On Flying Internationally

By

On August 8, 2012

In Other

When I was a little girl flying to Africa, times were different. 

There would be one big screen in the front of the cabin, on which one movie was shown that everyone had to watch.  At least, everyone who was big enough to see over the seats.  And if their Mom let them watch that particular movie.

I also remember that those were the days of smoking sections.  Once we were accidentally seated in the smoking section.  Another time, we were in the row directly behind the smoking section.  The guy in front of us smoked cigars the entire 10 hours.  I visited the bathroom about 3 times an hour, just to get away from the smoke.

But the times have changed, and not just because smoking is never allowed on any airplane anymore.  We still fly coach, but 20 hours on a plane isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be, especially for kids.

For the first time, we flew on Emirates Air.  They gave Grace a free blanket (to take home), a stuffed animal, and an insulated lunch box with snacks in it. 

We had a menu.  I had already pre-ordered kids’ meals for Grace, but I got to choose from these options for myself.  U.S. airlines may only give you peanuts, but international airlines just keep feeding you. 

The best part, however, are the personal touch screens on every seat.  Dozens of movies, TV shows, and even video games that you can play with the other passengers.  I watched almost the entire Seasons 1 & 2 of “Downton Abbey.”  I’ll work on the rest on the way home!

Grace was in heaven.  Free toys, blankets, snacks AND she gets to watch 5 movies in a row?  Doesn’t get much better than that for a kid. 

 

After our first 5 hour flight, Emirates even gave us a free hotel room (and meals) for our 8 hour layover in Dubai. 

I must admit, however, that even though I have been a missionary for most of my life, I had some pretty serious culture shock in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).  The Dar es Salaam airport, even though it’s an international airport for a city of 5 million people, has only six gates.  Six.  Yep, just six. 

The Dubai airport, in a city where opulence is King and probably even the cockroaches wear gold, has over 200 gates in just one of its terminals.  When we landed on the runway, a bus picked us up and we drove for 15 minutes just to get to the terminal. 

So yes, on arrival I felt nauseous and panicky and wanted to run right back into my nice safe Dar es Salaam with its six gates. 

 

After an 8 hour layover, we got back on the plane for a sixteen hour flight.  Yes, you read that right.  Sixteen hours from Dubai to Los Angeles.  That’s the longest I’ve ever been on a plane at once, but Downton Abbey made it pretty bearable.  And the best part was getting to see the North Pole from 30,000 feet up. 

Totally indescribable. 

 

And when we got off the plane, Love was on the other end waiting for us.  

Walmart Dreaming

By

On July 28, 2012

In Other

I confess. 

I have shopping dreams.  They always take place at a grocery store, mall, or Walmart-type store.  I happily walk through the aisles, filling my cart with anything and everything I could ever want, and then…..something happens.  And I leave the store with nothing.  Sad, I know.

The ironic part is that I am really not a shopper.  As I mentioned earlier, I am a saver.  Shopping has never been one of my favorite things to do.  That is, until you put me in a third world country for years at a time.  Then I start dreaming about Walmart with its endless aisles of chocolate chips and cheap deodorant. 

A number of years ago, Dar es Salaam got it’s very first real mall.  It’s about a tenth of the size of your average mall in the States, and most of the stores in it are banks or cell phone shops, but it’s fully air conditioned (very important) and has a three-screen movie cinema.  It also has a store named Game, which is a chain from South Africa. 

Game is full of appliances, electronics, household items and cosmetics.  Kind of like a Target or Walmart.  Kind of.  Except that it’s about a fifth of the size, and five times the prices.  I still shop there, because sometimes it’s the only place to find certain things, but I buy as little as possible.  I refuse to pay $40 for a bath towel, no matter how old mine are getting. 

A few months ago, I noticed this flyer at Game:

It’s true.  Walmart had bought out Game.  Thus confirming everyone’s suspicions that Walmart is indeed trying to take over the world.

So does that mean that we now have a Walmart in Tanzania?

No…No….NO!  Not until I can go there and find everything on my list and spend less than $100, not until then will I admit that we have a Walmart.  (Those “fantastic deals” on the flyer?  Humph.  Whatever.)

It’s been well over two years since I’ve really gone shopping, so I am eagerly anticipating this trip to America, and have been working on a list for a couple months now.  You want to know what’s on a Walmart-deprived girl’s list?

-bread pans

-bath mats

-sprinkles

-parmesan cheese

-chocolate chips

-pepperoni

-deodorant

-shoes for all the kids

-underwear

-batteries

-watercolor paints

-candy thermometer (for pasteurizing milk; I don’t make candy!)

-mascara

-watch band

-sunscreen

-sewing supplies for Grace

-school backpack for Grace

Gil already brought back about 30 pounds of candy and chocolate, so we’re good in that department.

Speaking of chocolate, did you know that America now produces pretzel M&M’s?  I’m guessing you already know that.  But it’s truly a beautiful thing. 

Walmart (real Walmart)….Here I come!

Just the Girls

By

On July 24, 2012

In Other

It’s sure quiet around here.

Gil and Josiah have been in the States these last two weeks.  (As I wrote here, we didn’t get Lily’s passport in time to go together as a family.)  They get back Thursday. 

We are counting the days until Thursday.  We miss our boys!

Gil has been posting pictures, and it is bittersweet to see them.  So, so happy for Josiah to get to know his cousins (he was only two when we were with them the last time), get spoiled rotten, and have such a special time with his Daddy.  But so sad that we couldn’t be there with them. 

But you know what?  It’s been really nice around here too.  I really miss my boys, but I am thankful for how God has blessed these two weeks despite my disappointment in not being with them.  It’s probably been the most stress-free time I’ve had all year.  I cook a meal, and it lasts three days.  We do laundry only once a week.  The girls wake up and read and play quietly….I’ve been sleeping until 8 every morning…amazing!   I’ve gotten all kinds of things checked off my list.  We’ve gone shopping, spent time with students, cleaned out Gil’s classroom (with students), hung out with alumni, had relaxed dinners with friends.  The girls and I have been coloring, beading, painting, reading, and dancing in the kitchen with TobyMac.

And a week from today, Grace and I will be on our own plane to America for two weeks.  Butterflies of excitement! 

I Love My Kindle

By

On July 21, 2012

In Other

I am now a reading fiend.  Gil told me that he read somewhere that Kindle users read 70% more than non-Kindle users.  Totally true for us.  The first year Gil got his Kindle, he met his goal of reading 100 books in One Year.  Oh yes.  I am expecting a thank-you note from Amazon any day now.

Here are some recent recommendations:

I have mentioned before that I grew up in Liberia, a country that later was ravaged by 15 years of brutal civil war.  This is the story of an ordinary woman (now a Nobel Peace Prize winner) who lived through it, and mobilized thousands of women to help stop it.  The subtitle says, “How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War”–and that’s exactly what happened.  It’s horrifying and devastating to read (especially since she speaks of places where I walked and played), but ultimately hopeful.

Whew.  A depressing read, but I now have a passionate desire to burst into some US foreign policy meeting, ranting and raving.  I still like When Helping Hurts better, but this was also a fascinating book.  Very recommended for anyone interested in Africa.

“Over the past thirty years…the most aid-dependent countries have exhibited an average annual growth rate of minus 0.2 percent.  Between 1970 and 1998, when aid flows to Africa were at their peak, the poverty rate in Africa actually rose from 11 percent to a staggering 66 percent.” 

This was a free Kindle download, and I got it intending to read it to Grace.  I’m glad I didn’t, because it would have been too emotionally intense for her.  But it’s perfect for a 10-year-old.  Beautiful, creative, and simply told.  I will be looking for more by Kate DiCamillo.

What I did most recently read to Grace was The Secret Garden, which I remembered loving from my childhood.  And though she loved it, and it sparked good discussion on a pantheistic worldview, I would recommend to wait until your daughter can read this one herself.  That is, unless you happen to be particularly good with a Broad Yorkshire accent (‘Nowt o’ th’ soart’). What on earth?   Rather exhausting as a read-aloud!

Seems way too crazy to be true, but it is.  An 18-year-old high school graduate from an affluent family–popular, class president, homecoming queen–leaves her upper-middle-class life to live in a poverty-stricken village in Uganda.  Over the next 4 years, she adopts thirteen little girls.   Katie Davis is a modern-day Amy Carmichael or Jim Elliot.  Though her youth and naivete comes through, one cannot criticize her incredible passion for Christ.

“People often ask if I think my life is dangerous, if I am afraid.  I am much more afraid of remaining comfortable…  I am surrounded by things that can destroy my body.  I interact daily with people who have deadly diseases, and many times I am the only person who can hep them.  …  I am much more terrified of living a comfortable life in a self-serving society and failing to follow Jesus than I am of any illness or tragedy.”

This is a re-read of one of my top 5 favorite, most influential books of all time.  And I love it just as much the second time around.  This book profoundly changed my life.  Philip Yancey is a master storyteller and an engaging, talented writer who isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions or say it like it is.

“During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith….The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room.  ‘What’s the rumpus about?’ he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. 

Lewis responded, ‘Oh, that’s easy.  It’s grace.'”

Cost

By

On July 17, 2012

In Other

I am a saver.  As in, a saver of money.   

And since my husband has always happily handed all financial matters in this family over to me, I am the one who has had the pleasure of moving money into our savings account every month. 

In the last number of years, it has brought me great joy to see that little savings account grow.  And brought me security.  Boy, do I sure like security.  A lot.  Especially since we do not own a house or a car that is less than 12 years old or anything else that could be considered assets. 

But yet, feeling secure over our savings account made me feel uneasy.  Because I know (like every good Christian) that our security doesn’t come from money.  But yet, does not the Bible also say that saving money is a wise thing? 

I can remember discussing this with Gil a while ago.  When do we know that we have saved enough and can give away the rest?  How do we know when or if God wants us to give away some or all of it? 

And that made me uneasy too.  The giving away of, or somehow losing, all of it.  Made me feel decidedly insecure. 

But I planted my feet and set my resolve and told God, It’s your money.  Tell us if you want us to do something with it.

And then January came, and we found out that we would not be able to adopt in Tanzania again.  Yet, we knew we wanted another son.  Which left us with one choice:  International Adoption.  And besides the fact that International Adoption requires sheaves more paperwork and documents and emails than a Tanzanian adoption, there was one other major, major difference: 

The Cost. 

Which, to be honest, had not really been a big factor in our other adoptions.  Of course, we had paid for them in time and gasoline and tears and aching hearts and a certain degree of sanity, but relatively speaking, not a lot of money. 

So we knew that by jumping into International Adoption, we would also be looking at a cost that would be about 6-8 times more than our other adoptions.  If you didn’t already know, the average International Adoption costs about $30,000.  Gulp.

Of course, there is no price you can put on giving a child a family.  Or giving a family another child.

I don’t know yet what exactly this adoption will cost us, because we will be applying for grants and scholarships, and maybe, maybe the U.S. adoption tax credit will be renewed (which would amazingly give us and other families a whopping $12,000 to work with).

But what’s incredible to me is how easily I have begun hacking away at that savings account.   I do admit that when I am making these large payments, I take one big shuddering breath before I press “Pay Now,”  but it really hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be, giving away all that security. 

Because when it’s worth it, it’s worth it.  And when it is crystal clear that God wants you to do it, then it’s really not that hard. 

Page 145 of 233

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén

Verified by MonsterInsights