Was Ist Ein Globaler Verbindung?

"What Is A Global Liaison?"

I've been asked this by so many friends and family that I decided this was worthy of a blog in and of itself. For those of you published writers, I apologize for my somewhat free-form style of writing, and understanding of English grammar - which has been slipping lately. Okay, yes I'm stalling a little.

First, I would say I have no clue, really, but since I am one that doesn't quite get me off the hook. I am sure a global liaison differs greatly by what job they are presently doing, for whom, and where they are located. All three of these play a big role in my understanding of my job. Here is the definition of liaison from http://www.dictionary.com/ : Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
li·ai·son /ˌlieɪˈzɔ̃, ˈliəˌzɒn, -zən or, often, ˈleɪ-; liˈeɪzən, -zɒn; Fr. lyɛˈzɔ̃/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[lee-ey-zawn, lee-uh-zon, -zuhn or, often, ley-; lee-ey-zuhn, -zon; Fr. lye-zawn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -sons /-ˈzɔ̃z, -ˌzɒnz, -zənz, -zɒnz; Fr. -ˈzɔ̃/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[-zawnz, -zonz, -zuhnz, -zonz; Fr. -zawn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation.
1.
the contact or connection maintained by communications between units of the armed forces or of any other organization in order to ensure concerted action, cooperation, etc.
2.
a person who initiates and maintains such a contact or connection.

I was originally only going to use these first 2 definitions, but I think the third gets more to the point I'm making or the answer I'm clumsily eluding.

3.
an illicit sexual relationship. (Mom, sorry, but it's in the dictionary.) Here's the thing. See the grass is eternally always gruener an der anderen Seite. We, as humans, insist on seeing the other bipeds in the greatest light, and we leave ourselves in the light left over behind the steam on a mirror - trying to be clever - you know like you can barely see yourself behind the steam - okay never mind.

When you use a word like "liaison", it does envoke this kind of romantic(philosophically speaking), french film or something european. Actually, I like the word in german much better - Verbindung. This is their own word, and not a borrowed french word. For us, I think most of the readers are american, although I know there's a couple germans - please accept my apologies, using a french word is so intangible, and vague - ja? Well the same website, under encyclopedia, said, Liaison job, a job that links two or more specialties. I think this better describes what I do.

I am the communicator, binding (Verbindung) between a global computer programing team, and all of the functional leaders in a large global firm. I would say more like a consultant. These functional leaders happen to be all over europe, so I have to travel, and train them, and communicate change. I really can't go into much detail here. So, sorry, to remain vague.

No, but actually in my job the liaison is more like the "whipping boy" - lol:] No, jk, I feel very blessed to have this opportunity. Basically, God and his son Jesus are the only reason someone like me ended up here. Ein Suender und Alkoholiker. Oh yeah so the pics above. I had to sneak a camera in to take those( in the words of Jim Carrey "breaking the law"), but that's the gate I go through everyday in Ruesselsheim Germany( I know it looks like a prison), and my building (the oldest in our company), and the walkway I go across twice a day. I know it's ugly, but I guess it's not the look of the building that counts - or at least I hope so - LOL!! Sorry for the long entry. I'll leave you with a verse that stood out for me this week. Hebrews 2:1-3, or auf deutsch, Hebraeer 2,1-3:

1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

1 [a]Deshalb müssen wir umso mehr auf das achten, was wir gehört haben. Sonst verfehlen wir noch das Ziel! 2 [b]Denn schon das Gesetz, das die Engel Mose überbrachten, war für alle verbindlich; und jeder, der diese Gebote Gottes übertrat, erhielt seine gerechte Strafe. 3 [c]Wie viel weniger werden wir der Strafe entkommen, wenn wir Gottes unvergleichliches Rettungsangebot ausschlagen! Jesus Christus selbst hat es zuerst bekannt gemacht, und es wurde uns von Zeugen bestätigt, die unseren Herrn mit eigenen Ohren gehört haben. 4 [d]Darüber hinaus hat Gott diese Botschaft beglaubigt durch Zeichen und Wunder, durch seine machtvollen Taten und durch die Gaben des Heiligen Geistes, die er nach seinem Willen austeilt.

I like it because it encourages us to remember how great the our salvation is in Jesus and not to forget how TRUE it is. We must never forget because if we forget we drift away. And in verse 3, this was the salvation that was first announced by our Lord and confirmed by those who heard him. For me, it just kind of brings together the importance of spiritual disciplines: reading the Bible (the witness from these witnesses), going to church etc. Also in the german version you see the word "Verbindung" - das die Engel Mose überbrachten, war für alle verbindlich. Well thanks for letting me ramble. God bless you all! Lob Gott! Praise God!

Dein Bruder und Sohn

Viele Segenswünsche

"Many Blessings"-
To the right is a picture of the magnolia tree right outside my terrace in Mainz that bloomed Saturday morning. This is my favorite tree, and I felt like God placed that tree there for me. God speaks to me often through signs and things I see throughout my days. It has been a beautiful weekend here in Germany. Spring really comes quite early here. The temperature is in the 40s now. I mainly rested this weekend because last week was my European whirlwind tour. Tuesday night I flew to London for a training in Luton, England (not so beautiful of a city), this was with the car company Vauxhall. Then we flew to Sweden Wednesday night and returned Friday evening about 11pm. So it was a tiring week. I did get to see a little of Trollhaetten, Sweden, though. It is a nice peaceful little town. Myself, my colleague Angela, and two of my bosses had a nice gourmet dinner at a restaurant on a river in Trollhaetten. It was delicious! It feels good to be back where I'm calling "home" away from home - Mainz. It has been sunny everyday this weekend. I'm so thankful for that. All in all a very successful week for work though. I've started using my time on the planes during take-off as a time to pray for everyone I know and love. Please send me your prayer requests. I can't tell you how close it makes me feel to all of you, when I lift you up in prayer. On one of the planes last week - I can't remember which one, they all fly together - I was praying and really felt the Lord's presence. And I noticed that the Indian lady next to me - who was sleeping and I had the sense that she had some illness - kept gravitating closer to me. It was like she felt the Lord's presence as well. At one point she actually accidentally laid on my shoulder (while I was praying) and then realized it and moved back. Being here, has really made me realize the importance of leaning into God. We have to make a conscious decision daily, at the cross-section of each decision, to choose God, and to choose life, which is Christ. In Christ is freedom! There are always many temptations to choose "bondage wrapped in freedom paper". When you're in a foreign land it's easy to forget wisdom. But the truth is, that true wisdom is the same at home and abroad. And the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. May the Lord speak to you this week, "in mazes, and colors, and dismays and rainbows, and flight and fall, and despairs and big seas of [your] dreams" - 'Under Milkwood' Dylan Thomas.

Tschuess,
Josh

Kastelln und Gute Begleitung

This is also quite late. I went to a castle in St. Goar, which is about 1 hour north of Mainz, on the same river, the Rhein. This castle was huge! The view of the village below was breathtaking. The Dueiks are the family of one of pastors here at EnChristo, Eddy. His wife is Laura, and they have two sons, Tailor - 3 and Elliot - around 10months. I was invited by Eddy to join his family and their friend (shoot forgot her name, you see you have to write these things right away). Anyway I also invited my co-worker Angela. I'm so thankful for the Dueiks, they have been so heaven sent. Eddy's wife Laura is originally from the states, and they love Jesus so much. There son Tailor is so cute and speaks very well in both german and english. He's kinda funny too. The picture of us walking over the bridge, with me holding him; I had just asked him, after holding him for like 20 minutes, "Tailor do you want me to let you walk now?" To which he replied in an innocent and thoughtful manner, "no".

Elvis in Deutschland

Well if a picture's worth a 1000 words here's like 7000 for ya. This blog is a little late. This was during "Carnival" or Marty Graw in Mainz. It was crazy, but it didn't have the fear factor of mob scenes in the US. Everyone was having a good time, but we didn't run into any of the party poopers you usually get, and I didn't see one fight. I did the best I could to dress like Elvis, but all I had was some hair gel and my Elvis Glasses. I went around with Taejune and Angela - two korean co-workers of mine here in Germany. It's amazing the freedom God has given me from drinking. The fact that I could be there and not feel like drinking is still pretty surreal for me. I sang a couple songs in the streets of Mainz for a few interested people. I think, if I'm still here next year, I'll do it up big!! Maybe even line up a gig at pub or something. Tschau fuer nau.