The day is September 13, 2012, the day I’ve been waiting for, for months now. We get the kids ready for school and say our goodbyes. I want to keep the day as normal for them as possible even though it is killing me inside. I know they are going to be in good hands while we are gone and they are pumped about their 2 week “sleepover” at Mrs. Lori’s :) But the thought of leaving them for 11 days while I am half way across the world is a little unsettling to me. Thankfully though, the hotel we are going to stay in has WIFI so at least we will be able to Skype with them and through an app on my iPod we’ll be able to text them as long as we have internet. That should make the days without them a little easier.
After I drop the kids off at school and endure the seemingly extra long, emotional drive home, we finish packing all of our stuff, checking and rechecking to make sure we have everything. It isn’t like we’ll be able to just run to Walmart real quick if we forget something. We are going to be in Kenya for 11 days for crying out loud (well, minus the 4 days travel time there and home)! But God reminded me ever so gently through a friend (as He has been doing quite often) that so what if I forget something. God will provide whatever I NEED while I’m there. I may not get there with everything I WANT but I won’t be lacking. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Within about an hour or so, Brother Gary comes to pick us up, we go get Tina and head to Dallas. We get to the airport around noon which means we have about a 5 hour wait before Tina’s flight. She has to take an earlier flight than all the rest of us because our plane was full when they booked the tickets. But by the time Brother Gary gets parked, we get checked in, we unload and rearrange some of our stuff in our luggage (because it’s over the weight limit), the rest of our group gets there, we get to our gate and all that fun stuff it’s just about time to see Tina off.
I have to admit, it seems a little bit silly but watching Tina disappear into that terminal all by herself, feels like I’m watching one of my own kids leave me. I don’t like it. :(
