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| Starting Point - Waxhaw, NC |
So today I start my trek across this earth. It's a big deal for me. I've never traveled overseas so there are A LOT of unknowns and uncertainties traveling alone! On my flight from Charlotte to Atlanta, I sat with a proud grandmother named Catherine. Rather than ignoring the person next to me, I am determined to try to meet everyone I encounter. I loved she had her Ipad open and showing me all the pictures of her grandchildren and especially her granddaughter, Ella Taylor. I was able to share with her Taylor Anne's story and how I was now meeting up with Tay's grandmother in Uganda! Catherine was touched by the story and left me her "card", to let her know how things have gone. She was the first nugget in a very long journey to the other side. In Atlanta, I know it's the "last" time to communicate with my family. Yes things cross my mind like, will I come back? Will I get sick? Will an international situation arise and shut down communications and access to the US. There's a verse in the Bible that talks about "taking your thoughts captive" and I choose not to dwell on all of the "what ifs." In Atlanta my flight was over an hour late leaving and I know I only had a 50 minute layover in Amsterdam. There is nothing I can do except sit back and relax. On this leg, the gentleman next to me was in constant conversation with his buddy who was sitting in the aisle and never opened the door for conversation with me. I opted for a window view on all my flights; there is just something special about the perspective from a plane looking down on this beautiful planet. I followed the flight tracker until we hit Norfolk, Virginia and headed across the ocean and was able to enjoy about 4 hours of sleep. No fear, for "thou art with me"...even if I don't make my connection.
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| Snow Covered Swiss Alps |
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| Red Desert Sand of North Africa |
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When we landed I quickly ask the agent "where is Flight 9609?" He replied, "you're okay, but you will need to run!" So run I did and at the boarding gate, they said you will make it but your luggage will not! It really wasn't important as long as I was on the plane. I had overpacked the heavy bookbag I was carrying with 2 days of clothes and all my essentials. What a blessing on this flight that I was able to sit with a retired colonel, Shelby, from Texas who goes to Uganda to train men to fight Somolia. Now daylight and 6 hours ahead of US, the scenery from the plane was spectacular. Because he had flown this leg many times, he was able to point out the snow covered Swiss Alps, beautiful mountain ranges north of the Mediterranean Sea and then into North Africa where the terrain changed to light red dessert sand.
When we made our descent into Enteppe, my prayer continued to be, dear God, remind me that every soul matters, every minute is one less minute until I return. By God's grace, I've made it! I'm landing in Uganda! We landed at 9:20, the air was hot, humid and stale inside the airport. Customs, Visas, Missing Bag reports all took an hour and a half (thank God for the Colonel who walked me through all of this) and I had no way to communicate to Kyle and Patti that I was tucked away downstairs in this airport. Would they think I missed my Amsterdam connection? When I finally came "up", one of the first voices I heard was Patti shouting from "outside the airport" "PATTY" - what a relief! Wow! I am in Uganda!
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