TRAVEL DAYS:
boats,
planes,
buses,
…you name it & squad v has probably done it.
from being stranded in colombia for 38 hours to being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, my friends and i have learned that travel days rarely ever look like what they’re supposed to.
granted, traveling with 38 people across the world is definitely not easy and our logistic king & queen, philip & kori, do an amazing job at getting us from point a to point b even if that means spending a night or two in an airport or in a squadmate’s mom’s distant uncle’s wife’s house (or something like that lol).
to be honest, i’m quite blessed by every missed plane and unexpected boat ride, because God has always shown up in miraculous ways. wether it be receiving 40
new plane tickets which should cost $15,000 for absolutely free or having the opportunity to encourage someone at an airport- God has never left us without even when our airplanes have.
these past few travel days were more or less the same:
1.we missed our connecting flight due to a storm
2.we spent the night in a hallway towards the outskirts of the mexico airport
but this time, it was a lot harder for me to see God’s provision + goodness in the situation.
let me back up a bit.
in february philip & kori called a logistics meeting to let us in on all the details of our travel days: guatemala -> mexico city -> los angeles -> china -> cambodia
pretty typical.
lots of different connecting flights with some layovers in between.
but there was just one thing about these plane rides that made my heart skip a beat: we were going to have a layover in los angeles-
aka, my hometown.
aka, ten minutes away from my house.
aka, three miles from my best friend.
aka, literally my whole entire life being so close yet so far.
but what made it even crazier is that this layover wasn’t just for a couple hours, it was a whole day. a whole entite 24 hours at home & i had no idea how to feel about it.
initially, i was overwhelmed. this may seem dramatic but i really couldn’t grasp the thought of being home. i prepared myself to not see anything familiar for 9 months and to suddenly find out i would see all those things in only a few weeks was really shocking. but after spending sometime with the Lord about it all, He gave me peace and eventually excitement about being able to see my family and surprise a few of my friends. by sitting with the Lord and handing my emotions over to Him, i was able to see the truth He was speaking over the situation and finally recognized the layover as a blessing and not a whole “woe is me” scenario. so in turn, the butterflies in my stomach grew as march 6th approached and as i started to make plans with my family and friends.
okay,
now flash forward to the mexico airport i was telling you about- the butterflies were long gone by then.
due to a storm over mexico city, we missed our connecting flight to LA.
…aka, no more 24 hour layover.
…aka, no more seeing family or surprising friends.
…aka, no more chick-fil-a or panera bread.
instead of staying in a warm hostel bed in the states, i was laying on the cold marble floor of an airport in mexico with a security guard screaming “¡BUENOS DÍAS!” at us every 20 minutes.
i was frustrated and disappointed.
i felt like all the time and emotion i spent finding peace about the 24 hours in LA had gone to waste in a matter of a few minutes- i spent all this time searching for a blessing and when i finally found it, it was taken away.
but as i attempted to sleep in this random airport hallway, God kindly reminded me that whatever refreshment or rest i was hoping to find in my family and friends, He could provide better.
so even though missing our flight sucked because my expectations were let down, it was also a celebration because i had the opportunity to depend completely on my Heavenly Father for a new perspective + attitude shift. He reminded me that He is always in control + He helped me see the good in a time where i wanted to complain about the bad.
and praise God because all 38 of us were able to make it to LA on time for our connecting flight to china. and even though i wasn’t in LA for 24 hours, i was able to see my family for the short hour i was there, and for that i’m super thankful.
so after a crazy week of traveling, plane flights, and storms, i’ve finally made it to cambodia! i’ve been here for about two and a half weeks now and am really expectant for what God is going to do here in the next few months! i’ll keep y’all updated and post a blog about what my daily life looks like soon 🙂
<3,
shek.
–
let’s chat!
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