Thursday Dec 12:
The first day of travel- Ready. Set. Go! That is the text I got from my father this morning as he was waiting for his flight and I was headed to my last final. In a true procrastinators fashion I waited until Wednesday at 6pm to begin packing. I planned on going to church that night, but still had to pack my clothes as well as run to walmart to get all of the supplies for the activities with the kids in Uganda. I had told my friend Sarah I would see her at church that night but got a little too far behind, well she agreed to go to Walmart with me after sevice and our friend Julie came as well. In the walmart parking lot that night they prayed for my travels and the trip. It was a great time with some friends who are always there with me and for me! Well thursday i finished packing around 12:15 just in time for Sarah to take me to the airport at 12:30 for my departure at 2:40. At the ticket counter I got to talk to the guy weighing my bags about "why in the world would I ever want to go to Uganda?" I told him why, he gave me that slightly awkward look and said that he hoped it wasn't a bad trip. Haha I'll just call that one a seed planted.
I got to my gate at 1:15 expecting to wait about an hour to board. I was so excited. Here it goes, I am really going to Africa! Well the plane came in late, but it's fine I have a 5 hour layover in New York... no rush. We boarded our 2:40 plane at 3:20 and at 3:35 a maintance person boarded the plane.... this is never good... The announcment: "ladies and gentelmen this plane is permently out of service. We will be deboarding this plane and are currently working on finding another plane. Take all of your belongings because you will NOT be getting back on this plane." Commence freakout! Well my version of freakout... I texted my dad "plane jsut got cancelled. I don't know what to do" He called me and there really was nothing we could do about it... I told him I would let him know once I did, in the meantime just pray. I also posted a similar message on FB and began my fervent prayers. Again Sarah to the rescue (thats three times in the last 24 hours if anyone lost count), she just stayed positive when I was doubting. I was questioning if I had heard God correctly. If I was really suppose to go. I mean they had 30 minutes to get a plane there or I was going to likely miss my connection to Italy, and since it was not the same itinerary there is nothing the airlines could do about it.
As I was getting off the plane one of the passengers that had come in on the previous flight said to the flight attendednt " I was just on this plane and it was fine what changed so dramatically in the last 30 minutes?" The flight attendent said "It was fine for you all, but not for these guys" as she was pointing to the pilots. When we got off me and the 2-3 people in front of and behind me heard the maintence people saying "this plane will never fly again". Ok so the only hope is a plane comes in... and quick. When we deplaned they told us they found a plane and would be leaving around 6. This was about 30 minutes later than I could really afford with the process in NY. Well prayers continued and I was just asking God what he was doing. Why would he put everything together until this point and then this. I love the peace of God, I don't know how, but I knew I was going to make it. I knew he was working, he heard my prayers and the prayers of those I had told. About 30 min later they made an announcement that this plane (that was never going to fly again) had been fixed and we were going to reboard in the next 30 min. The couple that heard the maintance people say it was never going to fly again was like "I am not getting back on a plane that is never going to fly agian" I on the other hand was thinking "yep my God is an airplane engineer as well. Prayer ANSWERED!" Well obviously we made it, I got about 30 minutes to just sit down at JFK and then we were off to Italy.
We learn so much in our crisis situations. Once they made the announcement and I heard the jabber about the planes flying capabilities I prayed immediately, but it was never to fix that plane but rather to find another plane in time. It is not a bad prayer, but I learned that on this trip I need to be asking God to do things that humans say can't happen so that everyone can see God at work through it. God reminded me of the Power and necessity of prayer in preparation, during, and after our trip. Finally i saw how he was answering a prayer request I had for the last year or so. I am sure I will get into this more this trip, but I am so blessed by things in this world. I have never lived in need and so I feel like I have often not had to DEPEND on God for anything. I know being homeless, without food, healthcare, and having to look to God to provide basic needs is unlikely for me because of where I was born and the education and opportunities I was given. But I began to pray that God would teach me what dependence on him looks like in my life. I think this was just one of the instances where I got to see that prayer answered.
Friday Dec 13:
The second day of travel: We made it to Italy at 11:00 am local time and our next flight was at 9:00pm. So we went exploring. We took a train to Milano, saw an INTENSE cathedral, a castle, got some italian pizza, and gelato (which was the only slightly disappointing part. It was a great time to get to know Sarah and John, the other two people on our trip (also a father daughter pair) and to just take a break from the traveling. I am happy to report that all travel was uneventful for the rest of the trip.
Traveling is very tiring and with so much excitement I just wanted it to end. But I am thankful for it when I step back. I really did not have the time to spend the time I would have liked to in the Word these last couple of weeks to prepare for the trip, and I got the time to pray and just prepare spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for the trip after finishing finals week on thursday. We also got the time to just share stories and a little bit of our lives with the others going with us so we will be better acquainted with each other for the week and there will not be that aspect of getting situated when we get there.
Well all I have to say for now is that God is good, that God is peace, and that God is LIVING! And I am excited to serve as an expression of his love for all in these next couple weeks. Love you all and please keep my team, those we got to hang out with this week, and myself in your prayers. Love you all!
Live Foolishly.
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