People Are Crazy

"God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy."
Thank you, country music.
No beer quite yet, but the other two are definitely pertinent.

Laura, Jenna and I have arrived (finally) in Finland and are sitting in Pauliina's parent's home smelling a wonderful dinner cooking. They are so kind and wonderful.
After that marvelous drive to Philadelphia area, the adventures have only escalated.
We (Laura, Bobby and I) missed our first train yesterday morning, so my uncle raced across town and got us to another train station in plenty of time to catch our original train. Brilliant!
We got to Philadelphia and caught a train to Trenton where we had to switch to a train to New York. No worries, plenty of time. A few stops from Trenton, Bobby realized he had his passport in his computer bag ... which was back in Doylestown with my uncle. A quick phone call to my uncle and he is on his way to meet us in Trenton to deliver the passport. A saint! Truly, a brother IS born for adversity, and rescue. Praise the Lord he works at home. We catch the next train to New York, which thankfully is early and doesn't put us too far behind schedule.
Laura and I make it to Newark to meet Jenna, Bobby finds his way to JFK and calls us to say he was at his gate and in time for the plane. Victory! (in Jesus ...)
The flight was long, but fine, entertaining, but not restful at all. Then the descent happened ... We descended in a storm cloud with lightning all around and wicked mad turbulence. The lightning was the second thing on my mind. The first was my lurching stomach. Which did end up turning over and giving my breakfast of orange juice, ham and cheese and yogurt an encore performance. How disgusting. In the airport I changed into my pajamas and bought a sarong to cover myself up. The next flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki was uneventful and much more smooth. I haven't prayed so hard in a long time. But praise the LORD we have arrived in Helsinki with all our luggage and all our limbs!
Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Amsterdam and then on to Budapest to sleep and then get up in the morning and take a four-hour train ride to Sarospatak.
Dinnertime! Thanks for your prayers. We covet them very much and will keep you updated!

Be well!

Riding Along in My Automobile

Short post.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG car ride to Philly area.
Lots of traffic. Lots of stops. Little cruise control.
Almost rear-ended a semi who stopped in the left lane on 70 in OH for no reason.
Almost hit a Mexican who decided to stand in the middle of 276 in PA for no reason.
Didn't do these things.
All are in whole pieces. (oxymoron?)
Staying with uncle and aunt and family and loving it!
Last night of sleep and bathrooms in America. Mixed emotions. Mostly excited.
Also.
Braindead.
Full stop.

Great is Thy Faithfulness

First let me thank everyone for their interest and support! I'm so pleased and honored and floored to have such a fantastic group of friends! Truly!

The adventures have officially begun. The LORD answered every prayer today ... every one ... even the silly ones ... like "where are the power cords in Wal-Mart, Jesus?"

Somehow ... miraculously ... today we fit three people, three people's stuff for a month and a cello in a giant travel case into a new Honda accord! Unheard of! Laura, Bobby and I got in there, fairly comfortably I might add, and drove a couple hours down to my place in Muncie. It was great!

We ran some errands, replaced my little camera, picked up some grapes, cherries, pizza, etc. and are now thoroughly enjoying "Muppets Take Manhattan" while doing some laundry.

Tomorrow we pack up the car again (hopefully with a little less stuff) and head off to Philadelphia where we'll stay with my Uncle Dan's family and leave the car for the month we're gone. Wednesday we hop on a train to Newark to catch the first of many flights!

Time to rest up!