A traveler's miracle

Let me tell you, my traveling luck is quite a spectacular one. Sometimes the trip works out smoothly, but for the past years the balance hasn’t been so much on the formidable side. In short, I lose bags, I lose flights, and I lose money. I comfort myself by saying that one day my air travels will make for amusing stories to my grandchildren. I used to absolutely love flying, people watching in all those big airports and making friends on the plane, but then some bizarre things happened to me while traveling. Ever since then I am a bit fidgety each time I fly since I subconsciously expect something bad will happen. Well, as I said, bad things don’t happen always, and I am now learning to appreciate even the bad that I stumble through (e.g. realizing that I can live pretty comfortably for a month without the clothes that I thought I needed so much since they had to be left at home after I’ve missed my check-in). 

However, I am grateful to God that this time around I don’t have to “praise Him in the storm”. Instead, I can thank Him for a safe and hiccup-free journey from Lusaka all the way to Vienna (at this point I am still sitting in Cairo airport so anything could happen, but I am living by faith :D). I have to confess that I am not a master at Philippians 4:5 (you will love it if you like incredible challenges), where Paul gives the advice not to be anxious about a single thing but instead rejoice, rejoice (he actually said it twice), pray and give thanks to God while being honest about what I need. He attached a great promise (which is good for one’s blood pressure as well)- the peace of God surpassing all my understanding, will guard my heart and mind. Simply put, don’t stress and you won’t stress! Understand why I’m not that good at it? Trying to worry about my flight leaving on time (or leaving at all), my luggage being handled by some elusive airport staff, what I’ll watch and eat during the flight, the weather forecast for my destination and the rest of the globe I’ll be covering, digesting all that at once can give you a bit of a headache. No wonder I need some supernatural dose of peace. I tried inducing it by myself but it rarely works.

So, my lesson. I spent my 10-hour layover in Cairo praying, thanking God for the journey so far, and taking deep breaths to kill the physical stress and the anxiety over whether I will have to pay 150 euros for my 2^nd piece of checked luggage. But of course I did other fun stuff as well (for those who might not find praying and mental exercises amusing- I understand you); I also surfed the Internet, read and explored the airport. My mind got distracted from the stress and I actually enjoyed the day!

I liked this billboard in one of the airport halls. Although I don't appreciate classifying one people as 'the greatest' (it's been here a few times in the past and you know what it caused), it's nice to commemorate a revolution in this way.

When I finally went to the Austrian Airlines representative to pick up my last boarding pass of the trip, I was praying some more and singing in my head, only to learn that nobody cared about my second bag and that I was free to board my plane to Vienna. So I can say it worked! 

Four and half hours later, I am hugging my crying mom and two crazy brothers whom I haven’t seen for a year. What a miracle!