Love is a Universal Language : Traveling Tales

Originally, I had started writing this blog post about all the wonderful reunions and the great time I had back in Minnesota; yet, as I sat down to write on my five hour layover in Amsterdam (which was also delayed), I found God was prompting a different topic. Still, at the end of the post, I included some of my favorite pictures from Christmas break for you to enjoy.

As my mom dropped me off at the airport this morning, she commented on how sending me off on the airplane to Czech is feeling like an "old hat." I had been feeling the same way about traveling - actually, I was dreading the long, boring flight, hours of sitting, moving through security check lanes like cattle, and the inevitable jet-lag that shadows the journey. No more than ever have I wished for the superpower of instant transportation! So there in the TSA line, I wondered where the sense of adventure in traveling had vanished to. I wondered if seasoned missionaries also feel similarly while traveling, and then God reminded me why I endure long flights and airport chaos - the people. I thought of all the friends and kids that I was looking forward to seeing again in Letovice and how grateful I was to be in Minnesota surrounded by family and close friends for Christmas. As I continued to converse with God, words from my high school youth pastor rang through my head as the Great Commission echoed like a familiar song. My youth pastor had taught that the original translation for this last verse in the gospel of Matthew is not simply "go," but "as you are going..." It was as if God had reminded me that I should not only look forward to the familiar people I will see again, but I should continue to be on the lookout for new friends he will place in my way as I am traveling.

I boarded my first flight - the long one. As I reached my seat, I found another young girl sitting in my spot. (I request the window seat so I can sleep better.) Politely, I told the girl that she was in fact in my seat. She looked at me with big eyes and said, "Please, it is my first time flying, and I want to see the view." My head was saying "but sleep... try to beat jet-lag... nice window seat..." but my heart spoke stronger, "you remember your first flight." So I sat down in the aisle seat and made a new friend. (Once it got dark, my new friend and I switched seats as she was no longer interested in the view and I had the window to lean against as I slept.) She had her eyes glued to the window for the first hour just watching the land be pulled out from under us. Afterwards, we talked for a bit about where we are traveling and what we are doing in Europe, and I beamed as I shared about Elim, the kids, and ways God is working in Czech.

Once arriving in Amsterdam, I basically spent my long layover chasing the many gate changes for my next flight. There were approximately five gate changes that I moved around to only to have the final gate change be the original gate! It was helpful that I had almost six hours to kill anyway and actually greeted the walking happily after sitting all day. At one of the gates, I found a nice lounging chair at the end of a quiet corridor that would have overlooked the runway if not for the heavy fog that hazed in the morning air. I slid down in the chair and flipped open the book I had been reading throughout the trip. However, the silence didn't last long as a family with three little girls also came to the dead-end corridor in hopes that the girls would have a bit more room to move around. Secretly, I loved it. The sound of kids laughing just seems to energize me. I don't believe the parents were as thrilled though as they both looked completely drained; yet, I peered over the edge of my book to watch the little girls call each other on their toy phones and erupt in giddy laughter.

The family then left to try to get closer to the gate, but returned about three minutes later. The mom caught my attention and apologized that they were returning with her energized children. I explained that I was a teacher who studied how to work especially with younger kids and actually didn't mind at all that they had returned. The oldest daughter (approx. 5 yrs old) saw me talking with her mom and asked her mom, "Are you best friends?" That must have encouraged the middle sister (approx. 3 yrs old) as she began climbing up on the reclined chair with me and pointing to the colorful shapes on my shirt. The giggly three year old kept inching closer to be right next to me on the chair - I thought she would just sit herself in my lap! Her mother must have felt bad that she was "distracting" me, and tried in all her efforts to involve the little girl in something else - playing with toys, taking her dolls on a picnic, drinking hot chocolate - and nothing could peel the little girl from sitting on the chair with me. I didn't have any toys or candies, I just had a smile. The mother exclaimed, "she must just sense that you are a preschool teacher!" I simply nodded in agreement, but later as I was walking to my next gate change, I realized it was probably not the fact that I had studied preschool education, but the complete truth that God's love is shown through us as Christians - and the innocence of a child seems to be first to see this love through others.

Throughout this journey, I was reminded again of the impact we can each make for God in general, daily situations - simply by giving up my window seat for the first half of the flight and letting a little girl climb into the chair with me.

Extra - One last story from my travels today for your enjoyment. :)

After a bit of wandering in Amsterdam, I decided to sit in a little lounge area for a while instead of continuing to make my way back and forth on the moving sidewalks following the ever-changing gates. I found this fun lounge that they made to look like a park with fake trees, fake plants, fake grass, fake logs, fake recorded sounds of birds, but one little guy wasn't fake... yeah, that's a mouse (tiny little thing, so the picture isn't the best quality). Still, he got closer to me than I would have expected! I would like to know how he got through all the security checkpoints without a passport though...