Stateside 2017
It has been a long time since I updated our blog (I know, most of my posts begin this way). We have had quite a year, full of adventures for this family of six! In August, we packed up our bags and set out for what would be our longest stateside assignment yet. It was our first time flying that great of a distance with four little ones and it was quite a trip.
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| Flight one of four |
We were blessed to fly back with our volunteer mission team from Southbridge Fellowship. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without their help carrying all our extra bags and sleeping kids. We were quite the sight! At one point, after already enduring two flights and well passed our kid’s bedtimes we had the “joy” of traveling through the airport in Ethiopia.
Exhausted, we worked our way through the security line, shoes off and unpacking every electronic item we own (again). I was holding Malachi, because of course he had to come out of his seat and stroller. When I looked down, I was shocked to find Titus dead asleep on the floor. In the security line. Two feet from the metal detector we were supposed to be walking through at that moment. I bent down and tried shaking him awake, but no luck. The kid was out. I was trying to figure out how to carry him (a hefty six year old) and the baby (who had decided to help the situation by crying), when I looked over and found Jude had decided to lay down and take a nap as well. Now I have one child screaming and two children, who won’t wake up for anything…sleeping in the middle of the security line. I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz helplessly trying to rouse her sleeping companions from the spell of the poppies. Fortunately, the team and Grant were already through the other side of security repacking our six million electronical items...so, they were no help. In the end, I really have no idea how I got them through the detector. But I know that neither one of those boys woke up. I am pretty sure there was a lot of dragging and pulling, and plenty of judgmental glares from others in line. There was definitely laughter and tears.
Exhausted, we worked our way through the security line, shoes off and unpacking every electronic item we own (again). I was holding Malachi, because of course he had to come out of his seat and stroller. When I looked down, I was shocked to find Titus dead asleep on the floor. In the security line. Two feet from the metal detector we were supposed to be walking through at that moment. I bent down and tried shaking him awake, but no luck. The kid was out. I was trying to figure out how to carry him (a hefty six year old) and the baby (who had decided to help the situation by crying), when I looked over and found Jude had decided to lay down and take a nap as well. Now I have one child screaming and two children, who won’t wake up for anything…sleeping in the middle of the security line. I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz helplessly trying to rouse her sleeping companions from the spell of the poppies. Fortunately, the team and Grant were already through the other side of security repacking our six million electronical items...so, they were no help. In the end, I really have no idea how I got them through the detector. But I know that neither one of those boys woke up. I am pretty sure there was a lot of dragging and pulling, and plenty of judgmental glares from others in line. There was definitely laughter and tears.
After that airport experience I was actually relieved to be getting on that next sixteen hour flight! In the end, we survived. And it just made stepping out of that final airport in Orlando and into my parents arms just that much better.
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