We Made It!!!!

Day One. 

The saga in which we struggled to get on a plane, and Satan struggled futilely against an all-powerful God, and we got to witness more miraculous events. And Satan lost. I mean, obviously, right? The word “futilely” implies that. But it’s fun to say it again. 

It’s 5:02am on March 18th, in Ethiopia right now. It’s 10:02pm on March 17th, in New York. So hello from the future!!!! :) Currently we are about two hours from landing. The flight has been good, with minimal turbulence. I’m grateful, because we had a heck of a time getting on this plane. But more on that later. I’ve been sleeping (as much as you can sleep on these flights, which is more like a semi-conscious game of trying to figure out how to get comfortable, which is impossible). I’ve got my headphones in now, and Abe and I just listened to “Matters” by For King and Country, because that’s my new favorite song. And I want to try and get a post going, to keep all you amazing people in the loop (if I have enough internet to post when I get there!). 

So yesterday. What a day. We made it to the airport at home with no issues, got through security, and went to our gate. Our flight was scheduled to be on time. We had our airport game plan ready: the kids pulled out their pizza goldfish crackers, and sat all around me. I turned on “Ninja vs. Ninja” (DUH, we basically only watch American Ninja Warrior now!!!) and we happily sat through the next hour. Our flight got delayed. No biggie. Then it got delayed again. Hey, it’s cool; we were flying to Newark instead of Dulles, and we had a six hour layover there, so we were still not panicking. We finally were called to board. Now we are EXPERT packers. We only bring carryons for our personal stuff. The only checked bags are donations and gifts, etc. And for our personal carryons, we use the smallest bags possible. Well, the kids went first, but the line to board got all held up, because the flight attendant wouldn’t let them on the plane. I made my way to the front, where she blocked the door with both hands on her hips. “You have to check these bags!” she informed me. I looked at the sign RIGHT. NEXT. TO. HER. The United policy sign. Stating one personal item and one carry-on. Olivia was first in line with a little backpack and a TINY purse. No joke. Another woman in line tried to enter the plane, but the woman stopped her as well and refused to let her in. The passenger argued with her; no avail. 

I pulled my kids to the side and took their backpacks. I tried to tie the tops together, because they aren’t sturdy backpacks and certainly not a great idea to toss them around with checked baggage, but we had to get on that plane. We were getting too close to our second flight and we had tons of security we would need to get through. I put the tags on their bags and got them onto the plane. While everyone was loading in, the attendant continued to literally harass passengers. I’ve never seen anything like it. Multiple people began calling the 800-United number to complain. Everyone was angry. 

We waited. And waited. When we finally began to taxi, an announcement came on the loudspeaker: there was a glitch with the plane and they were trying to fix it. They needed to restart the plane. So they stopped it, on the runway, and shut it down. Abe and I were sitting on opposite ends of the plane and texting each other. Time was getting low. The restart didn’t work. They restarted it again. 

Nada. 

They pulled back to the gate and de-boarded us. But because they had a mechanic in the engine checking on the plane, they couldn’t get anyone their bags, which were locked inside the checked area of the plane. 

Seriously. Satan was working overtime to keep us from flying. The delays, the plane being “dead” (exact words from the pilot), and then the fact that our bags were locked inside, so that we couldn’t even try to catch another flight. 

We got into the line of 50ish passengers at the United desk. Everyone was furious. I went and got the kids some Pringles and water ($20 for two tiny waters and two Pringles cans) and told them that it was okay, because of the plane wasn’t safe, then we wouldn’t want to be on it anyway. They were struggling to hold it together; they were really over-tired, stressed, surrounded by angry people, and we knew we were going to miss our flight to Ethiopia now. I prayed with them, and reminded them that God hadn’t gotten us this far for nothing. It was going to be okay. Then Levi reminded me that when Paul was in prison, he PRAISED God. So we tried to come up with a list of praises. 

-We weren’t getting on a dangerous plane. 

-God is bigger than any problem. 

-Even if we missed this flight, court is Tuesday. We could STILL make it on time. 

-We were together, stuck at our home airport, and not stuck in Newark or somewhere unfamiliar. 

-We could be a witness to people on how to handle the situation. 

I went back to Abe, who was still in line to speak to a United agent. The line hadn’t moved. We happened to look left, at another United flight. There was an agent and one person in line. A guy walked by and said, “Try over there—that lady helped me.” We had nothing to lose, so we went over. The woman was nice, but as we explained our situation, she shook her head. Her flight had been delayed due to maintenance as well (whatttttt???). But it was going to DULLES. But it only had one seat available. We shook our heads. She searched the computer for almost forty minutes. Finally she told us the only other option: come back tomorrow and take a 6am flight to Regan International, get two taxis, and  drive to Dulles, and take the ONLY flight left to Ethiopia, the 11am (that we normally take). We had her hold the tickets for us (she had to do them individually, as there were only seven seats left on the plane, and they were spread out everywhere). She told us that when we got our bags back, and had confirmation that we definitely weren’t flying tonight, to come back and she would get us new tickets and travel vouchers for two taxis. 

Basically we were at the airport until 8:30pm waiting to get our bags back. I promised the kids DiBella subs to compensate for their hunger and disappointment. Catherine came to get us and Abe went to finish getting new tickets while the kids and I grabbed our bags. We got dinner, went home, ate, and went to bed. 3am came quick, and we got up and went back to the airport. We were flying American Airlines this time. But at the desk, the guy wanted to see our Ethiopian visas. He put them in the computer and told us we were good to go. United hadn’t done that. Maybe it was a good thing we hadn’t flown them. We made it to our gate and boarded with no trouble. 

And the loudspeaker announcement happened again. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry, but there’s going to be a bit of a delay. This plane’s computer isn’t working correctly. We are going to get it fixed and get going as soon as we can.”

Natalie started crying. Abe was texting me from the back of the plane, “Whaaaaaat??? Not again?!?!” And I was thinking, “Satan, Imma punch you in your fricking face!!!”

Different airline. Different plane. Different day. Same problem. 

We prayed. Waited. Waited. 

Time was running out to catch our connection. 

And the plane moved. At that point, I wasn’t sure it was safe to BE on it, but I almost didn’t care. We were GOING. We flew into Regan. Abe ran for the vouchers and the kids and I ran for our checked bags. They were the first four bags (in a ROW) to come out on the luggage belt. Then we all ran outside to the taxi area. There were two taxis waiting (we needed two taxis) and we threw our stuff in and jumped into them. My driver was Ethiopian. We started driving and I started talking to him in Amharic. He freaked out and we spent the trip chatting it up in Amharic while he laughed and laughed because he couldn’t believe I could speak him language. I showed him my Amharic tattoos and he was dying. 

We made it to the airport. Abe and I gave each other the look: we might not make it in time. We went as quick as we could, and because this is our bajillionth time at Dulles, we knew right where to go. At the security ticket check, all our tickets beeped red. Denied. ALL OF THEM. I looked at the guy, who looked like he was too tired to deal with us. He frowned and looked at our tickets, then our passports, and then back again. Then he shrugged, wrote something, and handed them back to me, while waving us through. We didn’t ask twice. Just ran to security. The kids were bomb, we were ripping off sweatshirts and shoes as we went, and we busted through in the fastest time ever. Then we darted for the train. Got off at our terminal. Speed-walked though 31 gates, and arrived at the end of the boarders. Boarding had started at 10am; flight was at 11am. We jumped onto the end of the line at 10:37am. The kids stayed in line, Abe checked us in at the desk, and I ran to the nearest little food store and spent $52 on six small water bottles, five tiny bags of Chex mix and a little beef jerky. I ran back to the plane and we got on. We were spread out everywhere, because we had been squeezed onto the plane last minute. 

The woman to my right was Ethiopian, so being me, I started talking to her. Yessss, in Amharic. She asked me what I was doing, etc., and I gave her the two minute run-down. She said, “You’re too young!!!!” and then she asked if I had a boyfriend. I told her my husband was somewhere in the back of the plane. We turned and looked for him, and she said, “I’ll switch.” 

I stared at her. “Really,” she said. “You should sit together! I’m not traveling with anyone.” I leaned over and gave her a huge hug. And then she switched with Abe. 

So now, 13 hours after we boarded (and we are about an hour out), I am sitting here with my man. The sun is just starting to rise in Africa. The skyline is intensely orange and blue and red, and it’s a new day. And we are about to be in Ethiopia. Our favorite place. 

And we are going to see Micah tomorrow (Monday). 

God is good. 

All the time.