US Trip: High/Low Time!!

In college, my roommates and I would incessantly play the game High/Low. It’s incredibly simple really. All you do is select your best and worst moment(s) from the past month, week, day, hour, or any other time period you feel like. So often in life we just live and keep on living without ever reviewing what we’ve lived through. When we don’t stop we miss out on valuable lessons, themes, blessings, etc. that God may be trying to communicate to us. This activity is a way to stop and reflect. Of course journaling is another way to do this, which I also highly encourage you to do, but High/Low involves others, which is always more fun. So, here is my US trip in High/Low form:

HIGHS:
1) Family Time – My family pretty much rocks. I mean, yeah, we totally have our dysfunctions, but what family doesn’t? And whether I was bumming around the house with my parents, crying on the couch with Liz, or singing to ridiculous songs with Will and Sarah – it was so great for my soul to just be with them all.

2) Saturday, Nov 22nd – This day involved a lot of my favorite people: Steph, Mere, Christian, Addy, Katie… I love each of them a lot and this day was both super fun for me and spiritually refreshing. I constantly feel blessed with the depth of friendships that the Lord provided for me in college.


3) Corporate Worship in English – Singing worship songs in my native tongue rarely happensanymore, so I was soaking up each opportunity I had.

4) Driving – I never drive in Slovakia, so it felt great to be able to go and hop in the car whenever I wanted to go somewhere. Thanks SO much to my gracious parents for allowing me to use one of their cars for 3 weeks!

5) Breakfast with Susan – Susan and I have known each other since we were six. Seriously. We were out of touch for quite a while, but God brought us closer together after graduating from high school. Since then we’ve been through some crazy intense stuff, which has really tied us together for life. I adore my friendship with her, and it was a gift to be able to sit in on her couch in our pajamas, eat oatmeal, and pour our hearts out.

6) FOOD – Sushi, Indian, Mexican… oh, the list goes on!

7) Starbucks in ATL – One evening while I was in Atlanta, I went to Starbucks with my friends Margaret, Steph and Brett. And I honestly think this is the first time we had all been together since maybe late 2005. We had a ton of fun just reminiscing about funny stories from college, as well as talking about some of the things God had recently been teaching us.

8) The Clash of my Worlds – It was a joy for me to have my family get to know my Slovak team. I now feel a little less like I’m living two separate lives.

9) Asheville – Maruska and I traveled up to see my friend Elisabeth there, and it was so great to see her. I would have been severely upset if I had been home and hadn’t! It was also super fun to see Maruska enjoy the city, considering she’s a lover of all things art, like myself. And, before leaving we got to drive through the Biltmore grounds, thanks to Liz being an employee there!

10) Publix – I know, this may seem ridiculous, but grocery stores just aren’t the same in Europe! The last time I was in the States I cried the first time I stepped into one. Literally. And poor Will was with me and had no idea what to do. It was just so spacious and clean, and I could find just about anything I wanted there… so different from what I have become accustomed to here. I mean, come on, they have SUSHI people!! I desperately wanted to take one (yes, a whole Publix) back with me to Bratislava. This time around I didn’t let the huge differences get to me and just enjoyed the perks!

11) Danielsville with the Halls - My aunt Marla and her family live about an hour outside of Atlanta in the town of Danielsville. It's basically in the middle of nowhere and that's EXACTLY what Maruska and I needed after being in Atlanta for a week. It was such a needed escape for us to be able to just walk around their property, and then to come back to a home cooked meal of southern fried chicken! It was glorious. Here's a picture of what we were surrounded by:




LOWS:
1) Jet Lag – Wow. I continue to misjudge just how horrible I can be when I’m jet lagged. I need to send a blanket “sorry!” to my Slovakia teammates.

2) Overindulgence – I hate how overindulgent I become when I’m home! I think, “Oh, I’m never here, so it doesn’t matter!” But then after 2 weeks my body regrets it big time.

3) Losing My Voice – The last week of my time in the States, my one week at home, I conveniently got sick. And, to add to the lameness of being sick, I lost my voice for the first time ever! So for my last 2 days home I could only speak in a glorified whisper.

4) Atlanta – Although many people I love live there, I really dislike how freaking huge and spread out Atlanta is. Why is this necessary? And if it has to be this way, can’t they figure out how to make a better public transportation system than the marta?

5) Not Enough Time – This time around was such a tease. I hardly got to see everyone I wanted to, and definitely didn’t get enough time with the people I did see. Hopefully next time will prove better in this area.

6) FREEZING Weather – Um, who told Columbia to get so freaking cold in November?!? I get that enough here!! At least it was still sunny…


I could totally go on with my highs, but thankfully these are about the only lows I can think of at the moment! So, there you have it. An overview of my US trip High/Low style... Now go grab a friend and do some High/Lowing for yourself!!