5:30 a.m. (Central Time) Piano music drifts through the room as Charlie’s cell phone alarm sounds. He reaches out and turns it off. Two minutes later, the raucous digital tune from my cell phone forces me out of bed, and we jump into the day.
Except for the things we needed during the night or this morning, everything is packed. We perform our morning ablutions and dress quickly. Pajamas, cell phones, (AKA alarm clocks), toiletries and other last minute items join their travel mates in our carry-ons.
6:05 a.m. I punch the address for the Blue Sky Parking Lot into the Tom-Tom, and we head out through the quiet tree-lined streets of Wheaton toward one of the busiest airports in the world.
6:40 a.m. We pull into the Blue Sky Parking Lot where the Hispanic attendant efficiently checked our car for pre-existing dents and asked if we wanted a car wash. We declined, even though it needed it. He graciously carried our bags to their shuttle and asked for our departing airline information.
6:50 a.m. We leave the parking lot and head through busy traffic to the departing gates. The first stop is for the United passengers. It takes longer for us to get to our terminal from the previous one than it did to get to the airport in the first place.
7:00 a.m. We join the line of departing passengers. We get our boarding passes and check our bags. No gate has been assigned to us yet, though the airline tells us it is still listed as “on time”.
7:20 a.m. The security line stretches longer than the cords that have been erected. Only two people are checking identification, so this could take a while. Everyone expects the line and the wait, so people are pleasant as we slowly snake our way through the cords to the front.
7:45 a.m. The blue-uniformed TSA agent checks our identification and asks us how long we have been standing in line. He grabs a chair to sit for the next while and passes us through. We remove our shoes, empty our pockets, pull out the liquids, and remove our computers from their cases. Our bags join our shoes on the conveyer belt to be screened, and we stand in line for a body scan. (I hate those. Talk about an invasion of privacy!) After the scan, Charlie is pulled aside because his shirt had multi-layer pockets and they weren’t sure if he was hiding something. (After all, he might have been hiding a prayer card! That’s what he usually carries in his pockets.)
8:00 a.m. We put our shoes back on and check the list of departing flights. Still no gate assignment. Oh look! A Dunkin’ Donuts! That’s probably the last one we’ll see in a while, so we joined the line there. With coffee, juice, and pastries in hand, we find a table. No free wi-fi here, so we’ll have to wait until some other time to check email.
8:20 a.m. We receive information that our flight is delayed an hour. Joan calls her parents to let them know what is going on and sends texts to friends. One of her friends calls her and they talk for a few minutes. Finally, we have a gate. We walk around for a while to see what our terminal has to offer: two food courts, several small stores, and many flights heading all over the world, including Heathrow, Beijing, Narita, Las Vegas, Shanghai, and Boston. At our gate, s an earlier plane is headed to San Diego, so we found another place to sit and wait.
9:30 a.m. I dig out my computer and start the log for our travel day. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:25. Now it’s scheduled for 10:45.
10:00 a.m. Our flight has been delayed again to 11:20. I think I have plenty of time to do some reading. I close down the blog and open “Online Bible” and begin to read. Did you know that the story of the rich man asking Jesus what he needed to be saved is preceded in all three accounts by Jesus blessing the children? It made me stop to think about those two stories together. First, what would a child do if he were presented by the same request from Jesus – give away all you have and come and follow me. What would I have done when I was a child? Second, if we had the dependence of a child on our Heavenly Father, would a request like that from Jesus sound scary or freeing?
10:55 a.m. Our flight begins to board. More standing in line and waiting our turn to board.
11:30 a.m.The plane finally pulls away from the gate to sit on the tarmac for a while. A few
minutes later, we join the line of planes waiting to take off, and soon we’re in the air.
12:00 noon: The pilot announces that we are flying at 37,000 feet, and that we’ll fly over Georgia on our way down to Florida. If I wave really hard, will my sister in Atlanta see me? We read, doze and talk the rest of the way.
3:25 p.m. (Eastern time) As we fly over the everglades, a lightning strike lights up the sky in the distance. Dark clouds hover in front of us, and we land in Miami in a full-blown rain storm. After an agent is finally located, the skyway is attached and the door opens. Once again we stand in line, waiting for our turn to disembark. We are seated four rows from the back of a full 757 aircraft, so it will be a while before we can get off. Fortunately, we have lots of time here.
4:00 p.m. We walk the airport looking for free wi-fi, but this airport is just as stingy with wi-fi as O’Hare was. We remembered that in Lima we used wi-fi at Starbucks, so we look for the nearest Starbucks cafe. It’s located at gate six, probably half a mile from where we are; but we have nothing but time right now and we need a good walk.
4:30 p.m. Our stomachs are growling. It’s been hours since we’ve had anything to eat. Wendy’s chili sounds good right now, so we stop.
6:45 p.m. The airplane is scheduled to take off at 7:10. Since the boarding has only just begun, it will not likely be on time.
7:30 p.m. We’re in the air again, on our way to Guatemala.
7:55 p.m. (Mountain time) After a non-eventful two hour flight, we land in Guatemala. We proceed to immigration and choose one of the three lines for foreigners. We chose the wrong line. We started in the middle of a long line. When it was apparent how slowly our line was moving, people behind us began moving to other lines. Another plan debarked and more people joined our line. Soon they too realized how slowly our line was moving compared to others, so they too left our line for others. We were the last ones in our line and certainly the last ones on our plane to leave immigration.
9:15 p.m. The luggage carousel stopped a long time ago, and the baggage handlers are wondering what to do about our bags when we arrive. We gather our bags and head for customs. Customs waves us through and we head outside to a cold, rainy evening in Guatemala. At first we don’t see the blue sign for IPM in the midst of all the white signs for other people, but we eventually locate our people. They go get the car while we wave off the vendors who gather around us. Eventually an SUV shows up and we load our baggage.
10:20 p.m. We arrive at the retreat center where the conference is being held and greet some of the people who are there. Most of them have already retired to their rooms for the night.
10:30 p.m. We’re shown to a dining room with plates piled high with food. Charlie and I decide then that we’ll need to share a plate of food in the future, or we’ll both go home ten pounds heavier than when we arrived. I eat some of it, but I know that I won’t sleep well if I eat it all.
11:30 p.m. We crawl into bed after a very long day, thank God for His provision and safety along the way, and promptly fall asleep.
