As I was packing to go to Ecuador, I felt this just serene peace. Last time, the whole trip was uncharted, and this time, the whole trip was uncharted, but for some reason, this time, I'm packing and I'm actually giddy about it. I'm actually itching to go back. It seemed as if it would be the other way around, I should've felt scared and uncertain about going, but Saturday night as I packed, I was looking forward to it. That Sunday morning, we had our commissioning service. While we were preparing for the service we found out that we were short 300 dollars because we had two extra trunks that were going to be checked in. We couldn't leave those two trunks behind because they were filled to the brim with things for our ministry. Among all of us we took probably about 20 trunks. Approximately 20 trunks for 13 people. We later found out that one of our members had received an over $300 dollar donation for our trip…which was wonderful, because it meant we could transport those extra trunks.
We got to the airport that morning, and started having our checked baggage weighed, and we realized that the scale that we used to weigh the bags on, in which we made sure it all weighed 49 lbs….the scale must have been wrong, because the scales in the airport were showing 52-53 lbs. Normally, we would have had to pay an exhorbant fee just to put 2 or 3 pounds of weight more on to the plane. But the people who weighed us just turned the other cheek and didn't really pay attention to the weight.
As I was sitting in Atlanta after our flight from Charlotte to Atlanta arrived, I was just overwhelmed by the way God was working things out. I was so at peace. I honestly was just relaxed and ready to work and be used by God. I knew that I was supposed to be on that plane and God would do whatever he wanted to get me there. I couldn't believe that there was a moment of hesitation in my heart. I knew God wanted us there. Customs when we arrived in Ecuador went great. Rosindo and his team were there, just waiting for us with transportation that was far superior than anything else they had in Ecuador. There was just this peace in my heart, God was working everything else out for us, and was providing greatly.
While we were there, we ran into some money problems one day, when our meal cost more than we anticipitated. Remember that extra 300 dollars and so? Well the so provided more than enough to keep us filled. Who says God doesn't work miracles.
I came home, though, a very hurt individual. That last day, we just did some tourist sight-seeing, not much of anything else. Rosindo had already left, and my heart had already broken from that. But we were late to the airport, so there was no chance for a fond farewell, just rushed hugs and embraces. We checked all our baggage in, and then realized we had to pay airport tax, which we'd never had to do before, because Delta has always paid that for us. But we hadn't planned on paying airport tax, so we had to scramble around to try to pay it. Once we got through security measures, one of our team member's bags was pulled to be inspected, which was a huge setback. When we got to the waiting area where we were to wait to get on our plane, we discovered our plane was delayed for whatever reason. And then we had to be searched, our bags searched, wanded and given a body pat.
Which by the way, is an essential component of my life when I travel. Body pats. Ooo they get me so hot! See I can't go through the metal detectors or it'll mess up my implant, and instead I have to be patted down, which is just wonderful. I know I like to be touched, but dang, there's just some touches that I could live without!
Anyways, we were stuck in this area, no food or drinks allowed, and if we needed to go to the bathroom or something, we had to give them our passport and boarding pass, and upon return, we had to go through the whole process again. Delta wasted money on hiring those people. Anyways…we boarded and landed in Guayaquil, and as soon as we stepped off the plane, we went through security once, waited in a waiting area, and then we were forced to go back through security. This time, we had to let someone hand inspect our bags and go through them.
We boarded and took off, on the late plane, and landed late. In Atlanta, we'd have to wait for our bags so that we could recheck them in. Two of our members this time had to have every single thing taken out and hand-inspected in Atlanta, and it took forever for the bags to reach us. Needless to say, we flew out on a later flight, but couldn't find seats together.
At this point, I was just hurt and upset. I mean, I didn't mind going through the whole security measures. Sure, it was ridiculous, but what did I have to hide? Seriously…if I had something to hide, I'd be upset, but I didn't. I felt like the majority of the members of my team were mad or upset at me. And I'm sure it's just tiredness that both of us were feeling, but the way I feel is valid in of itself. I was trying to you know keep everyone's spirits up, but I felt very hurt, because some of them just looked at me and said, "you're wrong…there's nothing that could be worse than this." It honestly seemed like God was trying to keep us from coming home, almost. I mean the way things were not working out, it just seemed so unreal. I'm over it, whatever that was. But honestly, I feel more secure in Ecuador than I do in the States, and I cannot wait to go back.
But I will say this: If you're ever stranded in a situation and upset, please, do your best not to disregard optimism. I'm not saying that I'm the best person on that mission team, and no one else tried to remain positive and everyone else just took out everything on me, making me the injured party. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that in the future, when someone is trying to be optimistic, appreciate their optimism. It would mean the world to them.
We got to the airport that morning, and started having our checked baggage weighed, and we realized that the scale that we used to weigh the bags on, in which we made sure it all weighed 49 lbs….the scale must have been wrong, because the scales in the airport were showing 52-53 lbs. Normally, we would have had to pay an exhorbant fee just to put 2 or 3 pounds of weight more on to the plane. But the people who weighed us just turned the other cheek and didn't really pay attention to the weight.
As I was sitting in Atlanta after our flight from Charlotte to Atlanta arrived, I was just overwhelmed by the way God was working things out. I was so at peace. I honestly was just relaxed and ready to work and be used by God. I knew that I was supposed to be on that plane and God would do whatever he wanted to get me there. I couldn't believe that there was a moment of hesitation in my heart. I knew God wanted us there. Customs when we arrived in Ecuador went great. Rosindo and his team were there, just waiting for us with transportation that was far superior than anything else they had in Ecuador. There was just this peace in my heart, God was working everything else out for us, and was providing greatly.
While we were there, we ran into some money problems one day, when our meal cost more than we anticipitated. Remember that extra 300 dollars and so? Well the so provided more than enough to keep us filled. Who says God doesn't work miracles.
I came home, though, a very hurt individual. That last day, we just did some tourist sight-seeing, not much of anything else. Rosindo had already left, and my heart had already broken from that. But we were late to the airport, so there was no chance for a fond farewell, just rushed hugs and embraces. We checked all our baggage in, and then realized we had to pay airport tax, which we'd never had to do before, because Delta has always paid that for us. But we hadn't planned on paying airport tax, so we had to scramble around to try to pay it. Once we got through security measures, one of our team member's bags was pulled to be inspected, which was a huge setback. When we got to the waiting area where we were to wait to get on our plane, we discovered our plane was delayed for whatever reason. And then we had to be searched, our bags searched, wanded and given a body pat.
Which by the way, is an essential component of my life when I travel. Body pats. Ooo they get me so hot! See I can't go through the metal detectors or it'll mess up my implant, and instead I have to be patted down, which is just wonderful. I know I like to be touched, but dang, there's just some touches that I could live without!
Anyways, we were stuck in this area, no food or drinks allowed, and if we needed to go to the bathroom or something, we had to give them our passport and boarding pass, and upon return, we had to go through the whole process again. Delta wasted money on hiring those people. Anyways…we boarded and landed in Guayaquil, and as soon as we stepped off the plane, we went through security once, waited in a waiting area, and then we were forced to go back through security. This time, we had to let someone hand inspect our bags and go through them.
We boarded and took off, on the late plane, and landed late. In Atlanta, we'd have to wait for our bags so that we could recheck them in. Two of our members this time had to have every single thing taken out and hand-inspected in Atlanta, and it took forever for the bags to reach us. Needless to say, we flew out on a later flight, but couldn't find seats together.
At this point, I was just hurt and upset. I mean, I didn't mind going through the whole security measures. Sure, it was ridiculous, but what did I have to hide? Seriously…if I had something to hide, I'd be upset, but I didn't. I felt like the majority of the members of my team were mad or upset at me. And I'm sure it's just tiredness that both of us were feeling, but the way I feel is valid in of itself. I was trying to you know keep everyone's spirits up, but I felt very hurt, because some of them just looked at me and said, "you're wrong…there's nothing that could be worse than this." It honestly seemed like God was trying to keep us from coming home, almost. I mean the way things were not working out, it just seemed so unreal. I'm over it, whatever that was. But honestly, I feel more secure in Ecuador than I do in the States, and I cannot wait to go back.
But I will say this: If you're ever stranded in a situation and upset, please, do your best not to disregard optimism. I'm not saying that I'm the best person on that mission team, and no one else tried to remain positive and everyone else just took out everything on me, making me the injured party. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that in the future, when someone is trying to be optimistic, appreciate their optimism. It would mean the world to them.
