Don't get Mad... The Finale...

       Greetings!  I noticed I've gained a few new followers this week.  Welcome!  Please (No really, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!) feel free to leave a comment below... I graciously accept all feedback, encouraging statements, funny stuff, and good ol' kicks in the pants.  And, thank you for stopping by.  I appreciate it!
          Now, before we get started, I must warn you that this third installment promises to be a doosie of a long one... Because, I have promised myself, come Hades or high CO2, I'm wrapping  it up tonight.


Recap:
   The story of two rookie missionaries on their first journey back to the United States... How one of them stopped the other from succombing to madness... And why the GRACE of God is much more than a mindless cliche.  


If you'd like to catch up, I've provided links to PART ONE  and   PART TWO


       Let's see, where was I? Broke? Covered that.  Infant in tow?  Check.  Ah yes,... Completely refreshed we boarded the plane...  Ten-ish hours later we landed in Miami, and we immediately boarded another airplane, were picked up in Detroit, and lived happily ever after...  Or, maybe all the stinkin' flights headed to Michigan were full that night...  Did I mention we were broke?  Not broke as in "not a lot of spare cash", but rather,  broke as in, "We can't ride the pony at Meijer" broke.   Sigh, time to consult that "God" guy again.  We prayed, as we made ourselves comfortable on some familiar airport benches.  Michael put in a phone call to the person who was to pick us up the day before (until that didn't work out), to tell them not to get us now (because, that didn't work out).  Now, I'm a goin' rabbit trailling a bit here, but every time I had traveled through Miami, I thought, "It would be so nice to stay in the Miami Airport Hotel, maybe someday... "  Hmm, guess what the voice on the other end of Michael's phone conversation offered?  
     I really enjoyed the free night and room-service breakfast at the airport hotel.  But, what to do about the fee for missing our connection flight on the previous day?  Yeah, we prayed, on the benches.  We still had no money, but we got in line for the next flight anyway.  We handed the woman at the counter our tickets for yesterday's fights and asked how much it would be to change itinerary.  Her reply - "IF I look that these and see that you missed your flight yesterday, I'll have to charge you $200 each.  But (she flipped them over and handed them back), I'm not going to look, please board the aircraft and enjoy your flight."  YES.  That REALLY happened.
      Upon arrival at our final destination, I began unpacking our urgently needed items, like Desitin and baby wipes.  As I searched through the contents of the diaper bag, my fingers found themselves grasping an unfamiliar object... the wrapped gift from our God-sent hosts in Buenos Aires!  Curiosity at peak level, I unwrapped it... Are you ready for it?  It was a ceramic christmas ornament displaying  an all-true bible verse (you know, as opposed to all the rest of those nutty Bible verses).  It said, "DIOS ES AMOR", which is Spanish for "GOD IS LOVE."  Two weeks after our arrival, I drank in the smell of eggnog and cinnamon as I admired the Christmas tree, my eyes and heart being drawn to one very special ornament in particular.  
    Who knows what ugly chaos might have ensued, if I had gone with my initial reaction at the airport in Argentina (to throw a tantrum and worry myself into a mild stroke)?  Jesus, Thanks for what you showed me on that journey... and thanks for that ornament, it's still my favorite.  And Michael, thanks for your wisdom.  Also, I like your goatee.


There you have it.  I love you guys.  Thanks for reading.

1st John 4:8  "...God is love"....  Romans 8:28 "...All things work together for good to those who love God"


Christina




PS. - I realize the type on this entry is ridiculously tiny... I'm working on it.

Don't get Mad... the continuation...

Perusing some of the archives of this place (I stole that from FRESH MOMMY's blog), I happened upon a promise to finish a story... I am making good on that today...

Dont Get Mad...the continuation...      Click HERE for Part 1

     Seven years ago, a young couple phoned the airlines to confirm that the flight that was to return them to their homeland was indeed leaving at Eleven o' clock.  Upon verification of departure status, they (infant in tow) had one H -E - half circle - K, of a taxi ride, but, by the grace of God, arrived safely at the airport.

      9:59pm - To my husband,  "Michael, this is our gate... why does the sign say "PARIS"?

     To the man at the desk, - "Sir, We are here for an 11:00 flight to Miami..."

     His reply - "Let's see... hmm...It looks like that flight was changed... yes, it left at 11:00 this morning."

     To God, Satan, the angels, and the frightened man behind the desk, "WHAT!!!!???"

And, before I could sputter another word, my husband said something very, very wise.  He told me, "Stop." I obeyed, curious as to why he wasn't a bit more flustered by the situation.  Then, very calmly, he said, "I think we just need to allow God to do something ... Let's pray."  (That guy sure is a good influence on me.) We had no money for food, or a hotel... and the next flight to the United States didn't leave until the next morning...  We were five hours away from anyone we knew.  But, we had a faith in an all powerful God, who, we asked to take care of us in this difficult moment.

The airport had a couple of metal benches. We asked the lady at the information counter if we could camp out on them for the night... She hesitated, then looked at our precious baby, and replied... "Yes."  (Michael noticed she was reading a bible as we approached.  Fascinating.)

Two adults, one hungry infant, 240 lbs. of luggage, and a couple of 4 and a half foot benches... We made ourselves as comfy as possible.

Not long after, the same woman asked to speak with us... We thought we were getting kicked out for the night.  Instead.... "I spoke to my parents, they have a luxury apartment nearby that they aren't using right now, if you feel comfortable staying there, they will take you there, and bring you back in the morning."

Now, we don't usually encourage leaving with strangers in a foreign country, but we felt peace about this incidence...

We were picked up by a lovely couple (WHO SPOKE ENGLISH), and taken to a magnificent apartment (Which also happened to have A CRIB) We were given food... we chillaxed a bit while we watched cable,  hot baths....etc..and in the morning, they brought breakfast and a wrapped gift.

Completely refreshed, we boarded the plane, and guess what!? There's like an hour more to the story.
I guess you will have to come back again for part 3.  Do you want to hear the rest?

Tune in tomorrow:  Same bat-time, Same bat-channel...


"BAM!", "SOCK!", "POW!"

Christina

PS.  (What would my posts be without a "P. S."? ... Shorter, I guess.)

Here's a song, with...., forgive me Dan Moen, painfully outdated music. The words are appropriate though.  Do try and make it through it for me, will you.  Click on the photo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zo3fJYtS-o&feature=related

Prize Giveaway!!!

  

 I announce the winner tomorrow(Monday, June 7) evening!  Only a few have participated so far.  Click the  Bible verse to be directed to the game post.  Also, don't forget to click on the geography lesson.  Many people avoided the link, surely thinking it was going to be something boring.  Come on now, who do you think I am?

      Mark 16:15 Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all.

A Guessing Game

       Yay for Interactive Blog Day (not a real holiday, except maybe in Latin Countries.  They have a holiday pretty much once a week.  I think Monday commemorates the birth of the first person to combine avocados with lime and cilantro.  We're celebrating that one in our house for sure.).


                     



Why do we travel so often?  The answer is simple.  People deserve to have a chance at life.  We have the information, necessary for them to do so.


  And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.  Mark 16:15

I'm looking forward to reading your guesses.

Have a most wonderful day.

Me

It's a hookah, It's a bong, it's SUPER... HOT!

I have received various requests for STORIES, STORIES, and MORE STORIES.  Here's one from our earlier days in the ministry.

     Only days after giving away nearly all of our possessions, we boarded an airplane, baby (and diaper bag, and stroller, and computer, and camera, and backpack, and car seat) in arms,  and headed to  South America.  Nineteen-ish hours later we landed in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.
  
     We were met in the airport by three young men holding a white piece of paper with the word "LUSK" on it. Although we were exhausted, they seemed like fun people and I was excited to meet them.  The only English they spoke however, was catch phrases from the highly popular reruns of "Mork and Mindy" and "Alf".  Go ahead, say "Nanu-nanu", and "Cats are tasty." out loud in your best latino accent.  You get the picture.
     They guided us to a white van with the famous "praying hands" custom painted on the doors.  We had no idea we had FIVE MORE HOURS to drive before reaching our final destination.  About half an hour into our journey, we stopped at a gas station to use the potty.  I had been waiting for this moment for years. "Ok Christina," I said to myself, "you are finally south of the equator.  When you flush,  find out if the water really does swirl in the other direction."  The toilet was a powerful one though, and with one mighty woosh, the water just went straight down.  I was kinda miffed about it.
  
     Walking back out to the van I saw our three guys at a vending machine.  It didn't dispense sweet and salty goodies though.  You put a coin in this machine and it dispenses boiling water.  The guys filled a thermos and we loaded up again.  Curious about the whole hot water thing, I pointed and asked (with my eyebrows) what the hot water was all about.  They were only too happy to show us.  They took from a backpack a "mini-mug" with two handles instead of just one.  "Aww, that's a cute little tea cup.", I thought to myself.  My thoughts of cuteness vanished when they took out a metal pipe straw and filled the cup with crushed green plant leaves.  I, being rather sheltered and innocent as a teenager, racked my brain with all the paraphernalia terms I had heard tossed around back then.  Was it a "bong" or maybe one of those hookah things?  One of the guys poured water from the thermos over the green stuff in the mug.  Then he passed it to one of his buddies.  They kept filling it and passing it between the three of them, then the unthinkable happened.  They filled it up and INSISTED we drink from it too!
     "Ok, Michael.  What do we do?"  "Uh...well...we don't want to offend them, but obviously we're not going to ingest drugs.  Especially you, breastfeeding the baby."  In that split second we silently begged God to give us guidance.  Both feeling peace about it, Michael went first.  Poor guy, the water was so hot tears ran down his cheeks.  Sensing it may be too hot for the unaccustomed Americans, they added some bottled water to mine to cool it down some.  This was our first taste of Mate (mah-tay).  No drugs in the Argentine version, but you might not want to drink it in Peru.

Whew!  There's a lot more story to tell here,  but it may have to wait for another posting.

Seriously, I love you for being interested.

Christina