While I'd left enough time for normal traffic, I hadn't left enough time for a detour or a traffic jam. Think...traffic completely stopped on the highway while the clock is ticking. YIKES!
I texted a couple friends to ask them to pray, with one writing me back saying, "Praying that someone would pull out of the closest spot at just the right moment".
Concern for not making my train was obviously my number one thought. But number two was actually finding a place to park at the train station. When they built the little lot many years ago, they didn't foresee all the cars that would drive to the station before people got on the train!
With that in mind, I knew there were parking spaces about three blocks away from the station so drove a different way in order to drive to those spot. I hoped I'd have enough time to run to the train if there was a spot there.
As you can probably guess, there wasn't!
My hopes of making the train were quite small at that point as I headed to the little parking lot that I know usually fills up by early morning, leaving no spaces for mid-morning passengers like me.
As I drove in, I couldn't see a spot, but the parking lot attendant asked if I was parking for longer than to pick up a passenger, and when I told her my car would be there overnight, she directed me to THE LAST PARKING SPOT!! Behind me she pulled the "FULL" sign into the roadway.
I grabbed my things from the car, and ran as fast as I could to the train platform, arriving at ... can you see it?
The train was two minutes late, pulling up to the platform at 11:08 (it was supposed to leave at 11:08!), exactly to the car where I had a reserved seat!
It took me quite a few minutes to stop shaking once I sat down in my spot - I honestly can't remember when I've ran quite that fast. It was nice to have a cute little companion across from me to take my mind off the sprint. Once I gathered my wits about me, I sat there praising God for that parking space, for the train's tiny delay, and that I was safely on my way!
The rest of the ride was blissfully uneventful, with the weather changing for the better as I sped towards Vienna.
Today was the day of my follow-up appointment with the doctor who had ordered a bazillion tests for me back in September when I first met her. I went for those appointments at all the labs in October. Now today was the day I was getting the results.
But first, I met up with someone who arrived just a few minutes after me.
That's my sister-in-law, Kristi who lives in Slovenia, serving there with Josiah Venture alongside her husband and kids. She rode the train up to Vienna today so we could spend some time with each other.
After a quick lunch at the train station, we navigated public transportation like a couple of Viennese ladies who know their way around (HAHA! Thanks Google!), and headed towards my doctor appointment in the suburbs of Vienna.
We got off one metro stop too soon so ended up walking 2 1/2 kilometers to the doctor office. But it was such a beautiful fall day that neither of us minded the walk, nor the fact that we got to the office a half hour early!
I'll write later about my doctor appointment, but suffice to say, it FAR exceeded my expectations in terms of understanding why I haven't been feeling well.
What a joy to share the day with Kristi! And we have a whole day ahead of us to just be together!
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