Right now I'm sitting in the Atlanta International Airport eating lunch and what an adventure it already has been today!! My flight left Omaha at 6:30 a.m. Central Time and I arrived in Atlanta around 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. I'M SO PUMPED!
After arriving in Atlanta I thought to myself "huh...I have a 7 hour layover here...what am I possibly going to do for 7 hours?!?!" Then I realized OH! Maybe there's a church nearby that has a service at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. I got online really quick and searched for a church. After I browsed through a few one popped up called "Grace Midtown Church" (http://midtown.gfc.tv/) I looked at the website and glanced over what they believed...saw that there was a service at 10 a.m. Wrote down the address, packed up my bags and I was off! While I was going to ground transportation the whole time I was thinking, "what the heck am I doing?! I don't know my way around Atlanta. I hardly know anything about this church...does it even really exist? What if they typed the time wrong on the website?? What if it was different this week?" So many questions went through my head but I was like "Shoot...I'm on my way to South America...I've got 7 hours to kill...might as well do something cray cray...let's go to CHURCH!" I got in a cab, told him the address, got to church maybe like 30 mins late. Walked in and was stoked! There's just something about being surrounded by the family of Christ and worshipping Him together. I sat in the back because that was the only seat open.
The sermon was great, or at least what I heard of it, talking about Christ and taking up our cross and following him. :) At the end I talked to a couple people and one of them mentioned that the train that could take me back to the airport was within walking distance and only cost about $3.50. After a sweaty walk in the sun wearing jeans, a tshirt, and cardigan (because I'm gearing up for 60 degree weather year round!) and my backpack on my back and mandolin in my hand I was at the train station and then made it back to the airport and now here I am waiting my flight to Bogotá!
I must add though what I was most encouraged by with this Atlanta mini-adventure and probably what God wanted me at this church for happend at the end of the service: we had communion while singing a song with the lyrics,
Where you go I'll go
What you say I'll say God
What you pray I'll pray
What you pray I'll pray
So with the mixture of singing those words and taking part in The Lord's Supper, a powerful reminder hit me: It is because of our Savior's Body and Blood that hung on a cross and was shed for all that I am able to go where He goes, say what He says, and pray what He prays.
I totally take this expereience as the Lord's personal commission he had divinely set up for me. Ooooh why is He so good to me?? I am so unworthy and yet He chooses to use me and lead me to Colombia to do His Will of preaching the Gospel to the nations. What a blessed trip this has already been and it's only the beginning!!! I don't know what else to say other then, "Here am I, Lord...SEND ME!!"
