Let me take you on a bit of my journey in the last month…. I promise to keep it short[er] – I want to remember this time years from now.
April 3-6th was testing for the State; always a brutal week for us. I proctor while the kids test. This year we went into it with kids being sick one week and the week of testing was my second (or third?) week of being sick.
On April 5th I found out about an opportunity of a lifetime for Vince. An opportunity to join a work team to go help my brother and his family with their house in the Philippines. I checked into the price of tickets…$2600! There was absolutely no possible way for that to happen. I prayed & totally gave it up to the Lord. My prayer was simply, “Lord, if this could be glorifying to You and a good experience – You make the way and give me the peace.” This was a circumstance I was able to honestly totally give it up. The cost was TOTALLY out of my reach, impossible. I.could.not.provide. I talked to Vince on the way to his final day of testing, I wasn’t sure he would even want to go. Due to the unknown, a foreign country.
On the morning of April 7th I found out my dad was willing to give my boy the needed airline miles. We anxiously waited for Zach & Jane to get up on their Easter morning. Due to the time change, we had to wait until 4pm….that was a realllyyy loooooonnnnnnggggg day! I wanted to make sure it would work schedule wise, space wise, all-around-add-an-extra-person wise for Vince to go. They didn’t even hesitate and we agreed they would not tell their kids, so it could be a surprise.
Easter Sunday was spent dreaming about the possibilities. He was going to travel with my sister-in-law’s father and a very close family friend. Two people I trust greatly, as much as my blood relatives.
April 9th I spent searching legality of minor child traveling with others. All good to go. I documented that here.
April 10th, tickets were finalized. The three guys would leave on the 16th and be gone for three weeks, returning May 9th {today!}.
April 11th-15th was spent in actual final preparation. Summer clothes – had none. Summer work clothes – had none. Summer shoes – had none. Doctor appt. to make sure all shots up to date and good to go – check. Get in dentist appt that had to be rescheduled – check. Getting a Costco list, some building stuff, other misc things not readily available ‘over there’. I was good, at peace, and totally excited about the adventure ahead for Vince.
April 16th we got it all done and pulled off, when all the luggage was packed – five 50 lb pieces….but we got it all in. Our day started off a bit too adrenaline riddled….I forgot to lock the door, but set the house alarm, then Vince shut off my alarm {we went to bed at 2am to get up at 3am} and when Nate came to pick him up….uh, ya – you can guess! The guys loaded up, we gathered in a hand-held circle and prayed, and they were off…all before my heart calmed down and quit racing. I’m guessing it was God’s blessing for me. I actually did crawl back into bed and slept – out of sheer exhaustion. Throughout the day I tracked their flights … At 11pm Monday night I started to freak. It was time to go to bed, their flight from Vancouver, CA to Hong Kong had been in the air for 7 hours and they still had 5.5 hours in the air, then another plane ride. Ya….that is a stinkin’ LONG ways away from home.thank.you.very.much! I really had to start praying. Mentally, I knew in order to function in the least I had to go to bed, but I also knew they would not be done traveling until 7:30am the next morning. I struggled mightily, with tears. I went to bed praying. I fell asleep praying. I woke up praying. I saw the flights landed on time, but it was 4pm before I saw my boy’s face on Skype. How spoiled is that? He was forever away, in a foreign country and I got to see his face! I had nearly instant assurance he was there safely, beyond happy, and was going to have a wonderful trip. I am blessed!
You know what? After 25 hours of travel – the green peas from Costco were still partially frozen!
There were several trials at the other end within the first 24 hours — to the tune of a broken/dead van 8 hours into a 12 hour trip, taxi with flat and my sister-in-law and niece having to walk rest of way to the airport at 11pm!, and an extra, random “fee” for Nate to get my son into the country….but, I didn’t know all those parts until several days later.