May god be with you till we meet again...

my apoligizes for not writing for awhile but in all truth i didnt know what to write till now. Theres a song that sticks out in my mind and as i listen to it now it moves me in a great way. Christmas in the trenches by john mccutcheon, about on one christmas day in world war one when the germans and the british soliders spent one day in peace and harmony leaving there trenches and spent time as friends. So many times we all have been angry at one person or another, or judged someone for what they wear or what they say. But we may we never forget that we are people at the core. We all have seen moments of human kindness between two different types of people who dont get along. These are the things of people that show me the beauty god bestowed on people. Tonight we went to the old church for prayer service and two elderly ladies walked up to the front to light candles. They kissed each other on the cheeck and talked as they lit the candles at there own pace simply happy to see each other and to be together. As i sat in wondering fondness i could feel god in that place, like he sat next to me and watched with watery eyes as well, at the love by these two women in fellowship. I recall a lady at church telling of a birthday party for a women who had turned 90 and as she was hugging her friend good bye the women said this is what i think heaven will look like, surrounded by those i love. Compassion shines bright in everyone of every religion but if we dont take time to look we ll never see it. And i pray that we all remember that when we are angery or upset. May god bless you and keep you, may his face shine apon you and be gracious to you. The lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.Amen.
-Samuel Jacob Miller

My hope is built on nothingless

Well god jul, merry christmas, feliz navidad or however you say it wherever you are. Yesterday we went to a meal setup by the church for poeple who dont have family are alone on christmas. It was really nice, they had alot of good food and after we ate and sat around and talked we sang and danced around the tree ( alot of fun!). Then before we left came santa! with a raindeer! who left us a messy present on the floor hahaha! so that was pretty interesting. Then after that we went to a friends house whos family had invited us over cause they knew we were alone. It was one of the most touching things some has done for me. They truly treated us like family. For some reason i can never sleep on christmas night so i slept for about an hour then i woke up. I made a fire and just sat and relaxed then tried to go back to sleep. This morning we opened presents around eight. Well i pray that god will give me courage to carry on. OH! merry christmas lewie and family! im so happy you found my blog!
well god bless,
-Samuel J. Miller

Im your man

So here i am, again, writing, again. Well we are now on our christmas break. I never thought i would say the word christmas and hold back a tear but its true. Being away from home sucks, im not going to sugar coat it, it just does but we get by i guess. I think cabin fever has become a concern for the team. You know there are some days where i wake up look in the mirror and ask myself why in the hell did i do this then i cant help but laugh because how insane am i to take a year outa my life to go to some place i ve never been before and do something i have no experiance in but i guess that fits me the more i think about it. I never really knew what the heck i was doing half the time i was back home. i guess i just like a good adventure and this is falls under that category. I dont know what to write here but for those who read my blog back home and dont comment on here it would be nice to get emails or something. Jer. 29:11 "for i know the plans i have for you ´declares the lord´ plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and futuré".
In patience,
-Samuel J. Miller

On the 309

Well it has been a very interesting week to say the least. We went raindear seperating, raindear are not that big but they dont like to be grabbed by the antlers and they put up a heck of a good fight when you do. But how many people in there life time can say they helped seperate raindear in the artic circle? and in - 16 degree weather i might add. Everyone was just so happy and relaxed. everyone seemed to know each other and had no problem with including us, i found it rather touching. So that was wed. i spent the next day in band practice till friday in the morning we actually had the dance. it was alot of fun, the rules are if someone asks you to dance you cant say no and you have to dance for the entire song. It was really funny to watch the teachers grabbed the really shy boys in the back and dance but everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves, it was a day well spent. Then the day started to go down hill fast. We opened grottan and we didnt think really anyone would come because the 9th graders were doing the lucia show agian that night from 8 to 9 and at first i was right till they started pouring in. We were packed in there and kids just reeked of alchohol. After a while i poked my head into the back room to check in and make sure everything was ok and the minute i opened the door the rushing smell of beer hit me in the face. I walked in and one of the kids playing pool who we know from östra walks over and says sam! try swedish beer. at this point im and truly pissed off. I take it when he hands it to me and i tell him that he cant drink at grottan and i walked to the back door and procceded to poor the dang stuff out. when i got back in i found alyssa trying to get a kid out who was so drunk he couldnt stand nor really speak and the kid i took the beer from was fighting with another kid. So i ran and got Elis (AKA the swedish hulk) and he grabbed them and pulled them all outside. Well the one kid wasnt happy about that and while going up the stairs out side he kicks a window and breaks it. Some other people walked the group home and i was happy to be rid of them. It was a rather depressing end to a depressing day. Saturday morning i went lifting with my friends markus and richard then we stopped at the bakery\ coffee shop in town and just talked. it was one of the most content feelings i ve had since i been here. just hanging out with friends talking and eating. Just relaxing and having fun. Well im tired of writing and this is really long so for those who read this stay safe and your always in my prayers.
Sincerly,
-Samuel J. Miller

All things bright and beautiful

With our amount of sunlight becoming less and less i find it takes an emotional blow. Not really in a negative way but more it moves in more highs and lows then usual. I more then ever find myself driffting off into memories that i havent thought about since they themselves occured. They tend to flood my mind and stop me dead until afterwards waking from my day dream to find i had spaced out. I recall waking up early with my dad to go roofing, or the bird cage they had in the nursing home my grandma miller was in. They come back to me in bright, beautiful color that even now brings me close to tears not out of sorrow but of joy of rememberance of days gone by. It is evident to me now that my family and friends forever live in the deepest parts of my heart, and that shall never be changed. After this journey is over ill get down on my knees and thank god for the adventure.
Sincerly,
Samuel j. Miller

the bridge over troubled waters

well as of now we have gotten into our routine which is very nice but i kinda wish it was fuller. I ve been helping out with a band the school started to play at the highschool dance and thats alot of fun but we practice for like four hours a day so that gets rather tiresome. Next week is english camp where we take some of the kids to a camp nearbye and they are only to speak english and they learn about the world and poverty and things like that. Im pretty excited for that because we have the seventh graders and they seem to really enjoy talking to us so im not worried about them giving us any trouble or not speaking at all. Cabin fever sometimes takes over at night when its been dark so long we think we should go to be but its still early so im trying to learn to keep myself occupied. I have the feeling i will do alot of reading while i am here which isnt a bad thing. the weather here has actualy been pretty nice, only like an inch of snow and its been in the teens to the thirtys lately (farienheit). Random note but since we have much spare time in the evenings i had the thought that love is the greatest feeling and the next greatest would be the feeling of contentment. In peace,
-Samuel J. Miller

into the great wide open

well i know i havent written in here lately but nothing has really changed to much. We still are going to school talking to the kids, some still lie others talk alot and some dont talk at all. We just got back from watching the new james bond movie so it was kinda nice to sit in a theater again. We are slowly learning A LITTLE swedish. we as a team are slight aggrivated by how kunskupens hus ( the place next to the school where we learn) teaches. its more filling out books rather then learning how to say things and hold a conversation. Grottan is going well, some of the immagrants from afganistan asked us if we could have it twice a week because they like and there isnt much to do. An interesting fact or tibit i learned the other day from an older kid is that we arent like the other teams, he mentioned that when he came to grottan the teams would usualy end up asking why they werent christian and trying to convert them. I am very thankful that i am not asked to do that with the children. Evangilizing has many different faces and i think simply talking at people is one of the most uneffective and egotistical ways of describing gods love and want to follow them. We should lead by example not a "do as i say" method. I feel kind of lonely at times because in all honesty we dont know if what the kids tell us during the classes are true and we ve had instances where some of the ninth graders were making fun of us because we dont know swedish. I sometimes feel like we are treated with distane for simply being foreign. I just feel that them lying to us is like directing a blind person into traffic. Its taking advantage of someone who already feels insecure about not being familiar with their surroundings. Im sorry i am ranting about small vexations i have with encounters we have had. Almost all people here are rather nice to us or at the very least polite. Well im going to finish watching the simpsons on the computer so good night and keep me in your prayers as you are in mine.
-Samuel j.
p.s. the title is a tom petty song i know