God's Way.

4. When you're trying to decide between God's way and the easy way, God's way is always worth it! 

San Damiano Chapel, Assisi

I heard these words in answer to one of the most unforgettable prayer experiences I have ever had. Before our Rome/Assisi 10-day trip, I decided to look into the Romania mission trip, which was a few weeks away. I love mission work and I knew before the semester began that I wanted to do something like this. However, this mission trip would be asking me to give up my free 10-day break trip to some exotic and exciting place, to go and serve in Romania. I wish I could say that I was totally selfless and never even considered doing anything but mission work for my ten-day and I was willing to do whatever it took to get there. But that's not how it was. I had some serious praying to do to figure out why this mission opportunity was still tugging on my heart, despite daydreams of Greece and Croatia and Malta and the Holy Land. For a little while, I even tried to push it out of my head and join the ranks of my fellow students who were going to the magical coasts of Malta. But that still, small voice was always there, urging me to keep attending the mission planning meetings. In Assisi, we entered the church of Santa Chiara, where the original San Damiano Cross is displayed. This is the very Crucifix that spoke to St. Francis centuries ago and commissioned him to go out and "rebuild my Church." Sr. Miriam told our tour group that, from her experience, prayers offered here are answered very clearly, as if the crucified Christ is speaking right to you, just as he spoke to Francis. As I knelt there and prayed for clarity and direction, I felt this unmistakeable and irresistible pull to sit there in His presence forever. It was beautiful. That same day, all of the students gathered at.....a church I wish I could remember which one, for a special Festival of Praise, a monthly tradition at Franciscan. It was a particularly powerful FOP, because it felt as if Francis and Clare and the first Franciscans were joining us there in Assisi. The speaker gave an awesome talk, but I only remember one line because I knew as soon as it was spoken that it was said by Christ on that San Damiano cross to me, loud and clear. He said, "When you're trying to decide between God's way and the easy way, God's way is always worth it!" Then, I realized that the "easy" and more desired way was Malta, and God's way was Romania. I'm sure I would have had the time of my life there, but if it wasn't God's way (for me) then I wasn't about to go in the wrong direction. And I promise you, it was most definitely worth it.

Who knew the original was 3D?

5. Trust in His words on your heart, no matter how much you'd rather not. 

This one is related to the previous one, but it was a lesson I would question over and over, even up to when I got out of that crowded van in The-Middle-of-Nowhere, Romania. I thought, "What am I doing here again, Lord? Please show me soon because I don't get it and I want to be able to put everything into this." The night before we left was the fourth day I had spent almost alone on campus besides my fellow missionaries, because everyone else had already left for ten-day. I got ready and went to Easter Mass by myself, and there was a blizzard outside. I think I watched every movie in the RA office and even did a little homework. Now, it wasn't as depressing as I'm making it sound; all of the professors' families made a delicious brunch for everyone and I did get to know the other missionaries a lot better in that time, but it was still not the glamorous Easter vacation I had imagined for studying abroad. Fortunately, all this alone time proved to be perfect for preparing myself spiritually for this mission trip better than I have ever prepared for one before. I can't believe I'm saying this, but that time alone was enough to make this decision worth it. So trust, trust, TRUST. And most importantly, if you remember the last time you trusted Him, it will never be a difficult decision to do it again.

These teens made it all worth it. (PLEASE note Dr. Newton's face, standing second from the left!) 

These little ones made it all worth it. 

6. Adoration and daily Mass can make you come alive. 

When everything stops at noon every day for Mass in this amazing chapel, a 30 second walk from my room, what excuse could I possibly find? Who knows how many Carthusian monks have sat in my very pew and become saints? That alone is mind-blowing. Not to mention great acoustics in there...

Daily Mass and 24/7 adoration became my only routine and sanity during the semester. Thank goodness God never changes or I would be a mess by now. 

First Things First.

These 41 Things are not in any particular grading order. They were written as they came to mind, which I suppose says something about what I was thinking at the time. That would be an interesting psychological analysis... Anyway, for some of the points I will go deeper into their background and where I learned them or who taught me, but some just stand on their own so I will leave them as so. Ok, I'm getting really excited about this so here we go!

(disclaimer: If I start to get really mushy and emotional at any point, please understand that this project is also REALLY making me miss Austria and I cannot contain the emotions it may stir up.)

This is how I feel some days. 

41 Things.

Sorry,  Michele. 

In the hours before I boarded the bus to the airport to leave Gaming forever, I did two important things. If you were wondering, this does not include the 110% score my roommates and I received on our final room check, which was a miracle in itself, although that was a large part of my Gaming experience. I mean that place was sparkling! It's a big deal! I digress.

Anyway, the two things. I knelt down and picked up a big handful of that crunchy courtyard gravel, a sound I will never forget. If you've never been to the Kartause, it's not as weird as it seems, trust me. Before I went, a friend shared that very gravel as her favorite memory and I laughed at the time, but it's a real thing! (I kept it...that part might be a little weird, I'll admit.)

Earlier that night, I was sitting in the Sacred Heart Chapel in the Kartause for the last time. As I gazed upon my Lover in that ancient, hallowed place, I began to write a list. I decided I was going to write down everything I learned that semester, one by one. I ended up with 41 things before I left the chapel, but that is a list that I will always be adding more to.

Sacred Heart Chapel,  Maria Thron church.

After I walked out of that beloved chapel, I never re-read that list until a few days ago. I was actually shocked at how insightful those things actually were! If it wasn't my own handwriting, I would not believe that I wrote them because I don't even remember writing 95% of them. It was a Holy Spirit infused list, for sure. So for the sake of many of my best friends who are embarking on their own European journey in a few short weeks, and for the sake those who may never get to go, I will share that list with you. Rather than just dumping all 41 at once, I will be listing them and explaining them little by little in the weeks to come. I hope they give you even a fraction of the peace that they have brought me.

"Lo, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." [1 Corinthians 15:51-52]

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost.

This is one of my favorite poems of all time and the inspiration for these reflections on my journey. I memorized it in elementary school and I think I could probably still say it from memory! I often feel as though my entire life, I have taken the road less traveled by, and that has definitely made all the difference. This road is not as worn down and easy to find, and I don't know what lies ahead, but I am certain that my journey has only just begun, and I am ready to race towards my ultimate goal!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

All Things New.

I would like to hereby use the "God's plans are not my plans" excuse as my reason for neglecting my blog for the entire last half of my semester in Europe. Before you chuckle and think to yourself, "HAH, I knew she wouldn't be able to actually write about every trip!" let me explain. It's a good excuse and here is why.

Firstly, I did not consciously give up on my blog while in Austria, it just...happened. One trip ran into another adventure which ran into another journey and here I am back in Maryland trying to make sense of the blur that is my Gaming semester. To be honest, it makes no sense to me. Somehow, two months ago, I was running through the courtyard of a centuries old monastery with a stuffed backpack bouncing behind me to catch a fast train to where ever my heart led me. Compare that lifestyle to my average day in America and it's almost laughable how absurd the idea seems. Now tell me how and when I was supposed to sit down and figure out what it all meant and write it out on a blog?! I mean seriously who do you think I am, I was traveling across Europe every four days for crying out loud, ain't nobody got time for blogging!!!! Ok, I'm back to being serious now, sorry.

This summer has offered me a lot of down time alone in which to think and pray and sort out the whirlwind of spontaneity that I experienced in the past four months. When you follow your heart and spirit almost exclusively for that length of time, it can be very confusing and distressing to be forced onto an airplane and re-planted in your old life and, in a matter of hours, have to be able to answer THE inevitable question, "How was Austria???"

[Just so you know I will always say "It was so awesome!" and pray that you don't ask the next inevitable question which is "What was your favorite place?" to which I will say "It's hard to choose just one, but it was cool to see both Popes!" There, we just made both of our lives a lot easier by eliminating that small talk! Phew.]

Nevertheless, there is something incredible that happens when you do just that: follow where ever your heart and the Spirit may lead you. It is a beautiful lesson in blessed trust that can only by learned by taking that leap and just....keep on going. I could write for pages about the examples of this that I discovered on the daily. When the Spirit within you says GO, you go. When He says STAY, you stay. When He says LOVE,  you love until it hurts. Then you love some more. I truly went many places and met real people that I loved so much it actually hurt.

[side note that I am realizing as I write....This kind of obedience to the divine will and death to one's own will is not something that should stay in Europe. It's not a lesson that I experienced just so that I can look back on it. Every. Single. Day. needs to start and end with full trust and full commitment of the will to follow where ever we are led to go no matter how crazy or impossible it looks from where we stand. I need to do that way more. Noted. ]

So. Bottom line. I didn't finish my travel blog because I now know that I wasn't supposed to do it then. There are so so so many aspects of those trips that I have only just realized by reflecting on them in the past few weeks. Yes, the memories may have been more fresh and vivid for me to describe right after or during the trip...but those are mine to keep. :) You might think you do, but you probably don't actually care what I physically did in Salzburg or Hallstatt or Wadowice or other random places I went to with unpronounceable names. That's what Facebook photo albums are for. I want you to know why I will never be the same.  I want you to be able to have a peek beneath the surface of my transformed self. I want to show you how the old has passed away, and behold, I am made new!

"So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. [2 Corinthians 5:17]

to be continued...

Vienna.

Considering I went to Vienna so long ago, and considering I have more exciting adventures to write about (like ROME) I will keep this concise because it was still a memorable day in the lovely capital city.

St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

We spent most of our day trip touring around Vienna and stopping in various churches, museums, and monuments familiar from the movies and history books. Every building in this beautiful city is ornately decorated and colorful. The snow was falling and there were horse drawn carriages in the streets, taking me back in time to the era of Mozart and the Hapsburg royalty.

We saw St. Stephen's Cathedral, a towering work of architecture that seems to point all the way to heaven. There are thousands and thousands of colored tiles covering the entire roof of the cathedral in a uniquely mesmerizing pattern.

Inside, there is a miraculous icon called the Maria Potsch icon, an ancient work that is said to have cried real tears for the unity of the Muslims and Christians, and pilgrims have been praying there for unity ever since.

Maria Potsch

We went to a museum that held the largest collection of relics (in Europe maybe?) including the spear that wounded Christ's side on the cross and the veil that Veronica used to wipe His face during the Passion. The image of His bloodied face is still preserved on that veil. For dinner, we ended up at a Burger King which ended up being an experience in itself! 

The balcony of the Hapsburg palace from which Hitler spoke to millions, and later JPII. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring on our own and strolling through the snowy streets of Vienna until it was time to head back to Gaming. 

Gaming, the first few weeks.

Where am I???

Gaming Campus. 

Pinch me. I am captured in a real life snow globe. I live in an eight century old monastery called the Kartause, nestled in the foothills of the Alps, covered with snow and pine trees. I wake up every morning and look out my window and see towering mountains higher than any I have ever seen in my life, trees heavy with snow, and the steeple of the chapel across the courtyard. There is an icy clear creek running through this tiny picturesque town where everyone knows everyone else and there is one grocery store, one church, one shoe store, one amazing kebab shop. The professors live across the street with their families of at least five multi-lingual, adorable children who are always running around the Kartause throwing snowballs at us. This is my life right now.

The view out of my window.

I will now tell you all a story now that is somewhat commonplace to me now but even as I write this I am realizing how interesting a day in the life of a student at the Kartause actually can be.

My luxurious bed. 

On an average morning during the week, I wake up to the beautiful smiling faces of my roommates, Michele and Julia, around 8 and leap out of bed, eager to start my day. Ok, more like the three of us roll out of bed after 3 alarms and don't speak a word to each other except maybe, "Oh, look it's still snowing."

Then I make my way to breakfast in the Mensa (cafeteria/restaurant thing), which is usually some toast and yogurt and fruit. (Unless it's Sunday brunch and then we have scrumptious waffles with Nutella and eggs and bacon! Absolute heaven.)


I have 5 hour and a half long classes on Mondays through Fridays. I am taking Art Appreciation, Sacraments, Theology of the Church, Christian Marriage, and Catholic Social Teaching. They are all very interesting classes with some of the most brilliant professors I have ever known. I will never forget the valuable lessons I am learning in these classes from these incredible people. At noon every day, everything stops and there is Mass in the chapel, a beautiful Gothic style church where centuries of Carthusian monks and saints have prayed. I treasure these times set aside for prayer every day with my fellow students and the Kartause families. After Mass, it's lunch time, which can be anything from pork to well....pretty much always pork.

In between classes, I usually try to get some work done in the library or maybe take a walk into town to the Spar, a little grocery store where we get pretty much anything we need. Usually Milka bars (chocolate of every variety) or juice or wine of every kind imaginable. Or sometimes I go babysit the professor's children and just cuddle with the babies.

We go on hikes in the surrounding  mountains every once in a while, a very interesting experience with the massive amounts of snow that accumulate up there. But the climb is always worth it for the breathtaking, God-revealing views from the top and the fun we have on the way.  At the top of each mountain we have continued our Ireland tradition of singing praise until we run out of breath and song ideas. There are no words to say about these mountaintops other than that the "mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your Name." A few weeks ago we climbed "Book Mountain" which has a book on the top which has been signed by students for many semesters past. Another day we hiked to the Gaming caves (extremely narrow, very scary.) Maybe one day I'll have the courage to actually go inside them! I don't think I have a future in spelunking.

The Gaming Caves. 

Sunset on our hike. 

In the evenings, we usually watch a movie or play cribbage or go on late night sledding adventures. Late night kebab runs are also a normal occurrence. However my favorite evenings to remember are the honest conversations I have had with people I never thought I would be so close to. These friendships have helped me to grow in so many ways and I will never forget the amazing men and women I am spending this semester with. They have truly made the Kartause the way I will always remember it.

"A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, whoever finds one finds a treasure." Sirach 6:14