are you tracking with me? i amtrak-ing.

so, if you have never taken amtrak for a long ride, i suggest you do this sometime before you die. i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the train, i've decided.

i was expecting it to be like a plane. crowded, cramped, and altogether unpleasant for a long ride. but traveling coach via the amtrak Coast Starlight was like staying at the Ritz Carlton. first of all, the baggage restrictions are much less stringent. second of all, even in coach seating you have more room than you would have in first class on a plane. third of all, you don't have to wait for the stupid bell to ring, alerting you that it is safe to "move about the cabin". it is always safe for you to move about the cabin, and there are no seatbelts! fourth of all, the food is really good.

i was on the train for what ended up being about 16 hours. we started in olympia, and made a longer stop in portland. since we had an hour to kill, i decided to walk around downtown portland to see what the city had to offer. turns out, nothing. it offers nothing. downtown portland looks nice, but nothing was open in the middle of a weekday. and i was approached by multiple transients in the few blocks that i walked, who all were asking for money so that they could "get out of this place". so apparently, people who are in portland don't want to be there.

i decided that i would make a dinner reservation whilst on the train. they have a snack car that you can visit any time, but there is also a dining car, which is like a restaurant, that you must make reservations for. i decided that i would eat in the dining car for dinner, since i had never had the experience before. since there were so many reservations, i was seated at a table with an engaged couple from vancouver. they were traveling to san francisco for vacation to celebrate the girl's birthday. we ate and talked for some time, and then our checks came. all through the conversation i was wondering how i could steer the conversation towards Jesus. it sort of happened by accident, at least on my part. the dude was talking about being scared to death of flying in an airplane, because (and i quote) "i've done the research, and there's nothing you can do to save your ass at 38,000 feet" (on a side note, i just had to laugh to myself at that... really? research? okay...), and i said something to the effect of, "yeah, i used to have the same kind of fear when i was younger." somehow, this intrigued him.

"when you were younger? like... how young?"
"well, when i was a kid. then, when i was 14, i met Jesus, and i didn't have fear anymore of flying because i knew that He was taking care of me, and would not let me die until my time had come."

well that just got him going. it was quite humorous, actually, watching what ensued. this guy and his fiancee got into a sort of argument about the necessity (or lack thereof) of religion. he was totally opposed to organized religion, and she was (probably in part to help me not feel offended) trying to convince him that religion was a good thing, and that some of his beliefs about spirituality and relativism didn't make any sense. i found it funny not THAT they were arguing, but that such a seemingly innocuous comment from me just started such a heated debate between them. i also found it funny that i didn't have to participate in the conversation again for a good 20 minutes after that. i just let them argue, and tried to listen for where they both were coming from.

at first i didn't see it going anywhere good. it seemed like this dude was so steeped in relativism and post-modern thinking, and had no desire to know God. he said he had no tangible evidence to prove that the God of the Bible was real. he said he had asked for Your help in battling drug addictions, and making it alive on plane flights, and though he is now no longer addicted to drugs, and he made it alive on every plane he has flown, he attributes all of the good to his own self. as he was telling me this, i could see other train-goers trying to get their ears closer to listen, without appearing as though they were listening. some guy next to us was bold enough to interject and tell this dude that he totally agreed with him, and not with me. which again, i found hilarious.

in my heart during the conversation, i was asking You what the root issue was that was keeping this guy from coming to know Jesus. i'm not making this up when i say that i felt the Holy Spirit say that his mother had died, which i dismissed at first because earlier in the conversation, he had talked about his "parents" in present tense, as though they were both still alive. but a minute or two later he brought it up on his own, not giving any details, but implying that his mother had been murdered, and how could a good and compassionate God have allowed such a thing to happen?

i don't know that i ever really answered any of his questions, but somewhere towards the end i asked him if he would want to know You, if You truly existed in the way that the Bible describes, and he answered without hesitation, "oh yeah... who wouldn't?" i told him that You love to reveal Yourself to those who want to know You, and he seemed to want to believe what i was saying. i asked them if i could pray for them, that You would reveal Yourself to them in a way that only they would know it was You. when they agreed, i told them that because i love You and have relationship with You, You listen when i pray, and You move in response (the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, you know). i said i wasn't praying some rinky-dink little prayer. i told them that i was going to pray, and something was going to happen, and that they should expect to see God revealing Himself to them in some way in the next 24 hours, and they should respond.

**i giggle as i write this because i remember what boldness came upon me as i spoke this. thank You, Lord, for Your love that compels me to share You with others!**

so i prayed. i don't even remember what i said, but i looked up afterwards, and this guy... the hardened, self-exalting post-modernist was visibly shaken. for the first time in the conversation, he had no words. for several moments, he would not look at me or his fiancee. she put her arm around him and said in his ear, "did you feel that?" he hesitated for a moment, and responded soberly, "yeah... yeah i did." they felt Your presence.

at that point i felt like it was time to wrap up the conversation. in hindsight, i wasn't sure if i should have laid out the Gospel more clearly than i did, but this guy told me that he had heard about Jesus many times, so i think he knew, but there had never been a heart connect before. it seemed to me like maybe they needed a little time to soak in what was happening.

in any event, i thanked them for their company, and they thanked me, and the guy sincerely said, "maybe God sent you to us to tell us all of this". i smiled and said, "He is SO good, and He is known for setting up encounters like this." i didn't mean for it to sound so mysterious, but i think it did, and i left it on that note.

i went back to my seat so excited for what You did. what precious people! there was obviously a heart change there.

i slept on and off until i reached redding, california, at approximately 3:35 am. i called a cab to come pick me up and to take me to simpson university. i arrived at approximately 4:00am.

that train ride was one of the coolest experiences i've ever had. i wish i had enough time that i could always travel by train. that is what i would choose.

so here i am. at simpson university. in a totally new place, knowing absolutely no one. this should be fun.