If you have been following me on social media, you know that I have been in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria for the past two weeks. I had an incredible time! I would love to tell you all my stories and experiences while I was there, so feel free to ask about them, but in this post I want to focus on one experience that was stressful, awkward, and incredibly eye opening.
It was our last night in Vienna. Actually, it was our last night in a country other than America. We had to get up at 2:45 the next morning, so we decided that instead of sleeping, we would go to the amusement park that we had gone to every night we had been in Vienna. Who needs sleep when there are roller coasters, right? The group of people I was with and I rode the underground (which is a lot easier to understand than the New York subway) to the amusement park. I was so excited! Honestly, if I had all the money in the world, I could stay in an amusement park for the rest of my life and be completely content.
We were all joking and walking around trying to figure out what ride we were going to ride first. We decided to ride the indoor roller coaster. A friend and I had rode it before and had been raving for about a day about how creepy the walk up to the coaster was and how incredible the ride was. So, we all paid our four euros and fifty cents and started our walk to the coaster. Now, to actually get to the ride, you have to find your way through a mirror maze and get through a room of lasers. The whole thing made me feel like Kim Possible. There were lasers, purple strobe lights, a little fog, and this Austrian recording talking about our mission we had to complete. I loved it! We had made it through the mirror maze and were making our way through the lasers. My friends were quickly jumping over the lasers and I figured I would jump too, completely forgetting that I am the clumsiest person God has ever created and also forgetting that I didn't change out of my dress sandals from dinner. I jumped over two lasers and was completely fine, but then I went to jump over a third laser and my lack of coordination got the best of me. I landed on the side of my foot and twisted my ankle pretty badly. I kept trying to get up, but I couldn't get myself off of the ground. So, here I am, injured on the floor of a room of lasers, strobe lights, fog, and to top it all off, I'm not even in my home country. My friends started helping me up and getting out of the room. After a few people rode the coaster, they helped me get outside.
Now, I'm not a person who likes attention. When I'm the center of attention, I usually try to divert the situation to something else. You can imagine the anxiety I felt when we got outside and I see most of the people from our trip standing outside and looking at me as I limped like a injured dog out of the building. I sat down on the stairs and a friend started wrapping my foot. I remember people trying to make plans to get me back to the hotel (which was on the other side of Vienna) and I was thinking, "just wrap my foot and I can go have fun." I wanted to suffer through the pain and stay at the park so everyone, including myself, could still have fun on our last night in Europe. Obviously, I wasn't allowed to do that. The boys on our trip gave me piggy back rides across the city and on the underground until we got back to our hotel.
My initial thought during everything that happened was that I hated it. I hated that everyone went back to the hotel because of me. I hated being the center of attention. I wanted everyone to go have their own fun and I was going to take care of myself. It finally hit me that was the most unChrist like way I could be thinking. I learned a few things during this moment.
1. As much as we want to do everything on our own, we can't. I wanted to take care of myself and stay at the park. By golly, it was my last night in Europe and I was going to do what I want to do, but my friends knew better. They were thinking clearly when I wasn't, and weren't going to let me be stupid. Sometimes, we have to lean on other people, or in my case, ride on their backs, because we can't do everything on our own.
2. Galatians 6:2 tells us to carry one another's burdens and carrying one another's burdens has absolutely nothing to do with sympathy. Can you imagine what would have happen if my friends would have just been like, "wow. I'm so sorry. I hope you can figure something out." It would have been interesting seeing me limp across Vienna or riding rides that could have injured me more. Carrying each others burdens means trying to understand one another, putting ourselves in someone else's shoes, or literally carrying a person.
3. This completely random group of people I met 18 days ago has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Their encouragement that night was overwhelming. Their ability to make be laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe while I was in tons of pain was one of my favorite moments on the trip. It was one of those rare times that I truly saw God shine through other people.
So, as I sit here in West Virginia with ice covering the bruises on my ankle and foot, I can't help but think how completely grateful I am for that awkward and embarrassing moment in Vienna. I am so thankful for the people God put in my life these past two weeks and I hope our friendships last a life time. I don't think I would have enjoyed Europe as much as I did if it wasn't for the people that surrounded me.
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