God is So Good!!!

So..like every New Year's I spent some time reflecting on the past and praying for the future. Last night we had a lecture by Eis about giving up the garbage in our life and letting God be glorified through our weakness. Understanding German is getting easier and easier. After Eis spoke there was a sharing time. About 4-5 people shared what God has been doing in their lives this past year. I was able to sit next to a girl named Andrea and she shared a bit about her life with me after the service. What an amazing wonderful God we have. He gives us so many blessings. Andrea became a Christian 2 years ago and since then she gave up her life's work in physiotherapy and has been travelling where God wants her. She spent some time in Sweden at Holsby and some time here at Tauernhof and is currently working as a nanny in Schladming for a non-Christian family. She was a student here and God continually provided for her as she was unemployed and was unable to pay for schooling and missions on her own. She shared with me that people she didn't even really know, were giving her money. Now as a nanny, she has an amazing opportunity to reach out to the family she is working for. Also I was talking with another person about life and he shared that 2 years ago he was in Holland while going to Bible School and that New Year's Eve he got drunk and was put in prison. Now he is working here as staff and is engaged to a lovely Christian girl. God sure does know how to stretch a person and how to get their attention. He did that to me on my trip over here. First I was stuck in the Airport in Winnipeg for 4 hours longer than I should have been. This caused me to miss all of my connection flights. I had never travelled abroad before, never been on a jet, never been on a transit bus, never been on a train. After many hours of waiting in Airports I got to Salzburg, where I was supposed to board a train to Schladming. It was 7:30 in the evening and I had to wait for a bus to bring me to the hauptbahnhof. I didn't speak any German and I was hauling two suitcases and a backpack around weighing up to 110 lbs. God sent someone along to help me get my luggage on the bus and off the bus. Then I walked into the trainstation which was by this time deserted. It was 8:30 in the evening. I had no idea where to go or whether there were any trains still going to Schladming. I walked up and down too many flights of stairs to count. All of the Elevators were out of order. I think my arms literally stretched a foot. :) I finally wandered into an area with payphones and was able to call Eis and Maja. All the staff here had been expecting me in the early afternoon that day and Maja had been to the trainstation 3 times already. They were having a Christmas party and they told me to find a hotel room in Salzburg and come the next day. They didn't know the city well enough to tell me which hotel though. This brought me to the next problem. All through this time I was unable to call mom and dad since I didn't have a calling card. I was in Salzburg more than 8 hours later than expected. So..now to find a hotel. After walking up and down a few more staircases I found a ticket master's area. I was able to ask for help to find a hotel room. At first they weren't really interested in helping me, but I explained the situation to them (almost in tears) and they finally realized that I was desperate. They gave me the name and directions for a hotel a couple minutes walk away from the trainstation. All through this time I was praying like crazy and feeling a bit panicked. I wasn't going to spend the night in the trainstation!! So I took the directions and started walking down the street hauling my huge bags after me and walked for a long time before I realized that they had given me backwards directions. They gave them to me as if they were facing the opposite way. So I turned around and asked someone on the street for directions to Elizabeth Strasse which the hotel was on. I finally found it, but it was crazy. It felt like I was just walking aimlessly in a guessed direction and all of a sudden it appeared in front of me. So..I was at the door, but I couldn't get inside. The door was a foot and a half step up and it swung inward so I couldn't heft my suitcases and open the door at the same time. Luckily the Reception person heard me trying and came to help me. I got a room and took a shower and fell into bed. I slept for 3 hours before waking up, sick to my stomach from something I had eaten on the plane. I couldn't go back to sleep, since I was jet lagged. That was when I truly took some time to cry out to God. I was still feeling anxious about the rest of the trip the next day, and I was hungry, and I didn't have any idea what I was doing here anyway!! I just really wanted to go home! I read some of the Psalms. I can't remember which ones, but they were about being distressed and God defeating our enemies. I realized at that point that I had been trying to do it on my own and it obviously wasn't working. I thought back through the hours of travel and thought of all the people that God had put in my way to help me. I felt so needy and truly humbled by this. I told God that it was in his hands to get me safely to Tauernhof. After wrestling in prayer for a while, I finally felt at peace enough to go to sleep again. The next morning I got ready and went back to the train station. The same ticket master who helped me the night before had told me to come back to him in the morning and he would help me get a ticket and get me on the right train. Another angel in disguise!! :) I was sent to my platform and I ate the apples that the Reception person had given me at the hotel (it was too early for breakfast and he insisted on giving me something to eat). I wasn't too sure how to go about getting on the train. I finally walked to where some people were standing and asked some guy (totally a twin of Dan Macloskie) to help me with my baggage. He loaded it up for me and I sat down and waited for the train to start moving. This was my favorite part of the whole trip. I had a direct train and didn't have to switch anywhere, so I was able to just relax and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. Wow!! was it gorgeous! All the while I was just praising God for getting me so far. I got to Schladming and asked another guy to help me get my baggage off the train (why aren't guys more gentlemanly at home?) Then I was at the trainstation and no one knew that I was there. I had to buy a phone card and use it to call Tauernhof for someone to come pick me up. My first day here is just a blur. I know I helped with cleaning, but I really can't remember much other than falling into bed that night. (craving a cheeseburger and fries) :) So God has brought me through and he is still showing me how powerless I am and how much help I truly need all the time. :) Pray for me as I continue to learn the language here and as I serve through cleaning and cooking. I want to be gracious and humble. What a hard lesson!

'For we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair' 2 Corinthians 4:8