Europe for me has been the unexpected.
When I looked at routes on the Race, I never desired to go to Eastern Europe. I imagined boring, normal day life, and I wanted adventure. So naturally… I scratched it off my list.
However, due to applying late to the race, I didn’t get to choose my route; I was put where there was room, which meant… traveling to Europe.
So here I am with only two weeks left in this continent and I am so pleased God had all these places for me.
Europe has honestly been an oasis. The beauty in all these small countries is breath taking. The mountains, rivers, and vegetation capture my heart. And the adventures are endless. I have felt so much of God’s peace throughout the landscapes and been completely refreshed to keep growing deeper and deeper.
One thing I have loved the most is the bright, red poppies.
Poppies are a flower I didn’t know existed until my friend Sarah introduced them to me and my grandma helped me pick them out of someone’s yard (Yeah… I’m that girl…sorry).
Poppies don’t really grow wild in Missouri and aren’t common. With just a taste of the beauty of poppies, I was not prepared for the endless fields of poppies I would find here in Eastern Europe.
They stand delicately into the air, making their way upward, and blossoming outward for the sun to kiss. They are bold and brilliant, exuberating red. Their middles are dark, their stems hairy, and their petals fragile. They enthrall me and I can’t help but run through the fields and pick them all. One week, I even took the kids from VBS with me daily to go picks “lulas” as they call them here.
Poppies have reminded me to be bold: to shoot upward and blossom outward, to speak clearly and concisely while remaining gentle and kind, and to greet people with refreshment and grace while being strong and independent.
Europe has had one lesson after another to awaken me to God’s goodness and who I am in Him. He has taught me about my identity and my need for Him. He has opened my eyes to the gift and power of grace. He has shown me how faithful He has always been to me. And, He has excited me for all that is to come in this one wild life.
So here I am, rejoicing in the unexpected and soaking in every last beautiful field of red poppies until I head to Nepal.
