Blog 8 – Slán, Surrender, and Serendipity

Oh, friends…hello again! We made it (with a sigh of thanksgiving, joy, and a hint of sadness)…

I am absolutely flabbergasted at how quickly my time abroad has flown by! At the beginning of this experience, it felt as though I had endless time to explore, learn, adventure, travel, and create memories. When all of a sudden…I think about the next few days and realize that I am officially moving out of Plassey Village. Does that ever happen to you – you know, where you feel like you blinked and the pages in your precious book of life are turning before you can even comprehend what is going to happen next? I can certainly say that this is what my brain is going through at the moment, but I could not be more thankful for this opportunity and EVERY piece of knowledge, growth, wisdom, and memories made on this adventure! This blog is dedicated to some of my personal reflections regarding my entire experience. Thank you for reading this last blog and sharing your time with me – especially if you have been kind enough to read all of my silly goofy, long blogs! 😅

Indeed, I have been incredibly blessed to have had such an experience. There is so much wisdom to be gained by just looking around and talking to people who come from differing backgrounds – these become treasured nuggets of knowledge and often lead me to feel immense gratitude. I will never stop encouraging others to look for all of the things that we can be grateful for in this life. They are abundant, boundless, and ready to be seen. I challenge you to reflect and find things in your daily life that you can be grateful for…and never stop!

Here are three things that I am grateful for from the past few weeks:

Personal Time With God (He always seems to know exactly what I need to hear in the right moments – we have such an INCREDIBLE God!)
God Winks (I have had countless moments in the past weeks that I would consider ‘God Winks’ – moments that God seems to smile upon you in unique ways)
Christmas Movies (I just love this time of year when I can curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies while drinking coffee and being cozy, such a vibe 😄)

As previously mentioned, this blog aims to be a cumulative reflection of my experiences in Ireland. Through a series of questions, I will attempt to elaborate on some of the profound moments I have experienced abroad and invite you into my thoughts. Perhaps these are questions that you can also use to reflect on some meaningful moments in your own life!

Question #1: What are you most proud of?

Answer: Surrender

Well, what about you? What are you most proud of in your life? I don’t know what your answer is, but when it comes to my Study Abroad experience, I am most proud of a key life concept that I am continuously trying to improve upon, daily…surrendering myself to God. I can definitely say that I would have never thought at the start of the semester that this would be my ending answer to this question, but here we are!

If you had the opportunity to read my previous blog, you may recall that I admitted to having a problem with the need for control in my life. I like to know what is happening, when things are happening, why they are happening, and every detail in between. (Maybe you can relate to that…) But being here in Ireland, I have had to embrace the idea of adventure, spontaneity, and surrender. Due to being in a different country with things FAR beyond my control, I had to quickly learn to be okay with absolutely anything and everything! From silly bus moments and miscommunications to school work and personal growth, everything came down to me turning to God and asking Him to help me surrender myself and the things in my life to Him, and Him alone.

There was a moment that I had with God just the other day where I had a real heart-to-heart with Him about my future. I have been feeling incredibly conflicted for quite some time, but through sobbing, prayer, and surrendering, I felt a veil of God’s grace and the peace that passes all understanding, drape over my mind and body in a way that was so touching that much of my anxiety dissipated in an instant. There is no need for control when absolute perfection is already in control of my life. This has been a missing puzzle piece in my mind for a while, but God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good! He promises to be with me, to guide me, to bless me, to forgive me, and to show me the way in Jesus’ name – and he promises these same gifts for you too! I can now surrender to Him with joy (which has been a goal that I wanted to accomplish), and I am proud of myself for overcoming this adversity by looking to our Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

Question #2: What would you do differently if you could?

Answer: Travel More

I know that may sound silly to you, that I wish I had traveled a bit more (considering I traveled to a different country to study), but I wish that I had had more time to travel outside of Ireland. When choosing my modules at the beginning of the semester, I had options to choose classes that would fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, which would have left me with four-day weekends each week. Those weekends would have been the perfect time for me to travel outside of Ireland to the surrounding countries and gain a better understanding of European culture, thereby expanding my perspective.

Initially, when I wanted to study abroad, traveling all over Europe was a main goal of mine; however, it became less feasible once I selected my modules for the semester. I made the choice to proceed with my chosen modules and give up my travel time, but I don’t regret it. If I could go back to the beginning, I would probably still have chosen the modules I did because I gained immense knowledge from my classes, but I would have thought more carefully about whether or not I was willing to give up potential travel time.

This past week, Laura and I traveled to London for a few days, and we had an absolute blast! We decided to be spontaneous with our time, but that led us to make incredible memories and try new things! We had to learn the new public transport system and find our way around the city, pushing us out of the comfort zone of Ireland! Upon returning from this fabulous adventure, I have been thinking about how many stories we could have made if we had traveled outside of Ireland a bit more. However, the Republic of Ireland is a stunning place with many hidden gems that we got to experience, as we spent the majority of our time in the country.

Question #3: What will you incorporate into your life back home?

Answer: Daily Routines and Habits

The semester before coming to Ireland, I was an absolute disaster. I was taking far too many classes, involved in too many extracurricular activities, and I was not taking care of myself as I should. There were nights when I got the least amount of sleep, only 30 minutes. That is not good. I was having issues with hair loss and a variety of other symptoms indicative of someone who was not caring for themselves.

Coming to Ireland, I was hoping to use this time as a complete “Katie Reset”. I can say with joy that I have most certainly accomplished this task of a “Katie Reset” – thanks to a gracious God! Do you have any daily routines or habits that you just cannot go a day without doing? Up until this point in my life, I hadn’t experienced these daily refresh moments, but I can attest to the fact that they are marvelous and exactly what I need to stay focused, motivated, and healthy.

Over the course of this semester, I have implemented 6 daily habits into my life that help me to “just be” in the moment and care for myself mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually!

Morning Devotion – I start my day with a Bible reading, devotion, and prayer with the intent of keeping God at the forefront of my mind from the very beginning of the day!
Afternoon Devotion – At some point in the mid-day, I give myself the gift of more time in God’s precious Word! I use the Bible App on my phone to contemplate the verse of the day and say a few prayers!
Night Devotion – I end my day with another devotional book that has a verse, a reading, and a prayer. I use this as the last thing my eyes look at before I close them to sleep.
Read – I love personal reading time, but I have never given myself the grace to “read for me” in the middle of a semester. So, I give myself 10-15 minutes to read for fun each night before bed!
Journal – Right before my personal reading time, I write in my prayer journal. Basically, it is a long, written prayer to God that details everything that happened in a day and that is on my heart and on my mind! It’s a beautiful way to connect with God and let myself not hold onto things that are weighing me down – surrendering them to God!
Workout – I strive to give myself a workout of some kind every single day. Workouts have included walking, dancing, pilates, and yoga. No matter what, I strive for some form of daily movement.

I challenge you to think about things that can help you to care for yourself and “just be” for a few moments, even when life is absolutely crazy, living in a “doing” culture!

Question #4: What are you most grateful for?

Answer: Irish Dancing

I know, complete shocker!! 😆 But, it’s true! I could not be more grateful for God giving me a semester where I had the opportunity to dance all the time! I didn’t really realize just how much I had been missing dance and how happy it makes me until I got to dance every single week for 3 days!

I know that I have mentioned this in a previous blog, but a few years ago, I had a doctor tell me that I needed to stop dancing. He told me that my body couldn’t really handle the amount of dance I was doing anymore, and it absolutely crushed me. If I could dance every moment of every day with no pain, I would! So when I was told this news, my world shattered, and I struggled with an identity crisis, a career crisis, and feeling like my world was upside down. I have endured those thoughts and feelings regularly for the past two years. But after having time in Ireland to reassess my situation and the gifts that God has given me, I have been able to find peace and joy.

The festive, social dance qualities of Ceili dancing make this type of dancing something that I can do with relatively little pain. Having the opportunity to work closely with my Professor, Pam, this semester and to learn so many incredible Ceili dances has given me the opportunity of more permanent dance capabilities for my future! I am grateful to God for showing me what I can do with my body in the realm of dance and for giving me the gift of movement that brings me incredulous joy!

Question #5: How have you seen God’s hand in your experience abroad? What unexpected blessings or provisions have you seen?

Answer: God Winks

Wow. There are so many facets to these two questions that could be explored, but my most concise answer is: God winks. God’s marvelous, all-knowing hands have been an integral part of this entire experience. I have had monumental conversations with various individuals about God and His undying love, which are undoubtedly guided and touched by the Holy Spirit. I have embarked on many new opportunities that pushed me out of my comfort zone, and God wonderfully blessed each and every one of those circumstances. When I was feeling uncertain, anxious, and stressed, God provided me with people in my life who could rebuild me and point me back to Him. There were times that I found mini notes of encouragement in my daily planner or that I opened a letter with the exact words that I needed to hear in that moment, and without a doubt, God was behind all of it.

God was with me in every moment of every day and in every step that I took. No matter what I was doing or where I was going, I could always reflect back on an experience and see how God was working in my life! There are too many of these scenarios to count or to share with you, but I ask that you trust me when I say these things – God is unbelievably good.

For one of my modules, I had the opportunity to craft and teach an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lesson to a group of Ukrainian refugees at the UL AccessCampus. At the beginning of my teaching practicum, I was really unsure of what I was getting myself into and I wasn’t feeling super excited about it. But throughout the process, it was undeniable how God was using this experience to broaden my perspective and help me to be more passionate about the power of movement than ever before!

I decided to teach them a lesson using the theme of ‘Movement and Feelings,’ and I taught them the “Cha Cha Slide”. From there, I used the lexis from the lesson to have them tell me how they felt while dancing. This whole opportunity became something that touched me deeply. These were the words that I used in the end of my reflective report from this experience:

“There was a moment while everyone was dancing the “Cha Cha Slide” when I looked around the room and saw smiles on everyone’s faces. I felt electric energy surging through the room. It was an unreal moment. Yet, it was a moment that confirmed my deepest beliefs and passions regarding the power of movement. When everyone walked into the classroom that day, there was a sense of weight held within the air. As the lesson began, the weight continued to linger, yet it began shifting. It was in this auspicious moment while dancing that this weight dissipated into the atmosphere. Everything about class from then on changed. The students spoke about how dancing made them feel “energized,” “excited,” “amused,” and “delighted.” This confirmed for me the immense healing power of movement—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This moment and this entire teaching experience will be a treasured memory that I will hold with me in my heart and in my mind for the rest of my life — I am truly grateful.”

Truly, I am grateful. This teaching practicum was an unexpected blessing that I could have never imagined. The thoughts that I had regarding movement and how this experience connects so deeply with my passion for Dance Movement Therapy were undoubtedly a God Wink. This is just one particular example of how God has been at work in my life this semester, and I could not be more thankful to have a God who cares so much about each and every one of us.

Question #6: What advice would you give future semester abroad students?

Answer: Just Try

For any of you who are looking to study abroad (or try something completely new), my advice for you is sweet and simple: just try. Allow yourself to be led by God, surrender to Him and His wondrous plans for you, and just give everything a whirl! You will never know if you don’t try! Let yourself be okay with being comfortable in the uncomfortable. Put yourself out there. Talk to people – you never know what kinds of conversations you may have and who you may be able to share Jesus with! 🙂 Try new things: new extracurricular activities, new modules, new food, new travel, new transportation, etc. Without a doubt, my greatest experiences while being abroad have come from me doing things that I have never done before, and in the past may not have ever considered doing. Let yourself be curious and follow the line of curiosity until you reach the very end of the rope. Most of all, know that God is with you every step of the way, blessing you, guiding you, loving you, forgiving you, and providing for you – you are never alone, and you are always loved by your Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ! Keep Him at the center of everything you do, and He will bless you!

Highlights from these past weeks include:

House 35 Thanksgiving Celebration (we made a small turkey breast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and pumpkin pie to celebrate)
End of Module Assessments Complete (I have officially finished all projects, performances, exams, reports, presentations, and teaching practicum opportunities)
My TESOL Practicum (my teaching experience with the Ukrainian refugees was an unexpected delight and a forever, treasured memory!)
London Trip (Laura and I went to London and were able to embrace many, many opportunities! We got invited to sing Christmas carols in a church choir that was in Trafalgar Square – an unexpected blessing and God knew that my heart needed that! We saw many of the sights of London, went to the National Gallery of Art where we saw art from Van Gogh, Degas, and Monet, went to Phantom of the Opera on West End, went to Pooh Corner just outside of London – a quaint tea house dedicated to Winnie the Pooh, saw The Nutcracker Ballet at the London Coliseum, and ended our time by attending the WELS London mission for church on Sunday!)
PVA Award (I received the Silver President’s Volunteer Award for volunteering 44 hours to a variety of organizations on UL’s campus over the course of the semester)

Low-lights from these past weeks include:

End of Semester Stress
Feeling Helpless
Overcoming Sickness

Learned Insights from the Low-lights:

You know it… you’ve felt it…it’s (drum roll please!!!)…”END OF” STRESS! No matter what your life has looked like, I can guess that most people have experienced that heightened sense of stress at the end of a month, year, semester, etc. And yep, you guessed it, that has been what I have been feeling these past few weeks. Sometimes the work feels never-ending, and it is so frustrating to feel like your feet are constantly stuck in marmalade! 🙄 Yes, these are true feelings, but how can we flip the switch and find the good? Well, if we are feeling these feelings, then we are likely people with jobs, an income, food on the table, an education, or a variety of other blessings that some people in the world could only ever dream of – maybe this stress can become a gratitude after all?!
Unfortunately, while I have been abroad, some of my family members have not been doing well with their health. One family member is currently in the hospital and things are not looking the best. It is really, really hard to be away from home at such a large distance and hear about these challenges. At many moments, I feel completely helpless and sad that I can’t be there or do anything for anyone. But the reality is that even if I were home, there is still nothing that I can really do because everything is already in God’s loving hands, anyway. This takes us right back to my section on surrender. In these challenging moments in life, there is nothing more that we can do than look to God for peace, strength, and comfort. Through prayer and surrender, God will take care of everything according to His good and gracious will, and we can rest in that comforting thought.
While Laura and I were in London, our terrific housemate, Nessa, came down with a pretty serious illness. She is doing much better now, but we are all doing our best to care for our bodies and not catch what she had. You know that feeling when someone in the house is sick, and you don’t want to get it because you have something coming up that you don’t want to miss, so you are ‘walking on eggshells’ around the whole house and finding every possible natural remedy in existence to try not to get sick? Maybe you have had this experience, maybe not, but I am here to tell you that this has been our experience! To flip the switch, in moments of sickness, it makes us that much more grateful for the times that we do have our health. We really can’t do a whole lot if we are not healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – another amazing reason to establish daily self-care habits and routines! 😉

Scripture that has been with me these past few weeks:

John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Romans 15:5 – “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”
1 John 4:19 – “We love because he first loved us.”

This has been an incredibly blessed semester, in more ways than I could possibly ever recount. I felt a strong pull and calling to be here, and I have often wondered why. Now, I am leaving here, and I know for a fact that God has used me in His precious plan. There is nothing serendipitous about the fact that God placed me exactly where He needed me at exactly the right time. It brings me endless joy to know that I have served God to the best of my ability while I have been here. I have learned so many things about myself and others, and I have grown in unimaginable ways. I am truly thankful for this experience and for every single person in my life who has helped me, supported me, and encouraged me on this journey – I could never have done it without you! May the Lord bless and keep you always!

Until I see you again, Slán! (Hehe, that’s Irish for “Goodbye” – I just thought you might want a little something extra! 😁)

Okay…for realsies this time… 😋

Peace, Love, Joy, and Jesus,

With Endless Amounts of Joy and Love,

Yours Truly,

Katie Gilkey