Blistering Knees: Wrecked Plans

Has God ever wrecked your plans? Or maybe He has thwarted your plans? Often, I don't see it as God changing my plans until later. This week is a big holiday in Cambodia. It's called "Khmai New Year." Most foreigners like to travel to nearby cities or even get out of the country. Most local people travel to their home towns to spend time with their families. This makes the big city of Phnom Penh really quiet. I love it!

I was supposed to travel to the Philippines, but God seemed to have other plans. My friends and I were supposed to travel to Vietnam and fly from their to the Philippines. We did it this way because it was cheaper and we would get to see a little bit of Vietnam. I went to Vietnam 2 years ago, and they give a visa when you get to the border crossing. Well, as we got on the bus and began to leave the city, the bus attendant collected passports which is normal. Then he asked where our visas were. Hmmmm.... We thought we were supposed to get them at the border. He told us that we had to get them beforehand. He called, "Stop the bus." Yes, were those people who got kicked off the bus for not knowing all the logistics. So we rushed to the embassy, to find that it would cost us $100 to buy a double entry visa just to fly through Vietnam. So, then we looked into flights straight to Vietnam, and we tried to book a flight, and thought we had it booked. Upon arriving to the airport, the desk attendant told us that we only had the itenerary, not the actual tickets. Ugh!!!! We asked if we could book tickets at the counter, and she said, "no, everything is online." Then she said, "But, you will still need a visa, to go out of customs and back in." What???!!!! By then it was 4 pm, and our fight was leaving Vietnam in 5 hours. There was no way to get a visa and make it to Vietnam. Then we checked new tickets to the Philippines, but they were now over $500 round trip. Money was lost on non-refutable flights, plans were wrecked, and we were stuck in Cambodia.

Well, we came to the conclusion that God didn't want us to go. For me, it has been the best thing that could have happened. God knew exactly what I needed, as HE always does. These last few days have been amazingly restful, full of good times with the Lord. Life gets so busy sometimes, and we have no space to hear from Jesus. I need times when my brain can be empty and ready to hear from the Lord. Oh Lord, help me to make this space in my life!

I've played some soccer, run and biked around an empty city, spent time with some Cambodian friends, drank some great coffee, and read a few good books. Perfect!!!!