Last Tuesday, I was looking back on my past via the TimeHop app and I saw it: a beautiful picture of the Duomo in Florence, Italy that I’d taken 7 years ago. It was my first glimpse at the Duomo. A glimpse that changed everything. In my heart, the fire started in that exact moment. A fire fueled by exotic towns and adventures. A fire that hasn’t died out.

As I stared at my phone screen, I went back in my mind to all of the places and people and phrases that meant so much to me seven years ago. I thought about how different life had been pre-Europe. And as I went down that path, I realized that that was the moment…the real moment. The moment when who I was was completely transformed.

Here are a few lessons I learned while living abroad that I hope will remind me to be who I want to be (and am called to be). Maybe they’ll help you as well.

It was in Europe that I learned that I could gain the whole world and lose the one thing that truly mattered. It is so easy to mis-prioritize, and I am thankful that I was given days and weeks to make up for the things that could have been lost forever.

It was in Europe that I embraced the significance of Biblical cultures. I fell in love with New Testament geography and stories while living in Italy, and those moments and travels have shaped classes and podcasts and personal Bible studies. And they’ll forever change the way I read through Paul’s epistles.

It was Italy that reignited my passion for writing. You cannot sit beneath the vast skies, watch the glow of orange sunsets, and skim the green, rolling hills around you without wanting to write it all down. My writing for travelers class (and specifically my professor Jenny Towns), showed me that writing could mean something. Writing could do something. Writing could free me from weights and burdens, while simultaneously helping others shed their own.

Living abroad taught me to love other people. It forced me to live with 25 other people who were not like me and not all of whom I particularly got along with the whole time. But those months (and long train rides) showed me that everyone is, at their core, good. Everyone has God’s goodness inside of them. Everyone needs compassion. Everyone needs forbearance. Everyone needs the benefit of the doubt. Not only the people you don’t get along with, but also people of all different races and cultures. Living abroad will open your eyes to what it means to be human, and to see people through the lens of Jesus.

Living abroad showed me how small I really am. It is so easy to get caught up in my own bubble of a world that I forget the struggles and triumphs of millions of other people. I forget the unique trials they face. I assume everyone is experiencing life just like I am, but that is such an injustice, and it will hinder me in personal evangelism. Recognizing that people are different, with all kinds of backgrounds and stories and experiences, will help me in reaching them where they are, leading them to the One who is the same for all of us.

Finally, living abroad saved me. I remember countless moments where I sat and cried with dear friends. Moments when I felt the high walls of bitterness and resentment and unworthiness crumble. Moments when my eyes were opened to the greatness of God, the power of His gospel, and the plans He’d always had. I don’t know where I’d be without those experiences. Without the aha-moments of being capable through His strength and being worth His dying on the cross.

I know I am who I am today because of those three months abroad. I lost a lot on that trip, but I learned a lot too. I changed a lot on the trip, but hopefully only for the better. Some of the immediate changes were rough, sure, but I think over time they’ve smoothed out into exactly what they should be. I am beyond grateful and thankful to my Almighty Father for having these plans for me. For allowing me to experience things that hopefully will impact others for the better. And I pray that I will always look for God in my life. Be it grand adventures or simply the day to day grind, I want to be a servant of the Lord.

*For more glimpses into my life abroad, you can visit this post or this post or even this post.