First Farewell

The time has come for me to return home. I do not know how I feel about it all. I miss my family and friends, but this experience has given me a whole new set. I have visited the places I had only read about in my books.. from Florence's David, Italy's Cinque Terre, Paris's Eiffel Tower and Louvre, London's Big Ben, Athen's Acropolis, and the Netherlands to see Corrie Ten Boom and Anne Frank's house.. to name a few. I have been to 7 countries, attempted to speak 5 languages, and stood in two places at one time. I have climbed up churches, towers, mountains, and windmills. I have walked where the Apostle Paul, James Bond, literary artists, famous sculptors and painters, Romans and Greeks.. have walked. I have gone on eleven different flights, been thrown up next to while in transit... twice, slept in a small euro van with seven people (in the drivers seat which I did not know how to lean back), and seen a tram/bike/car accident. I have hiked and bungee jumped over a lake in the Swiss Alps, crashed a German wedding, driven across France, explored an ice castle, cliff dived, rode quads across an island, biked all over Europe, and mastered public transportation. I have ridden metro's in the heat of summer, forgotten to ask bus drivers to stop, and gotten lost on the trams. I have worn all my clothing in an airport, dragged my luggage across many different cities.. including some that only offered stairs, had a bus follow me with everyone pointing me where to go, attempted to get directions from people who spoke no English all the while accidentally having my shirt unbuttoned, had my computer break down and consequently now have a new computer with a French keyboard, and had my first experience of being pick pocketed. I swam in Lake Geneva, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. I have eaten more cheese, bread, and chocolate than any person should eat in a lifetime. I learned about numerous cultures and became friends with so many different types of people. I visited old friends and lived with new ones.

I was able to speak and debate with people in international organizations. I was able to be taught by some amazing professors. I was loved and accepted. I was challenged. In the words of my Professor Leo, "the past 30 days in Geneva consider you endured 27 eighty-minute lectures; 13 two-hour international agency visits (sometimes longer); 4 mission visits (twice to the U.S. Mission); 5 tours; 3 days and two nights in Jungfrau; a day-visit to CERN, a meeting at the Geneva City Hall;and 7 hours of crisis group presentations. This of course does not include the time you spent doing the class readings; time in the libraries, one-on-one appointments with agency officials; visits to waste energy plants; preparing the crisis groups, special sessions you organized and riding public transit to and from meetings." I think that sums up Geneva.

I learned about and worked with people that are suffering. I will never forget the things I saw in Greece. I know what true bondage looks like. I have seen the destruction of hope reflected in a precious person's eyes. This memory has been burned into my mind forever.  I have found my passions. I saw and felt pain that cannot be described. I felt joy and peace that surpasses comprehension. I fell in love with traveling . I found who I was in so many ways that are too personal to write. Is it possible to grow up in a matter of two months? I will never again be the same.

More then ever I believe that the most important thing next to loving God in life is loving people. I think this is God's heart. He is a lover of life.. He is a lover of people. I want to do that my whole life. I want to never be inhibited by fear or held back by doubts. I want to live a vibrant and abundant life. I want to stumble and fall...  I want to be lost and then found. I think a beautiful life is an imperfect life... who can see God through man's "perfection" anyways?  I want to live a life that glorifies the Lord even in my mistakes and weaknesses. Hope. I want to bring hope and joy to every person I meet. My heart overflows with all these wants and desires. This is one of my favorite quotes..

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

I am so blessed by my parents and everyone who helped me get here. Thank you. I could go on and on.. No doubt I will probably write another part to my goodbye to Europe when I get home and have more time to reflect... but for now.. this is my goodbye.