Along the way

We made it.

We are here.

We've finally arrived back to the place that we've missed so much. 

This trip was extra emotional for several different reasons. I will try not to write too much of a sappy post. Those are a bit much ;) But I teared up during check in, sobbed at one point on the plane, and cried again when we were ascending into the capitol city. What a wreck I am ;) Some of emotions had to do what we are leaving (guilt, sadness, heartbreak, frustration) and some were having to do with returning (joy, anticipation, gratitude). Ask anyone who is a missionary kid, military kid, or who has lived long term apart from family, and they could probably relate to those feelings. Our hearts are always in multiple places and we always wish we could somehow combine everyone and everything we love into one place. 

We were so thankful that our check-in process was smooth. Our Covid tests were valid, our Visas went through, our bags were not overweight, and the kids did well through the waiting. God gave us a surprise, too, as we stood there checking in. A family next to us with a young son who commented on our action packers. Knowing they were Indonesian after overhearing them, Sam responded in Indonesian and we immediately bonded. While we were fumbling through speaking for the first time in a while (though honestly it came back so quick!), they were asking so many questions and were interested in what we were doing. We were able to sit together in all the different waiting rooms through the entire trip. And after our final checkpoints at our destination, we parted ways, promising to stay in touch. So cool how God connects people from all over like that. It really blessed us!

Our first flight was 12 hrs. I felt nauseous most of the way due to my anxiety related to flying. I didn't have an appetite but ate what I could so I didn't feel so sick. Turbulence and I have a complicated history. I used to love the feeling of your stomach flopping around as the plane went up and down. After having children, I have progressively gotten worse. Now, I have to logically talk to myself about it... "The chance of a plane going down due to turbulence is virtually impossible." "The probability of a plane crash is way less than a crash in a car." "Everything is going to be fine." But I have a physical feeling of relief when we land safely on the ground. The tension quickly leaves my body. There's just something about flying that is really hard for me. Ironic that this is our current line of work. C'mon, God. 

None of us got much sleep that first flight but everyone still did so well. Rovan impressed me so much. He only really got antsy towards the end so Sam walked him up and down the isles for a little bit. He kept his mask on for most of the time and even when it was off for a bit, no stewardess had to tell him to put it back on. Another fun surprise was the airline knew it was my birthday and they brought me a sweet gift and several stewardesses stood there while I opened it up. I got a toy airplane and a washcloth. Love it, haha!!  Thanks JAL!!

We got through transit in Tokyo just fine. None of our lithium ion power tool batteries caused us any problems like we thought they would, we didn't have to wait in the airport for 8 hrs like we've previously had to, and our kids did great even with super heavy backpacks and carry-ons. We wished more things were open in the airport since we were hungry but there were no options available. They did have a place to fill up our water bottles so that helped.

Our second flight was 6 hrs. Thankfully we all seemed to sleep much better this time (ironically we didn't have room to spread out like the last flight though. I just think we were exhausted),....well, except for Greyson. Poor guy didn't crash until we arrived and were waiting for our luggage. He passed out on the bench and we could barely wake him up. He blamed the lack of sleep on his uncomfortable pants 😅 He was a living zombie through immigration, health screening, and customs. Poor guy. 

We had 4 carts of luggage by the end. So imagine all of us with those 4 carts, a 3 year old, heavy backpacks and some rolling carryons trying to navigate masses of people. Did I mention how sweaty we were already? Somehow we got to skip ahead of the health screening line that was VERY long. A God thing perhaps? Someone felt sorry for us? Who knows! But we were so thankful for that. Two people were like, "Are you moving here?!" Short answer: yes. We definitely were a sight to behold. 

Outside, reveling in the heat and humidity, we had to wait around for our hotel shuttle guy to check all of our paperwork. We were also waiting to meet up with a shipper who was going to take our larger action packers for us and ship them to our destination. Its cheaper to do this than pay overwight for our domestic flights that give us way less baggage allowance. Unfortunately that process ended up being a total fiasco but we think we have it figured out. If all of them arrive to our destination in one piece, I will chalk it up to another God miracle. 

Never were we so thankful to arrive at our hotel and get to our room. We were sorely in need of showers but we dropped our bags, briefly checked out the room, and flopped into bed. It was 2:30 am. 

Next up is 5 days quarantined in this hotel, negative pcr tests, another 6 hr flight, a couple weeks at the guest house, supply buying, and a 2 hr flight before we will arrive home. There are potential issues getting flights due to a shortage of pilots who can fly us in so the logistics could get interesting.

But we are here. And I am amazed, thankful, and joyful. Can't wait to see our friends in town, eat some yummy local food, and finally arrive in our home in hopefully a few weeks.