….and we’re off!! We said our “see you laters” to family and
loved ones and boarded our first flight out of Boise, Idaho Friday afternoon on
September 5th. It was an emotional time, especially for Josh, as it's the first time in almost 38 years that he's been away from his parents. They've always lived in the same city, and his dad is one of his bestest friends! Thank you to those that
showed up at the airport and also to those that wanted to be there but couldn’t
make it but were covering us in prayer.
Prayer is powerful and we have definitely been covered and experienced God’s
blessings and favor!
It’s one thing to go on vacation
with a family and pack a few suitcases.
It’s a whole other story packing up and moving your family of 6 across
the world. The Lord gave us much wisdom
on how to pack, what to pack and techniques to use that would enable us to
locate our luggage quickly, and it has all proven to be very successful. Josh had the brilliant idea to wrap orange duct
tape around our luggage handles so we could locate our carry-on luggage quickly
on the carts after landing in Seattle and at the baggage claim in South Africa. We even numbered each one of them so that we
can locate them quickly upon arriving in South Africa, in addition to making
lists for what was in each suitcase (in case any luggage gets misplaced). When the lady was checking us in at the Boise
Airport, she said I should write a book to help travelers with packing
techniques. Maybe I will, maybe I will! I was very diligent when it came to packing
and weighing each suitcase and tub because I didn’t want to pay any overweight
fees, which could apply to each airline we use (in our case only two: Alaska
Airlines & Emirates). I’m proud to
say that we made the weight limits and even came under weight on a couple of
suitcases. We were a couple of lbs over
on one, but we just took a few items out and shoved them in another suitcase that was 10 lbs underweight. Maybe we
could have fit Gracie Beers in our suitcase after all!! Wink, wink Mel Beers! There is also a weight limit on carry-ons, and
we knew we were way overweight on those, but we were praying that they wouldn’t
even weigh them…and sure enough they didn’t, thank you Lord!! I’ll just say we’ve had the smoothest check-ins
I’ve ever experienced, especially with 12 large suitcases/tubs and 12 carry-on
suitcases/back packs. We discovered
that, because our layover in Dubai is longer than 12 hours, they wouldn’t be
able to check our luggage in all the way through to Johannesburg, South
Africa. They did suggest, however, that
we check with the airline in Seattle to see if their system would allow them to
do it. Of course, that’s what we asked
and prayed for, and once again the Lord came through for us! While in Seattle Josh checked with a boarding
assistant, they re-tagged all 12 pieces of our luggage and checked them in all
the way through to South Africa, hallelujah!
Upon arriving in Seattle, we got off the plane and faced multiple flights
of stairs. When trying to figure out how
the kids were going to manage pulling their suitcases up the stairs, a worker
came around the corner and led us to the elevators. What a blessing that was!
Our first stop out of Seattle was in Dubai, which is where I
am currently typing this blog while the rest of the family sleeps. Everyone slept great on the plane, except
me. I didn’t sleep at all, but I thank
God that He blesses me with supernatural rest often. During our flight Josiah kept looking out the
window and saying, “We’re not flying, we’re not flying.” He said this because everything looked the
same, just sky and clouds below, so he thought we weren’t moving. What a cutie-patootie. We call him “joy boy” because he’s always
making us laugh and is constantly full of joy and smiling!
Upon getting off the plane in
Dubai, we had 2 gentleman offer to help us carry our luggage. We must have made quite the scene with our
children and 12 carry-ons. Just imagine
what it would have been like to carry those on top of 12 more checked
suitcases/bins! The hotel we are staying
in is absolutely beautiful! The boys got
a kick out of the front entrance glass doors that open and close (like at
Wal-Mart), and pretended to have special powers like in Star Wars. While checking into our hotel, a lady
randomly came up to Gracie and started petting her hair and saying it’s
beautiful and looks like Barbie. Let the
“petting” of Gracie’s hair begin. This
is exactly what happened when we came to Africa 2 years ago because people
there aren’t used to seeing blonde hair, and Gracie’s is definitely
blonde! We are blown away by the beauty
of our rooms, a suite with 2 rooms in 1.
Of course, we put all the kids in one room so that we could enjoy some
privacy of our own! ;-) We have a
balcony which overlooks the beautiful city of Dubai. There is even a swimming pool on the roof,
although we won’t have time to enjoy it during this visit, as we must leave the
hotel @ 7AM to catch our next flight. In
comparing time to Idaho, we are currently 10 hours later. When Josh and I first looked at plane tickets
and were deciding whether to stay overnight and get a hotel or choose a route
with a 9-hour layover in the airport, we decided to go with the option of
staying overnight so the kids could get some good rest and we’d just spend a
little extra money on a room. Well, then
God put it on our hearts to ask our friend, Samantha (whom we just briefly and
recently met within the last year), whom used to live in Dubai if she knew of
anyone that could host our family for a night.
She wasn’t able to find anyone, but her mom (Elsa) so generously offered
to take care of and pay for ALL of our sleeping and transportation arrangements. We have been blessed by a lovely woman, whom
until this evening, we hadn’t even met before.
I love how the body of Christ comes together in ways like this, and we
are truly grateful and humbled by Elsa’s love for us and our children. She not only met us at the airport while
holding a beautiful “butterfly” sign with our names on it, but she arranged for
us to be delivered to our hotel room and bought us dinner and personally delivered
it to our room – while staying for a while to visit. On top of that, she did a little shopping and
purchased outfits for each of the kids and blessed me with some beautiful
rose-gold jewelry! Oh wait, and there’s
more……….. She bought us some yummy
chocolates to top off our dinner with.
Hip, hip hooray to Elsa and her beautiful heart of gold!! We are thankful to have met her. Now she’s a part of our journey and we’ll
never forget her!
Some of you may not know the most
recent changes in our plans, but right now we are currently headed to
Johannesburg and will be staying with a couple there (instead of on a base) until
God directs us otherwise. We will arrive
there Sunday afternoon, South African time – around 8AM MST (in Idaho). We will have many opportunities to serve at
Footprints, the Iris ministry there, because their need is great. We have chosen to live each day at a time,
asking God what He’s up to for each day so we can partner with Him in what He’s
doing. We are continually learning what
a surrendered life looks like, and I recently came across this article that
speaks directly about the things that are going on in my heart……
Surrendering your life means:
- Following God’s lead without knowing where He’s
sending you.
- Waiting for God’s timing without knowing when it
will come. Not being afraid to step out
and take risk because you know He is with you.
- Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will
provide.
- Trusting God’s purpose without understanding the
circumstances.
You know your life is surrendered to God when you stop trying harder to control situations and start trusting Him more.
All God wants is ALL OF YOU. Are you willing to give Him that? I pray that as you each go on your own
personal journeys in life, you experience in greater levels what it means to
surrender your life to Him and to love Him with everything that you are! We definitely don’t have it all figured out,
but we know THE ONE who does and we’re choosing to lay down our lives for His
glory!! Loves to you all and thank you
for your continued support and prayers!
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