Friday, September 7, 2007

My First Visitor...

One of the many reasons I have not posted anything in these past few weeks is due to a visit from my friend Steph. Steph and I have been friends since my freshman year at USC, and lived together our junior and senior years with a few other amazing women. Needless to say, she is one of my closest and dearest friends, and I was thrilled to have her visit.

Another reason I was so excited to have her visit was that I was ready for my two worlds to collide. Over the past couple years, and even more so in the past 6 months, I have come to feel like I live 2 different lives. There is my American life and my Slovak life. And it is so difficult to describe in words to people from home what my Slovak life is like. So, unfortunately, more often than not, I don't even try. But with Steph coming, I was going to be able to let someone experience it with me, and that was something that I was really looking forward to.

Steph came to Slovakia after spending 6 weeks in Africa with Young Life. (NOTE: When she arrived at the airport in Vienna, we recreated the cliché airport scene from any classic cheesy movie. I was running late, so I rushed into the waiting area searching for her. I hear her call my name, run up to her, and we collapse in each other's arms crying. Yep. We were totally those girls. I'm getting more embarrassed as I write this. Moving on.) Over the next 10 days we did some fun traveling, a little shopping, and enjoyed some really great meals. However, all of it paled in comparison to the endless conversations we had about what our lives should look like as Christians, how to live a simpler life, and what it means to be fully surrendered to God. Steph had learned and experienced so much during her time in Africa and I was blessed to be able to debrief that time with her. If nothing else comes from her trip, she should at least know that I am changed for the better.

Here is a pic of Steph and I pretending to be normal:


This is more like it:


And here is a retro pic for kicks… We were attending an “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.” So, no. That’s not how we normally dressed in college. Come on people, you should know better.

1 comment:

JandK Walters said...

hey this is katie jess's sis and I want to hear more about all you guys are learning.. I cant wait to read more blogs and I would love to hear more about your Sk life!