during the day and stay up all night. I'm guessing my body will hate me in five hours when I have to get up for school! Ha!

2008-12-01T23:37:00.003+01:00

2 minutes ago I finished submitting my application for Moody Bible Institute!!!

I had a great time visiting Moody when I was in the States, and I really feel like that's the place God wants me. We'll find out towards the end of January if my feelings are accurate! It's all in God's hands now!

The application was hard but fun - four essays on home life, spiritual development, ministry opportunities and ministry and vocational goals. And limited to 500 words! I'm glad it's all behind me now...now I can focus on maturita! Out of the fire and into the frying pan. (or at least that's what I think it is...) Haha! How about a picture of a nice cute little fire:

2008-11-09T12:40:00.009+01:00

It's kind of interesting to have two big landmark events on this day...the first is that this is my 100th blog post!! It's been a long journey. The second is that today marks 15 years of our family serving in the Czech Republic!! That's been an even longer journey!

Another journey I've been on for the past 3+ years is high school - more specifically Beskydy Mountain Academy. It's been such a privilege to be a part of what God's doing in our school. I'm on my last stretch of the BMA journey...and it's going by quickly!

Yesterday we had our class "stužkovák" - a dinner party put together by the graduating class for the rest of the school, friends and family. We all dressed up, enjoyed conversation among dinner and pictures of our class. It was a great time!

At the end the teacher in charge of our class, Mr. Till dubbed us "maturanti" (future graduates) and presented us with ribbons! (pictures are me being knighted, and my good friend Patrick and I happy with our ribbons!)

Overall it was a very enjoyable, and low-key night. I was very tired afterwards, but had a great time with people. Plus, mom got to come, which was really fun! If you want to know a little more about the evening from her perspective, head over to her blog: http://livingbylysa.blogspot.com

And here is our "maturitní ročník 2008/2009!"

2008-10-26T10:00:00.003+01:00

Started my Moody application today!! It's intense.

I fly to the States November 12th for a couple days to visit with dad, so I'm pretty excited for that!

I'm really looking forward to this week. We have all five school days off, and I plan on working on some more recording (Caleb's computer is finally fixed!), regaining strength and spending time with special people.

Oh! And I've been writing songs a lot more lately - I'm feeling really good about it! So hopefully you'll be seeing a CD around Christmas time...

2008-10-16T20:06:00.002+02:00

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:10)

It's a lot easier to wish. I wish I got an iPhone for Christmas, I wish I was more outgoing, I wish God would do something in this situation. We learn to wish from when we're very small children. "Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Or even the song in Pinocchio: "When you wish upon a star...your dreams come true." Or if you rub the bottle, the genie will give you three wishes.

It's so much easier to wish. You make evident the fact that you want something without making yourself too vulnerable. And if you wish you might actually get what you want - but not very often.

What would happen if I started asking? Jesus said himself that whoever asks will receive. It may not be what we expect, but God knows best what we need. There's no such promise about wishing.

But asking is so much harder! Often I think to myself: "I don't want them to have to go out of their way for me," or "If I ask I won't receive anyway, so what's the point?" But Jesus tells us to ask. And to seek. And to knock.

I'm learning to ask instead of just wish. Some things I've been wishing for a while but am starting to turn into requests are:

- That I would get into the right college.
- That I could be a better example and leader to the kids at youth group, as well as at school.
- That I would be able to record an album with my original songs by the end of 2008!
- That I would find the perfect girl. This has really been on my heart lately (a bit surprisingly).
- That I would always be prepared for Jesus to come and take me home.
- That I would love my enemies (and people who I don't get along with super well).

And the list could go on. I can ask for all these things, but what's the most important?

- That I would live for Christ, and He through me.

It may sound kind of cheesy...and I'm definitely not there yet, but I might as well ask!

2008-10-12T22:38:00.004+02:00

There are some very exciting things happening over here in the Czech Republic right now! Possibly the biggest thing is that Josiah Venture has the privilege of working with the California rock group Dizmas for 6 weeks this fall! Two have gone by, and it's been awesome having them here.

Basically what they're doing is during the week they visit Czech public schools, have a small concert in a gym, and invite the kids to the BIG concert at the end of the week. At this concert Zach, the lead singer, shares the gospel with up to 300 unbelievers. It's just amazing.

This tour is also to help promote the new Exit 316 season that is airing on Czech television once a week, and to get kids involved in Exit discussion groups, as well as the local youth group.

Last week Dizmas had their first concert in Hradec Kralove, and this Saturday was their second concert in Cesky Tesin. The turnout of people was awesome, and will only continue to get better as people spread the news. Next week is in Havirov, and I'm looking forward to helping set up equipment and enjoying another rockin' concert!

Dizmas is THE nicest and most joyful band you'll ever meet. We've had the immense privilege as a family to have them over for dinner once a week since they arrived to debrief and relax. I'm looking forward to continue helping out and spending time with them during these next few weeks! I know I can learn a lot from them, both musically as well as spiritually. It's great to have them here!

2008-10-07T19:26:00.004+02:00

In technology class this year with Mr. Lobel, Patrick and I are programming little robots! As you can see on the picture, today we were given a "maze" assignment. We had to guide the robot through the maze (on the papers) basically by trial and error. It took us the whole hour and a half to finish, mostly because we got off to a bad start and had to get some help from our wonderful teacher. But 3 minutes before the end of class, the little robot set off on an adventure and completed the maze succesfully. Let's have a round of applause for Mr. Robot!

And here is a glimpse of the code that we used, just to give you an idea of what we're doing.

We were very happy students by the end of that class. Looking forward to next week again!

2008-10-06T23:08:00.002+02:00

Mom convinced me to have a little "photo shoot" up in the forest today...I'm really happy with how the pictures turned out! So new picture on the banner, and here are some other favorites! (However, unlike my brother, I don't have much experience in posing for pictures...I'm usually the one taking them. Maybe Caleb will have to give me some pointers!)

2008-10-01T14:44:00.001+02:00

RABBITS!!!

2008-09-26T17:30:00.004+02:00

I cannot speak French.

This year, I decided to take piano lessons! Every Friday from 4 to 5 I go to the art school and trade places with Claire for our teacher. Claire had a year of piano with Mr. Saniter, an amazing teacher and pianist, and loved it so much that I felt I had no choice but to try as well!

Today I had my fourth lesson, and I was not disappointed. Fridays usually end up being a difficult and tiring day at school, but lessons with Mr. Saniter always brighten up my day.

One thing I love about my teacher is that he teaches the person, he doesn't teach material. Every person to him is an individual who requires different learning methods. For me, we will focus in the future a lot on improvisation with chords and getting a feel for the piano, instead of playing complex classical pieces (I'm really bad at reading notes!). It's great to have someone who understands me musically and allows me to learn what I need to learn, but also what I want to learn.

The first song I chose for him to teach me is "Lost!" by Coldplay. Ever since I heard it I knew I wanted to be able to play it. Now, three weeks later, I can! It's not the most difficult song, but I learned a lot along the way.

My next song is "Complainte de La Butte" by Rufus Rainwright. Some of you may have heard it in the movie Moulin Rouge (in the very beginning when they're showing Paris and Christian's father is shown in a flashback). I'm really excited about it!

A great thing about "Lost!" is that I can sing along with it. However, "Complainte de La Butte" is, as the name implies, in French. Heh. I cannot speak French. But if I ever do figure out the words i will feel very good! :) (Luckily there is a "nananana" part...)

2008-09-21T23:51:00.001+02:00

Looking at old photographs is an interesting experience for me.

It's almost as if I'm recovering from a light case of amnesia. There are a few moments and experiences I remember, but overall it's a fog.

Somehow, because I have trouble remembering what it was like before moving to Frydlant I imagine that it must have been a traumatic experience that is better left untouched. In psychology we learned about a "self-fulfilling prophecy" - something comes true precisely because you believe it. Over the years I've created a mental block which makes it difficult to remember good memories of living in Havirov. My beliefs are therefore fueled by the creations of my mind.

A few evenings ago, after a family conversation, I put on some music and cracked open a photo album. What I found shocked me!

In almost every picture of myself I am smiling! Not the "let's take a picture!" smile, but a pure, happy, untroubled smile. Trust me, I know how I look when I'm not enjoying something! (and surprisingly, I am completely comfortable with daddy cutting my hair!) ˅˅˅˅

It's gotten me thinking. A lot. And that's where these pictures help, and that's why they mean so much to me now. Who knows, I could have carried that burden with me all my life. But God sent several things my way to make sure that didn't happen:

1. Great parents who despite their increasing age still have sharp (and wise) minds!

2. Photo albums untouched by my hands for MANY years and

3. People.

The people are the ones who have helped the most. Not just any people - but people my age, who I used to know as a little kid. People who I used to go to Sunday school with, or who went to kindergarten with my brother.

2008 has been a year of reconnecting with my past. The bad experiences may have been aplified for the past 7 years, but God is helping me make sense of what has happened and the fog is lifting. And wheras a year ago I would have attempted to distance myself as much as possible from life in Havirov, now I am filled with a fire to reconnect with old friends, visit the city I grew up in and regain as much knowledge and memories from that era that I can.

Many of you may know the reasons behind our moving and the difficulties our family faced, but as my dad recently said:

"The end may have been bad, but it doesn't mean the rest of it was."

2008-09-04T22:42:00.003+02:00

Today was a very exhausting, but really cool. I'll tell you what made it a good day:

1. Cloudy weather = shade
2. Short day in school (11:30!)
3. Good friends Patrick and Adam
4. Skateboards
5. Skatepark in Trinec

Adam is two years younger than me and lives in a town 35 km away called Trinec. Every day he gets on a bus...which takes him to a train...which he rides until he reaches the good town of Frydlant, where he walks to our beloved Beskydy Mountain Academy. Then, after school has ended, he does the same thing (except in reverse order)!

Today Patrick and I got a taste of what it is to live so far away and have to spend almost two hours travelling there and back. I don't know if I would survive! More than half the students have to take a train or bus to get to school. It's too bad for them...but it should show you how unique BMA is that students would sacrifice time, money and energy to attend it!

So anyway, today i took the train and bus to Trinec with Patrick and Adam. Our destination was the Trinec skatepark, which is in the middle of nowhere, but definitely the coolest skatepark I've ever skated at.

I've been skating for about 3 years, and I don't nearly skate enough, but I'm pretty proud of what I can actually do! It's a great way to get outside and get some exercise, but I'm not such a fan of the sweating-like-a-pig part. Hmm.

It's sad that fall is coming, which means less skating because of rain. But hopefully I'll get some good days in, as soon as I rest my poor legs and feet from today! And you know what winter brings........snowboarding!! I hear there's supposed to be a ton of snow this year...

2008-09-02T23:49:00.002+02:00

Today is the 2nd of September, the 2nd day of my last year of High School! It has started off magnificently, and I am very excited about some things.

One cool thing is that Caleb is at school with me at BMA, starting his first year of High School!

But in order to move on and look to the future, I feel the need to review some highlights of the summer for you! You may now proceed.

To start where my last post left off, I turned 18 on July 20th! I got some great gifts and spent the day with awesome people. I am so thankful to everyone for being so thoughtful and generous with your presents! My parents (especially my dad) were especially generous, and bought me a new electric guitar!! I am so excited to be able to use it this next year as we put together a worship band in our youth group. I will have it for MANY years to come. Thank you!!

To celebrate my new era of life, Caleb, Seth, Hudson and I underwent a "hike of manhood" at 1 AM on July 20th. I will forever remember this as the first thing I did as a man! It was an incredible time as we hiked the tallest mountain in our mountain range, Lysa Hora. We spent the time talking about life, love and memories. After 2 and a half hours we reached the top, watched the sunrise as we froze, and prayed for each other. I'm so thankful for these three friends.

Saying goodbye to Hudson, Corrie, Seth, Alex and Kari after spending two weeks together was a sad but good moment. Though afterwards I felt completely exhausted, every moment of those 14 days was blessed with smiling and good times. Two days we spent recording songs, which was so much fun! Here are two songs that turned out especially well for your enjoyment! Both are songs from movies - Falling Slowly from Once, and Come What May from Moulin Rouge. You may remember hearing Falling Slowly on my blog before, but this one's a lot better =)

We also recorded a few songs that I've written, but I still need to do some work on them before they are ready for the public ear! Maybe you'll hear a short preview sometime soon. ;)

On August 9th our family joined the Hash and Ellenwood families as we drove down to Croatia! This was the 6th year of doing vacation together, and it keeps getting better and better. Our destination was the island of Hvar, the sunniest island in Croatia!

I am usually not a beach person, but I really enjoyed Croatia this year. The location was incredible, and the nature stunning. I only swam twice, but the water was very alluring as well! Most of my time was spent in our hammock! I brought 8 books and read 7 in the ten days we were on Hvar. I'd say that was time well spent!

As on most of our vacations, I was dubbed official photographer, something I look forward to every year. Here are a few pictures I'm especially proud of!

After ten days on Hvar, we drove 7 hours north to the city of Zadar, where we hopped on a ferry and headed to Josiah Venture Kids camp! Becca did an amazing job once again, and Andrea's (or I should say Queen Blue's) teaching was so inspiring. I was especially blessed to have Ben Williams as my "personal" counsellor! As last year, Hannah and I led worship every evening by the sea. It was a great way to use our gifts to bless the other kids and be good examples to them! Not to mention we had a ton of fun.

However, one sad part about camp was the fact that it was my last JV kids camp! I've been one of the few that's been going steadily for the past 6 years or so. I am feeling less and less like an actual JV kid as I'm getting older, but my love for JV kids just continues to grow. I'll enjoy watching some new changes for JV kids from a distance for the next four years as I'm in college!

It's been great being back home in Frydlant. There are some big things coming up in my fourth and final year of high school, but I can talk about those later. Now that I'm caught up posts should be shorter and more regular (hopefully several times a week), so be sure to check back every once in a while!

2008-07-22T21:38:00.002+02:00

Alright! I'm 18!! I can get a drivers license, I can vote, and am officially a man!

I'm really excited about this new era in my life! These past couple days have been awesome leading up to my birthday. Let me tell you about them!

I suppose it started on Friday the 18th. I was planning on going out for dinner with Mark Krupa, along with Hudson and Seth (visiting from Arkansas). He picked us three up at 6:30 and we started driving. We drove for an hour, not knowing at all where we were headed. Finally we arrived in a little town called Bilovec, which was the deadest town you'll ever see on a Friday night! No action whatsoever =)

So we found a sketchy "food window", grabbed some dinner, and then Mark told us what he had planned. In the back of his car were lawn chairs, a foldable table, blankets and snacks. He had found out that there was an outdoor movie theater in Bilovec, and we were going to it! While waiting for the place to open, Mark pulled out some Kofola and shot glasses, and we had a little toast.

But Mark wasn't done yet. Out of his backpack he pulled the grossest Czech food ever - tlačenka. (jibblie, jibllie, jibblie) It's basically pressed meat, but it's mostly fat and is very slimy. Take a look for yourself!

And so, we all took a bite out of the tlačenka and it was horrible. Hudson couldn't swallow it, and Seth was close to throwing up! We were very glad we had the Kofola to wash it down with afterwards.

The movie that was playing was The Superhero Movie, which is a parody of Spider-Man and other superheros. We laughed sooo hard!

By now it was 10:30. On the drive back to Frydlant Mark suggested we make a quick trip over to a place called Stramberk, which happens to be one of my favorite towns. Situated on a hill, Stramberk is the epitome of awesome.

All in all, it was an amazing evening. I was so glad we could do something totally random that I could remember my 18th birthday by. Thanks so much Mark for making this birthday such a special one!

And this was not the end of the festivities...there is much more to come! =)

2008-07-11T21:51:00.006+02:00

Well, the rest of the family is back! Now the summer can really start.

It's weird, but without our family being complete I can't be very creative! It's hard for me to draw or paint figures when people aren't around. I have to have the sense that life is going on around me; mom's making dinner, dad's out in the garden, Claire's watching a movie, Caleb's practicing his bass...life inspires me!

I guess that's also why it's easier for me to write a paper in a crowded coffee shop than alone in my room. Life inspires me.

And so, with life back at home, I finally sat down and started painting a few orc figues. I'm about half-finished now, but I'm not in any rush...

Here's the orcs' leader (Gothmog) that I painted before we left for the States. The rest of the orcs will have armor similar to him but be on foot. I'm pretty proud of how this guy turned out!

2008-07-10T13:59:00.003+02:00

To celebrate our amazing English Camp and to thank the Czech team, our church payed for us to go out for dinner together! So we all dressed up, ate food and relaxed. It was an awesome time without any responsibilities just being able to chat, laugh and be with great people!

Afterward some of us went bowling! I must admit it wasn't my best game...

It's so weird being back home and not having a million things to get done. On one hand it feels nice, but on the other I don't feel I've accomplished anything at the end of the day =) Ah well, I'm sure I'll find some projects sooner or later.

Mom, dad and Claire fly home tomorrow! I'm really excited for at least some structure to return to my life!

I have to get pictures from Caleb, and once I do I'll write more about English Camp! One thing I can say now is that God worked there in supernatural ways. Even though we expected some great things to happen, He just keeps on blowing us away! =)

2008-06-28T06:59:00.003+02:00

One of the few advantages to having jet lag is being up early to see the sunrise!

I woke up this morning at 4 and was eating downstairs when I looked outside and saw how cool it looked with the sun coming up! So I grabbed our camera and ran outside. It was a great start to the day.

In a couple of hours we leave for English Camp! Be back in a week!

2008-06-26T18:18:00.006+02:00

Well, it's been a pretty amazing three weeks in the States. What I thought was going to be a boring trip was in fact a big learning experience for me in many ways. It's helped me understand the American mentality a bit more and has helped me prepare more and more for college next year!

One thing that has been really fun for me has been sharing my music with people. Me and Caleb played a song at two churches, for our family and for a talent show at a family camp we just returned from. It's made me even more aware of the great gift I've been given and has helped me be more focused on what direction I want to go in with it!

Right now we're back in Chicago and Caleb and I will fly home in about 5 hours. Being at the Gull Lake family camp has gotten me really pumped for English Camp! I'll be helping lead the camp by doing translations, helping with evening discussions and leading camp songs/worship for the whole camp. There will be 70 people there!! That's like awesome. And the American team that we're working with is going to be super. I know God's going to bless this week.

also, as i'm sure you've noticed, I have a new picture up on my banner! It's from our last (and best) performance at Gull Lake. You can just barely see my guitar strap! =)

2008-06-17T03:07:00.003+02:00

So we're in the States right now!! It's been great being with family again.

We had our family reunion in a place called Telluride - up high in the Colorado mountains. It was soooo cool. Totally makes up for all the family vacations we've had by the beach =) (I don't really like sun!)

One of the coolest things we did was take a "little" hike up to an old mining "ghost town" and then over some mountains back to our condos. All together it was about 8 miles...and we were very tired afterwards!

All four of us (my dad, uncle Steve, cousin Justin and me) made it back safely, although we had very wet shoes.

Now we're all back in Denver for another couple days, and on Thursday our family flies up to Chicago! Then it's off to a camp in Michigan and then Caleb and I are flying early for our Frydlant English Camp!

2008-06-04T08:53:00.003+02:00

This week has been pretty crazy getting our affairs in order before flying to the States on friday. There's a lot I could write about, but because of my limited time I'll just share with you some family pictures Greg Strock took on Sunday!

2008-05-23T23:09:00.006+02:00

If you're someone who isn't around me every day you may not know that I have my quirks. Some people, like my family or Patrick Till (with whom I regularly go to school) should be full aware of the fact that I am not really normal. Here is only a small look into the deep chasm known otherwise as Tyler Joseph Patty.

I think of myself as a pretty balanced guy. I try to always be calm and not let my emotions get the best of me. I think through situations very carefully but still listen to my instincts. However, there are times when I enter a state of euphoria and would do things that I would most certainly regret later (such as doing a little jig or acting overly friendly to people).

And now to the point. Today the Tills, Lobels and Patty's (at least what's left of them at the moment) went to Ostrava to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! It was a great experience and I especially enjoy being able to have watched it with some of the coolest people I know.

Afterwards, I starting analyzing myself and realized that I had entered the famed state of euphoria once the movie ended. After thinking more, I came to the conclusion that I am quite happy and outgoing after a good movie! The same thing happened when we went to see Iron Man a couple days ago. And the same happened when we went to see the movie 300! I'm sure I was the same after the Lord of the Rings films and it's quite possible the same after Star Wars 3. So to summarize - a good movie (in the theater) makes me happy! =)

The concludes our lesson today on the inner workings of me. Class dismissed! (for now...)

2008-05-22T19:57:00.004+02:00

I'm in kind of a weird mood... but the weather is really cool (it's rainy and misty...just how i like it)!

Anyway, I did a project for computer class and would like to share it with you! We were supposed to put together a choose-your-own adventure story and make a website for it! So if you have two minutes, I'd say it's worth it to check it out ;)

tylerpatty.czweb.org

And just so you're in context, my teacher's name is Jonny Lobel, and I made him into Lord Lobel, the ruler of Lobelland. The whole story happens in Lobelland and most of the characters besides sir Francis are based on friends. There are also lots of in-jokes =) But it should still be funny even without knowing them! =)

Also, i did a watercolor to spice up the website, here it is larger.

I went to bed at 8:30 last night...I don't know why =) I normally stay up till like 11:30! Like I said, weird.

Looking forward to mom and Caleb coming home on monday!!!

2008-05-18T22:23:00.008+02:00

On Wednesday we went with our school to see an opera in Ostrava called Čert a Káča (The Devil and Kate) by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. It was very...interesting =) I really enjoyed the music, but it was very hard to understand what they were saying. Afterwards a couple friends and I walked over to the movie theater to see Iron Man. It was AMAZING!!! Best superhero movie of all time. Robert Downey Jr. did a stunning job.

However, on Wednesday I my throat started hurting...and Thursday morning I had a pretty bad cough. So I lied around for a couple days. I love being sick (but only for a little while) because I have lots of time to work on projects that take time. Here's only a little sneak peek of one such project!

On Saturday I needed to get out of the house for some air and dad wanted to do something as a family, so we drove 15 minutes away and went horseback riding! I really enjoy it, makes me feel like I'm in the Lord of the Rings or something!

I'm feeling a lot better now, but still have a little cold. I'll go to school tomorrow, we'll see how it is. We have a new teacher for biology teaching us genetics and she's scary...

Oh yeah, and here's how happy I am without my braces now!! =)

2008-05-04T18:17:00.003+02:00

Thanks to everyone who stood with me and prayed for my SATs! I felt they went pretty well, but we'll see in a month or so! I'll be sure to keep you all up to date with the results.

Leading worship up at JV conference with Trevor was a real blessing! I was so glad to be able to be in the adult program and serve everyone with music. I'm really tired, but am really excited to get back to serving in Frydlant!

2008-05-02T22:22:00.005+02:00

You never let go.

I've been so blessed to be serving at the Josiah Venture Spring Conference by leading worship with Trevor Long. One song that we've sung in particular has really touched me: You Never Let Go by Matt Redman.

Tomorrow at 4:45 I'll be driving with Jonny (a teacher and a good friend) to Krakow, Poland, for the SAT. I've been preparing for a long time, but I of course have some fears! The song has been very encouraging, I can't help but smile when I hear and sing it!

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

What a gift to have a God who'll never let go of me. Whatever happens, God's got a plan for me and nothing is taking me off it. What a relief!!!

The test starts at 8 o'clock and will go for about 4+ hours, so please pray for a calm heart and concentration for me. It'll be an adventure.

Talking with different people at JV about college and after has also been incredibly encouraging - I can't wait for this next chapter in my life!!

----

Oh and by the way, I got my braces off on Tuesday! Pictures soon.

2008-04-28T11:52:00.005+02:00

A little while ago i ordered some markers of my own, and my grandparents were supposed to bring them when they visited. But since Caleb and mom went to the States they decided to stay with them. However, grandma was very very nice and sent me and Claire packages with everything we had ordered! I was very happy and started working right away.

Markers are super tricky, and will take me a little while to get used to them. But they're lots of fun, and the warm grey looks really cool in my opinion.

Last night I also scanned some other things i had done in the past couple weeks:

The bird was done during our ski trip, a couple days before I broke my wrist. I really like the simplicity of it.

I also drew this one during our ski trip. I had been finishing up Les Miserables and was in a quite romantic mood (hehe) so I decided to experiment with cross-hatching. I'd probably do a couple things differently if I could have, but it was still great practice.

2008-04-19T16:14:00.007+02:00

Thank you to all who have given me such positive and encouraging comments on my last post! it means a lot.

Perhaps some of you remember last June I had a post about me and Patrick painting a mural in our classroom. Once school started up again it was almost finished...and then things started to pile up and we never got around to putting the finishing touches on it. However, TODAY we took a few hours and it is now completed! I'll put up some better pictures later, these are just taken with my phone.

In other news, I sent in my Jars of Clay story in to the contest, and we got the results a couple days ago. I tied for second place with Patrick in our age category!! How cool is that?!?! I'm really satisfied. The awards are down in Bratislava on the 13th! Also, Lucy Till, Patrick's sister and a good friend of mine, won first place in her category! So we represented Frydlant very well I think.

Caleb is in the States now with mom. Continue to pray for them as the doctors do tests and try to figure out what's wrong with Caleb's stomach/intestines!

2008-04-11T10:08:00.004+02:00

I've been thinking for a little while now what my next post could be about... so I finally decided!

Lately i've been in a super artistic mood and have gotten back into drawing and things along that line. But of course I don't want to just keep on doing the same stuff I've always been drawing, so I made up my mind to experiment a little.

Markers. What comes into your mind when you first hear that word? Maybe kids drawing on walls, or perhaps Sharpies! My good friend Patrick got a set of Copic markers for Christmas, so I borrowed a couple. This is what I created!

I'm VERY VERY happy with it! So happy that I ordered some grey markers of my own.

And if anyone's wondering, i have no idea who the girl is =) just some picture I found on the internet, and really liked it. Enjoy!

2008-03-30T13:12:00.003+02:00

I had to do some major editing on my fairy story for the contest. It's a LOT better now. So check it out and let me know what you think!

Jars of Clay

In other news, Caleb is in the hospital right now, and can't eat all day (they're going to do some tests). He's having stomach problems again, so pray for him!

2008-03-23T00:01:00.003+01:00

It's past 12 PM over here...but I just have a couple things I need to get out before I go to bed! =)

It's been a very long day today...the first totally free day in a long time. I didn't know what to do with myself! So I checked some email...and got a message from Hudson! He said that I should check out this band called Leeland...so I did! And they're amazing. I LOVE their lyrics (and music too)! They're very thought provoking...especially one song, called Let It Out Now. Here's an excerpt:

It’s like you got to walk like him
Got to talk like her
Got to be like them
Everybody knows you follow the crowd
Or get singled out
But God says who you are
Not the world or movie stars

Everyone has their own sound
Let it out now, let it out now
There’s nothing wrong with living loud
Let it out now, let it out now

Everyone has their own sound
Don’t you know all God’s children have their sound?

Every once in a while I have a deep internal discussion about who I am and who I should or shouldn't be. I had another one a couple days ago... I've realized time and time again that I'm really different than other people. God has been teaching me that He has a big plan for me and my uniqueness, and He created me for a purpose - I don't have to conform to any other mold but His.

This song has just confirmed to me what I've know deep down for a long time: Everyone (including me!) has their own song, and we need to let it out (and use the gifts we've been given), and not be afraid to be ourselves. So thanks to God and Leeland for reminding me once again! =)

Oh and today was Lily's birthday! She got some very nice presents...a couple bones and treats, a stuffed kitten and a little crown!! =) Happy Birthday Lily!!!

2008-03-19T22:13:00.003+01:00

At our school we have a creative writing class where we discuss literature as well as bring and critique our own stories. Our teacher, Paul Till, however, decided to go in a little different direction for a couple weeks. He found a writing contest in Bratislava for English speakers in Czech or Slovakia, and each one of us had to write a story to submit. Every year there is a theme. This year's was Jars of Clay (it's a Christian school). I of course let me imagination wander, and came up with a story I really really like. It took me two days to write, and now I'm going to share it with all you faithful readers!

Just click here and read away. I would appreciate any feedback you might have!

I'm getting my cast off tomorrow!!! I'm so excited to play guitar again, as well as paint and do all the things I need my right hand for.

Hope you all have an awesome Easter holiday!

2008-03-18T10:25:00.025+01:00

Well, eight days later, I'm still alive! Last Sunday after church I flew from Ostrava to Tel Aviv in Israel. I went there for the "post-conference tour" of a huge Global Youth Initiative conference (250 people)! A fifth of the people at the conference were people from Josiah Venture, so I felt quite at home! =)

Here are "a couple" pictures from my amazing trip! We saw SO MUCH it's hard for me to remember everything! I'll be processing it for a long time. But reading the Bible is so much more alive now that I saw the places where things occurred...it's awesome.

-------------------------

The Israel Museum - a model of Jerusalem in the 2nd Temple Period. Very cool!

The Wailing Wall.

2000 year-old olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Me and dad at the Garden Tomb (one of my favorite places)!

The Holocaust Museum outside of Jerusalem.

Caves carved out of limestone (3000 years old)! This was really cool...we walked through them for about a half hour.

On our way to the Dead Sea...the desert was amazing.

Masada - one of Herod the Great's fortresses.

Masada was taken over by the Zealots (radical Jews who were against the Romans) around 70 A.D. and this last stand of the Jews marked the end of the State of Israel. 1900 years later (and 60 years ago)...the state of Israel was formed again!

En Gedi - the place where David hid from Saul, and where he cut off the edge of Saul's robe. There are caves and natural springs everywhere (but it's in the middle of the desert)! And this is the very entertaining Dan Hash sneaking up on everyone!

The Dead Sea - 33% salt (a normal sea is 3%)!!! We had to tie a plastic bag around my cast...it was pretty funny.

Me and dad in Qumran - where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found!

In Beth-Shean. After Saul and his three sons were killed Saul's head was cut off and all four were hung on this city's walls.

The "Gates of Hell." A place of pagan worship (mostly of the Greek god Pan), and the place Jesus said "On this rock I will build my church."

Capernaum = the City of Jesus. Jesus healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law and taught in the synagogue here, among other things!

The Sea of Galilee!!! We had a little boat trip. This was really cool.

Me and my youth pastor and dear friend, Boža!!

Nazareth!

Ceasarea - another fortress built by Herod the Great, overlooking the Mediterranean. Paul was imprisoned here.

On a beach in Tel Aviv (where we flew in and out of - also happens to be the safest airport in the World).

I took probably 800 pictures (maybe more), so it was hard to pick out ones that would characterize the trip the best! I had an amazing time with my dad as well as so many other people I love and admire. I know it might be cheesy to say this, but it's true: I'll never forget this trip! =)

2008-03-08T23:39:00.006+01:00

I came across this quote today:

There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.
Ernest Hemingway

This is SO true!!!! And I'm currently drilling and blasting away the rock. I'm so used to things going smoothly, and it's so weird =) As many of you know, I take an online writing course, and every week we have an assignment. I'm currently writing a campaign speech. I've never written a speech before, and it's tough putting myself out and showing people what would make me a good leader. But I'm about half way, and it's going good now. And the important part is that it's really stretching me!

I got a haircut today, I needed it shorter for my trip to Israel tomorrow. One of the best haircuts I've ever gotten! So I'm happy.

I've been looking for new music for a while now...and just hit the jackpot.

Melee - a really great band from California, really happy and fun to listen to!! I've had one of their songs in my head all day.

Until June - great writing music, very nice and melancholy. Without them I wouldn't be able to do my paper.

Daphne Loves Derby - I just have a couple acoustic songs, and they're amazing. Very inspirational, makes me want to write a couple songs myself! (which I would do if it were not for my cast...)

Okay, gotta go finish writing my speech.

2008-03-06T23:35:00.004+01:00

Wow! I want one of these!

In other news, I'm almost done with the monster book Les Miserables!!! Only 150 pages to go! I've really enjoyed it so far, it's definitely one of my most favorite books ever. I'm really glad I read the unabridged version, reading an abridged would be like cheating!! There's so much magic in the detailed descriptions that Hugo gives, it wouldn't be the same without it. At the moment I'm at a very interesting part - the history of the sewer system in Paris! =)

2008-03-04T21:52:00.003+01:00

Hey guys, me again! A couple posts ago I had pictures up of a project I did...anyway, I wrote an article on how I did it for an online community of guys who love doing the same stuff I do. And it just got published! If you want, go check it out HERE!

And also guess what? Had an orthodontist appointment today, and I'll be getting my braces off in TWO MONTHS!!! Woohoo! I've already had them for about 2 and a half years, so I'm really happy it's almost over.

And next Sunday I'm heading to Isreal!!!! I'll tell more about that later....

2008-03-02T22:20:00.012+01:00

For Spring Break we headed down to Slovenia to spend the week with our family! It's great having another Patty family in JV.

The first day we were there we drove up to the mountains to ski and snowboard. I was planning on just sitting and reading the whole time...

But it was too cool of a slope to pass up!!! Luckily dad brought my snowboard so even though I didn't have snow pants or a winter coat I got to have fun. I had to be pretty careful though not to fall on my right arm!!

Three hours away from Ljubljana (the capitol of Slovenia) is Venice! It was really cool (but kinda smelly). Caleb sure loved the pigeons (and they loved him)!

I was back at school for the first time with my arm...it's quite a challenge. I can't write (only type) so I've been doing a lot of reading (with permission from my teachers of course).

2008-02-22T19:27:00.007+01:00

Last Saturday i went on a little trip! I got on a train at 4:30 in the morning along with Katka, Patrick and Lucy and we headed to Prague for the day! We decided to start a little club (but we haven't figured out a name yet...) and this trip's name was "Praha, Mucha and coffee!"

We were pretty concerned about the weather, but in the end it was really pleasant and we could walk everywhere without much discomfort! Our first stop was the art store, where we stocked up on paper and other supplies! Next we visited an English bookstore, and then went for coffee in the new Starbucks! It's a really cool and classy place.

The Alfons Mucha museum was the highlight though. His stuff was really inspirational to me! We finished up by going to Bohemian Bagel, and then got back on the train! It was a great day with three of the coolest people I know.

This past week we had a ski trip with our school! I brought my snowboard, and even though the conditions weren't optimal, it was still really fun hanging out with my friends and shredding the slopes.

Yesterday, however, something put a dent in my plans... Long story short, while going off a jump, i landed badly and broke my wrist. It's my first broken bone ever! I'd elaborate more, but it takes a really long time to type with one hand. I wanted to stay with my schoolmates until the end of the trip, but because of the pain I had to come home today.

It's been a peaceful and strange day... and though I was in pretty high spirits on the day that it happened, today hasn't been fun (my hand has been swelling up...). So please pray for me that I'd survive these next 4 weeks without drawing, painting, guitar playing or writing. I'm sure I'll find a way to do all of these thing eventually, but it won't be easy.

This next week we're heading down to Slovenia to visit our family for spring break! We were planning on skiing and snowboarding but it's not looking good now...but i'm sure we'll find some fun things to do anyway.

Oh and if you haven't heard of Nickel Creek and like bluegrass/acoustic music...check them out, they're really good.

2008-02-09T14:17:00.001+01:00

Even if you only know a little about me, you should know that I love art.

Lately I've been inspired by Patrick to try drawing Manga. Because I'm also a perfectionist, it takes me a lot longer to get to the point where I can actually draw something, but from then on it's smooth sailing. And so, for practice, I combined three different drawings to produce this sketch!

I was really happy about how it turned out, so I thought I should try using my drawing tablet to bring it up a notch! I was up till 2 last night working on this...and I'm really excited about it!

Hope you all like it! =) This has inspired me thoroughly to continue in my Manga pursuits, so hopefully we'll see some more stuff soon.

2008-02-01T21:44:00.001+01:00

Today I went over to the Ellenwoods' along with my guitar to practice a couple songs with Hannah! Hannah has a voice recital at the end of February, and I'll be accompanying her with guitar, as well as voice on one song. I'm really excited! It was great spending time with Hannah and making music together.

One song we worked on together was Falling Slowly from the movie Once (which I mentioned a little while ago). It sounds awesome, our voices blend really nicely together!! I'm really happy about it. So towards the end of the day we decided to quick record a rough version of it on Hannah's mom's Mac. And now I bring it to you on Tidbits By Tyler!! So, here is Falling Slowly by Tyler Patty and Hannah Ellenwood. Just push the play button and listen away!

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2008-01-29T08:46:00.001+01:00

Last week was pretty crazy...in a good way though! Well, sort of. The good part was that I got to relax a lot and do some of the things I love to do - namely painting and reading. The bad part was that I was sick. Last Monday night I had a fever of 102.5 Fahrenheit! That wasn't fun. Then I had all kinds of sicknesses around it... I got the flu (which I'm still getting rid of) along with a sore throat, and even a swollen eye over the weekend!

But the good part, as I said, was that I got a lot of painting and reading and relaxing done. I'm ready to get back to the business of school and things in youth group and stuff.

Here's something that I've been working on for a while. It depicts the dwarf lord Balin retaking the Mines of Moria from the Goblins. Enjoy!

More pictures of recent projects to come soon! I did lots of painting over the weekend, it's been great! ;)

2008-01-19T17:16:00.001+01:00

Phew...well we survived the men's conference! it was really great, the speaker had some great things to say.

The first night of worship was really hard for me, and I put so much energy and emotions into it that I was totally drained after. It was really strange...but after a good night's sleep God restored my strength!

We're going to celebrate Caleb's 15th birthday tonight with the Ellenwoods...it should be fun! We're going out to this cool restaurant. Then tomorrow is Caleb's actual birthday so be sure to write him and wish him a happy birthday!

2008-01-18T13:23:00.001+01:00

This weekend we have a men's conference up at Malenovice. Boza (our youth pastor and worship leader) was supposed to have worship at it today and tomorrow, but he and our drummer got sick yesterday...so that leaves me.

There are gonna be 140 people there, so please pray for me that God will work through the worship and really touch everyone's hearts. Also pray for me for strength...140 is a lot. Caleb will play bass with me and there's a guy from Prague who's coming and he'll hopefully play guitar along with me.

So yeah...it's gonna be crazy. I'm a little nervous...but I trust in Him.

2008-01-16T14:33:00.001+01:00

A couple of days ago Caleb, mom and I got new phones! They're really nice, and our old ones were really falling apart so I'm very happy. Here's what mine looks like! I've been spending my free time figuring out how to put music, pictures and videos on from my computer. I think I've got it all figured out, now to just sit back and enjoy!
School's been pretty crazy lately...we're having to wrap up our grades for this semester so that means lots of tests! Aaaah...without my new phone I'd go crazy =)

I've been in a pretty creative mood again. I'm taking a break from painting LOTR figures for a little while, painting Legolas took a lot of energy and time! So I've been trying watercolors, which are really tricky. I've also started writing a story. I just kinda started and decided to just go where my mind led me. At school I have a creative writing class so I'll try to keep writing a chapter a week for that. Two are down already! Unfortunately it's very rough and not fit for public viewing yet ;)

Jon Foreman's new Winter EP just came out yesterday!!! I'm so excited about it. I strongly recommend both his Fall and Winter EP's, and can't wait for Spring and Summer!!!

2008-01-10T18:43:00.001+01:00

Drum roll please.................................................................... Prepare for the unveiling of Tyler Patty's most stunning work yet!

This small diorama depicts two friends, an elf and a dwarf, fighting at the battle of Helm's Deep. I'm talking of course about Legolas (up on the wall) and Gimli (smoking a pipe on a dead Uruk-Hai).

I hope the ebullient Nathan Pitcher is proud of my second take on Legolas, as he was so fond of the original (which I was not so fond of, hence the new paint job). I'd like to thank the sagacious Becca McMartin for the wonderful Gimli, which I am glad I am done painting (it was quite frustrating actually!).

Even though these two figures were painted only days apart from each other, I am especially proud of Legolas. Both were very time-consuming to paint, because I tried to pay a lot of attention to detail. There are some things I would have done differently now looking back...but we learn from our mistakes so I guess I'll just have to live with it!

Overall though I think I did pretty well. The good part is that I still have lots more places to go, I can still keep on experimenting and learning! You can be expecting more diorama thingamajigs in the future, I already have a couple more ideas.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering how I did the brickwork, while we were in the states I got some brick molds. I then pour plaster in them, let it dry and pop them out! Then I can glue them together and paint over it all. It's awesome, and you'll see some more of them in the future as well!

Gotta go eat dinner! Thanks in advance for all your comments! =)

2008-01-09T10:47:00.001+01:00

I was inspired by Nathan's latest post on his blog and decided to acquire a peculiar aristocratic title myself!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Grand Duke Tyler Joseph the Blue of Fiddlers Green
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I started painting my Legolas figure yesterday, and it's coming along quite nicely! I should have it done by the end of the week, so I'll post pictures of all that I've painted lately then!

2008-01-07T15:28:00.001+01:00

One thing I got for Christmas from Claire was a great movie called Once. It's a movie about how a Dublin busker meets a Czech girl pianist, and the two decide to record an album together. That's the short version, I highly recommend you see it for yourself! It's very different from anything you've ever seen before, I can guarantee that.

The only down-side to it is the R-rating for language but it doesn't bug me too much and I really enjoyed the musical parts of it. I downloaded the soundtrack off of iTunes last night and have been listening to it all day!

Ever since we got back from the States I've been in an artsy mood, so I got some pretty cool stuff done. I'll put up pictures soon, I'm sure you'll all be proud of me!! =)

2007-12-26T05:20:00.001+01:00

This past week has been great.

It was spent:

playing guitars for hours at the enormous Guitar Center,

Meeting new friends and spending time with old ones,

And of course celebrating Christmas with our dear grandparents!

One thing that I'm really excited about is a thingamajig called a drawing tablet, which will help me a lot in my further pursuits in web design! It's pretty awesome! (you can't really see it in the picture but I have a cool stylus pen in my hand which I draw on the tablet with)

Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know how YOUR Christmas was! We had an amazing one here. And so...

2007-12-18T06:22:00.001+01:00

As promised, I have bought Les Miserables! To start at the beginning...

We flew to the States last Tuesday, and it took us 28 hours to get from doorstep to doorstep!

Right now we are happily staying at my mom's parents' new house in Eugene, Oregon! We're spending Christmas with them for the first time in 13 years, so it's quite the occasion. We've been busy buying Christmas presents as well as stocking up on clothes.

Today we drove about 2 hours up to Portland, and spent the whole day...you guessed it: shopping (and the occasional food).

Powell's bookstore in Portland is a legend (to us at least). So we decided to go check it out, and we were amazed at it's vastness. It's a really cool place. After about half an hour of wandering around I stumbled upon the very thick book by Victor Hugo. At $4 it was a steal.

So far, it's very...different. I really love Hugo's style of writing, but it's unlike anything I've ever read. I'll keep you updated on my thoughts on it once I get the chance.

Dad flies in tomorrow evening, can't wait!

Christmas is coming!

2007-12-07T20:53:00.001+01:00

Well, the concert is over! I feel pretty good about it... and I'm totally beat. I'm ready to sleep and sleep and sleep some more... It's been a long day.

But it was really fun. Thanks to everyone who came and watched and listened to us!

While setting up earlier today I had an idea...so I went and asked our drummer, Pavel: "Do you think it's possible for me to stand on your bass drum and jump off?" He said no problem, and we tried it out a couple times...hehe! I did it twice during the concert, and it was awesome. Luckily there were no casualties!

If Hudson or Becca are reading this, i have one thing to say...: "I wore my band shoes!!!"

_______________________

And I also learned how to make an omelet this week, but that's another story...

2007-12-03T12:16:00.002+01:00

Tensing concert on Friday! Here's the poster I made for it.

The song I'm most looking forward to playing is Pieces by Sum 41 because I can jump around during it!

Last night i watched Les Misérables (the 1998 version with Liam Neeson) and I really enjoyed it. It's for sure one of my favorite movies now. When we go to the States I'll be sure to pick up the book (it's over 1800 pages long)!!!

2007-11-30T15:24:00.001+01:00

JV conference was really great this year. It felt really family-like for some reason, and I guess that's the way it should be! We ate lots of good food and spent a lot of time just talking and hanging out. Here's me and my cousin, Luke! He's a very serious little guy!

Caleb, Hannah and I also led worship on Friday and Saturday night for everyone. It was really fun because we got to sing some of my favorite English songs!

This was also the last conference for the Anderson family. I had a great time with Corey and we'll miss them all!

2007-11-26T12:14:00.002+01:00

Another hobby-like activity (which also happens to be Lord of the Rings) is a game called Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. I've played it ever since it was launched in May, and it's really fun! It's a Massively Multiplaying Online Role-Playing Game (or MMORPG) and that means that I'm playing with tons of other people from all over the world. Together we do different quests and save Middle-Earth from evil. I just reached level 33, and I'm very happy!

Yesterday I stumbled upon an Ent (I think)...here's a screenshot!

By the way, my guy's name is Thilios, and he's a dwarf hunter. He's very awesome. Right now he's being followed by some evil creature which I didn't want to fight! =)

2007-11-24T23:54:00.001+01:00

This year for the Talent Show here at Thanksgiving JV conference, I did a song called More Than Fine by my favorite band, Switchfoot. Thanks to Aunt Kristi for taping and Alice for getting it all ready for me! Enjoy!

2007-11-20T22:09:00.001+01:00

I got sick on Wednesday so I was home for a couple of days...and I got some painting done!

I also stripped the paint off a couple older figures today, they're looking nice and shiny now! I plan to go for a more unified color scheme of my dwarf army now, as you can see from the two dwarves above.

JV Thanksgiving conference starts tomorrow...

2007-11-13T20:43:00.002+01:00

I have realized some very interesting things today!

1. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is not as evil as it at first looks. It might even be fun! Once I get past the initial stage of learning code and figuring how it all fits together at least.

2. Some pumpkin carvers are really really really really really really good.

3. Tuesdays seem considerably longer when I don't take a four hour nap.

4. It seems that with every new design project I do, I learn something new. It means that hopefully no design is the same, and I like it like that. I hate redundancy in things like this.

Anyway, I have another customer for blog design. It will be a secret for little while (just cuz!) and once it's done there will be a parade and a big unveiling.

Now I have to go do......something. (Any ideas? Hmmm...)

Oh, and did you notice the new look??