Delays delays delays...

Germany is famous for its punctuality. Particularly their trains. If it is late, it's maybe 5 or ten minutes. And their trains had never been down, at least not it the last 30 years. Until Tuesday. Tuesday I arrived on a flight from Seattle 15 minutes late. Not bad right? Then I got my train ticket and waited for my train. When it was supposed to arrive in 5 minutes, the train station closed. The whole thing. They evacuated the station due to trouble with the roof. Well, I think that's why, they evacuated in German.

And then proceeded to, with a great deal of difficulty, redirect us to the main station in Frankfurt. This took me 4 hours as there was no trains going anywhere. None. The entire ICE train system was shut down for over 4 hours. No one went anywhere. Trains stopped in the middle of nowhere. People everywhere were freaking out. And the main train station was getting really really busy. And still no trains were going to the airport. It was, as you might expect, a very big mess. People were tired, and stressed, and frustrated. I, myself, spent 7 hours in train stations, rather than the 20 minutes had my plane and train been on time. And the trains that did eventually run were all going slower. So my 4 hour trip, took closer to 5. Why am I telling you all this you might ask. Well as it was happening I was trying to figure out what I'd say about it. What God was saying to me in the midst of the craziness. And several thoughts occurred to me. I considered writing about God's sense of humour, and how it so often not our sense of humour. The day before I left I preached a sermon including the idea of letting go of schedules. I thought about writing about those times you just want to yell at God. When frustration gets the best of you, and you're sure God is punishing you for something, anything, because this darn trip will never end and you'll never make it where you're going and no one can tell you why the last four trains you tried to take never arrived. Anywhere. They just vanished. But in the end, my trip to Hamburg ended up being about the little things. Getting to sit beside the person from Hamburg on the plane, because he made the connection because the flight was delayed. Meeting gracious information booth people, who after being yelled at by at least 6 people in a row, still greeted you with a smile to help you figure out a different train, that might, you know, maybe eventually come. To making the final stretch of your trip with an expat and a native German, who shared their favourite parts of German. To the night ride on a train. Still, quiet, and peaceful, when the rest of the world is asleep. That morning as I went for a walk, watched the sun come up, and tried to process any thought (I'd been up for almost 40 hours at this point). I couldn't help but think of all I'd have missed if everything had worked as it should. Including all of how I spent the next day. And these are certainly memories of my trip I will treasure. I already knew I had a lot to learn about how and where God will speak, a reminder always seems to come at the most startling moments.