It is so good to be home. We arrived at 10pm on June 9. Took an AirBus from Chicago O'Hare to Phoenix. First thing I noticed was the extravagant amount of legroom. I mean, really, our legs were stretched fully out in front of us. This, of course, was in contrast to our crowded international flights. Also, the plane was icy-cold. This, of course, was in contrast to our warm, stuffy, jam-packed international flights. Then we walked into Terminal 2. The grungiest/oldest terminal at Sky Harbor. And it was beautiful, almost luxurious. Clean carpet. Wide-open hallways. Cold A/C. We had quite a welcoming committee - the husbands & kids who came to pick up moms & siblings. They were a wonderful sight to see!
We got our baggage fairly quickly. Then Michael noticed a suitcase that looked a lot like Joshua & Alyssa's suitcase. Then another one. Then 2 more. Their flight had arrived probably 3 hours earlier than ours but evidently their bags didn't arrive with them. So, we loaded up their bags along with ours and headed toward home. It's pretty nice to live 10 minutes from airport!
I fired up the computer and started scrolling through 120 emails. Not too bad for 10 days away. Steven & Michael both took showers immediately. Steven came out of the bathroom. Huge grin on his face. Now, this is the same child who, before we left, commented that our home reminded him of a home in a third world country. And I must say, there are some similarities since it was built in the 50's and has had very few updates until we moved in a few months ago. Anyways. Steven announced to me that he could probably live in that bathroom, peeling wallpaper and all. It was so clean and HUGE. I have a feeling he and Michael will sleep pretty soundly in their own beds tonight.
Our Africa team will lead the entire worship service tomorrow. We'll sing songs in Swahili. And we'll share testimonies & stories & the Gospel. It will be a great day!! Randy collected photos from everyone so I'll be adding those to the photo album sometime this week. Also, I've asked everyone on the team to participate in writing their stories on this blog, so stay tuned for that!
OK, I'm off to do laundry & then to bed. Praise God! Amen! Praise God again! Amen!
