A Letter to Future Goers
Dear future Goer, I’ve been thinking for a long time now about what I want to tell you. There's so much to say about serving in another country, building deep friendships, overcoming obstacles, and growing closer to God. The thing that keeps popping out to me though is the amount of change one can experience in two years and how in your early to mid-twenties, you are in an extremely volatile state and ripe for letting God completely transform your life. When I made the decision that I wanted to move to Germany and serve in anti-trafficking ministries, I knew I was going to learn a… Read more >>
God's Tools for Teaching
Often, I am unaware of just how much God is doing in my life and how much He is present (I know He is always with me, but I’m talking making Himself visibly seen). In the last several months God has been opening my eyes to realities about myself that I’ve never wanted to deal with before. He’s been putting them directly in front of me and saying, “It’s time, we’re going to deal with this now.” At the start of this journey, I was scared, often I still am. It’s not a fun process to look into your life and take note of the ways you’re broken or have made mistakes. However, it’s with awareness… Read more >>
Get Over Yourself
One of the things I’ve learned since being in Germany is the need to get over myself. Here, I am not able to uphold a standard of perfection to which I tend to call myself, because it’s just not possible in another culture and in another language. I’ve become very use to the feeling of putting myself out there and falling flat on my face. (Now that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s what it often feels like to me.) I regularly feel like I’m extremely awkward when I’m in a group of Germans. And not just my normal level of awkward, but my awkwardness times 10. And when I was back in… Read more >>
Thanksgiving in Germany
Thanksgiving abroad has become one of my favorite traditions! Last year and this year were both so special and it has become one of my favorite memories. After spending so much time and energy learning German culture, it’s nice to spend a day introducing people to an aspect of American culture. This year I was able to celebrate twice, once with my small group from church (all Germans) and once with my friends and “family” here in Berlin. My small group had such a fun time experiencing the food and we took time to all talk about what we’re thankful for and what we’re thankful for in the other… Read more >>