I received official word on Monday that I will be traveling to Denmark for the month of July! I'll be spending the first two weeks of the trip living with a Danish host family, and the remaining two weeks at an international youth camp with people from around the world. How cool is that!? I can't wait to (potentially) make friends from all over the world!
This life excursion is cool indeed, but how God brought me to it is even cooler. Here's the backstory:
I discovered the opportunity to travel via the Lions Club one day while googling international youth exchanges. After further research, I discovered that there was a super cool camp in Australia where they teach you how to surf and do high ropes and all sorts of other fun things. I had my mind set on this camp, and eagerly awaited the day when I could apply.
The day came to set the ball rolling; I contacted people and began the application process. It was not long after that the catastrophe set in - I discovered that there were no Australian camps listed for 2015. NOOOO!!! Reluctantly, I began to research camps in other parts of the world, and eventually narrowed it down to Italy and the Netherlands. However, despite how exciting they likely are in reality, I found myself unenthused, especially after noticing that the countryside near the camps, particularly in the Netherlands, appears to look little different from the roads near my house.
I was praying and asking people for advice on where I should go. For some reason, Denmark kept popping into my head. Each time, I would do a little research on it and narrow it out. It had a strange culture, there were very few vegetarians, they spoke a strange language; why did it keep popping into my mind, though?
Eventually, it was so present in my mind that I decided to send an email to the Denmark camp director to inquire about my concerns. His response was EXTREMELY welcoming and accommodating, and I realized that Denmark actually would work! It felt right, and I was excited - so excited that I put it as my first choice destination on my application! (My original plan was to still put Australia first in the off chance there would be camps available there in 2015, but Denmark overruled!)
I recently saw the list of youth heading out from Michigan, and one of the people is going to Australia. It WAS an option! If it had been listed though, I wouldn't have even given Denmark or anywhere else a second thought. Also, I requested a particular camp in Denmark, but for some reason they placed me in a different one.
This is SO God led! I'm going to a place so far from my original plans and I don't know why, but God made everything fall into place perfectly, and I'm so stoked to see what He does while I'm there! AHHHH getting excited just thinking about it!
Well, I'll go wallow in my excitement now. Have a super duper blessed day!
