My story so far.

Hello again!

So the past few weeks have been full of hanging out with new friends I've met at my latest language school, GLS (German Language School), helping with the chilluns, and applying for my second time to college for next year.  Fun!

I finished my 1 month long course at GLS on Friday and will start back at my old one, Goethe Institut, after the new year.  So now I have about a month of free time to fill up with a little travel, helping more around the house and seeing what else Europe has for me.

A couple days ago I was talking about how I wanted to get involved in some sort of volunteering or ministry here, especially since I'm off until January.  But my sister said something really cool that reminded me to enjoy my time here.  She said to not focus on doing, doing, doing stuff.  That we tend to think that if we're not doing, doing, doing then we're not successful and that our lives are boring.  She said that we need to remember to enjoy life.  Enjoy family and every day and not to focus on getting involved in activity after activity, but to be happy with the things that are in our lives now.  I just thought that was really cool.

Living with my big sister in a foreign country, where she's totally in her element and obviously happy and thriving, has really opened my eyes.  She totally fits into this international, multilingual, incredible city of Berlin, and anyone can see that.  Family and friends might miss her and the kids really badly (I know I did for two years), but now that I've seen their settled lives here and how well they're doing, I now see why this is the place for them.

One of the many things I've learned here is that while we may be upset at people's decisions because it doesn't make us happy or makes us sad, we still need to support them.  We need to remember that, especially if they're family, if it's important to them and it makes them happy, then by all means be there for them and join them in their happiness.

I, myself, have learned a good bit of German in the five months (already?!) I've been here.  I know WAY more than I knew when I flew in on July 1st, and I think that's really cool.  I've met tons of really great people, had so many laughs and interesting talks with my sister, enjoyed helping get the kids from school and babysitting them, and experiencing how people live on this side of the Atlantic.

Over the past few months randomly when I'm on the Tram or walking down the street, I just think how different my life is now from a year ago.  A year ago I was a typical senior in high school.  I went to school, made good grades, was involved with my youth group and church and planned on attending college in the fall.

Then, along came February and a slight change in events and what do you know?  My life for the fall of '12-'13  was going to be spent in Berlin, Germany.  I wouldn't be a freshman in college like most of the 18-year-olds in the US, but I would be learning a whole other language and getting used to life in Europe.

This year off/abroad has already opened my eyes in so many areas.  Berlin is not at all like the Bible Belt southeastern US.  People don't greet you with a smile wherever you go and if they don't like you, they don't hide it.  You hear Italian, Spanish, Russian, French and many other languages spoken daily, not just German.  You encounter not the friendliest of people on a normal basis.  It is, as a whole, very different from the good ole South. 

I have had an absolute blast so far and can't wait to see what the next chapter of my story holds :)

Queen.

I realize that this is my second consecutive blog post commemorating someone, which can be perceived as sad and depressing, but I don't care because Jordan Queen is worth remembering and honoring.  November 9th, 2011 was a day that shook the community of Gordon Lee and Chickamauga, GA forever.  When I got the phone call that Queen had suddenly passed away in a car accident, I didn't know what to do.  I went straight to Oakwood Baptist, where most of the community had gone to pray and be with one another.  Everyone had the same look on their faces as if a part of them had forever been taken away.

It was not easy seeing friends and acquaintances with constant tears rolling down their eyes, but I soon joined them.  The next day, we all wore black to honor Jordan at the school.  Everyone gradually went to his parking spot and just stood there.  Crying, hugging one another, not really knowing what to do.  I found myself comforting others and being comforted by people with whom I hardly ever made eye contact with on the way to class.

As with my uncle, whenever Jordan comes to mind, which is very often, the pain is still very fresh.  Whenever I think about him, it's as if I'm finding out for the first time that he's not wrestling anymore, or goofing off with his friends during break.  It still doesn't seem real, but nonetheless we have to honor him and give our all at everything we do because that's what he did every day.

Everyone that knew Queen loved him and wanted to be around him all the time.  He was always singing random songs in weight training (with Harlley), and I often played four square with them during that class.  He always put so much spin on the ball that by the time it bounced in my square and my attention span caught up to what was happening, it had bounced to the other side of the gym!  I never really hung out with him very often, but the times I did, he was great company.  He told me randomly a few days before his birthday at school in the commons that his birthday was November 5.  He was wearing that goofy smile that he always had and I remember just smiling and saying, "haha.  Ok, Queen!"

Yeah, it sucks that he isn't graduating from GL this year and that we don't see him daily as we did before, but what's most important is that we know where he is.  And we all know that he wants us to give our all in everything we do, and to always be positive because he always did those two things.  And what better way to honor him than to be happy and live your life, just like he did?