It's All Greek to Me: Part 1

Today we traveled to Greece. I really don't have a lot of pictures to show you because we spent the whole day in the airport. I must say, I was rather peeved. So it was nice to finally arrive at our apartment to this sign:

I'm not sure who this Frankie is, but he's a genius. I needed to relax and calm down, majorly. From what? Well, this is how our day went:

• 6:45 AM - Wake up. Hurriedly pack our crap and head to the Termini train station where we have to catch the Leonardo Express to the airport
• 7:21 AM - the train leaves at 7:22 and we are standing at the kiosk waiting for tickets to print. When the tickets come out, we run as fast as we can to the wrong platform. Then, once realizing our mistake, we book it to the correct platform (I'm sad to say, Bianca fell along the way) and jump on the train before the doors close for good. 
• 7:55 AM - arrive at airport. We are an hour early for two hour pre check-in, but no big deal, we figured we'd just eat breakfast. We noticed on the Arrivals/Departures board that our flight wasn't showing...thought nothing of it. 
• 8:15 AM - Our flight is not listed ANYWHERE. Time for customer service again. Apparently, there is a strike of some sort, and our flight has been delayed to 12:50 PM. No notification from Orbitz. NOTHING! We could have slept for at least two additional hours. But you know what? Life happens. We keep it cool. 
• 12:20 PM - We board the plane. On our way to our seats, Bianca spent a few moments organizing her carry-on prior to sitting in her seat. I wait for her. This causes a brief bottleneck, but this happens in airplanes at airports in cities all across this world. Every day. But no. The evil Grecian flight attendant rudely asks me where my seat is. "Where is your seat?!" I answered her: "It's right here." What could she say? She hated me. And I hated her. A feud was born. 
• 12:21 PM - I'm angry AND sleepy, so I immediately pass out, thinking in 2 hours we'll be in Greece. I wake up an hour later: we are still on the ground. I ask Bianca what's going on, she has no idea. Lack of notification is apparently the Greek way. Is there bad weather? Are we refueling the plane? Is there something on the wing? We'll never know. 
• 5:00 PM - We have arrived! **My new bag arrived in one piece. No tape! Boom!**Time to catch the train to Plaka. So we walk five minutes to the train platform, stand in front of closed gates for an additional five minutes attempting to buy train tickets. All this in front of a sign that with bold letters says: THERE WILL BE NO TRAIN SERVICE FROM THE AIRPORT ON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER, 6TH DUE TO THE STRIKE. We must have been subconsciously thinking: screw the strike! We're going on the train! But alas, we had to cab.
• 5:45 PM - We give a cabbie a piece of paper with the address on it. Problem, the address looked like this:  
• "Konstantinou Tsatsou 9, Athens, Attica 10558"
• This is English
• Cabbie doesn't understand English. He understands this:

 

•  I haven't the foggiest what a single one of those letters stands for. None. So we hand him a Google map. Google rules the world. 
• 6:40 PM - After a scary drive at high speeds, through thick traffic (after fearing for our lives), and the car scraping alongside the curb we arrive at our B&B.

Needless to say, after nearly 12 hours of turmoil, I needed some Jesus. Some real life Jesus, like in the flesh, with nail-scarred hands. But alas, the Frankie sign had to do.

Our granola! We bought Fage to go with it!

Our host is a very good-looking man of indeterminate nationality named John. He made us granola. We love him now.  And he walked us to the local grocery store and showed us where to get good eats this evening. He was a lifesaver.

We will definitely have to get much rest tonight, so as to have amazing things to tell you tomorrow. You may be thinking: what about the devotional?!

Ahem...praise was far from me today. But I realize now that was a mistake. This day, though rough makes for a great story. Doesn't it? I'm thankful for stories and our safe arrival in Athens. Our time here will be epic. But there's something about Greece and the Greek language that actually puts me in mind of scripture:

...there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch...He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” - Acts 8:27-31

Bianca and I are here with zero understanding of Greek. No matter how much we look at the words on menus or on maps, no matter how badly we want to understand, we simply cannot. We needed a guide. We needed a teacher. At dinner tonight we found such a person. He taught us a few necessary words: "hello", "goodbye" (these are the same), "yes", "no", "please", "sorry", and "thank you." And we were so grateful!

There are people in this world who want to know God. Who want to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, just like this eunuch. They buy Bibles and they read them, and they try to gain an understanding. But they need guides. Sometimes that guide is definitely the Holy Spirit. But oftentimes...it's us. Are we available? Are we joining our chariots to those of unbelievers? Am I open to being a teacher. We like to assume that people who have read the Christian Bible know something, and so we let them drown in their opinions and suppositions. We ignore their debate and arguments because "ain't nobody got time for that." But are people really looking for and desiring a guide? Do you feel led by God to be that guide? Just some random food for thought.

Lord, it's so hard to actually have understanding. It's something that we take for granted every day and that we assume everyone has. But we are often in darkness, and we don't recognize others who are in darkness. Please, Lord, shine light into our hearts and minds. And where we find more light, bless us with the strength to walk on that lit path. Help us to be lights, not hid