Countdown: 5 Days...

At 11:25AM on New Years Day I will be leaving for Ethiopia! I am extremely excited about the opportunity to enrich myself in a new culture; however, I am scared to death about my flights so keep me in your prayers. Incidentally, my plane ticket processed as two separate round-trip tickets as opposed to just one. What this means is that I have one domestic round-trip ticket from Portland to New York and back with Delta...and I have one international round-trip ticket from New York to Ethiopia and back with Lufthansa. Well, since there is no "connecting flight" I will have 1.5 hours in New York to get my luggage, re-check it at security, and pay for it again. In addition, I have to pay for extra luggage in Portland since they won't recognize that I am flying internationally. Further, if the weather delays my flight out of Portland...then I don't even know what will happen since I have no "connecting flight" (technically speaking). And if that confusion isn't enough...I hate flying by myself.

The last time I had to fly by myself I was traveling from Madrid to New York to home and I had a 5 hour delay in Madrid that made me miss all of my other flights and forced me to change airports entirely in New York. I cried for over 3 hours because I was in the midst of a pagan country where no-one spoke English or shared my personal convictions. Then...God sent me an angel. A man named Mike walked over to my side and in perfect English struck up a conversation with me. He coincidentally was a Christian and he was on the same flight as me. In fact, he had ALL of the same flights as me straight from Madrid to Maine AND he was in first class. Mike did not leave my side for the entire trip and he made sure I got all my luggage and got to the new airport safely. He also gave me his first class ticket. ...I am so certain that this man does not truly exist if I were to try to find him again.

So who knows...Perhaps God will send me another angel this time around. ;)

-Nicole