The first of many travels

Dearest friends and family back home in the States,

I am alive and well in the Czech Republic! I can hardly believe that today continues the second of many fine weeks that lay ahead here in the heart of Europe. Thinking back upon all that has transpired as I sit here looking out my window at a crisp autumn day and taking tea and biscuits (courtesy of some dear Aussies), I wish I could call you (at a price not astronomical) so we could chat together about life. As I would be broke quite shortly after starting that venture, I guess this other form of technology must suffice.

Many things have passed in so little time; yet, it seems easy to know where to begin. David proclaims in the Psalms, “With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.”

It was quite a journey over to this foreign land. Yet does He not define the meaning of “trustworthy?!” And so it was time to step out of the boat. Walking up to the ticket counter in the lovely Hartsfield-Jackson airport, a different clerk stepped up behind the counter of British Airways (all of whose employees are British mind you) and called me forward. Upon flipping to my Visa, she paused and looked back at me. “You are going to the Czech Republic (a country of 10 million people)?” she questioned. Nervous, I nodded in affirmation wondering what could be wrong. “I married a British man,” she continued, “but I am Czech.” She went on to upgrade my seat, give me all kinds of tips and advice, and sent me on my way with her best wishes. I knew the truth that this journey I had begun would be too great for me and all I could do was give each moment back to the One who is faithful. Moment after moment during the following two days of travel, God was.

I began reading “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne. He writes of how Christians have “insulated” themselves from miracles. We have assured ourselves of our every need and desire, and so in our minds find no need to ask God to move. Well, arriving in a foreign country where all you can ask is “Do you speak my language,” is one way God has of stripping away the bubble wrap. Missing the last bus to Brno after a two hour plane delay with temporarily “misplaced” luggage is another. Each “instance” was one of praise as the Lord forced me to see that I have utterly no control over anything and He holds the WHOLE EARTH in His beautiful hands. Miracles now have faces in my memories (though somehow I never managed to get a single name from my companions, just a few chuckles when I would ask about who these people helping me were. God must have found my attempts at small talk quite amusing!)

So finally at 2am I arrived in my new home, Brno, Czech Republic. Yet, as I got off the bus I knew I would have no way to contact anyone to receive me but the Lord. I had no international cell phone, no Czech change to use a pay phone, and it was 2am. There weren’t exactly hordes of people milling about. Peace became tangible though as God made it clear that He is Good and desires to provide. And He did. I got off the bus, hoping someone else would get off also so I could ask to use their mobile to call my Rotary host sponsor even though it was such an awful hour. Quite soon, I realized no one else planned on getting off. Such are the plans of man! The only other people on the platform were three guys. Two got on, and the third just stood there, looking at me, as if waiting for me to speak. So I asked him in Czech if he spoke English. “Yes, let me take you where you are going” he answered in a beautifully familiar language. I had not even had time to ask him to borrow his phone. And so, by the Lord and Him alone, He brought me to Vinarska, the place I live now.

The journey has only begun but already He has done so much for me. I came to serve Him, yet it has been Him providing for me. My heart cries out with Mary, “My soul magnifies and extols the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked upon the low station and humiliation of His handmaiden.”

Praise the God of heaven and of earth!