Portsmouth - End of the trip / Cedarville - Day 1-2

Yes, this is an unusual blog post, because over the past 48 hours God has been actively at work trying my faith! (And apparently not just mine...)  So the story starts on Friday, when the Portsmouth team makes their way to Panajachal and leaves me at Thelmas.  I had a 3:45 flight to Miami arriving at 7:05 and a 8:55 flight to Nashville.

Well...  Jose (my ride to the airport) asks if I can leave a little early - to which I said, "yes" - I always prefer being early.  We arrive at the airport at noon, and I go to check in.  PROBLEM 1 - my flight is delayed 45 minutes, with will not leave me enough time to make the next flight (most likely).  So, what does God do?  He puts me on the earlier flight - 1:00!!  Woo-hoo, problem solved.

NOT yet... PROBLEM 2 - we get loaded on the plane, and are ready to leave and the pilot tells us that we cannot leave because we are missing an FAA required item (not a critical piece for flight, but a required item in case of emergency). The make us all leave the plane and then re-book.  After waiting in line fore 2 hours, I am told that the flight will leave at 4:15, and I will be able to make my flight - problem solved.

Not yet... PROBLEM 3 - we land in Miami at 8:05.  Yes, it will be tight, but I can make it through in 40 minutes, especially since I am certain they know I am coming.  However, the plan gets stuck waiting for other planes to pull away from the gate, so we sit until 8:18, and then pull up and leave the plane at 8:26.  I take off running through the airport, an airport shuttle car comes past me and I jump on.  I run to immigration - through in 2 minutes, I run to customs - through in 2 minutes, I run to security - through in 3 minutes - and all along the way, I am running in front of people and asking for help, and everyone is graciously helping me - isn't God good!  I was completely through the airport from one end to the other - through immigration, customs and security in 22 minutes!!  Problem solved...

Or so one would think...  PROBLEM 4 - the gate was closed 2 minutes before I arrived!  TWO MINUTES!!  I told the lady, "I made it through the airport in 22 minutes - do you realize what a miracle that is??  I have to get on this plane." To which she replied, "the door has already been closed."  So I went to the counter at the guest services and they informed me that the only flight to Nashville was at 8:00 the next morning.  No problem right, wrong...

PROBLEM 5 - You see, I have an 8:00 AM flight in Nashville to Newark, New Jersey, where I am to meet 14 Cedarville students to fly to Peru at 2.  I have my supplies and money in Nashville, so they cannot just re-route me to Newark (not to mention that I am flying on another airline).  So, I ask the lady what is the best they can do...  "we have a 10:00 flight to Atlanta".  Not the best option, but I figured I would call my son in law and he could possibly pick me up and drive me to Nashville - okay, that would be absurd, so while I am on the phone with him discussing the possibility, I realized I could call and rent a car and drive 260 miles from Atlanta to Nashville.  Which is what I ended up doing!  Problems 1-5 solved.  Instead of being in Nashville at 10:00 at night and getting a good nights sleep before flying to Peru, I ended up driving to Nashville, arriving there at 4:00 EST and getting about 1 1/2 hours sleep before heading to the airport. 

ISN'T GOD GREAT??  Seriously, what is he up to?  I have no idea - and still don't - as to why He couldn't let that plan be 5 minutes late and allow me a good nights sleep.  But this I know - He is all powerful, and chose not to stop that plane.  He is Good - and chose not to allow me to make the flight.  I do not praise Him only when things go right, but also when all hell breaks lose in my world.  He is Good, all the time, and all the time, He is GOOD!

Well, I met the team in Newark, and we made our way down to Peru.  Our flight (that is typically 8:10 long) was only 7 hours long.  We walked out of the airport at 10:08  (2 minutes before we were supposed to land) and Jose was there to pick us up at 10:10.  By 11:30 we were at the hotel, showered and in bed for the night!  This is the earliest I have ever arrived in Lima.

After a great night's rest, we went to church, at dinner with the Apon family, went back to the hotel and rested, walked to Wong to go shopping, ate at Bembo's and headed back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow.  We did a 2-18 session with McCayley being in the hot seat (she shared about herself for 2 minutes, and the team asked her questions for 18 minutes).  It was a great end to a great day.

Thought for the day:  Well isn't it obvious??   Why is it that when life is going great, we can look at our great God and rejoice in His goodness that brings us what we want, when we want, but when the difficulties of life come our way (even something as simple as missing our plane), we begin to wrestle with the goodness or powerfulness of our God.

AND, how often do we need an explanation for why He choses to do what He does - as if we think we deserve an answer for why He did what he did, or at least, we need to see the "silver lining" that explains to us how our difficulty was used to honor Him.

A 4 1/2 hour drive at the worst time of the day to drive (12:30 AM - 4:00 AM) right before I am getting ready to go on a MISSIONS TRIP - you know, to bring God glory and work on His behalf??  Don't you think He should make things easier for me?

Actually, I don't.  He is God and I am not! (aren't we all glad about that!)  Seriously - the thought that God owes me anything is ludicrous to me, and the fact that anything in life is for my pleasure is absurd.  Yes, I find pleasure in life, but it is because God is a loving God that I am able to do that.  And when difficulty comes, I must, I MUST resign myself to the position that Paul took as a bond-servant and recognize that when God made His plans, He never consulted my will to determine what He is going to do.  That would be as ridiculous as a slave owner asking the slave to sit down and the master serving the slave.

If in our service to our master, He chooses to cause us pain, then as slaves our response should be, "yes, Master."  and nothing else.  After all, He is the Master.

God help me see my position as it truly is, yes, a child of God, but also a slave to a Good King.  Help me seek Your will - even when I don't understand it, and especially when it causes me pain.  Thank You for your lovingkindness, Your grace, Your mercy, Your forgiveness, and Your love.  Without any of these, my life would be worthless, but in Christ, my life is fullness and joy - even in hardship.