God Is Quite The Artist

• Climbed to the top of the Duomo in Florence 
• Ate french fries at the top of Interlaken Swiss Alps 
• Ate a macaroon in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 
• Had a glass of wine at the top of the Shard in London 
• Walked through Olympiapark in Munich 
• Went on a gondola ride in Venice
• Snowboarded in Mont Blanc 
• Went on the Sound of Music Tour in Austria 
• Saw Milan Fashion Week 
• Stayed on a boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 
• Played with elephants in Thailand 
• And ran an overall total of 520 miles 

These are just a few of the things I was able to experience during my last couple of months away from home. I cannot put into words how grateful and full my heart is. It has been an extremely trying and monumental time in my life, and while all of these things make it sound like a dream, there were days where I questioned my being there on numerous occasions. Days, even a few weeks, filled with loneliness, discomfort, and confusion. I felt discouraged by the language barrier, and at times felt like I was constantly walking on eggshells. I lost a good friend of mine while overseas and wasn’t able to make it to the funeral. There were days where I told myself, “you just have to make it through this and then…”. I surprisingly had to make a lot of sacrifices, and no one ever fully understands what that means or looks like until you move and live away from home yourself. There's a lot of messiness involved, a lot of mistakes and things you have to confront. It was a journey. But I absolutely loved every second of it.

The last three months of traveling I can honestly say I don’t think I ever felt healthier in my entire life. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, the last 7 months have truly awakened me to so much about life and about myself that I'm so proud of. It has made me appreciative of other cultures, not only seeing how they do things but understanding why and accepting them for it. I’ve learned to better put others before myself, and to not feel so deserving or highly when in comparison to others. I’ve allowed myself to let go of painful mistakes and situations in my past because I’ve come to know there are far more important things that demand my attention. I’ve allowed myself to be comfortable with my own timeline, understanding that I might not be at everyone else’s level and others might not be at mine, but we are all where God wants us to be and that is enough. Most importantly, I have learned to truly, unconditionally, unapologetically, fiercely and freely love every single person God has put into my life or will continue to introduce with an accepting heart. If it’s anything being away from home will teach you, it will teach you about people. How much you love, appreciate and miss the ones you left behind, and how valuable the ones you meet along the way are. People are treasures, and we must always, always treat them as such.

On a train from Milan to Florence, this older Italian man sat down next to me, reached into his bag and pulled out a deck of Uno cards. For 45 minutes we played Uno in complete silence, exchanging nothing but a small laugh or smirk when either of us won.
The family I worked for had a housekeeper who didn’t speak a word of English. She washed and folded all of my clothes, put new sheets on my bed weekly and cooked every single one of my meals. We ate lunch together every single day in a silence that became comfortable, she is someone I will never forget and we never even exchanged one conversation.
In Vietnam, our taxi drivers dropped us off about a mile away from our homestay, and with all our bags we started walking aimlessly uphill not knowing where on earth to go. We ran into these two Vietnamese women who dropped everything they were doing and walked us to our destination. They had never had any schooling and spoke almost perfect English, picked up only from conversing with tourists.
It is our differences that make each of us valuable. It’s what we do and how we treat people with what we don’t have that prove our character. People say, “you don’t know what someone else might be going through”, so treat them with kindness. But it also says a lot about how we treat people when we are going through something tough ourselves. How you treat someone when you yourself are struggling is the ultimate test of character, and quite frankly what distinguishes the strong from the weak. I’ve learned that while traveling, you’re not just off to see the world and the things it has to offer, you’re off to see its people and the LOVE they have to offer. I hope to always carry this fascination I have with life and people with me. I hope to always appreciate and take comfort in the little things and I hope to greet everyone with a smile so accepting they’ll know it came from Jesus.

I’ve been in America for about a month now, and it’s kind of crazy how overwhelming four weeks can be. Surprisingly, it’s not the culture shock, the time change or the fact that I’m unemployed that's been the hardest to adjust to, it’s the headlines, the social media and the news that seems to consume so many people. So much negativity, so many people focused on things that do not matter. I encourage everyone if ever given the opportunity, to get out there and explore the world to discover some of the things that actually do matter. Go find pure joy, say hey to some strangers and get to know their story, visit a place where you're completely disconnected, just direct your attention somewhere that makes you feel genuinely good. You will find that you don't even have to go very far at all, God is quite the artist.
I’ll end with saying it truly is a pleasure to be back home. I have been very, very blessed…and I am thankful my Heavenly Father protected me and accompanied me along the way. Now, if anyone wants to give me a job……my parents would really appreciate it. 😉

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
2019