My day started off pretty calm, I thought I would spend my 4th of July at home and do some housework and not do very much, but the Lord had a different plan in mind. One of my new friends from church, Eddie, invited me to celebrate the 4th of July with his family, and that sounded exciting so I charted my course with my handy dandy DB Navigator and set off for Koblenz.

The first leg of the journey went by like clockwork, I got on the train in Klotten and got off at Koblenz. Next, I took bus 8, and I got off at the right stop, but for some reason my second and final bus did not come. I asked the other people at the bus stop if they knew if the bus would be late, and they suggested I ask the bus driver of the bus that was on its way. The bus driver of the oncoming bus looked at my app and with a reassuring nod told me to come on board and that he knew a stop that was on his route that we get me really close to where I needed to go! Perfect I thought, problem solved. After about ten minutes of driving however, I felt like I should have gotten off already, but the driver hadn’t told me anything yet. Just then, someone got off and the driver looked in my direction and exclaimed (in German of course), mann I forgot to tell you to get off at the stop… Well at that moment I knew there was an adventure brewing. The bus driver then reassured me that there was a bus stop up ahead by a pizzaria where I could catch a bus to take me where I needed to go. I took a selfie to catalog the moment, and then I sprinted towards the pizzaria!

Once I found the pizzaria, I started scouting for the bus stop, but no sooner had I arrived that I saw my bus bounding around the corner.

The driver and I made eye contact, and I started a mad dash alongside him hoping that the stop was up ahead somewhere. I had to cross a two-way street with cars, and the car at the front of the line saw my effort and he gave me passage across the street with a nod. I thought I would catch the bus, but alas, the bus made a quick loop around a roundabout and then it was too far for me to catch up. I then looked to plan B, using my running skills. Google maps informed me that I was only 3.4 miles away from my destination, and I thought to myself, 3.4 miles can’t be that bad.

It was definitely an adventure, but after about 20 minutes into my run, my friends who were expecting me called because they were worried that I had not yet arrived. Once I explained the situation they organized themselves to send two people by car to come pick me up. My friend Marvin found me coming up the hill alongside the freeway and it was good to see him. He informed me that where I was running was very dangerous because of how fast the cars were driving. I think they were going something like 50 miles an hour and there wasn’t much of a shoulder to walk/run along. It felt good to be in a car after my journey, and I was glad that I had been found and brought to the activity safely. The activity was great and we got to eat some good food and enjoy each other’s company.

After the activity though, it was a bit tricky for me to get back because the busses in the area had already stopped running for the day, but gratefully Eddie’s mom and Marvin were able to help me get to a further bus stop and catch the last bus heading to Koblenz for the day!

On the bus I met a really nice bus driver from Bulgaria I believe.

He was super kind and would greet people as they cam on board, and he even let me practice some of my German with him! I made it to Klotten safely and even got to talk to a friend of mine from Brazil along the way!

Looking back on the experience, I could have avoided running along the risky highway and gotten to the activity faster if I had started by asking for help in the first place. Had my friends not reached out me, I would have gotten to the activity later, or maybe I would not have even found it. As we face the challenges we have in life and strive to follow our Savior, we need not walk the path alone or even take risky paths. We can always turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer and He will hear us and help us. Also as we choose to follow Christ, we choose to become part of the body of Christ as we make covenants with Him and as members of the body of Christ, we are given the opportunity to help lift one another. We can be hands and arms that lift, a shoulder to be leaned on, an ear to listen, and in turn we can also be supported by others in all those ways and many more. Just like my friends were aware of me and cared about my wellbeing, our Heavenly Father is constantly watching over us and He and His Son are calling us so that They can lead us safely home!