Eurotrip 2017: An Icy Welcome

I MADE IT TO EUROPE YA'LL.  But seriously. Realizing I haven't properly been here since 2009 and I'd forgotten how much I love it. Okay, now on to what I've actually done.

Day 1: Iceland

After what I will say was a fairly arduous (though I've had worse) day of travel I made it to the cold, dark , icy insanity that is Iceland. Since we got there around 6am I wasn't able to do a whole lot. But I did get a chance to wander the empty streets until shops opened which was family magical. Given that it was around 19* outside, and I'd been wandering for about 1.5 hours, I JUMPED at the chance to sit and have a hot cup of tea in a small shop overlooking a town square and chat with a friendly Venezuelan woman who'd married a Swede and ended up in Iceland after 10 years in DC. And then,(because I'm apparently so much fun to talk to) they gave me another free cup of tea as I left to hold me over until I got to the Blue Lagoon! HOORAY ICELAND!

After a VERY long bus ride due to a 2 way road and a bad accident a few kilometers ahead of us--we made it to the Blue Lagoon. It's natural hot spring about 20 minutes away from the airport, and yes, it's hella touristy. But, after freezing all day, and a long day of travel before with close to no sleep---the hot springs was a BRILLIANT break. After braving the 1 minute it takes to walk between the building and the water,  just soaked it up. With the exception of my ears feeling like they were going to fall off due to the wind whipping over the water, it was so incredible. I think everyone should be able to jump into a natural spa right after a plane ride. Magical. 

NOTE: The sun was only up from like 10:30 am til 4pm, so I made it the airport just before dark again, but sadly no northern lights (unless we're counting the fake ones they had in the Icelandair planes)

After hopping back in he plane, I headed off to London. While it was a fairly quick flight, due to baggage problems, and traffic, I wasn't able to meet my friend Miia for dinner until about 9pm. Let it be known that up to this point I had a total of 3 hours of sleep in around 30 hours, and only eaten one muffin, a banana, and orange and some gummies (priorities, people). So I have never been so excited to eat in my life.

I'll add pics when I get a chance---but for now. There's an update. You're welcome.

New Year, New Adventure

Well everyone, here we are again; on the edge of adventure. Beginning the new year with a silent plea for the grand by diving headfirst into the past made present.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be off again. To explore, to be cold and giggling like a child experiencing the first snow of the year. To wander streets I've never seen in cities where everyone speaks a language I can't understand. To feel utterly alone and yet know that I am not. After a year where I have often questioned what God is calling me to do--I am excited for this chance for a freezing fresh start.

In the past few days I have been thinking a lot about what it means to look at our problems through God as opposed to seeing God through our problems. And as I consider this upcoming adventure I am reminded of what I know will come. The feelings of possibility, of fresh chances, and most encouragingly, renewed mindsets. I am eager to once again come face to face with the reality that I can do anything, and that truly, the only thing holding me back is whether or not I believe that. And so I pray that as I land on foreign ground, that I am able to step back from the worries and frustrations I have of my future. That I see them through the new eyes. That I would be reminded that I serve a God of possibility. A God who calms storms but also a God who calls us both to them and through them. A God who can do IMMEASURABLY more than I can ever imagine.

This trip will be a whirlwind of the most glorious kind. Full of old friends, new places, strange foods, lovely languages, and the snowy quiet of Europe in Winter. Along the way I'll be seeing friends I met in Oz, Thailand, NZ and Germany. All of whom I've never seen in their "real" lives and some of which I haven't seen in almost 10 years.  I am SO pumped for every piece of this trip; but, getting to see people I haven't seen in ages to reminisce on the old while simultaneously taking in the new is utter perfection. And as I sit in my own state of general uncertainty, I am eager to experience the joys of life that come with communing with old friends in their present moments. The reminder that life marches forward and moving with it doesn't mean I'm leaving everything behind.

I will be off to Europe for about 3 weeks. Roughly here's what we're looking at:

US > Reykjavik >London
London >Ghent/Bruges/Brussels
Brussels >Maastricht/Amsterdam
Amsterdam >Prague
Prague > Vienna
Vienna > Munich
Munich > London
London > US


So I will attempt to update as I can, but may end up doing a little post-adventure blogging upon my return depending on time/computer access. Until then--

I don't know what this coming year holds. I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be doing. And yet I know that I have been granted passions for a reason. That God has given us gifts and talents and joys to be used in order to allow His love and glory to shine brighter wherever life may find us. So here's to this new year. To adventures the world over, to laughing with friends and loving people more deeply. To creating community wherever we are and seeing joy in small moments. But more than anything, here's to seeing our fears through the possibility that lies in God's omnipotence.

Love you all dearly! Cheers to this wonderful new year!

"I hereby command you: be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9 

Lessons in Trust.

Woo. It has been....A WEEK (or two, or three). God and I have been talking a lot lately.

I hate being stressed, but let me tell you--I love the conversations God and I have when I am. At the moment, most of my pressure points are future related. Travel, career, passions and worries all wrapped up in a beautiful mess of emotional outcries. So, given that most of those pertain to my general blogging subjects--I figured I'd share some of what I feel like I've been learning lately.

There are two obscure desires that I have had for a long time. I call them obscure primarily because of their specificity, but also because of what they entail:

1. Adopt kids that are in the 15-18 age range right before they get booted out of the system 
2. Find a way to help under-privileged high school students get abroad

I won't go into the details of why or how I'd like to make these things happen, but I will point out two things about these desires:

•  I don't generally like working with kids. Okay, that's an overstatement. I don't think I'm necessarily GOOD at working with kids, especially not teenagers. Nonetheless, for years these two things have been something I've cared deeply about, and I have often wondered why God would give me such a strong desire to help a group of people that I generally avoid like the plague. (sorry every high schooler I've ever worked with who now think I hate them--I don't, I promise!)

• In order to achieve at least one of these goals, I have to get back into the International Edu. industry and work with students. Most of these jobs require/prefer a Master's Degree, some counseling/advising experience, and previous work in a higher education setting. I don't have any of those things.

As I tried to sort out these thoughts I was reminded by a good friend that sometimes God puts us in seemingly impossible situations in order for us to be reminded that HE is in control. When God met Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3-4) he commanded him to go to Pharaoh and tell him let His people go. Moses protested with a variety of excuses which God deflected one after another. My favorite excuse however, was this one:

10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

In the end, God calms Moses down by assuring him that his brother Aaron will be there to speak with and for him. Summary: God wanted Moses to do something, Moses can't/doesn't want to, God makes it happen anyways.

As I reread that recently, I was reminded not only God's faithfulness, but also that in all things I can trust him. Perhaps sometimes God puts desires in our hearts that don't make sense so that we are reminded that He is capable of anything. His strength is made visible when we do things that are seemingly impossible otherwise.

So, I guess that's where I'm at. I have no idea what the future holds or where I'll be next. I don't know who will hire me or when. What I do know is this: God is good all the time. And today when I have an inevitable moment of despair thinking about the impossibility of everything I want out of life I will take a step back. I will remember that I serve a God who is able to do immeasurably (let that sink in) more than I could ever ask or imagine, and I will rest in that.

Ephesians 3:20-21
الحَمْد لله‎‎