I sit here in my room thinking that in exactly 2 weeks I will be back in America with my family. It is amazing to me that my 90 days of student teaching in a foreign land are about to come to an end. I remember before I left I was excited to come, but nervous about the unknown of flying overseas by myself and going to a place where I knew no one. My comfort before I left was that this adventure would only last 90 days, less time then what I would normally be away at college for a semester. However, as I am now looking at the calendar and see that in 13 short days I will be boarding a plane headed back to America, I think "Where did the time go?" These 90 days have flown by. I wish they would have gone slower. I wish I had more than 90 days. I wish I never had to leave. I have enjoyed ever minute of being here. Yes, I am excited to see my family and friends but nothing in me desires to leave. Nothing in me longs for America or the things of that life. The people of this land have made such a lasting impression on me and their faces and smiles will forever be graven in my memory. The relationships I have made with my students and their families will always be with me. I never realized how in 90 short days I could become so attached to a place or group of people. When I left home I cried like a baby in the airport because of the unknown. When I leave here in two weeks, I will be crying like a baby because I have grown to love this place and these people so much that I can't bare the thought of leaving.
This experience has definitely been life changing. Yes, perhaps that sounds very cliche. However, I truly have changed while I have been away and it's been a change only for the better. I look back at who I was over the summer and who I was when I came here and I wonder who that girl was. I have been challenged and drawn closer to my Savior during my time here than ever before. I am constantly amazed at how real He has become to me while I have been away. It amazes me that after "knowing" him for 11 years of my life, for the very first time, I feel like I actually do KNOW Him and have a relationship with Him that is real and all mine. No one else is defining this relationship, it's just me and Him. I have a hunger and desire for Him like I have never had before. I wake up every morning craving to be in His Word, excited to discover a new truth about Him. He has spoken to me. He has encouraged me. I have grown in Him by leaps and bounds. I am taking steps in my life I never thought I would do, but He has given me a peace only He can give. And I know following the path He has laid before is my only option. Yes, it will be a journey based on faith and I know it won't always be easy. But He has proven Himself to me during the last 90 days over and over again. The ways He has for me bring so much joy, happiness and peace, so why wouldn't I follow the way He has laid before me?
As I prepare to leave in just 13 days, my heart will be sad because I do not want to leave these people or this land that I have come to love so dearly. But, my heart will be optimistic of what God is doing and what He continues to do in my life. I will leave with a new relationship with Him. I will leave with a passion to follow wherever He leads. I came here to teach for 90 days, but I am leaving having been taught some great lessons from the Master Teacher. What a blessing these last 90 days have been and how excited I am to see what the future holds!
This experience has definitely been life changing. Yes, perhaps that sounds very cliche. However, I truly have changed while I have been away and it's been a change only for the better. I look back at who I was over the summer and who I was when I came here and I wonder who that girl was. I have been challenged and drawn closer to my Savior during my time here than ever before. I am constantly amazed at how real He has become to me while I have been away. It amazes me that after "knowing" him for 11 years of my life, for the very first time, I feel like I actually do KNOW Him and have a relationship with Him that is real and all mine. No one else is defining this relationship, it's just me and Him. I have a hunger and desire for Him like I have never had before. I wake up every morning craving to be in His Word, excited to discover a new truth about Him. He has spoken to me. He has encouraged me. I have grown in Him by leaps and bounds. I am taking steps in my life I never thought I would do, but He has given me a peace only He can give. And I know following the path He has laid before is my only option. Yes, it will be a journey based on faith and I know it won't always be easy. But He has proven Himself to me during the last 90 days over and over again. The ways He has for me bring so much joy, happiness and peace, so why wouldn't I follow the way He has laid before me?
As I prepare to leave in just 13 days, my heart will be sad because I do not want to leave these people or this land that I have come to love so dearly. But, my heart will be optimistic of what God is doing and what He continues to do in my life. I will leave with a new relationship with Him. I will leave with a passion to follow wherever He leads. I came here to teach for 90 days, but I am leaving having been taught some great lessons from the Master Teacher. What a blessing these last 90 days have been and how excited I am to see what the future holds!
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