We will we arrive at the airport 2 hours before our flight scheduled to take off at 7:15am. We zip through security, not too many people there at 5:15am, which is good because not only do we have a lot of carry on items but we also are figuring out how to travel with a baby. We get to the gate to find that the flight has been canceled! Hmmmm… what happens next, this has never happened to me. They looked at our tickets and said that they put us on the next flight. On the up side, our seats were upgraded for free, but that also means that we now have a 30 minute layover at JFK in New York! I’ve heard horror stories of the craziness there. The realistic side of me knows that there is great potential for a delay in the flight to take off and land which can easily cause us to miss our flight, which would mean that we would probably spend the night in NY because the airline only sends one flight per day to Bogota. Yet, I was still rather calm. God knows the situation; He is in control. During this long wait, we were thankful for the hot breakfast my mom had sent with us, which should hold us for most of the day.
Soon after boarding the plane, I start feeding Elleazah which lasted through take off… Yea, no fussing! The first leg of the trip went smooth as we landed ON TIME, but now with a sleeping child… Yea, still no fussing. Wow, God is at work, so far so good. Due to being upgraded, we were one of the first ones off the plane and our connecting flight is only a few gates away. Praise God! I had time to make a run to the bathroom and change Elleazah’s diaper and add another layer of cloths to her to keep her warm. A few minutes later, we started boarding our second flight. Yea! Sadly, for this flight, Steve and I were separated, him in the front, me in the back, so he had to privilege of holding Elleazah throughout the flight. And fortunately we had discovered the previous day that Elleazah likes to chew on orange peels. So during take off, she chewed on a part of a peel, since she refuses to take a pacifier, and not too long after take off, she, and Steve, had fallen asleep. What a great picture! She woke up just before landing, which meant another feeding during a critical time for potential fussing. Yes, there was a bit of fussiness, but not too much, which I was thankful.
We exited the plane for an hour lay over, just to re-board the same plane (they needed to check passports this time) so we had enough time to grab some real food to carry us through the last leg of trip and the stressful customs. Again, Steve and I were to be separated and he got to board early with Elleazah. While I was patiently waiting for the chaos of the Spanish speaking crowd among the English instructions to calm down and for me to board I heard an attendant shout out… “Is anyone willing to receive a free upgrade to an exit row with more leg room?” Without hesitation, another girl and I raise our hands. So, I get to move up from the next to last row to the front! Which will bring me closer to Steve and Elleazah and allow us to get off the plane sooner, which will be key because you literally trot from gate to jockey for a position in a very long line to go through customs. We learned this from our visit to Colombia last year, because we were taking our time from the gate as people were nearly running us over; we asked each other why they were in such a hurry, until we reached the end of a very long line that took almost an hour and a half to get to the customs men. However, this time, we were ready for the race, with our jogging stroller out, Elleazah in her car seat on the stroller, we were in trotting readiness and we were keeping up with the fastest of them (ah, yes, the competitive side coming out, but at least we were on the same team!) And as we were approaching the line, which was not as long as the last because we were nearer the front of the crowd, a man directed us to the right, because we had a baby…. Yea! An even shorter line! Now we only waited about 20-30 minutes to get through customs. We reached the front and a man waved for us to come to him. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he spoke little to no English, and we speak, little to no Spanish, so it was rather quick, looking at our paperwork and bunching stamps. Yea! Elleazah has her first stamp in her passport! So, we find our baggage claim area, grab a cart to load our four bags, go look for the bags because they have workers that pull all the bags off the carousel only to realize a bag is missing. Urggg. I find a lady that speaks enough English for us to complete the report, Steve takes out the paperwork so they know where to deliver the bag and how to contact us when it is located. We were hoping that the bag just didn’t catch the second flight considering we had such a short lay over rather than the bag being stolen. As we begin to leave the airport, we are realizing all that the bag contained, like Elleazah’s pack and play, which is her bed, most of the toilet tree, a few of the cloth diapers and the accessories …urg, I hope they find it. And yet, there is a peace, which only comes from God trusting and knowing that He knows exactly where the bag is located. If it is stolen, He knows who has it and I am fine with that (sounds crazy, right!) because the items are just things and we will learn to make due with what we have. However, that was going to be the case, because the next day the airport called to let us know that received the bag the next day. Praise God, we were getting our last bag.
God has been so good to us as we have started this new chapter, what a blessing.
Please pray
1. For the transition. I am already feeling overwhelmed and lost by not understanding enough Spanish. They seem to speak soooo fast.
2. We get settled into an apartment we will have for the year.
3. Wisdom as we start making decisions here at the beginning of the with living situations, schedule, and helping at the school.
4. 100% support: we have not yet reached 100%. Prayer support is much needed, as we have felt God's hand on us the last few days in our new chapter, but we also need financial support. Pray that the faithfulness of those who have said they would commit to help as well as pray for new supporters to come along side us to join us in this journey God has laid before us as we come to witness and disciple.
4. 100% support: we have not yet reached 100%. Prayer support is much needed, as we have felt God's hand on us the last few days in our new chapter, but we also need financial support. Pray that the faithfulness of those who have said they would commit to help as well as pray for new supporters to come along side us to join us in this journey God has laid before us as we come to witness and disciple.
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