home again, home again

guess who's back from hungary? ME!!! literally the best experience/trip/church event of my life. even though i didn't know anyone i was going with besides my friend anne, within the first 12 hours i felt like i had known them forever. they were all so sweet and so welcoming...way more than i would ever be to such a "new comer". the people and the places that i got to meet and see were all stunningly breathtaking and i was able to see God's care and handy work in every single detail.


so here's some highlights from my trip for your amusement:
our plane ride up there was a experience within itself. we made it to minnesota on schedule, but then our flight to new york got cancelled due to...wait for it...wait for it...turtles on the runway. oh-kay. and if you don't know where minnesota is exactly, don't feel bad to google map it. we all did. so we got to throw it down in the mall of america for the day and i got a $7 dress and a $10 shirt from h&m and rode a spongebob themed roller coaster. best mall in the world? best mall in the world. it was also a blessing from God in a way. i got to know everyone so well and really had time to settle into my skin...which i definitely needed time to do. and then the next day, i made the stupid decision to not sleep on ANY of my flights to budapest. that's right, no sleep for 30 hours. needless to say that weekend i slept through the entire retreat.

as seen in Mall Cops. nbd.

the camp (converse camp) is designed to have kids come in to practice their english with the ever popular americans...ha...but at the same time get exposed to the Word. so i was in charge of 8 hungarian 14 year olds. heaven help me. but by the end of the week, not only did i absolutely adore all of them, but we won hungarian idol and dodgeball. they understood the concept that failing was not an option and we are not above playing dirty to win. they even learned a little (and when i say little, i mean LITTLE) english! i can proudly say that they all know how to say "oh my gosh" "oh my stars" "y'all" and "deuces". i also drew diagrams on my dry erase board explaining the alabama auburn rivalry. they could definitely get by in alabama.

love her, mean it.

i managed to also offend many hungarians without meaning to. for lunch one day, which was always 3 course meals on real plates served to us by the hungarian youth serving staff, we had fruit soup. for those of you who don't know what fruit soup is, it is a cold, beet like substance with legit fruit in it. i managed to chop down on a peach pit, choke, and spit it out in my hand at the table. total american move. same day in the leader scavenger hunt, not only did i break the rules by moving around and changing outfits (you have to play dirty to win), i startled a cute hungarian man and confused him when i tried to speak english. then i managed to see/pass him 3 more times that day. this is my life.


i got to tour budapest for 2 days too. if you have been to budapest, you know that the city is actually divided up into 2 sides. Buda is on one side of the Danube and has Buda Castle, St. Mathias cathedral, and the best ice cream place in the world. the Pest side has parliament, Heros square, the market, etc. this literally blew my mind. Budapest is also one of the coolest cities ever. it kinda has the "east meets west" vibe going on and the architecture was absolutely beautiful. i went to the market (and had a panic attack. apparently being in a big place with a big group of people freaks me out. awesome, something else that isn't normal about me), hero's square, a model of a castle in Romania, saw the place where Selena Gomez filmed a music video, climbed a 500 year old minaret, and ate ice cream twice a day. solid.

i love these people to death

i also experienced a revival in my spiritual life. for those of you who know me personally, i'm not a very outwardly emotional person. certain things, like worship singing and talking about my faith make me feel  slightly very uncomfortable. so the first weekend on the retreat we were given the task of going into the town of Gasdascony and walking up to completely random people and spreading the gospel. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. needless to say, the first time we asked someone if they spoke english, i was 15 feet away by the time my group approached the guy. and the other time we actually did discuss faith with two men, i stood behind the group not even facing the right direction. this combined with me sleeping through all the devotions due to my stupidity in the flying department had me very skeptical if i could even handle this. 


i would say by tuesday, though, i reached a new level on a relationship with God. i'm not sure what it was; the faithfulness and sincerity of the Hungarians, Him revealing his plan and his perfect methods to not only me but my team too, or the fact that i was in a different country with people i didn't know, speaking a language i didn't speak (of course hungarian is the 2nd hardest language), and so very out of my element, and yet i had no doubt in my mind that this was were i was supposed to be. i turned off my wifi on my phone and truly soaked in every second. i have never felt so present in one place in my entire life, and there were days i realized that i didn't even think about my friends at home. i was genuinely loving everyone, praying to God about everything, and watching Him reveal how He will provide even when i wasn't expecting it. i was even singing in church, something i always felt awkward doing. by the end of the week, i was even worshipping. i know your thinking, allison, you don't usually worship?!  to that i say, i never had understood that standing up and singing a bunch of songs was worship. frankly, i usually make my bathroom runs during the songs. but the last night, we had a communion service where all we did was just sing and praise for an hour. normally i would dread going to something like this, but it was the highlight of my two weeks. i feel as if i truly let myself go for the first time ever. i wasn't aware of my surroundings or what other people were doing while they were worshipping; all i was thinking about was the majesty and endless love of my Maker.


and the best part was at the end of the day, when i would lay in my twin bed in the so quaint and cozy Romantika Hotel, thousands of miles away from home and a million miles away from my comfort zone, i would feel nothing but peace and overflowing joy and those are two things i've been praying for for a long time.


and so to close this uncharacteristic serious post, i have returned home revived and restored. thank you for the prayers, the encouragement, and the love shown before, during, and after this trip. i love y'all to the moon and back!!


ali


"Now go from this place to all of your other places,  resting yourselves in the love of God, casting your cares upon the grace of God, and placing your lives in the hands of God, the hands that will hold you and never let you go." -Chuck Poole