There really are Angels among us

This past weekend my boyfriend Matt and I had plans to travel to Norway to visit my family, most of whom I have never met before. I was so excited and thrilled for this experience, I cannot even put into words the anticipation I was feeling the days leading up to our departure. Our flight left from Berlin at 21:25 meaning we should probably get there a few hours earlier. Unfortunately, the train times were not very accommodating to us; the only connection we could make left from Reutlingen at 13:07 and would eventually (after 4 transfers) bring us into Berlin Tegel Airport at 20:25. That is exactly one hour… cutting it close. Trains in Germany are also supposed to run on time though – they are good with discipline and orderliness here, so there shouldn’t have been a problem.

Wrong.

Our third train came into the station approximately 15 minutes late. There was only a 13 minute layover between transfers, so Matt and I both thought we missed our next connection. By the grace of luck, the train we had to catch to Hannover was also 5 minutes late. Thankfully we got on, and all was well.

Wrong again. Although the train left only 5 minutes delayed, it came into Hannover a full 25 minutes past the time it was supposed to arrive. No planning could have prevented this, and we missed our last connection to Berlin. The next train would get us in at 20:45 to the Berlin Spandau station with a subway and a bus to catch after that before we would arrive at Tegel. I don’t know about you, but the time did not look favorable. Therefore, I was in tears on this last leg of the trip. The entire time I was sitting on the train I kept praying to God in every way I knew how to get us to the airport in time. I was literally rehearsing the Lord’s Prayer, the Nicene Creed, and the prayer I say before nighttime and meals. Anything that I could do to plead, I was doing.

A stranger sat down next to Matt. He was German and spoke very little English making the lively conversation that much more entertaining between Matt and him. Neither could get their point across absolutely clearly. I had a moment where I thought that maybe he was the angel God sent to us, and he would somehow help us get to our flight in time. However, I was still crabby and tear filled, so I let Matt carry on the conversation. Sure enough, when it was time for us to leave, the stranger stood up and shook both of our hands and wished us luck on catching our flight and the rest of our travels. Nice man.

To make matters more spectacular, he continued to hand Matt 20 Euros and refused to take it back. Matt and I just stared at each other in disbelief. The stranger went back to his seat, and we never saw him again. This 20 Euros was just enough for us to take a taxi, the total ride costing 18 Euros. If we would have walked to the S Bahn, we would have gone the wrong way with my poor directions. We still had to sprint through the airport and past security, but we made it. We got to the airport 5 minutes before the Oslo flight started boarding (it was also running a little late).

Without this stranger’s aide, we would most likely have not made it in time. Matt and I both teared up again on the shuttle bus to our plane because we just couldn’t believe it. If this isn’t God’s work, I have no idea what is. There truly are angels among us every where we go. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have shared paths with this man and wish I knew his name to thank him. God helped us get to our flight and have the most wonderful weekend of my life. It was just a glimpse of His beauty that was glaringly obvious throughout the rest of the weekend. I thank God for that man, and I will always believe he was an angel.