Let's start at the beginning

I've heard that to live life to the fullest, you need to do one thing every day that scares you. Well, six weeks should cover me for a while. I've always wanted to go to France. It was a fantasy, never really a serious thought. When I heard of the study abroad opportunity last year, I thought, "That sounds nice." Then this year my good friend at school brought it up and scared the poop out of me. I thought, "Next year. This year is too soon." I instantly had this fear of going when I thought about it realistically. Me, go to France? Only students who are fluent and easily pass their language classes go abroad. Me? No. I started giving myself all of these negative excuses, like I'm not smart enough, not brave enough, not fluent enough, all adding up to not being worthy to go to Paris. What a crazy thought! These were my shackles of fear. My strengths of defeat were, "Don't miss this opportunity! When else will I be totally immersed in the language and culture? When else will I be 20 years old in Paris?" I became stronger every day with positive thoughts, like, "I can finally see Notre Dame! I can go to mass in French!" etc. I could not pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. So I prayed about it, and God definitely said, "Go to France!" All signs pointed across the pond. As I told people I would be going, and it became more real, fear crept up again, but something amazing happened: the people I told were excited for me. They weren't worried about the language barrier. They wanted me to go sightseeing, eat all the food I could, and live as the Parisians do. Thank you friends and family for calming me down when I was quietly freaking out inside. You have no idea how helpful your positive energy is. As I'm now preparing and packing for my trip, there's this doubt in the corner of my mind that says, "This isn't real. This is still just a fantasy." But your voices are much louder. So who cares if I'm a tourist and have trouble understanding the language? There's a reason I'm supposed to be going to France, and I'm very excited to see what God has in store for me.

"Fear is useless, what is needed is trust."

Prayers are always appreciated and reciprocated

Love,
Anna