September 14th, 2015
Rebecca and I got up at 5:00am. I finished putting away
things I had used that morning and I also Skyped with my family for the last
time in Vienna.
I had enjoyed every opportunity to be able to talk with my family every morning
and night that week. I can’t believe that our team was in Vienna for only one week! The time went by so
quickly. Mrs. Porter assigned a journal day to each person and Rebecca and I
were assigned Saturday for our journal day. We wrapped up our journal day and
headed downstairs to the lobby. The hotel had prepared sack breakfasts for each
choir member. How considerate of the hotel to do that for us!. As our choir
loaded the bus we all said our farewells to Jackson and his mom. They have
family who live in Europe so they were going
to stay an extra week.
We had a great drive to the airport. The sun was just rising
and we were all in good spirits (well most of us, some of the girls got sick on
the trip.) We arrived to the airport on time, checked in, went through security,
and headed to the plane. The flight was long and tiring, but it was very
encouraging to think that I was going to be home soon and see my family. This
trip has reminded me how comfortable Americans are. We have everything there at
our fingertips and yet we often complain how we don’t have such and such when
there are people across the world that don’t even know where there next meal is
coming from. I am so comfortable in America
and when I went to Vienna, I felt a little
nervous; even though Vienna
technically isn’t really a “third world country.” I was having bitter sweet
moments on the plane. I was excited to see my family and be in my home again
and yet it was sad to leave Vienna
because that was where my first missions trip happened. We all have created
wonderful memories together and have grown so close to each other. I really do
hope that we made an impact in Vienna-whether
on the streets when we sang, at the festival with our listeners, but especially
with the refugees who needed a cheery distraction from their difficulties of
life.
Once we were seated in the airplane and we started taking
off, the screen in front of me showed a map. I located where Israel was and I couldn’t believe how close I
was to Israel,
and yet I still wasn’t able to go. Lord willing someday I will be able to make
my dream come true and go to the Land
of Israel. I watched a couple of movies on the plane,
slept, read, I wrote in my journal, ate yummy snacks/dinner, listened to music,
and talked with my friends. I sat in the same row with Mrs. Ellison, and Emma
#1 which was fun because they were watching Newsies, so I was able to watch a
little with them. ;)
When we were flying through a little chunk of Canada about to enter America,
we all had to fill out a U.S.
customs and Border Protection… my first one ever to fill out. When we landed in
Chicago, Illinois
I had a terrible headache. That wasn’t fun at all, but thankfully my dear
friend Kira let me lean on her shoulder. We all loaded off the large Austrian
airplane, walked through a large tunnel, and came to a long line. We waited in
the line for maybe 30-45 minutes and finally came to some Kiosks. I had no idea
what to do, all I knew was that they were for customs border check. I just
followed the directions and went over to help some of my other choir members
after I was finished. After we were all done, we then waited in another line to
show our Border Protection slips. We all went through safely and then collected
our luggage. We all dropped off our luggage to a check-in-desk, went through
security again, and then I called my parents to let them know that I was back
in the states safely. We talked for a while and they were glad to hear that I
had arrived safely. I am giving a play by play but I am hoping this will help others
who have never traveled to and from internationally but may do so in the
future.
Kira, Emma #1, and I
all bought yummy kettle and cheddar popcorn from the famous popcorn shop:
Garret Popcorn! I bought a sandwich for dinner and we boarded our plane to go
home after our five hour lay over in
Chicago.
I sat 12 rows in front of the rest of my choir which felt really nice to be by
myself because I wasn’t feeling that well. I was able to have a nice journal
time, eat, and sleep. 30 minutes before landing in
Denver I felt like I was going to throw up so
I distracted myself by looking out the window at the beautiful clouds that were
colored pink and blue because the sun was starting to go down. I looked over to
the lady on my left and she was doing videography on her computer. I asked her
about her business and she was telling me all about it. She was an extremely
nice lady and she was going to
Colorado for a
business trip from
Ireland.
She asked me how to get to some places in
Colorado so I was able to give her some
directions. It was fascinating to meet her and be a witness as well.
I went off the plane, waited for the rest of the group to
catch up with me and then I headed to the restroom to freshen up and see if I
could start feeling a little better. I felt a little better afterwards. We all
then headed up the escalator and as we reached the top. There was my wonderful
family waving a welcome home sign with big smiles on their faces!!! It was SO
sweet of them to do that for me and show that kind of love. I felt really
special and missed. It was great to see them all finally and give each of them
hugs. It was much better seeing them in person rather than talking over Skype.
I have never been away from my family that long and I had really missed them.
We headed to pick up my luggage, said goodbye to all of my
choir members and Mrs. Porter, and then we headed out. It was so weird to say
goodbye to everyone because we had spent so much time with each other. We all
have been through so much together, seen so much, and being together a whole
week it kind of felt like we were a mini family. :) My family and I picked up
chick-fil-a for dinner on our way home because I was really hungry but I didn’t
want much food with not feeling well. While eating dinner, I shared some
stories from the trip. I honestly didn’t feel like I was gone for a week and I
didn’t even feel like I had just been across the world.
I can not thank God
enough for the opportunity to be able to go to Vienna to sing and share about His truth, word,
love, mercy, and forgiveness. If you were one of my prayer and/or financial
supporters I thank you again with all my heart for your part in my being able
to go. May Father bless you. It was an amazing journey and experience. I keep
thanking God for the opportunity that He gave us to sing to the refugees,
people on the street, different schools, in Cathedrals, and sing to people from
all over the world. His faithfulness and love is just amazing and I was able to
experience even more of it on this trip. I pray that He will show us all where
to go next and that He will continue to keep building us each up. I want to
travel the world, serve Him, and share about His love. I look forward to the
future to see what He has planned. As Mrs. Porter was sharing and inspired me
one day, “We can see the sights, or we can be the sights.” Let’s keep all of
our eyes wide open and listen to what He wants us to do next for our Abba
Father.
Mark 16:15, “And He
said to them:
Go into all the world
and proclaim the
Gospel to the whole
creation.” NLT
No comments:
Post a Comment