The First Travel Miracle

When I was 19 one of my dear friends went to Bible School in Sweden and that inspired me to sign up to go to Bible School too, but I didn’t want the same experience as her or to be compared to her so when I was putting the schools in the order I wanted to attend them I put the one she went to last, and second to last was the school in England because I always felt that if I was going to travel to Europe I wanted to experience a place that spoke a different language. So I was assigned the school in Germany. 

As the time approached I realized I didn’t have to money to go to Europe so I called the school and told them I would have to re apply to come the following year. Honestly I never thought about it again after that until a year later when I got a call from a girl who was headed to that school asking if I would like to travel with her. I told her that I wasn’t going because I still didn’t have the money… Then it hit me that I did have the money. My father had recently given me an inheritance from the sale of my grandmother’s house and that was enough to take the trip!! Except I had not applied for this school year so I needed call them to see if there was room for me or if I could be put on the waiting list. 

 

“Before Bible school, my 21-year-old self thought, ‘One last hurrah,’ and showed up in Germany hungover, high, and rocking men’s boxer shorts over leggings—unforgettable, to say the least!”

 

This was August, school started in September, I didn’t even have a passport yet. So I called not thinking about the time difference, a very sleepy person answered the phone and I very excitedly said “This is Melanie Ward, I applied last year but didn’t have the money but I have the money now so can you put me on the waiting list?” The reply was simple, “There is no waiting list, come.” and they hung up. So that race was on. I needed to apply for my passport and get all the clothes needed for a year in Europe!! I filled out the paperwork, got the photos and handed everything in on a Monday 3 weeks before I needed to leave. This was 1989 so passports did not come quickly, hell they still don’t! 

My neighbor across the street who had been to Europe and had gotten a passport reluctantly warned me that she didn’t think I would get my passport in time to leave. I said, “Nope it is going to come on time, I can feel it.” That Thursday 3 days later, I went to the mailbox and my passport had arrived!!! That was my first travel miracle!! There are many more to come. Getting everything I needed for my trip went very smoothly and after 3 short weeks I was on my way to Germany to go to Bible School. Did I speak German? Nope!! I had attended a Lutheran school from K-4th grade so there was a bit of it in my head that I didn’t realize was there.

Did leaving home scare me? A little bit but not more than the adventure of going somewhere far away excited me!! I had no idea what was in store for me. Now let’s talk about the religious aspect of going to bible school. As I said I had attended a Lutheran school when I was younger so I knew Jesus loved me, and I was involved in Young Life in high school even though there was no religion in my home or that I remember my extended family having or following, but I have to be honest here, I was not going to Europe to go to bible school I was going to bible school because it was in Europe. This might actually be the first time I did something for the wrong reasons and things turned out very right. 

I remember my 21 year old brain thinking, “You are going to go to bible school and after that you will never sin again so I better have one last hurrah so the night before I left I went out drinking, smoked pot (which I never really did) and stayed up all night and showed up at the airport hung over high and exhausted, or and let’s not forget what I chose to wear to travel internationally, I had my hair in braids not nice braids just braids hanging off my head, and I wore a multi colored Donald Duck sweatshirt and leggings with mens boxer shorts over them!! That is how I arrived in Germany!! 

Well this is where I will leave it for now. Stay tuned for more bible school and life in Germany stories. 

Until next time

Ms Melanie

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