Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I'm going on an adventuuuuuure, Charlie...

DISCLAIMER: This one's a bit lengthy.

Well, I have some big, gigantic, awesome news. I'M GOING TO GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!! That's right. Deutschland. Home to Bratwurst and weiner schnitzels. I mean, what more can a girl ask for? The best part of it is--I'm going to live there for 5 months. How lucky am I? I've been wanting to go there ever since I took German my freshman year.

So, you may wonder the story behind it. Well, if you look at one of my August posts, you'll see that I started taking German again (hence the German word of the blog). I have been wanting to pick it back up, no matter how useless I thought it might be (I mean, we all know that living in the U.S. means you'd benefit learning Spanish). Well, if you know me, you know I'm not normal. German just calls my name. Anyways, I have really wanted to use this year off to live outside of Mississippi. I knew I would stay here until December (I have my brother's wedding and one of my lifelong best friend's wedding in Nov. and Dec., respectively). After December, anything was possible. I contemplated Colorado more than anything. So, I've been waiting. And waiting.

One day, after talking to my sister about studying abroad in Italy, I began researching Italy. I mean, if Caitlyn goes to Italy, I sure as heck am going, too! When else am I going to have the opportunity to do this? After looking at Italy, I just kept thinking--why Italy? You are learning German and you know where you want to go live in Europe: Germany. So I told my gut feeling--FINE. I'll look into it. Well, I went to the International Mission Board website (the same organization I have been through before) and looked up available positions in Germany. Mind you, I've done this before with no luck. So I clicked search, the whole timing so sure of not finding anything, when BOOM. 2 positions appear, both with dates from January to June. I can't explain what happened at that moment. So many feelings overwhelmed me--excitement, disbelief, eagerness, anxiety, concern, happiness--I just didn't believe it. How amazing is God and his orchestration?

After finding the position, I applied, got recommendation letters sent, and waited. I prayed that this is what God wanted for me and not what I wanted for me. I found out yesterday morning that I have been accepted for the position, and I have been sent a list of attachments explaining the next steps. It's so hard to believe that I will be living away from my family, friends, and country for so long! I ask for your prayers, as I now have to start raising the money to be sent over there. I also need to buckle down and pick up some German! That's all for now! I'm going to be a GERMAN!

German word:
lernen--to learn
(...since that's what I gotta do now!)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

yay! finally a post about germany... i have been waiting! haha... i am so excited for you and so sad you will be away from me for so long at the same time! i know this is a great opportunity though and i'm so proud of you!! looovvveeee you daig!

Spring said...

About time you got the Germany info up here!! SO proud of you, and I can't wait to hear of all of your adventures. Make sure you've done tons of amazing things by, say, early May because if everything goes according to plan... you'll have a familiar visitor! :)

Haley said...

Congratulations, that is going to be such an exciting time for you!