Beginning a New Adventure!

 

Lake District, England

Al and I began a much anticipated trip to Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland on Thursday morning, September 17^th when we said good-bye to the dogs, put our luggage into the car and locked up the house. Because the flight was scheduled to leave from LA very early on Friday, we had decided to drive down on Thursday and spend the night in a hotel close to the airport.

  We left home with a prayer that God would watch over everything while we were away and that He would be with us on the trip. Even though our neighbors would be helping with the dogs and keeping an eye on the house while we were gone, I still had mixed emotions. It is always hard leaving home; yet there was also excitement about visiting those countries for the first time.

   On the way to Los Angeles, we stopped in Bakersfield to visit two nieces and their children. One niece just had a baby, Garrett, our twelfth great-nephew!  The other niece and her family have recently moved. It was a good opportunity to meet the new baby and visit with the two families. I loved holding little Garrett.

   Once again on the road, Al had to drive through heavy traffic, especially going south through Santa Monica. It was almost dinner time when we reached the hotel.  I unpacked the clothes we would need for the flight the next morning while Al checked the email on the laptop computer before finding a place to eat dinner.

   As we got into the car, a man who was standing on the sidewalk in front of the hotel with a large blue suitcase motioned to me. He was holding a paper with a handwritten address of a backpacking hostel. The city bus driver had just dropped him off and he didn’t have a clue where the hostel was.  

  “Would you please take me there?” he asked. Al put his suitcase into our car and drove to the address on the paper, which turned out to be the Hollywood Park Casino! The fellow was visiting the US from Japan and spoke enough English to communicate with us.     

   “Is this the hostel?” he wanted to know. Not quite! Someone must have given him the wrong address.

    Al remembered passing a hostel on the way to our hotel, so he turned the car around and traveled about two miles in the opposite direction. It would have been a long walk, first in one direction and then in the other, especially pulling that big suitcase.

    After checking with an employee from the hostel to make sure he was in the right place, he came back to get his luggage. I handed him a baggie of supplies, food and a small booklet about Jesus which he readily accepted, before bidding him good-bye. By the time we found the restaurant, it was after dark. Dinner that night tasted very good!

    Thankfully, we had a smooth flight to New York the next day. While waiting at the JFK airport, two ladies spotted the green name tags we were wearing and flagged us down. It turned out that they were part of the same tour group!

    We finally landed in Shannon, Ireland on Saturday morning and were met by the tour guide, David Reid. It was raining and noticeably cooler than our climate in California. Even though Al and I were tired after so many hours of travel, we were excited at what lay ahead.  It was apparent that God was directing our steps from very beginning and would be with us on this new adventure.  

    Look for more about our tour of the rural areas of Great Britain and Ireland in future posts. In the meantime, may God direct your steps as you acknowledge His presence in your life and walk with Him every day.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV