What a day...
The flight from Beijing to Frankfurt was super crowded... the food was great... I'm not too picky and the flight attendants were all super attentive... I guess that's why they are called Flight Attendants???
I drank lots of coconut water, which was super refreshing. And they had delicious tea. But I did not have any coffee or Coca Cola... For the 'midnight snack' I had a chicken bun. Then for breakfast, I had congee. The mid-flight snack was just chocolate cookies. I took three as they'd be good before a run!
The fight landed and the airport seemed so huge... I'm thinking: Have I been to this airport before? It was like a maze and not very many restrooms... and no hot water dispensers... I finally found a restroom and then went through customs and got my bag... That was all done very efficiently.
I tried to ask about the donation box. No one knew where it was located, although they all knew that there was one: somewhere. I found the post... but it doesn't open until 9am. DARN IT!
So I proceeded to find the long distance train ticket counter... wow... it was in an 'office'. And the train ticket to Antwerp was not 'cheap', more than if someone buys it via the internet. I got the ticket for the 8:48 train from Track 7. So, I walked down and stood on the platform. A train came at 8:39 and I got on... and in two minutes, it took off. And I was thinking: something is wrong! I looked at the seats and they showed that they were reserved from one point to another point and the destination point said: Dusseldorf! What? I said out loud: is this train going to Dusseldorf? The passengers all looked and three or four of them actually responded with a nod! In utter shock and disbelief, I said: I need to be going to Brussels!
One lady said: Let me see if I can help! She got on her phone and started typing! "The best thing you can do is take this train and get off at Koln. BUT, this train is going to Koln South. You need to take a "S" train to Koln Main! And then...perhaps you can catch the train to Brussels." She wrote down everything, including the track number and the time. If not, what would be the next train from Koln Main to Brussels! And from Brussels to Antwerp! The worst case scenario: I'd get to Antwerp at 3:34 instead of 12:03!
Well... I stood all the way to Koln South... and before getting off, I thanked her. I run to catch the S Bahn (train). I took the train one stop to Koln Main. I run to the track... WOW... ICE 316 was late! By 12 minutes! But now, I might not catch the 11:33 from Brussels to Antwerp as the train now is delayed and won't arrive to Brussels until 11:38! The train to Brussels was so packed... The conductor said that if the seat has a green light, it is available. But every seat had a red light! It turned out that several trains were cancelled and the lights were all jumbled! Thus, everything was showing RED! I sat down as the aisle was packed with people. And soon, people came who had the reservation for the seat I was sitting in. I walked down to the next cart... no seat... And I walked down to the next cart: now the lights were changed! GREEN was appearing quite often. I found a seat and sat down and read my Bible and prayed, just giving thanks!
The train arrived in Brussels and I run to Track 11 from Track 5, where the train to Antwerp Central was to be... but it is already 'late'. I looked up at the sign on Track 11: Antwerp Central, 11:33. What??? A train pulled up... I asked several people before just hopping on: Antwerp Central. And they all nodded! I get on... I arrived at Antwerp Central at the original time of my original purchased ticket! 12:03!!!!
The station looked huge... Again... I'm thinking: was this station like this some four years ago when I came with Isaiah and Abby???
Nancy and Serge were there already... and they took me to the coffee shop where I had sparkling water! I was so thirsty!
We drove to their place and I'm amazed! "Is this the place I was at where it was only a shell and nothing much was built up around the area?"
Their place is beautiful! They took out a delicious spread of cheese and cold cuts and we sat and talked and talked and talked. At 2:45 (which was 8:45 Taiwan time), I got on and prayed with those at House of Praise. And after that, I got a tour of their place and they put me up in their huge guest room with my own bathroom!
I unpacked and then went out for a walk about... I didn't find a running route.
I didn't want dinner... I came back up and changed into my pajamas. I blogged and I went to bed by 7pm.
Wow... what an amazing day!
The Lord did it... He carried me through!
He can redeem all our mistakes.
He provides people who are so very helpful on this journey when we take a 'wrong turn' or in my case, hop on a 'wrong train'!
Daily Lovely Insight:
Seek Him First!
