My Oregon Trail...

Don’t worry, I didn’t die of any disease.

My dad travels a lot for his job. He spends six weeks at a time in different cities across the US then he moves on to the next city. He is home every three weeks for a long weekend. This isn’t ideal by any means. It gets kind of difficult to plan my trips home from school around his schedule, so I don’t get to see him all that often. His current city? Portland, Oregon, the PDX if you will =) A mere 3.5 hour train ride from the emerald city (Seattle). When we realized that we would both be in the Pacific Northwest during the same time, we were quick to plan a weekend for my dad to come up to Seattle. It didn’t occur to me until last weekend that I could brave the Amtrak and make my way to Portland. So, impulsively I changed my weekend plans of sleeping/working on my final internship stuff to a quick weekend trip to see my dad.

When my alarm went off at 5:00 on Saturday morning, it was beyond too early to wake up. So, I didn’t. I am quite the advocate of the snooze button. When I finally rolled out of bed, I was in a bit of a rush to catch my bus to the train station, but I made it. As I sat on the bus, an older man came up to me and gave me a flower (this sounds a lot more creepy on here than it was, promise). All of a sudden my mood shifted from slightly frazzled to happy and excited. The more appropriate mood for the day! I mean I haven’t seen a familiar face in 7 weeks, and I had never been to Oregon! Not to mention they don’t have sales tax which is really wonderful.

I spent a wonderful weekend with my dad. Waterfalls. Doughnuts. Roses. Laughing. Much More.

Then I was sitting waiting for the train back to Seattle, and the guy sitting next to me asked me if I was heading to Seattle and what I was doing in Portland. I explained to him that I was in Seattle for the summer and my dad was in Portland for work. He asked where I was from, so I replied Oklahoma, and for the first time since I got here someone asked me what part. I told him I was from Muskogee, and it turns out he was from Ponca City. Small world. Meeting him made me feel comfortable.

Then, I made my way to my seat on the train to realize that I was sitting with a group of three people that knew each other, you know those seats that have two seats facing two seats. Ugh. This meant the whole way the three of them were going to be talking with one another and I would be in the way. They were really friendly people, but I didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable, so I put in my headphones and was ready to go. By the end of the train ride, they were giving me advice on my presentation. They were very friendly, and they made sure that I didn’t feel awkward. Small gestures, but they were very appreciated.

These encounters reminded me of a shirt that has a verse from Hebrews on it.
Hebrews 13:2
Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it

In each of these cases, I was the stranger not an angel, but the stranger. So, I am glad that these people entertained me. I didn’t end up being an angel, but all of these people helped me in one way or another. So, I realized that this should be a goal of mine. Entertain strangers. They could be angels and even if they aren’t angels they could be someone like me. Someone having a frazzled morning. Someone feeling homesick. Someone who happened to be the odd one out.

Also, when I was looking for the verse I wanted. I came across a website http://entertainingangels.ning.com/
It is pretty interesting. Worth a glance if you have the time.

In other news, the Seattle bound train that left before mine on Sunday killed a 16 year old boy that was standing too close on the platform. So, I ask that you keep this boy’s family in your prayers.