As I have been getting ready for my trip Monday, and giving
myself the aforementioned pep-talks on a daily basis, I was thinking about
another overseas adventure I had some years ago, when I was much younger. When I was at Warburg Seminary, I spent the
academic year of 1994/1995 studying overseas in Germany. There was an exchange program with the
Augustana Hochschule in Neuendettelsau, and so I just needed to get myself
there—tuition, books, and room and board would be paid for the whole year. I didn’t speak a word of German, I had never
been overseas like this by myself before [this was before the practice of
spending a semester abroad in college was as common as it is now], and a year
was a long time! But, I knew I wanted to
go, and so I did it.
I packed a big backpack and two smaller duffle bags, and
flew off to Frankfurt, carrying everything I would need for a year. I made my way from the airport to the train
station, stored my two bigger bags in a train station locker, and walked to the
hostel where I would stay for a few days while I explored the city. Keep in mind, this was pre-computer [I wonder
now how I even found the hostel—how did we find things before “Google”?],
pre-mapquest & GPS [I was old-school, baby, just a map and common sense], and
pre-cell phone [at the Hochschule, I lived in a dorm with just one phone down
the hall for all of us. I wrote lots of
letters—still do!]. I did just fine, and
even made it down to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where I took a Goethe-Institut
intensive course for 5 weeks. It was the
start of what was one of the best years of my life.
So, I am reminding myself that I still am that Kristin: that person who saw that great opportunity,
embraced the whole experience, and enjoyed every minute of it. That’s the beauty of facing challenges the
first time; when the situation arises again, you know you have already done it
once, and so you know you have it in you to do it again. And, I keep reminding myself of what a great
opportunity this trip really is: I don’t want to be one of those people who
forgets to be thankful for good gifts!
I had a great conversation this morning with someone else
who is really blessed, and we were reminding each other of how we have worked hard
to get to the great place we are in, and how it is important [though sometimes
hard!] to trust God, and keep walking into this great future God has prepared
for us—and for which we ourselves have prepared. In other words, we ARE ready! Bring it on! I keep thinking of that great prayer in ELW by Julian of Norwich: “…Teach us to believe that by your grace all
shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” It all may not work out exactly as I imagine
or even hope, but, indeed, by God’s grace, all will be well.