Snow topped mountains. Lakes. Quaint wooden houses. Forests. The view as my (now very delayed) train chuggs along on my way to visit a friend in the south of Norway. It's such a beautiful view which even the greyest of days (like today) can't steal.
I just ate some vestlandslefse enjoying the sweetness of the sugar and the softness of the bread. A very Norwegian flavour to accompany my view (which is a lot more at a standstill than I would have liked).
It's been a restful yet also slightly hectic few days since coming home.
Last Thursday one of the women from the windows in Amsterdam shared her plan to leave prostitution and her need in order to do so. I said I would pray and ask others to pray as well. But suddenly the choice to share a need for prayer turned into a fundraiser as God started to respond to the prayer.
I was completely taken off guard. I guess I should have anticipated it, but in the busyness of preparing to come home for Christmas I didn't think it through.
Choices. It's amazing how every little choice determines our current state of being. How each choice leads to another choice which makes the road as we walk on it.
Choice. Would I have chosen to put out that prayer need if I'd realised what it would become? A demonstration of God's care and abundace towards this girl. His gentle shout to her that: "You can trust Me. I am committed to your life and to My plans for you." I hope so. Even in the hecticness it is worth it. She is worth it and God us worth having His goodness shown to her.
Choices. In the midst of gathering funds and numerous emails with different people to figure out with no preparation time how we would receive and pass on this demonstration of the Father's love, it pushed us right into the One who was orchestrating it all. We chose to include Him in the process, asking for communication to happen when there was no connection with the girl who was being set up to get blessed so abundantly.
Choices. She could have said 'no'. Her shame could have held her back. She could have believed the lie that she had to sort out her own messy life. She could have simply not come.
But she chose to receive.
Just like one day she chose to say 'yes' to Jesus and chose to get up early to come to Bible study. She chose to share her need and she chose to receive the answer to the prayers on her behalf.
She still has many choices ahead of her. Choices that will be hard and will require her to trust in a God who is good. But this is a good beginning of the rest of her life and I am thankful I got to be a small part of her journey.
And so I sip my strong free cup of tea with thankfulness. A delayed train doesn't matter in the big scheme if things and so I choose to enjoy the journey even with the unexpexted and when it's not always as planned.