Jet lag is a strange thing. After a full night of rest we still feel like our heads are twice their normal weight. In our minds the past 21 hours of globetrotting seem more like a dream, but our bodies remind us that we didn’t imagine even a second of the journey. It actually happened, and we are actually in Australia. It just doesn’t seem real. We are thanking God for the internet because we have already been able to Skype with our dear families. Familiar faces in this unfamiliar landscape are so comforting. Thank you so much for all your prayers, gifts and well wishes during the past few days and weeks. We are very aware of your support. We’d like to share a few of the highlights from the past few days so you can rejoice with us at God’s grace, mercy and faithfulness.
We set off from Belfast, Northern Ireland at 4:30am on Saturday morning after a lovely 10 day visit with Benjamin’s family and relatives. God gave us the grace to say another tearful good-bye and we braced ourselves for the 21 hour slog ahead of us. With a grand total of 18 pieces of luggage we were mostly concerned about the checking-in process. We planned to travel with four extra pieces of luggage, willing to risk paying overweight charges. We just weren’t sure how much that could be as it is really up to the ticketing agent to decide. Long story short, because of the nature of our purpose for traveling, and the hard work of our travel agent to bury this information in the files of each airline we were traveling with we didn’t get charged by anyone.
Each step of the way we had the help we needed to move our bags. Either a willing helper or enough free carts (and the room) to move the luggage ourselves. Our children were amazing the entire journey. They were tremendous helpers and a joy to travel with, not only for us, but for many of the passengers and airline staff who felt the need to comment to us about the kid’s excellent behavior. After spending the night in the airport, and really feeling fatigued the last airline forced us to check in all our carry-on luggage (at no charge.) So we were able to walk through the security and boarding area with just a few small bags. This was a huge blessing and another little detail that we attribute to our Heavenly Father, the Father of Mercy.
As we consider the last leg of our trip this coming Sunday we have so much to be thankful for. We are so thankful to all of you who have been praying for us during our travels. As we negotiate with one more airline pray that we would find favor in their eyes, and as we meet with all the changes that must take place in our lives because of this move, pray that we would make these changes gracefully. Thank you for partnering with us.