Prague Wild (week 1 in Czechia)
Week 1 down.
9 to go.
Sprinting through the Indianapolis airport, I breathlessly approached security with only 10 minutes to spare before my first flight of many left for JFK. Begging the couple in front of me, I asked:
"Do you mind if I get in front of you? I think I might miss my flight."
Seeing my frantic state, they gestured me to step forward and take their place in line. When I got through security, I didn't even bother to put my shoes back on and it seemed as if everyone was staring at this shoeless girl running towards what she thought to be a departing plane. Thankfully, I didn't miss my flight - it was actually delayed several times and eventually was cancelled. And while it was hard to not get overwhelmed while rebooking my three connecting flights to Prague, I had a choice in that moment: am I going to be a woman that chooses to panic or to praise?
When I was on the phone with Regan, my travel agent, she told me there were other JV interns at the Indy airport on the same rebooked flight to Minneapolis. I looked them up on our JV Facebook group and sent a message out trying to connect. Little did I know that I was sitting directly in front of them at our gate! We got to know one another fairly quickly and shared a lot of mutual friends in Indianapolis. It turned out that we shared all the same connecting flights to Prague as well! It was a total gift to have a group to travel with.
If my original flight wasn't cancelled, then I wouldn't have met the other JV interns. And if I hadn't panicked about missing my flight, I would have checked in way later and maybe would have missed my opportunity to get on the flight to Minneapolis. My original plan was good in my eyes, but God had a better agenda. This is just one of the MANY things I've been learning during my first week in the Czech Republic.
My team and I just finished up the Amazing Race, which is a three day challenge course for all of JV's interns in the city of Prague. The first day we walked / ran 13 miles. The second day, we walked / ran 11 miles. The third day, I sort of tripped on some pavement at the beginning of the day and busted my chin... I ended up going to the hospital and getting a stitch. While there have been emotionally, mentally and physically challenging moments, I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it again.
Here's a glimpse of where I'm staying now: away from the city of Prague and next to the beautiful Czech mountains of Moravia. This week, we're going over the core values / mission and vision of Josiah Venture and how the interns come into play this summer.
I found out what countries I'm going to travel to this summer, but you'll have to wait until the next blog post to find out which ones they are! More updates to come, friends. Thanks for reading and loving this little ole heart of mine.
