"Hotel Buses"

Several weeks ago, a dear friend of mine told me a story. At the time of said storytelling, I was kinda absorbed in/overwhelmed with all of the unknowns and 'what ifs' of my travels to Africa and my time there. As the story goes... she and her family were traveling and spending the night in a certain city. When they arrived to that city (with incredibly complicated roadways) they found some difficulty in locating their hotel (I won't say they were lost =). After driving for some time, and unable to locate it, they stopped while at a red-light and prayed that God would help them and show them the way. Right after they finished praying, they noticed a hotel bus ahead of them that was for the very hotel they had reservations for... and they followed it right to their hotel. My friend encouraged me that God would provide 'hotel buses' for me on my trip.

So, I want to share a few of the 'hotel buses' that God provided for me in the last week while traveling and getting settled in Africa...

When my flight from Little Rock landed in Chicago, I had to switch terminals and go to the international terminal on the other side of the airport. I'm easily confused by airports, and wasn't so keen on such a treck by myself. As I exited the plane and started walking down the terminal we had landed at, I heard an announcement overhead about the bus that takes travelers to the international terminal, and it told me exactly what gate (gate E2A) to go to to meet that bus... long story short, from the time we landed to the time I arrived at my gate to Brussels was less than 20 minutes!

Then I arrived in Brussels and made it to the terminal that all African flights leave from, and sat down at the gate feeling alone and very far from home. I sat down in a chair without really paying attention to those around me... and about a minute later, the person sitting behind me started a conversation with another person sitting there and low and behold he had an unmistakeable Texas accent. =) He and I started talking, and he was Mercy Ship's staff as well...in fact he is the head of the orthopedic surgery department on the ship and had been traveling with Mercy Ships for years and years. He had wonderful advice about traveling, getting through customs and immigration once we arrived, and adjusting to life on the ship.

Another fabulous thing that happened was getting stranded in Brussels overnight because of a flight cancellation. And... some flights were combined, so instead of their being one other Mercy Ship's staff on my flight to Africa as I had previously thought... there were 24 of us all stranded in Brussels together. We were put up at the same hotel, and that day was absolutely wonderful getting to know each other. So by the time we all arrived on the ship, we were like a little family, and it wasn't just a huge ship full of unfamiliar faces.
We all arrived healthy and in once piece... and not a piece of luggage was lost in our group. These are just a few of the 'hotel buses' along the way...it would take hours to tell of all of them.

I learned such incredible lessons through this experience, and my faith in the care and power of God has grown immensely. Before I left, I was almost sick with worry and uncertainty about some things (which I shouldn't have been), and all of those things turned out even better than I could have hoped for.  So anyways... this is kind of a long post, but I hope it encourages each one of you in how absolutely incredible and personal our God is. He has the whole entire world in His hands, yet he cares about the 'miniscule' things that matter to me. And it's taught me even more about not being anxious for ANYTHING... because what good did it do? It was a valuable lesson that was put to the test last Monday on screening day...in all that uncertainty and chaos, I had no anxiety or fears of being injured... because I knew I was in His capable, caring hands... and not even a sparrow falls without His knowing.

Anyways... I got my laptop hooked up to the internet this afternoon, and guess what that means?!?! pictures coming soon!!! =)