Flying

Written when we took off yesterday in the little plane from La Ceiba to Puerto Lempira…

There is just something about this flight;   the early-morning  air, the raw beauty of Honduras before  my eyes,  the music cued up on my iPod.

The first time I took this flight was last November.   Alex and I were alone.  I had the same praise music loaded on my iPod that I’m listening to now.   I remember tears as we passed the rainforest and saw the desperate poverty rearing its head throughout the savanna of this part of La Mosquitia.   Tears of knowing somehow that this was the place – and a wish above all else that our children were with us and not thousands of miles away.

The second time I took this flight was March of 2010.   This trip seemed like an incredible gift – accompanied by our two oldest children and 5 dear friends.  All of us and a few others stuffed in that plane.  Tears again… tears of knowing that we would leave this place with 5 others who ‘understood’ this place and our crazy decision to move our children here -  and a wish above all else that our littlest two were with us and not thousands of miles away.

Today… our third trip and last for a while.  A beautiful morning indeed… started at 4:00 a.m. with Hugo praying over our family in Spanish and Alex praying for Hugo & Gloria in English.    Tears and the sound of Gloria’s voice singing to Aaron.    And the harsh reality that our time with Gloria & Hugo was a respite – a time of spiritual and physical preparation.   They are the beginning of our Honduran ‘family.’  I could not have imagined a family like theirs if I had tried.     (Aside – Gloria called tonight just to tell us she missed us and couldn’t wait until we came back to stay again next time.   She also wanted to talk to Arlee.)

We made it to the airport and aboard the plane just in time.  The little guys LOVED it.  Adam took a quick nap on a large man next to us and, thinking he was Alex, wrapped his arm around the man’s belly.  I wouldn’t normally have worried except the man looked like Latinoamerican mafia.   Yikes.

Now back to the serious stuff J…  I plugged in my iPod ear piece and these are some of the things I heard…

“There is an anchor for my soul and I can say it is well”;   “My heart will sing how great is our God”;   “You are awesome in this place, mighty God”;     “Every perfect gift comes from You”;  “With everything inside of me,  I lift my gaze”;   “Leave me wanting nothing but You”;   “Oh Glorious Day!”  etc. 

Today, all of my children are on this plane;  a dream come true in the hands of the One who is the dream-maker.    And a wish above all else that in our time in La Mosquitia,  God bears much fruit in these gringos.

In case, you think it was all sunshine and roses, did I mention that I just looked down and realized my shirt is on backward?