I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. - Philippians 4:11

Christine Broyhill
October 18, 2009

Just another Sunday afternoon back at La Croisée. The sun is shining brightly outside my window and the Alps are finally coming into view. Pretty soon, we will all be able to witness the frosted white peaks of the mountain range and Lake Geneva will transform into a glossy and delicate surface. The panorama of Lausanne is outside my window every day and is the first thing that greets me in the morning and the last thing that bids me adieu in the evening. The beauty of this place is remarkable and I take it for granted knowing that it will always be there.

The weather is getting cooler and the air is beginning to bite. Care packages of warm scarves and wool socks are being sent to students and the excitement of fall break and stress of midterms are just around the corner. All of these changes outside complement all of the changes that the students are going through. For me, I feel as if I have finally adjusted and arrived at a steady pace. We have just returned from our EFT in Corsica this past week. A secluded getaway famous for Napoleon Bonaparte and nothing to do with Neapolitan ice cream, the field trip to Corsica was a blessing in disguise for me. It was just what I was looking for after a very tough week and I was blown away by what I was able to witness. The beauty that God has created around us can be found in the smallest of places and I am so blessed to have traveled to Corsica with all of the great people that make up our program.

The week prior to our field trip, I had experienced many ups and downs as I went through an emotional rollercoaster. With travel plans on the mind and homework like a weight holding me down, I felt overwhelmed and triumphed by something that I could not conquer. Throughout my life, I have been a very goal oriented person. I’ve always believed that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it and take it step by step. One of the greatest things that my mother has ever said to me is to balance your life. To allow equal time for academics, free time, and sleep. It always seemed like the easiest concept when she told me this, but I have realized that it’s not the easiest thing to follow when you have made a mental list of everything you want to accomplish before December 11th. I was trying to multitask my life so much that I could not even think straight. Of course, I did not see this, but everybody else did. I had so much that I wanted to accomplish before the semester ended that I could not even focus on the most important things in front of me. Learning to balance school and travel was a huge lesson for me. For one, taking 17 units was not a right path to choose, especially with the intentions of traveling every weekend. As the weeks went on and my time working on homework increased, the time I spent traveling and experiencing my time abroad decreased. I arranged all of my weekend trips to return by Saturday night or Sunday morning at the latest to get back and do homework and laundry. Looking back now, I feel like I was running a constant race to get back and check off my box of where I traveled and then focus on school. There was no time left to reflect on the wonderful places I had been. There was no time for myself where I could show my thanks for the beautiful world that God has created. Finally, the night came when I cracked and couldn’t take it anymore. I had never felt so overwhelmed or worn out. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Trying to do what I was doing with very little sleep was slowly breaking me down. After a night of tears, hugs, wisdom, a very long Skype session, and an add/drop form, I felt that I could finally clear my mind.

Life is not a race to the finish line. I was stressing myself out over things that were not under my control, but under the Lord’s. I had lost focus of the most important thing in my life, which was seeking Him in my time of uncertainty. I had been attending Sunday night worship as another part of my schedule, another “thing to get done”. I had lost so much focus on the present and was looking way too far out in the future. After that long night, I felt that the fog was just beginning to clear. There is no set plan in life and the goals and path that I believed was the right one for me only delayed me from seeing the big picture. I am in the process of letting the Lord take over and show me what I need to do. To show me where I should focus my life.

I also made the choice to come home for the holidays during winter break. My initial plan before I got to Switzerland was to travel the entire time during the break and go to all of the places that I wanted to go to. I soon realized that even though it was just one Christmas or one New Year’s that I’d be sacrificing, that I was also sacrificing time for me to slow down and go home to spend time with my family. I am so pleased that I have decided to travel home for the holidays now. As the weeks go on and the weather gets colder, it reminds me so much of home and how refreshing it is to be in a space that is truly your own. A space to reflect and relax and to be with the people that love you most.

Other than finding the balance with school and travel, I have picked up on some differences that I absolutely love about being abroad. For one, I love the time we have at breakfast. Back home, I was always grabbing something and running out the door to work, and I love how here every morning I’m able to sit down and enjoy the food and talk with people. The food isn’t much different from the food back home, but for some reason the students here rave about the breakfast. It’s really the same things we have back home: yogurt, bread, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, etc. But what I’ve found that makes the breakfast so much more special and different is the way that we’ve been having our breakfast. The way we take our time in preparing our cereal. The way we fix our café au lait with just the right amount of milk. The yogurt tastes richer and fresher, thanks in part to those Swiss cows, and the Nutella allows us to have something sweeter to indulge into than we would back home. We have yogurt and eggs and toast back home, but what makes it different is the fact that we are able to sit down, enjoy every bite, and begin our day the right way.

Something that I have mixed feelings towards is the supermarket. Besides the different products and endless aisles of chocolate, I love the way people shop together. I have seen so many couples buying their food together, purchasing it, and then walking home to prepare it. It’s not a huge cultural difference, but it stands out to me because people are together and are taking their time. I dislike the fact that the stores and supermarkets are closed on Sundays, but I also love it. I love the fact that people have Sunday off. I’ve noticed that people in Europe take their lives step by step, allowing time to reflect and be with the people that mean the most to them in their lives. Back home, we are always rushing and going from one place to the next and here I see that people really balance their lives. They take longer lunches, close up the shops a bit earlier, and are always with friends and family. I love how conversation with friends and enjoying each other’s company through a meal are part of an everyday routine. It’s not a huge cultural difference, but it has stood out to me so much because I’ve been able to notice the little things like being together and walking through a park or just talking for hours after a meal with no rush to get anywhere that illustrate how important appreciating life is.

“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." (Philippians 4:11) I am learning to take my time abroad step by step. I am learning to appreciate the small things here and learn from every experience I have. Above all, I hope that I can develop a better relationship with God and to be thankful and content with the life that I have been given.