Processing.....

"You ready?" Hal Young asked me as he walked onto the middle floor.

I had been up all night by myself in the common room of the middle floor. It was 6:00am. All of my earthly possessions were crammed into the suitcases that sat on the floor. I had been dreading this moment for a long time. I was the first one of my team to leave...

"....yeah, lemme go say goodbye."

I walked up the stairs and all of my girls were up....some of which had been up all night also. I heard a pained moan from one of them as I walked into the room...some already had tears in their eyes. I had decided before I came up, "You won't cry". I lied. One by one they stood up and hugged me. I have done some difficult things in my life, but I can't think of anything that was more difficult than letting go of those girls after each embrace.

"Alright, lets go", I whispered to the floor as I walked past Hal.

Hal and I grabbed my luggage and headed down to the car. It was raining...are goodbyes always in the rain? The girls stood at the gate for one last hug before I got into the car. I took one last look at them, then bowed my head as we pulled away. The ride to the airport was silent. I missed them before I even stepped on the plane to London.

It was an easy flight to London, the attendants even spoke English! As I got off the plane and stood in line to go through customs, I could understand everyone's conversations....it was so...weird. They were loud, they spoke matter-of-factly about things which they obviously had no clue about. Good morning Westerners. I barely caught my plane to Chicago. I found my seat. On very last row of the plane, next to a girl from the States, would be my home for the next 9 hours. I remember the plane rides over to Budapest....I didn't say a word to anyone. Now I couldn't shut up. We talked for hours. She was an art major in college and had gone to London as an intern. We ended up talking about God, Creation, art as a reflection of God, and what I saw while I was overseas....she wasn't a Christian, or at least she wasn't when I first met her.

I got out the leather journal I had kept during my time in Egypt and India. In it were recorded all the amazing things that God had done in and through me. As I fingered through the pages I was overwhelmed with how much God had blessed me... The words of one of the girls from my team echoed in my ears, "Nick, God's favor has been so strong in your life." I chewed over these words...I had been favored by God... Did I really understand the depth of this? I don't think I will ever fully comprehend the blessings that were poured out in my life because God had favored me. Me...of all people...who am I to deserve this? I cant describe the emotion, other than a mix between being thankful and being in a state of awe. I began to pray. I thanked Him, and then did something I had learned the past few months of my life. I asked God to bless me today... "Father...do something supernatural for me today, show me how much You love me, bless me..."

I didn't exactly understand why, but when I looked at the little screen on the seat in front of me it said we were over some islands in northern Canada. I looked out the window and sure enough, there were huge icebergs and cracked ice covering the ocean. I had never seen it before, it was beautiful.

As we pulled into Chicago, the runway was covered in snow. It has been a while since I had seen snow...I still disliked it as much as I did before. As I got through customs and rechecked my bags, I looked at my watch. I still had 2 hours before my flight would take off. My stomach churned, reminding me it had been a long time since I had eaten. I had absolutely no money at all, zero, and no way of getting any. I looked at the situation and decided I would just be content, I would eat in 4 or so hours, there is no sense in getting frustrated. I sat down in a quiet corner of the terminal and started to play my guitar (softly so no one would be bothered). A black man came and sat down a few chairs away. Another complete stranger. For some reason I have found some kind of comfort in talking to people I have never met before. So I started talking to him. He wasn't much of a talked, he was kinda quiet. He pulled out a large cup of french fries....my mouth watered, I went back to playing the guitar. A few minutes later he hands me the fries...he had only eaten half of them. I couldn't believe it! I hungrily devoured the fries and thanked him. Again, back to the guitar I went. The he pulled some hotwings out of the paper bag. He ate a few and handed me the rest.... I remembered the prayer I had prayed on the plane...here was the blessing I had asked for. This man knew nothing about me, he had no reason to give me half of his food....but he did. For those who are reading this from my team...HOTWINGS! Can you believe that?! For months and months all I ever talked about was how the first thing I was going to eat when I got home was hotwings! I missed hotwings so bad! Here God not only provided me with something to eat, but gave me EXACTLY what I wanted!

The robotic female voice buzzed through the speakers, announcing that my flight would be leaving shortly. I glanced up at the gate number...I was at the wrong gate! I picked up my guitar, and shook the man's hand. As he leaned forward to grab my hand, a small cross on a silver chain slipped out of his shirt. I smiled and made my way to my plane. God had brought me to the wrong gate, to sit in a seat where a kind man would soon sit next to me, carrying exactly the meal I wanted. I was blessed and I knew it.

As my plane touched down in Nashville, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I had been awake for more than 48 hours. I walked out the terminal and was greeted by many many friends and family welcoming me "home". We collected the bags and I was whisked away to different places before ending up at a friend's house where a party had been planned. It was so good to see everyone....I just wish I wasn't about to pass out from exhaustion.

So I'm back in Nashville, and I'm bored. Actually....it looks like most people in the States are bored. America...the land where the elderly get jobs at Wal-Mart and Krogers not because they need money...but because they are bored.....where everything is insured in case we find ourselves in a spot where we might have to trust in something other than money or our ability to provide for ourselves. Even with everything that I seem to be struggling with culturally here...I still love my country.

Well, my little sister and a few of her friends just came into the room and sang me a song they have written and asked me to come up with some music to go along with it. So I'm gonna jet, but I'll post again soon about what I have experienced since coming "home".