I spent the rest of that day with Jesus, having a long discussion about missions trips and Czech Republic vs Romania. I talked with some friends. I talked with my parents. I came to the conclusion that God wanted me to go back to Czech Republic. Romania had just been the gateway to prepare my heart to accept the idea of another mission trip.
I didn't know how or when and nothing about it made sense, but I was certain that God was moving and telling me to go. There was so much unknown and so much that I should have been worried and stressed about, but I felt oddly at peace.
"Normally I would be so anxious and worried about something like this...nothing about this makes sense."
"Maybe you're content because you're right in the middle of God's will." suggested my friend Sarah.
We continued to talk about it, and she mentioned wanting to come with me. I was excited for whatever would happen next.
{Late July 2016}
I sat in the diner, waiting for my friends. I should have known not to leave so early- they are chronically late. I scrolled my phone, sipping my water. Finally, Sarah showed up. "Sorry I'm late!" and naturally, a funny story followed about *why* she was late. Always a story with that one.
She ordered her drink and we said we'd hold off ordering until the third person in our group arrived.
"How was your trip?" Sarah had just returned from a weeklong mission trip in Honduras, and I couldn't wait to hear about it.
"It was amazing. SO amazing. I'll tell you all about it once Veronica gets here. But I really feel like God wants me to be more involved with missions, like going on a mission trips every 6 months."
"Oh wow! That's so cool! So do you want to go to Honduras next year?"
"Yes, for sure! And I don't know if I should tell you this or wait for a better opportunity but I want to go to Czech Republic with you in December." She looked at me expectantly.
"Ah...what? I mean, yeah I want to go back to Czech Republic but I don't know about December! That's so soon..."
"I know, but I just feel like God told me we should go in December."
"Start praying for an actual opportunity to do something there and for plane ticket money and sure!"
I wasn't being sarcastic, but I wasn't being 100% serious either. I figured we'd be travelling next summer. It made much more sense, both logistically and financially.
{the rest of summer 2016}
I continue to ask God about the details of this trip, and all I hear is wait. Wait. Wait.
Meanwhile, I was completely over 100*+ heat deep in the heart of Texas and was ready for a break, both from the heat and from my monotonous daily life of school and work. I message my oldest cousin and ask if I could come visit him for a few days. I had yet to meet his wife, and thought a long weekend to the Pacific Northwest would be just what I needed. He ecstatically told me I was welcome to come and stay with them for as long as I wanted to. I booked a plane ticket for about a month out, in early fall. (Nobody ever said I was spontaneous- I need approximately three business days to process requests to drive more than 20 minutes from my house, let alone fly across the country by myself.)
{August 2016}
After praying one day, I felt lead to message a friend about opportunities to serve in Czech Republic. I had met Pavlina and her husband Ondra at one of the camps last year. She is a teacher at a private school in a small town in Czech Republic, and she is one of the few people I kept in contact with semi-regularly after the camps. A few weeks earlier I had messaged another friend in CZ, Aysa, but she did not know of any opportunities to serve in English camps.
"Hey Pavlina! I have a question for you :) I'm thinking about maybe coming back to Czech Republic next year...do you know of any English camps in December or next summer?"
"Hi, I am not sure, but if you want! In our school last year there was one American girl from Wisconsin [who came for] three months so if you want....you can help in our school and teach English! :)"
Well this would be interesting. I had just assumed that we would serve in an English camp like we had last time. I grilled her for details.
She told me that December would probably work best, but we could potentially make June work as well.
I was floored. December would be better? I think this was more than a coincidence. She told me that she would have to double check with her principal, but she had a good feeling about it. I talked it over with my parents and Sarah and we all agreed it was a cool opportunity but we'd have to wait and see what the principal said and when the school's Christmas break was- after all, it wouldn't do us any good to be there while they were on break. We had narrow window to squeeze this trip in between finals week and Christmas.
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