With no jet lag to battle, this week so far has been a lot better than I expected. On one hand, it is good to see familiar faces again, and on the other, I really miss the hustle of the places that I have visited while in North America. Each city has its own charms and really depends on what you feel like. For example, Vancouver has really nice hiking trails and outdoor-sy stuff, San Fran has nice suburban houses, New York has a certain bustle that just cannot be placed into words that I like and Chicago is a nice town with a lot of potential.
There is a lot that I have experienced during the month that I was away, mostly was good and something that I would encourage people to try the same because there is nothing quite like it when you travel alone. For example, eating and drinking solo. You can somehow be in a conversation with a completely random stranger and learning how to start the conversation with others usually brings you to unexpected areas. And I think one of the things that I learned from travelling alone is that while you strike a conversation with strangers and generally having a good time then, it gives you a renewed sense of gratitude towards your own friends.
Other times, you learn that sometimes the strangest things happen to you and even stranger still are the ways in which these things end up resolving. The one thing that will definitely be a story that is worth telling over and over again (we are talking grandkids story telling worthy here) is the time that I lost my wallet at the airport and the utterly extraordinary way in which I got back my wallet with everything intact. I have contemplated whether I should spill the beans here but I think I have decided against that. It's a bit lengthy but more importantly, it is the delivery that matters and gives a much bigger impact to the listener. Detailing every thing here makes it look very sterile and somewhat less extraordinary than it actually is (seriously, this one's a doozy). So, to those out there reading this and really want to find out, let's do it over coffee (or better yet, cocktails and/or bourbon). This story will now supersede the story of how I was mugged (albeit rather noobishly). Actually the mugging story has now been relegated to third place because of the story of the lost wallet and another somewhat embarrassing story that also took place while I was touring around.
I've had a good long self reflection time while waiting on the plane to get back to Melbourne and I can clearly see that God has been protecting me for the entire trip and even taught me a lesson or two about how God has everything under control. About 3 months back, the pastor of my church asked the congregation to secretly write out our rants about God and the cards that we wrote on will be mailed back to us after 3 months for us to look back about what God has done during those 3 months. I've mostly forgotten what I've written but when I came back home, I got the card back. I mainly wrote about how I don't know where God is leading me and what the future holds and that I have to fend for myself, that I feel the absence of God. I think just looking back at the past month itself has been a testament that God has definitely shown himself and that he has shown that he is working in all things. While I still worry about the future, I think much has been given to me to have full confidence that God is not absent nor lazy.
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