Up, up and away
8/26/2014 9:42 PM
Today was the day… I got up at 3:37am, showered, hugged everyone, and headed up to PDX with mom. We arrived at 5:53am and we went to go check in. We ended up accidentally getting in a line that was for canceled flights, but we got that figured out pretty quick with the help of a lady who was behind us and was also on my same flight, and got my two suitcases checked in. Security was a breeze (surprisingly) and I headed over to my gate. It only took about ten minutes before we started boarding. I found my seat, which was a window seat thank the Lord, and got settled. Two other girls my age were sitting in my row and we were able to chat about our adventures. The girl right next to me, Georgia, said that she is getting her Masters overseas in Vienna and is from Saint Paul, Oregon. (It's a small world after all!...Now that I've got that song stuck in your head, I will continue…) This is the start of her 4th year and she only has to do one year more to achieve it. I told her that this was my first time traveling overseas and all my plans for Bible college.
After getting off the plane, we ended up exchanging contact info and she told me to get a hold her if I ever needed any help or if I was ever in Vienna. So cool! Also, the lady who helped me earlier who was on my flight, came and found me to show me where the flight board was. She made sure I knew where to go and what to do before she left. Again, so cool! God was blessing me and keeping an eye on me. After we figured out where the flight board was, I found some food and tried to kill time.
I had over three hours before my flight so I charged my phone a bit and texted everyone. Finally, it was time to get in line to board and I met a family that was going to Edinburgh with their daughter who is going to study abroad for a semester and study music. We all boarded the plane and I got another window seat (yay!). This time I was sitting by a couple that is flying back home to Scotland. They live right outside of Edinburgh so I was able to chat with them about the country and such.
The second flight was about 7 1/2 hours and only had a few times of turbulence. The sunset was gorgeous so I was able to take a few pictures. After it got dark, we went through a huge lightning storm! It was so beautiful, and slightly scary, but kept me entertained for quite a while. It started out small and random with a few thunder clouds that you could make out when you saw the flash of light. After a bit, a huge thunder cloud appeared with tons of lightning bolts throughout the cluster. It didn't seem like we were going through it, but rather sliding past. When the lightning bolt would flash, it would light up the entire cloud! The clouds being all bright made it look like we were in some kind of deep canyon instead of being 1,000's of feet in the air. While watching the "show", we were served dinner, chicken penne with salad, bread, and a brownie for dessert. The lightning storm reminded me of the lyrics of the hymn "How Great Thou Art" which caused me to sing it too myself. "Oh Lord, my God. When I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the roaring thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displays."
Thank you Jesus for keeping me safe and putting a song in my heart in the midst of the storm!
