Friday, July 31, 2015

God Always Provides

I just arrived at the airport in Tokyo, Japan waiting for my last flight to Bangkok.   I was just starting to feel a little sad and lonely and breathed a quick prayer to God.  Less than 30 seconds later I arrived at my gate and a man chuckled and said, “I just had to laugh at the Market Basket bag!”  The plastic Market Basket bag was a last minute packing decision that I’ve been toting around from airport to airport.  As Market Basket isn’t the most wide-spread grocery store chain I inquired as to where he was from.  I learned that this guy was from Kittery, Maine and had been gone for 2 months, so to randomly see a Market Basket bag all the way in Tokyo made him laugh.  It's funny how insignificant things like plastic bags can bring people together and be a source of comfort!  He learned I was from Ipswich and mentioned that he and his wife had been down to the Choate Bridge Pub for a burger and gotten some seafood in the area before as well.  This guy in Tokyo had been a mere mile away from my house!  Sometimes the world is so small! 

It wasn’t a long interaction, but it was just what I needed.  Right when I was starting to feel that I was so far away from anyone I knew, God provided this close connection to make me feel at home.  He is so good!!

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An update to this story: This guy was actually on his way back home to Boston -- both of our gates got changed a couple of hours ago so that his old gate that was going to Boston got changed and became my gate going to Bangkok.  He didn't find this out until just now, accounting for the fact that we both spent time in the same waiting area.  This information makes me even more sure that our meeting was an act of God!