Settling in to my new life in Slovakia, it looks much different than I imagined it would before I left Minnesota. There has been much more in the way of training and preparation for me these past few months verses the constant business of ministry endeavors. The on-going preparation has been centered in learning to see loneliness as solitude (a constant awareness of God’s presence in me) and silence as an internal stillness. Silence is not so much the absence of external noise, but rather learning to quiet myself internally in any type of environment. Rather than avoid or run from the solitude I have decided to try walking into it. Rather than being uncomfortable with the silence, I’ve decided to enter into it, allow it to surround me. This is one of those pursuits that will require a lifetime of effort and determination. But if my recent efforts to implement these disciplines are any indication of how it will be in the future, it is worth it. What have I found there? I have found God there in a way that I have never experienced Him before. I have had moments of intimacy in my relationship with God before but not like this. It is precisely this place in the life of faith where words become insufficient to adequately pass along the meaning or substance of an experience. I have encountered moments of a true peace and contentment I don’t think can be found in any other experience on this planet. And I’ve really only scratched the surface.