As someone who has never owned a passport or left the lower 48 states before last week, spending almost two weeks in Paris and London was an eye opening experience. I spent those two weeks touring around with one of my closest friends, eating too much and drinking to much coffee (if there is such a thing). We saw all the sights and went shopping for days on end. With my partner in crime staying for an internship, I had the whole 8 ½ hour flight back to watch movies and think about everything we had come across.

At one point in Paris, we tried to go to a small area with little shops surrounding a basilica called Montmartre. We took the wrong metro and ended up outside the city in an area with higher homeless rates and people traveling around selling art or merchandise to make a living. The area wasn’t as clean as the city or as well taken care of. Needless to say we didn’t stay long and eventually found our way to where we originally set out to go. We had chalked it up to a tourist misunderstanding, but on the plane thinking about it, part of me thought there was more to it.

I have always believed that God puts things in your path for a reason. He shows you things you need to see and delivers lessons when you least expect it. He shows you things you weren’t aware of to give you an understanding in the hopes that you will act upon this new knowledge. I have come to believe that God led us on the wrong metro to a lesson. The lesson being this: in all the beautiful places that He has created on this earth, there are things people have deemed as less desirable or things to be hidden away. But I’m not sure that’s what He meant it to be. Looking back and thinking over what I’ve learned in this life so far, that place we accidentally came across wasn’t ugly. It was created beautiful in God’s eyes. It was created to be a haven for those who need it, and a place for God to work through his followers to help them.

I think when people travel they often narrow their sight to the big things that they expect to see. They only allow themselves to experience things they were looking forward to. That day in that town was neither something I expected, nor something I was looking for, but one of the most powerful things I saw. Being a college student funding my European adventures I wasn’t capable to give what I wish I could have, although I know God knew that bringing me there. The point was not to make me feel guilty for not giving, the point was to show me there is a need in this world bigger than I but even as a college student I can help.

We often write ourselves off as being unable to make a difference if we can’t deliver an oversized check with a lot of zeros on it. That little town in Paris is proof that one coin in a cup is an overwhelming gift. It doesn’t have to go to someone you know, or the cause with the most publicity. The local needs can change the world around you when you apply yourself. Putting a coin from your pocket into someone’s cup changes their life and yours. Nobody has ever become poor from giving.