"hopefully (I'll run into) God in strange places."
So, how did that work out? I have to be honest that I didn't pray with random people, see healings, or specifically "see" God in some supernatural way...
and yet.
There were a few things that stuck out to me.
I think it was missions adjacent. It was fantastic, because I was just at a table with some very real people, talking about some very real issues (and of course some silly things).
At the end of the meal, a couple sitting in the booth at the other end of the room gave me a thumbs up. I think it was because I am a "missionary". So that was interesting, because most people just look at me with a blank stare when I talk about what I do.
Literally, there was a guy in the airport who just said
"hmm, I didn't know that that existed."
So God was there.
These conversations always came back to family.
There was the children. The lack of children. The desire for children. The expecting of children.
The not sure of how to handle children. The future of children.
There was that early morning coffee shop, talking about the difficulties in navigating our families, and the difficulties in talking about those families with others. Again, does a perfect family even exist? There are probably far fewer than we imagine.
There was the guy in the airport, nervous about traveling to Europe for the first time. He wasn't really nervous because of his layovers and seat assignment. He was nervous because
"I have never left my family. People don't understand, once you have a family, that changes everything."
That struck me. This young guy, traveling to Europe, was thinking about his wife and child back home. I don't know what he believed or who he was, but that rang out.
God was there.
Most of us sit next to some empty chair. I can think of several people who I'd like to sit down with- some of which I will not have a chance to, at least this side of eternity. That really hurts. I was thankful for that one person who let me just cry for a while. I needed that with you.
I don't have any sort of bible verse to put here, something that usually really annoys me, but I'm just going to leave it there. I THINK that God was in a lot of places, and that he caught my attention when I was interested in listening.
Thanks again to all the hosts I had. 6 different beds, 4 different states, 1800 miles driven. Several restaurants, lots of homemade meals. It was a pleasure to see you and I hope it happens again very soon.