Tip of the Iceberg

It has been a full week - though I'm getting the feeling that all my weeks will be full ones! I love the feeling, though, of going to bed at night, knowing that I don't have energy left and that I have given as much as I can. Highlights of the week include the Klaipeda International Film festival - which takes place in an old tobacco factory that looks like a tin airplane hanger; dinner and coffee with Anna, my good friend who works in administration at LCC and who is awesome at heart-to-heart chats; sitting with students during chapel and spending time with them in the dorm; walking around Klaipeda in the sunshine, trying to soak it up before the inevitable fall rains; talking with Dasha and Masha, two first years from Moldova and Kalingrad, on our way to watch Danish and German films together!

It is approaching a month since I've arrived in Lithuania, and in some ways it seems like I've been here for years. I am so blessed to be adjusting fairly easily, though I'm sure I'm still a bit more stressed with school work than I should be. I am grateful for friends here - so many! I did not anticipate all the social opportunties I have - from students to fellow teachers to staff, there is always somewhere to go, another relationship to invest in, and another conversation to be seasoned with salt and light.

One thing I have begun to notice, though, and have seen in other overseas ministry groups, is that all of us working together feel like we know one another intimately, despite the short amount of time we've been here. In reality, what we know of each other is like a tip of an iceberg - 90% remains below the surface, waiting to be discovered. This is both pleasing and ominous! It is nice to be known so easily, it is not so nice when people think they have already figured you out. :) None of us can be known in less than a month, no matter how much time or how close we feel. I am glad that there is always more to know about people - there is always a level of depth and insight you did not anticipate - even in yourself.