"Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring." Proverbs 27:1

Let me tell you about my day. Well actually let me tell you about the last several days so you can understand today.

Everything has been great. I received news at the end of this week that Bryan is coming here for UVA Spring break in a mere 4 weeks and my grandparents will be coming for ten days just a week and a half after him. I still have 6 more weeks of an internship that I love. I went to my first German church service (quaint, super traditional, didn't understand a lot) and I had plans last night to attend an ice hockey game and then watch the superbowl at a friend's house. [sidenote: at the ice hockey game there was someone wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey... Pittsburgh fans are legitimately everywhere.]

Yet, despite all this goodness I was just not feeling great about being here. I am alone often and that was getting to me, especially with two days off looming ahead. The superbowl made me miss Pittsburgh so incredibly much (naturally I stayed up till 4 am to watch it). Skyping into the Octagon's superbowl gathering and seeing dear friends hurt. Not to mention the Packers broke my heart and I haven't been sleeping well... I was just feeling off.

But then I went outside and I was overwhelmed with creation. For the first three weeks here I literally did not see the sun; however, the last three days have been sunny and today it easily reached upper 50s.

I couldn't bear to be in my little apartment alone all day so I decided to go for a run and work off my frustration and loneliness. Amanda and I plan on running the Richmond marathon this Fall (we ran the half in 2009) and it is time to start getting back in shape, plus I wanted to explore some trails nearby. There isn't much to do when you run so I just started praying for all the things I have been missing and before I knew it I was completely overwhelmed by God's amazing goodness to me. Here I was, running through a trail in the Black Forest, in beautiful weather, completely safe, healthy, and alone. I came to a little bridge over a stream and literally just stopped there for five minutes (this wasn't entirely due to God's goodness, I am also extremely out of shape) and was still before the Lord.

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10).

It was beautiful. I almost cried from relief and assurance.

As I mentioned several blog posts ago I have been kicking off my mornings with some Psalms to help me get through the day. Not too long ago I came across Psalm 102:23 "In the course of my life, he broke my strength..." and it is dominating my prayers and life. A very intelligent, Abigail Hull shared some beautiful advice with me in a car ride down to UVA about studying abroad. After sharing my fears with her about not doing a program with other students from UVA or America, and going on my own and being alone, she told me about her experience abroad and said to me that of course I was going to be alone, but it was going to be so beautiful that I wouldn't want to trade it for anything.

She is so incredibly right. Every day here the Lord cuts off my strength and takes my wandering heart back to him. I am not quite sure how people study abroad without God to believe in. I wouldn't change this experience for anything.

Sometimes, I wonder if people read this blog and laugh at me. I mean, here I am in a cultural that is essentially identical to America. it is not like I left western society. I have experienced little to no cultural shock. I have been giving so much in that I have friends here and I get to spend six months in Germany. I get to do something so few others do. What could be possibly hard about this? But this experience has been incredibly eye opening and real. Maybe not to another culture or people, but most definitely to who I am as a person and what I value. It is the exact place I need to be right now as I am growing older and getting ready to make important life decisions. I am extremely grateful for where I am and will continue to thank the Lord for how good he is at loving me.