At the beginning of September, I flew with my daughter Rebekah to Germany to take her to her new school - The Black Forrest Academy (you can read her blog about being accepted to the school here). Having come this far, I decided to head over to the Czech Republic to get some necessary logistics done, as well as to take an intensive Czech language course.
We are planning to move to the city of Brno. Though I spent a semester in college in Prague, I know very little about Brno. I have now spent ten days here by myself.
To be honest, it has been difficult for me as I struggle with a language and a culture I don’t yet understand. With the rest of my family in America and Germany, and having no friends here, I have felt a sense of isolation and loneliness.
However, the Lord is good to me. He is using even this brief experience to teach me something of Himself and His kingdom. He has shown me that it is a very good thing to feel unsettled and unattached to this world. As followers of Christ we are not of this world, and we should not clamor for the safety and comfort of this world, because, “our citizenship is in heaven (Php. 3:20).” Commending the faithful followers of God in the past, the author of the book of Hebrews says that they, “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (Heb. 11:13).” But praise be to God for His great mercy to us through Jesus Christ, because we “are no longer strangers and aliens (to God’s kingdom), but we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19).”
Finally, yesterday I had to go to the U.S. embassy in prague for some visa details. On the way home I listened to perhaps my all-time favorite sermon - “Doing Missions When Dying is Gain” by John Piper (you really should listen to it). This, followed by listening to worship music on the train fueled my joy and confidence in God’s calling on our lives.
One of the many trams I take each day in the city.
