The Unexpected - January - LA to Cape Town

It is now the end of term 1 which means that I’ve been able to slowly extend my brain power to more than just planning lessons. It’s given me a chance to reflect a bit more about the last couple months. It has been a great year so far but I have been pretty consistently overwhelmed trying to keep up with planning for the 7 different courses (that's a lot)I have been teaching. I’ve had quite a few moments of wanting to break down crying because there is too much work to get done and not enough hours in the day to do it. Somehow though, it has gotten done and no epic disasters have taken place. I had to smile thinking about how tough these 3 months have been, but how God has embedded little blessings in between to remind me that the hard work is not in vain. I need these constant reminders at unexpected times to show me that this isn’t just a job – but something I’ve been specifically called to – and that God is supporting me and giving me strength along the way to do what most of the time seems overwhelming and impossible.

One of the most obvious examples of these reminders was on my flight back to Cape Town from LA in January. I was flying with Emirates and had an 8 hour layover in Dubai from 7 at night till 3 in the morning (not exactly prime sight-seeing time). I was psyching myself up for jumping off of a 14 hour flight and exploring the city at night for as little money as possible. Right before I got on the flight in LA, I was getting last-minute ideas of what to do and see in Dubai from my friend Boxa in Cairo via text messages. He said he was going to try to get me connected with some of his friends in Dubai but I didn’t see how that would happen because I would be completely disconnected for about 30 hrs as soon as the flight took off (I still have a ghetto not-so-smart phone). As soon as I put my phone away, a girl who was sitting across from me waiting for the flight said, “You look really familiar…”. It was my friend Michelle Barnett’s good friend Kelsey. We eventually figured out the Michelle connection and that we went on a building project to Mexico together through Rockharbor about 4 years ago! Kelsey works for a non-profit in Uganda called the Kwagala Project that helps combat sexual violence and human trafficking (check it out! - http://www.KwagalaProject.org). We quickly made plans to explore Dubai together and got on the plane to find our seats at opposite ends of the plane. I was feeling so relieved to know that I would have a partner in crime to explore the city with (you can be a bit more adventurous in pairs than alone) and was feeling a lot less anxious knowing that God was taking care of me on my travels.

When we got to Dubai, I turned on my ghetto phone and was surprised to see that it actually worked in Dubai! I had a message from Boxa connecting me with his friend Maged who agreed to meet up with Kelsey and me to show us around the city. My expectations for my time in Dubai were already far exceeded by having an adventure buddy, but when Maged rocked up in a convertible BMW I had to laugh. He drove us around the city stopping at all of the must-see places and showed us a fabulous night out on the town! I had never met Maged before but we had tons of mutual friends from Cairo and he was so wonderful to unquestioningly spend about 5 hours taking care of two strangers en route to Africa. He dropped us back off and I got to the airport right on time. I was feeling very well taken care of and full of peace in heading back to Cape Town – knowing that God was with me and providing for me in ways I would have never come up with. I was in such a content happy place that the 8 hour flight from Dubai to Cape Town did not seem nearly as daunting as it had before.

Oh, but the story is not over… I step up to the ticket counter to check in and the attendant said, “Ms. Cowell, we have upgraded you to business class”. I almost started laughing. I couldn’t stop smiling – like this whole thing was a little secret between me and God. There was now officially no question that God had my attention – He was taking care of me and was paving the way for my next round at Bridges. I felt like he was saying, “You’re doing the right thing. Keep going”. I’m certainly not suggesting that God’s blessings are always in the form of business class flights or convertible BMW private tours around Dubai with surprise new/old friends – but I think because this was the last thing I was expecting it was that much more powerful.

It’s funny looking back at this 3 months later and realizing that I did need that reminder and still do. I need to remember that I may be doing enough work for 2 or 3 people, but I’m doing this for a reason bigger than myself. Even when things seem impossible, God still wants me to know that He’s with me and that He will provide me with what I need to get through the things He has called me to. And He has!!! Over and over I’ve made it through every “impossible” situation that has arisen. I look forward to many more unexpected blessings to come – maybe not as posh as what I saw in Dubai, but always at the perfect timing and in the perfect form. I only hope that I’m not so focused on the tasks ahead that I can recognize them when they come!