Dear Future Goer,
Hi, my name is Marissa and something you should know about me is that I am very "Type A." If there are rules, I follow them. If I'm told to get somewhere at a specific time, I get there five mintues early. I like to have a place for everything and everything in its place. This way of thinking has even extended to how I treat God. You see, I like putting God in a box. I went to a bible college, so I know, putting God in a box is silly, ridiculous even. But I'm human. So, that's where I put Him. Thankfully, God is not one to be limited. He very much enjoys showing us how limitless He is. That's how I ended up serving as an English teacher in Prague for two years. I thought sending me half way across the world, away from my family and everything I knew, was the way God was going to show me how big He is. And it was. But each time I thought God was done, He swooped in to show me yet again how I could not put Him in that silly box.
My biggest piece of advice to you would be, allow God to be bigger than the box you want to put Him in. Over the next couple years (and really, throughout your life) there will be countless moments of frustration, sadness, and joy. One of the beautiful realities of moving to a new country is that you will reach the end of yourself every single day. Serving abroad will make your limitations abudantly clear. You will have moments where a simple task, like communicating with a cashier at a grocery store, seems like an insurmountable mountain. In these moments embrace your limits, don't run from them. Rejoice and revel in the fact that you are serving an infinite, almightly God. He can take those moments, the ones that feel so much like defeat, and turn them in to victories. In this way the box, the silly one that you put God in, will grow bigger and bigger. Until, one day, you'll be back in the States wondering how you ever thought He could fit into such a tiny space.
So, embrace your limits, rejoice in the little things, and don't forget to eat good food!
Blessings,
Marissa