Day One: DETOUR

Well it is midnight and I am supposed to be on a airplane over the big blue ocean. That, however, is not where I am. I am sitting on an airport bed in new york city. Due to shaky weather on the east coast, I missed my connecting flight and am stuck in "airline limbo" until tomorrow. 

So, I'll make lemonade out of lemons and spend the day in the city tomorrow. I am planning on getting up early and taking the subway to my cousin's apartment for lunch. I have no suitcase (of course!!) so I am going to look like a wrinkly, smelly, tired mess walking the streets of new york city but it will be an adventure. Thank you, continental airlines, for giving me a complimentary toothbrush, plastic comb, razor and hairspray. I can only imagine that any problem I run into between now and when I finally get my suitcase back can be solved with those four things.

If this is any indication of what my journey is going to be like- I am going to come back a much stronger and interesting person. Bring on the detours. 

you never know who lives through your experiences

Yesterday my mom's friend called me completely out of the blue to thank me. He said he had received the letter I had sent to everyone who helped me financially with my mission trip to Jamaica and that it had prompted him to go on a mission trip to Ecuador. He said this was the best experience of his life and that he planned on going back again next year. While that letter about my experiences and the lessons I learned in Jamaica may not have been given a second thought by most who read it, for my words to have encouraged another to do God's work is a huge triumph. 

The same scared that I felt before that Jamaica trip is what I am feeling right now about this London trip. Afraid of the unknown. But if the appreciation for another culture and the lessons I learn there can encourage even one person to do the same thing these butterflies in my stomach are worth it.