Adversity in Austria

I have been struck by more ill-fortune in these past few weeks in Austria than in the rest of my entire college experience put together. First, I lost my ATM card just prior to leaving for Austria and my bank would only mail it to my home address that they had on file. This means that I would have to go to Austria without access to my account until my parents could mail my card to me upon its arrival to my home. Meanwhile, in transit to Europe the airline lost my luggage and I had to spend my first several days in Europe without clothes or any other commodity. Then, immediately upon arrival I became sick. Then I got sicker, and sicker. I won't go into the details of my symptoms but suffice to say that they were pretty miserable. Now, I'm finally back to my healthy self and I have all my luggage safe and sound. Yet tragedy would strike again when on Thursday my ATM card finally arrived. But that's a good thing, you might exclaim. Well, I thought the same thing as well until I tried to actually use my card only to receive the following message, "card invalid internationally or defective." After talking with my bank I can find no reason why my card shouldn't work internationally. After enduring three weeks with nothing but some cash to hold me over, I receive a defective card. 

So, here I am: I'm stranded on the other side of the world with no money; I can't travel - I can't even buy groceries. I feel like I should be miserable, like this is the part of the story where I'm supposed the throw my hands up in the air and say, "I give up, world. You win." Yet despite having no money, and experiencing a period without clothes, toiletries, or even my health, I'm not unhappy, disappointed, or afraid. By all means I'm in a very uncomfortable situation yet, inexplicably, I possess a joy and a sense of freedom that contradicts my experience. Perhaps it's because, as I sit here within the walls of an ancient Carthusian monastery, I can't help but possess the attitude, not of a tourist, but of a pilgrim - and while by the standards of a tourist I am incredibly poor, as a pilgrim I have grown immensely in my wealth. I believe that I have grown spiritually and have come into my own as a person more in the past few weeks than in the last couple years - and I accredit this in part to those very challenges mentioned above.

Of course, I must also give credit to all those who have supported me in various ways during these past weeks, from my peers to the faculty and staff, but most importantly to my Lord who has decided to touch me in a very special way during my stay in Gaming. In respect to all the good I have received and accomplished it is of course His grace which I praise and no deed of my own. The reigns are in his hands, I'm just along for the ride.