Hello everyone. So I went on a little excursion this past week.
I started on Friday April 25th in Bordeaux France. I
stayed until Monday, and then headed to Stirling Scotland. Then on Wednesday,
I made my last visit to Paris and stayed until
Friday, when I came back here to good ol' Pau France on May
2nd. In each visit, I was given an equally unique and beautiful gift from
God. The first gift was family.
So as I said, I started my trip on Friday. My good friend Thibault and
I headed out right after class to his home in Bordeaux. Now I don't know if you all
are aware, but driving around in South France
is amazing. As we made our way there, we passed wide open grass fields,
and endless forest. While taking in the natural beauty surrounding me, I
could not help but feel I was on my way down to Athens
Ohio from my home in Mentor. So I let myself slip into a
quick daydream about what it will be like to see, in person, all the faces that
have been looking back at me in pictures for these past five weeks. But
before long, we had arrived.
Now I had never seen a vineyard, so this was incredible. If you do not
know, Bordeaux
is known as the city of wine...at least by those who live there, so the
vineyards were amazing. They surrounded us everywhere we looked.
Endless rows of grape vines stretching on farther than the eye could see.
It was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that the second day we were there,
Thibault and I went for a run in them. Now I don't know how I was conned
into doing this, but I thank God for the memory I now have from it. We
started off going down a small windy road, but it didn't take long until it
opened up into a HUGE vineyard. We turned in, and just kept running.
The sun was hot, and the ground was dry, but it was one of the most peaceful
things I have experienced since I've been here. The only thing I could
focus on was the fact that I had nothing to focus on. Before we knew it,
we were lost in the woods behind the vineyard, but neither one of us
cared. We were just two little kids running around playing in the
woods. The trees were thick enough to keep us cool, but thin enough to
allow the sun to peak through making it seem like God had created all the earth
around us just for that moment. Everything around us was simply good.
And that's not even the main part of Bordeaux.
Now the run was wonderful, and the city was really nice. I got to see
so much beautiful history in cathedrals from the inner part of the city, and
castles around the outskirts, but the true beauty was in Thibault's home.
In crossing these boarders over here in Europe;
the languages, culture, food, rules; they all change. There are always so
many things that I have to adjust to. But in my limited traveling
experience, I have discovered one thing that remains the same.
Love. Thibault's family loves each other. I felt like I was
home. The laughter around the dinner table, the open arms, the
smiles. It was amazing. They love each other just as much as I love
all of you taking the time to read this. If God shows Himself all across
the world in one consistent way, it is through love. I could travel all
countries of this earth, hike every mountain, swim every ocean, but I would
never find God the way I do in the humble beauty of love between people.
So as soon as you finish reading this, before you do anything else, tell
someone you love them. I'm serious. Stand up, or pick up the phone,
or however you want to do it, but go and tell someone you love them. I
promise you, you will see God. Love is, after all, the best way we can
spread His kingdom.
Needless to say, it was hard to venture on to my next destination, but God
was calling, so I had to go. Stirling Scotland was on the horizon.
