After realizing what is needed to learn more I started looking seriously at Seminaries in Germany to attend. I grew up protestant evangelical so I’m actually excited to live in a country where that is the minority. I’m interested to see how a majority Catholic and Lutheran Christian culture has influenced the Protestant evangelical movement. It’s been interesting going from Bible Belt America to Europe before even setting foot over there. Here when I look for Bible colleges or Seminaries they are everywhere with niche denominations and beliefs that influence the very structure of their school. Whereas I have only found one protestant evangelical seminary in Germany through Google. There may be more, just not easily found from America. I was wondering for a time if I could even attend one that was not Catholic or Lutheran and wondered if I would be successful in getting accepted into one if not in those denominations. The one I found embraces their status. They welcome students from every denomination and are still smaller in numbers. This reminded me of what I loved about my high school. It was Christian, but non-denominational. I was exposed to so many different beliefs that I learned more about the basics of what it means to be a Christian then I had ever learned before. Getting to be surrounded by people who held different beliefs, but lived in grace daily was what I loved and missed.

I was well known in my high school, but not many people truly knew me. I was a very confusing outlier. My parents fought constantly but weren’t divorced. I had a step-dad because my real dad had died. I was close to my mom and struggled to relate to kids my own age. I felt like my experiences were normal. After all, that was the only reality I knew, but I learned that other kids my age didn’t know how to respond to those issues. If I talked about my problems I generally ended up with my friend not talking to me at all for the next few months. I know there were other kids who struggled, but I also didn’t know how to relate to them. High school seems to be the age where we all go through the same shit, but no one knows what to do with it. I bring this up because I want you to know that I am under no illusions about what this experience will be like. I will still feel out of place; there will be people who don’t know what to do with me, but I’m okay with that. What I want is for there to be elements that pull us together as a Christian community.  

Josh and I are getting ready to go to Munich and Berlin soon. We are very excited to see what we will learn on this trip. Traveling with our friend from Poland is especially good for us because he always plans trips so we are not awkward Americans. It’s funny. I have never left the country before, but I am very confident in this plan to move. One thing I’ve noticed about Josh and myself is we get stir crazy. We hope living in Europe will be enough of a change that we’ll get to see many places, travel, and live rich lives. I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on this trip.