to PA and back

Wow! What an amazing trip we had to PA! We left bright n early... er... early on Wednesday morning. Amazingly enough we did get on the road in time. Once we arrived at B'ham airport we experienced our first "new" thing. We have never parked our car at the airport for an extended time. That lead us to walking a LONG distance because we didn't know where we were going haha We had tried to print our boarding passes but it would not let us. Once we were in we tried again and it still would not let us. The attendant found out that for some reason they had not issued Nate a ticket. We decided that we indeed did want him to go with us so we had to resolve that issue. We all made it through security with no problems and proceeded to our gate. Our trip up went very well! The boys were so excited and full of questions. We arrived at the airport where our sweet new friends were waiting with a van to pick us up. It was really cool how this van reminded us so much of Jeff's parents van.... we felt at home already :) Joni was super organized and had brought the boys a sandwich, chips and water (she has 4 boys and knew they would be hungry). The boys ate it up on the spot. We had a beautiful drive to the base and began to get to know our new friends. We had some down time to relax a bit then met up with Joni for a tour of the base. The castle has such an amazing history. It was amazing how God supplied this large space for this sending base. On to dinner which was amazing. There is a Korean church there who supplied the food for Wednesday night dinner. It was a great treat to try different cuisine. We were blessed to find out the kim chi had shrimp in it BEFORE jeff ate what he put on his plate. Definitely didn't want to take a trip to the ER. We met with the directors and found out (and gave) more information. By the time we went to bed our heads were very full (as opposed to their normal empty... totally kidding... maybe...) I did have the fleeing thought of "will my head hold this much info and thinking?" Quickly gave it to the Lord because I did not want to entertain the "I can'ts". Thursday morning came slowly because thankfully we didn't have anything pressing bright and early. That was a blessing because it gave my headache a chance to go down before the day started. We went to the media building and Jeff was shown all of the IT equipment and was given the "run down" on all that was involved. We stayed for a little bit but it was a foreign language to us so Joni and I went to pick up lunch. Philly cheese steak sandwiches ~ everyone knows that when in Philly you HAVE to have a cheese steak sandwich. Her son is trying to get his hours in for driving so he drove us to pick up sandwiches. He prayed "God please don't let us crash and die" to which my reply could only be... Amen! We were trapped in the car smelling the wonderful food on the way back to the base. The boys inhaled their sandwiches, deciding they MORE than liked it. At one point Joni says to Micah "oh, you are left handed?" Micah looks at the sandwich in his left hand and says "no ma'am, I just eat with whatever hand is closest to the food". After lunch we headed down to hear a couple give their story and where they were headed. SUPER encouraging and challenging at the same time. The boys thoroughly enjoyed hearing their story! Thursday afternoon Jeff helped a lady with her computer and advised her in ways to get things fixed. It was more than he could take care of in the 2 days we were there. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the "needs wall" and praying for direction. They place all of the needs on a wall and pray over them continually! That was almost overwhelming. We had great conversation with Joni and Burt as well. Burt took a look at Jeffrey's toe ~ which was infected :( Dinner was once again wonderful!!! They eat all together in the "cafeteria". We met with another missionary couple. They have 2 kids and were very interesting to talk to. He and Jeff discussed lots of tech stuff... the women folk um... didn't :) We went back to their apartment there on the base and she had a wonderful blueberry pie that was donated by Whole Foods. HAHA forgot to mention that... when we arrived Joni told us that Whole Foods donates their "old" stuff to them every week so most of their food was from there... she "hoped" that was ok. WOW! for those of you who know me... that is MORE than ok, it was PERFECT! among the donated items that were in our room was Throat Coat tea. I had tried to find it here at home before we left and could not so when it was in our room I was so tickled. Little winks from God for sure!!!! During the time we were talking with other people the boys would find something to entertain themselves. They made friends there which was very nice. They played v-ball, risk, worked out... just tons of stuff to do really. On to Friday morning... woke up headache free WOOHOO! we ate a quick breakfast which was right there in our rooms so that was great. Went to the weekly worship/prayer meeting. God touched my heart so many times during the 3 days we were there but this was a time where I did cry a little... just... very humbled. After the meeting we talked to a few more people then went and picked up our rental car. We had a day of site seeing in the cold and rain... it was still fun though. We ate at WaWa which apparently is known in that area. You order on a computer, boys thought it was pretty cool. We took our food to Valley Forge and ate it there. We drove around Valley Forge which was very cool... literally :) We were headed back and passed a HUGE mall so we stopped... this place was enormous. If I was a shopper I would have been delighted. It was still fun to walk around and look at the different shops. So many we had never heard of. We made our way back to the base, took a nap and freshened up then took the car back. The evening was spent with Joni, Burt and their family. They were in Kyrgyzstan for 9 years and now are the candidate directors there at the US base. We had a great evening, Joni made a wonderful meal. The boys played risk, ate ice cream. We were able to get a good picture of the organization through the days we spent with them. We left their apartment and walked back up the hill to the castle where our room was. It was cold and drizzly and our heads and hearts(and stomachs) were full. Packed up all our things and tried to get a few hours of sleep. EARLY alarm sounds at 4am(which is 3am our time) were not exactly welcomed but we did get up and get ourselves out the door by 4:45. Joni was so nice to drive us to the airport at the terribly early hour. We made it in time and said our goodbyes. I love how God places people in your life just at the right time! Whether our paths cross again or not... I've been blessed to meet an amazing lady. We had the same ticket issue with Nate again but we were determined to take him home so we resolved the problem. Made it through security with a minor "oh, sorry I forgot my water bottle was in there". We were so tired and had not eaten anything but did not have time to get anything so on the plane we went. I thought I was going to toss my cookies... well... you know what I mean. We made it to Charlotte and were able to sit, eat, discuss... just spend time together. I love my family so much!!! I was so proud of the boys, they had a blast and that was what we were shooting for! We were all ready to get home and get some sleep. Slept for a little while, got up and got ready... trying not to wake Jeffrey... started to grab my purse to go get Joe and remembered ~ I don't have a license :( So we all ended up going and picking up Joe who was VERY well taken care of by our friends. Overall it was an amazing trip ~ even with all these details, I could not begin to tell you how much God worked. We continue to seek Him for His direction in our lives. We had a wonderful time!!!!! Oh... just one last little itty bitty thought... if you ever just "happen" to get behind a chicken POOP truck, pull over and sit for like say... an HOUR. Let the truck GO... FAR FAR FAR ahead of you... I'm just say'n... it might save some gag'n :)