The Czech Republic Is A Nemo Net.

This summer some of my friends and I have decided to have a bible study at my apartment. This past evening we studied Luke 5:1-11. I probably won't blog much about my spiritual life....well...I might.....I'm not sure, but I had some interesting thoughts during the discussion. I'm not sure if its my new obsession with scripture or my current mindset, but I feel like since accepting this position, but I feel like every time I read scripture I feel like God has something special to say that is completely relevant.

Luke 5:1-15 is the story where Jesus is by the lake and as the men are cleaning their nets Jesus asks them to let them down again and they return full of fish.

During the discussion the leader had us talk about the conversations that must have been going on between the fisherman and the people that were watching at the scene. That morning it was probably cold....okay, maybe not, but work with me here! It was probably cold, and the fishermen were tired and probably grumpy that this guy came up to them and asked them to get their nets dirty again when there haven't been any fish all night and there are most likely no fish right now. My reaction would be "Who does this guy think he is and what makes him think he can tell me to do something other than what I want to do?"

I thought about that, and that's kind of the place I was in before I realized that God was calling me to ministry. When I first came to college, I had a plan for myself. I was going to go to Michigan State, and earn both my MRS degree and nursing degree by the time I graduated. Then my husband and I were going to move to South Africa....or somewhere in Africa and cure HIV. When I first heard God knocking at my life, I basically thought "God, you're crazy. I have a plan, you're just going to have to use my plan"......if only things work that way. One theme in the passage that really stuck out to me was the fact that God came to Simon and met him where he was at. Simon liked fish, I like people....so God used people to show me his will for my life. No matter where you are or where you THINK you're going God ALWAYS meets you in a way where you personally connect with him. In a way, God did KINDA take my "advice" because he is still using me to care for people, but in a different way. Now I can't imagine myself doing anything except following him. God ALWAYS meets you where you're at, and if you follow where he is leading you, you will be so much happier.

Another thing we talked about during bible study was the verse where Simon says "Master, we've worked all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." I've read this passage multiple times, but for some reason I thought Simon might have been using sort of a sarcastic tone. I mean, think about it....if we were tired, cold and hungry we'd probably be in a bad mood and say something like that. Was Simon really being sarcastic? Who knows, but its believable, and something to think about.

During the discussion we also talked about what our reaction would be and what our conversations would be like after we saw the nets go down and the boats returning filled with fish. While we were talking about it someone compared the nearly sinking boats to the net of fish near the end of the movie Finding Nemo. They were so heavy and all the fish were working together to swim down. This is one of my weird analogies coming out, but since you're reading my Blog, you probably know me....so you probably knew this was coming....but the Czech Republic is the sinking Nemo net.

I mentioned this in my letter, but in the Czech Republic...well the European education system in general, there is something called institutionalized Atheism which basically "breeds" the people to be Atheist. This system is a Nemo net because in a way, the system works together, just like the fish work together to pull away from the boat...ie God. Yes, I just called God a boat....you'll understand why in a second....I hope.

Moving on....in the passage God asks Simon to do something that Simon and everyone else around them thinks is impossible. But the beauty of the situation is that God is God and God can perform miracles. Even though Simon thought Jesus was crazy, he still did what God asked him to. In this situation, alot of people have said that it is crazy to try to try doing ministry in the Czech Republic....for awhile.....okay deep down part of me still does....I thought it was crazy. But the thing is, God asks us to do things that most people....specifically non-christian people think are crazy, but because God says to do it, we do it anyway and God does amazing awesome things.

As Christians, God has made us fishermen for people. The Czech Republic is a Nemo net but through God I am a fisherman for people, because says so, I will let down the nets.

Yes.....I just said fisherman......it's my blog....if I want to be a fisherman....I can be a fisherman.....haha