Thoughts For The Road: July 2015

Spodek in Katowice

In the words of Lemony Snicket, “the world is quiet here.” And no, I certainly do not mean to say that life is quiet here in the bustling city of Katowice, because it doesn’t seem to be for even one single moment of any given day. Whether it’s the lively voices of my students laughing with one another over some childhood play, or their screaming exclamations as they discover yet another snail or slug on the side of the road on the way to the park, or the continuous Monday through Saturday sounds outside my flat windows of unnecessarily loud construction, unexpected parades, rollerbladers, sirens, trams or just really, really drunken individuals shouting on the streets at roughly 4am, my physical world has yet to still or find silence.

What is slowly finding peace and quiet is the noise in my soul. Not to be obvious or cliché, but moving across the ocean is really rather a big deal. Relocating to a new city with a new job and brand new human relations is overwhelming and exhausting in a very specific way. Even though this is my third time coming to Poland, and I was able to anticipate several of the proverbial mountains I would need to climb upon arrival, the process still caught me by surprise in many unexpected ways and perhaps not surprisingly, threw my inner rhythm off almost completely. This is evidenced to me even by the fact that for weeks I have been searching for the words to write here and have not been able to organize or sort through my thoughts enough to do so until this weekend. From the moment the flight touched down, life was off and running and I’ve been running right after it in a feeble attempt to keep up with all these new realities.

In the first week or so of my time here in Katowice, I came very close to wanting to book a one-way flight straight back to home and predictability in the Northeast. Times were rough and circumstances were not falling into place the way I felt I needed them to. From finding a flat to understanding the system of life in Silesia, I honestly was beginning to question if God really had a good enough reason for sending me here. Now, seven and half weeks later, I can finally say that I am so thrilled, thankful and confident about continuing on here. I could fill this space with boring details, but I think it’s adequate to say that if God calls you to a place for a new chapter in life, you can 100% trust that He will knock down any walls the enemy attempts to construct and will show you His mighty hand if you’ll only give the craziness of life over to the One who knows all, sees the big picture and can and will grant grace in the midst of all the difficulties.

Besides all of that, I have already had the opportunity to do so much exploring this summer. From visiting Krakow to climbing a mountain to riding a cable car overtop a lovely park to visiting Ostrava, Czech, all the stress and feelings of being overwhelmed have been speckled with plenty of fun. And fun is good, right? Yea, of course, but what has actually been the biggest motivation that’s kept me from fleeing or giving up here in Katowice is the beautiful human souls with whom I have been able to begin sharing life a bit. Whether it’s my young students with whom I spend most of my week or new friends and relations in other settings, I have already heard so many stories, shared so many laughs and engaged in so many discussions on life in this world-gone-wrong and what things we can do to try and help be a force of positive change in our little corner of the world for the time that we’re here. I am so thankful for the people I have met and the ways in which they’ve been inspiring, challenging and encouraging to me here. There are days where I feel I am slowly opening the best gift ever as I share life with brilliant souls who hold common goals with me of trying to instill in the next generation an entirely different and more wonderful way to live life.

I still haven’t quite been able to find a specific, nicely worded reason for why I

am here in this slightly strange city of Katowice, but I am not sure that we really always get to know the reasons for God’s callings. There are still several days any given week when I wonder why on earth I am here in this place or how my time here could possibly be of any help to anyone, but maybe it’s not so bad not knowing. The changes I am interested in being a part of in life don’t ultimately have anything to do with me, but with other souls who are searching for hope and Light in this dark place. I know the One who holds the power to work through me in His own ways and timing to work real and lasting change in the world and I’m slowly learning that my job is continuously to pursue my relationship with Christ and allow His grace to grow me while He does through me what He has planned for my life.