During the summer, Peter and I went on a 'Great Rail Journey' to Lake Garda, and we had the most wonderful time. After our initial journey by train from Knutsford, we joined Eurostar at Waterloo and along with 38 other travellers we went south through France to Paris. From Paris we travelled on the train through Switzerland, passed Lake Geneva and finally arrived at Lake Garda 36 hours later, for a 6-day stay. During this time we toured the area, including a cruise along Lake Garda and trips to Venice and Verona. At the end of the 6 days we were taken by coach to Milan and then travelled by train back through Switzerland, through Germany passing through the Rhine Gorge, and finally through Belgium to Brussels to board Eurostar once more for the last leg of our journey back to Waterloo.

We saw some spectacular scenery and visited some beautiful places. For me, the highlight was when we were taken to a hill above Verona and from there we could look down over the town. There was a church on this hill but we were unable to go inside because a Mass was taking place. It was so very quiet and peaceful there, and then came the sound of people singing 'Seek ye first, the kingdom of God' (or at least the Italian version but the 'Alleluias' were the same!). The sound just floated across the valley and we knew God's presence.

Everything on this holiday was prepared in advance for us - we didn't have to do (or really think about) a thing. Our Tour Manager advised us as to what time we were to meet for the various trips out; coaches, trains and boats were laid on for us. Our meals were also laid on for us; all we had to do was choose what we wanted to eat!

I can almost hear you asking, "Didn't anything go wrong?". Well it did, big style! On arriving at Milan we were informed that our train had broken down and we would be put on another one but we would have to change two stops downs the line. In fact, that day we travelled on 5 trains. Because of the delay at the beginning, we missed all our connections, not to mention our reserved seats. On a holiday of this sort, changing trains is not as straightforward as it may seem. Can you imagine it? At each station, 40 of us would have to off-load our suitcases and find our way to the next train. We felt a bit like the Israelites wandering in the desert! Fortunately, we had our trusty Tour Manager - he was a bit like the pillar of fire going before us! (There was some moaning to start with but, in the end, we were determined that it wasn't going to spoil the end of our holiday.)

Our big mistake was that we had taken too much baggage. We had packed things 'just in case'. We couldn't accept the advice of those who knew better. We were advised not to take too much as storage on the trains was sometimes limited and porterage was not always available. We didn't read the instructions carefully enough. In life, we take on so much excess baggage, feeling that we can cope, and then become surprised (and sometimes feel a bit of a failure) when things fall apart. Jesus tells us we can lay all our burdens on Him; to lay them at the foot of His Cross - but our pride makes us struggle on.

Before our holiday, we had read that we could send our luggage on ahead. Again we ignored the offer, feeling sure that we could manage. What a difference it would have made if we had sent it on!

How many times have we ourselves 'heard' the still, small voice, read passages from the Bible and dismissed them as irrelevant to us, only to discover later that it had been God speaking to us? How many times in a prayer meeting have we been prompted to pray for someone/something and ignored it because we were frightened it might not 'sound right', only for the next person praying to utter the very words with which we had been prompted?