As we made it to Oslo, the realization came that we may be spending a night on the cozy benches of an airport cafe. Trying to be the optimist, I threw out the idea that we should make a sign asking if someone had a place we could sleep in Oslo City. Well let's just say that we ended up sleeping on benches in an airport cafe. As much as I love Norwegians they are not so keen on picking up three strangers late at night, but then again who is? Giving up on the dream of a warm house and comfy beds we headed back inside the airport, our next mission: feeding our grumbling stomachs. I had previous experience getting free food from the airport's pizza restaurant, and this time was no different except for the fact that instead of sneaking the abandoned pizza from the table top, I explained that we were poor travelers and asked if we could have the left over pizza. Without any hesitation the guy said yes and gave us 4 pieces of delicious cheesy goodness. Once again we were on a "food provision high", thankful to not have to go hungry to bed that night. As we hunkered down with our sleeping bags we got ready to turn in for the night. Sleep came easy too some, to others finding a comfortable position was a struggle. I was one of the lucky ones, snoozing peacefully until something hit me in the face. I groggily opened my eyes to see a man and a woman dressed in uniform, looking down at my friend and I. My heart almost stopped, this is it, we are finished, tomorrow I will be put back on a plane to the homeland! They asked what we were doing and told us that if they ever saw us do so little as blink our eyes for to long they would call the cops. We were escorted off the premises and ended up sleeping in a field by the side of the road. Hah, No just kidding, That would have been a lot more exhilarating, but they just told us to keep sleeping and make sure we were careful when we hitch hiked. We woke the next morning, freshened up (as much as you can in a public restroom) and hitch hiked to Oslo! We were standing in the drop off area for maybe ten minutes when a Filipino man maneuvered his way over to us (reversing, almost hitting another car, etc) and told us to hop in! He drove us all the way to the central station in Oslo which was our main destination for that morning. Once again God's faithfulness shines through! Hallelujah! We were unable to find food for free so we ended up spending $3 on some raisin buns. As I stood there looking out at the bridge of people passing by I saw a homeless man, immediately after seeing him I felt God nudging me to bless him in some way. All I had to offer was a breakfast bun and a prayer but I felt the Holy Spirit continually pushing me to give the little I had. Praying for him was a really great experience, to see the smile on his face, and to see how much it meant for him that somebody had taken the time to stop, talk to him, and extend a hand of kindness. I've been learning that obedience to God in the small things can bless others more than you can imagine, but will also leave you feeling blessed. Each day I am challenging myself to listen more to God during daily life,
who can I bless, who can I pray for, how can I share the love of Jesus with those around me? For what we do to the least of these we do for Jesus himself. Our journey continued as we found the bus terminal, tried to find a way to get free tickets, failed, and then bought them anyway. Part three will premiere tomorrow, stay tuned!
As we made it to Oslo, the realization came that we may be spending a night on the cozy benches of an airport cafe. Trying to be the optimist, I threw out the idea that we should make a sign asking if someone had a place we could sleep in Oslo City. Well let's just say that we ended up sleeping on benches in an airport cafe. As much as I love Norwegians they are not so keen on picking up three strangers late at night, but then again who is? Giving up on the dream of a warm house and comfy beds we headed back inside the airport, our next mission: feeding our grumbling stomachs. I had previous experience getting free food from the airport's pizza restaurant, and this time was no different except for the fact that instead of sneaking the abandoned pizza from the table top, I explained that we were poor travelers and asked if we could have the left over pizza. Without any hesitation the guy said yes and gave us 4 pieces of delicious cheesy goodness. Once again we were on a "food provision high", thankful to not have to go hungry to bed that night. As we hunkered down with our sleeping bags we got ready to turn in for the night. Sleep came easy too some, to others finding a comfortable position was a struggle. I was one of the lucky ones, snoozing peacefully until something hit me in the face. I groggily opened my eyes to see a man and a woman dressed in uniform, looking down at my friend and I. My heart almost stopped, this is it, we are finished, tomorrow I will be put back on a plane to the homeland! They asked what we were doing and told us that if they ever saw us do so little as blink our eyes for to long they would call the cops. We were escorted off the premises and ended up sleeping in a field by the side of the road. Hah, No just kidding, That would have been a lot more exhilarating, but they just told us to keep sleeping and make sure we were careful when we hitch hiked. We woke the next morning, freshened up (as much as you can in a public restroom) and hitch hiked to Oslo! We were standing in the drop off area for maybe ten minutes when a Filipino man maneuvered his way over to us (reversing, almost hitting another car, etc) and told us to hop in! He drove us all the way to the central station in Oslo which was our main destination for that morning. Once again God's faithfulness shines through! Hallelujah! We were unable to find food for free so we ended up spending $3 on some raisin buns. As I stood there looking out at the bridge of people passing by I saw a homeless man, immediately after seeing him I felt God nudging me to bless him in some way. All I had to offer was a breakfast bun and a prayer but I felt the Holy Spirit continually pushing me to give the little I had. Praying for him was a really great experience, to see the smile on his face, and to see how much it meant for him that somebody had taken the time to stop, talk to him, and extend a hand of kindness. I've been learning that obedience to God in the small things can bless others more than you can imagine, but will also leave you feeling blessed. Each day I am challenging myself to listen more to God during daily life, who can I bless, who can I pray for, how can I share the love of Jesus with those around me? For what we do to the least of these we do for Jesus himself. Our journey continued as we found the bus terminal, tried to find a way to get free tickets, failed, and then bought them anyway. Part three will premiere tomorrow, stay tuned!
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