But- we are all home, after long flights and long layovers, and parents were clearly excited that everyone returned in good shape! My plan to get off the plane FIRST proved to be a great decision! This year's parent group did a GREAT job welcoming the kids home. It turns out that the kids were so sweet to stay seated and let everyone else on the plane leave, since others had connecting flights, etc to catch. Nice too, that they had the space to themselves when they finally saw their parents! (It also let me get them 'checked out' to parents before the chaos of hugs and kisses began!)
Trip Review ~ Because you want to know...
Oh, this was a great one! This was the largest student group that we have taken overseas, but they worked together nicely and the trip seemed to be a positive experience for everyone.
I especially enjoyed that we were able to have a group meeting each night so that we could review the day, get excited about the upcoming activities for the next day, and have some inspiration for our lives. Well, I hope it was inspirational!
Having space for group gatherings is always a challenge in the small B & B hotels where we stay, but the owners were especially amazing this year and helped us out a lot.
Hopefully the messages that the students got were closely related to the lives they live. I hope that they were challenged to think about their convictions and inspired to have a vision in their lives that was larger than themselves. I hope they come to see themselves as a part of the big picture, but not the big picture. I hope that they determined to spend a lifetime becoming travelers and not merely tourists.
Traveling and learning about cultures other than your own really opens your eyes and helps you to understand that all people do not think just like you do. It helps to bring greater understanding, and it really makes the world a much smaller place.
One thing that I did miss on this journey was having the ability to blog. Never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed that wi-fi would have been so scarce, with such weak connections. Germany is one of the innovative technology centers of the world, for goodness sakes! But, in Germany, they value relationships and don't really stay as tied to their techie devices 24/7 like we do. They don't text at the dinner table, or when they are spending time with others. It taught me a lot and I want to remember it!
(However, I did learn to check for wi-fi signs just like I check for exit signs!....and I am guilty of trying to run faster than the kids to get the signal) I think Daniel, our Tour Guide, must have thought we were crazy!
The kids always seemed to have connections, and I am not sure how they did it, but I hope they gained a little insight into controlling these techie addictions we all have.
If you have been following this blog, stay tuned a little longer. As I review the student photos, I will post some great ones and include some stories to go along with them.
This week's challenge for me, is to think about our next adventure. God is still refining and making clearer where our destination should be, but He never leads us astray! I know that there was a clear and distinct reason that He directed us to Germany this year. I might review our final devotion in a separate blog, but the short version showed us that 'in the present'...I saw Him working, though I am not sure of the direction or outcome in the lives of the students. It is only when present becomes past, that I will understand. And I hope I have the great joy of keeping in touch with these remarkable young people, so that I can also enjoy what God is doing in their lives and in their futures.
Talk about a blessing!
