Value of Relationships

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

As I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Prague, I still cannot believe I am finally here. Just a few days ago, I was in Louisiana on a surprise visit for one of my best friends and former teammate Tori. Her boyfriend flew me and another friend out for her birthday so I literally got home Monday evening, had Tuesday to get everything together, and left Wednesday evening for Prague. One of the things I learned from my trip to Tori's is the value of relationships. The four of us (Tori, Britta, Cat, and I) all live in different states, but we all made a promise to each other after graduation that we would make an effort to get together at least once a year. If you truly value those people in your life, you will make an effort to see that person(s) no matter the circumstance. In the same sense, this is my relationship with the Czech. I first came on this mission trip as a young 16- year old high school student, and I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. During that trip, I made some great friendships, which is why I came back the next year and again the summer of 2009. I knew in my heart each time that it was not the last time, but only a "see you later". The sign of a great friendship is when you get together with that person after a long period of time, and it's as if nothing has changed. Today, the whole time I was on the plane or at the airport, all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to see Bara and her family, Nikol, and many more. For those of you that do not know Bara, she has been our main contact since FCC has been coming overseas. She is not only a breast cancer survivor once but TWICE! Bara has not only become a close friend, but also one of the strongest women I know. Last Monday, I lost someone dear to me to breast cancer so being able to see Bara healthy and joyous tonight made my heart smile. After an emotionally draining week, finally getting to Prague was a light at the end of the tunnel.

In regards to traveling, thank you for those of you that prayed for safe travels because I actually made my flights with the exception of the French losing my luggage so I am without it until tomorrow (hopefully). I arrived a day before the rest of the team so when I got into Prague, Bara's husband Marek picked me up, and we just caught up on our drive to Bara's while trying to help me brush up on my Czech words. When I got to Bara's, I was reunited with our team leader Blake from FCC as well as Linda who is part of the Czech staff, and of course Bara. Bara made us a delicious dinner, and she even had tofu for me since I don't eat meat. After dinner, we just caught up and reminisced on the past years. I am SOOOO excited for camps to start and to see all my old campers from past years. Moreover, I am most excited to see what God has in store the next two weeks and how He will use FCC! The rest of the team will get in tomorrow morning, so as for me I am going to brush up on my material and get used to the time change. Til tomorrow, in Czech we would say "Dobrou noc!" :)