Guatemala Shoes For Orphan Souls, Buckner International Shoe Trip - Departure 9/28/08

I want to share about my Shoes for Orphan Souls Shoe Trip. I thought the best place to start was from the beginning. I have to admit that from the time I accepted the opportunity to go on the SOS trip until the day I left, I fought demons of doubt and fear. The closer I got to departure though the more that the Lord convinced me that I was to go on this trip. He used many of our listeners, unbeknowest to them to confirm that this was something I was suppossed to do. I did not want to leave my children and even wondered if that was the right thing to do to them.

Addy told me on the Saturday before I left with tears in her eyes, "Mommy I already miss you." I had to reassure them and myself that God is God and we can trust Him no matter what. My husband on the other hand felt very sure that this was the trip for me to take. I continued to prepare.

The Sunday morning I left for Guatemala, I could not eat. A little nervous but convinced I was supposed to go, my family and I headed to the Greensboro Airport. It was great to have my sister, Phyllis and brother-in-law, Mike to go along with Ron, Aaron and Addy. It is always great to have a good support system. I was flying out alone and had not done that since I was 19yrs of age. My sister reminded me that Brianna, my niece, does this all the time. It's funny how things change as we get older. I don't have the carefree attitude about certain things that I once did. You learn that life is unpredictable and things happen. I am so thankful I did not allow the enemy of my soul to steal my confidence in God. I just continued to trust Him. I had joked with my family that I was going to try an experiment on my flights to Guatemala. I was going to fly with out talking with anyone. Now, for anyone that knows me knows that there is no way that I could go to Dallas on an airplane and not talk. I must talk, I must connect with people. I said my good-byes through the tears to my family.

I proceeded on to the plane, having to walk outside of the terminal to get to the plane. I noticed something different about this plane. It had a pink ribbon painted on it. I found my seat. It seemed everyone had loaded. The seat beside me was empty. Thank you, Lord, you are making it easy for me to do my experiment. Wait a minute, another passenger coming my way. It was my flight buddy from Greensboro to Dallas. I spoke cordially really trying to see if I could go without conversation. No way, he was a very nice, engaging guy. We began to talk about why I was flying and he thought it was great that I was going to Guatemala to minister the love of Jesus. Turns out that he and his sweet family attended Calvary Chapel and now belonged to another non-denominational church. They have 2 boys. After we had our emergency demonstrations we learned from the flight attendant that the pink ribbon was, as I thought, the ribbon for breast cancer. Something that I had dealt with almost 5 years ago. He said that there were only a few in the fleet of Americian/American Eagle Aircraft. Thank you, Lord for making sure that it was on my plane. Another confimation to my heart. It was much bigger than me, though, because tears began to fill the eyes of the gentleman that sat beside of me. He and his wife had just fought the battle through chemo and radiation. She had just recently found out and endured treatment. It was all so fresh to him still. He talked, I listened and I talked and he listened and looked at me and said, "you know I don't think anything happens by chance(nor do I) I think that I was supposed to be in this very seat today. I thank my God for his direction in our life. The time had flown and we were about to land and I look to this nice man and said, "I never got your name," " Sean," he said. "Nice to meet you Sean,"I said, and was so very glad that I was on that plane going to Guatemala. I knew beyond measure that my God was with me and Sean's family, too.

Arriving in Dallas was a treat all to itself. I had several hours there by myself. Something I was dreading turned out to be a great adventure. They have a great monorail to get you from one terminal to another. I thought my children would love this. I loved it. I have decided that if I have to get stranded in an airport I want it to be in Dallas. It is a city unto itself.

It was just like being in a big candy store. So much to do, your nails, a massage. So much to chose from to eat and I was hungry. I sat and had a wonderful lunch/dinner at Bennigans. Of all things a well-done burger. My family can hardly believe it, Mama never eats burgers out.

Charge your phone, rent a laptop. You name it and they have it in Dallas. If you are ever there, don't just settle for what you see right around you, I learned that myself after I had eaten. I found several places that I would probably have liked better but that will be for another time.

So far so good, God!!!!