Amazon Journal (cont.'d)

9 April 2010

1:50 PM

The great adventure has started!!  Our flight departed Asheville Regional Airport on time and we are 25,000 feet high on our first leg of our journey to Brazil.  We are scheduled to land at La Guardia airport around 2:30 PM EST.  Our first few hours together have been truly a laugh a minute.  We have all been mercilessly aggravating Josh about plane flights but he was a real trooper and gave back as good as he got!  I was a bit worried when we started to board the plane that he might freak out but he did great.  The first few minutes of the flight were amusing when Josh and Kim F. were shocked with some good old-fashioned April turbulence!  That had all of us giggling!  And poor Tony got placed at the back of the plane.  He says he is the bathroom monitor.  Ha, I wouldn't mess with him!

Any concerns I had about how the lone United Methodist would do among the Southern Baptists have been alleviated.  For all intents and purposes, we are now a mission team.  We also got word this morning that we will be coordinating a youth rally on Thursday night!  People know that engaging young people in growing their faith and serving the Savior are my true passions.  My heart is full knowing that I will get to do this on the mission field.  I know that dad would be proud of me on this day.  I remember that fateful last day he was aware of all of us that we promised him that we would continue his work here on earth.  Today, I have started a trek to fulfill a dream of his that was never fulfilled.  By Saturday morning, I will be a servant on a foreign field sharing the faith of my father and my own faith with children and adults who have so little.  May I do so in a way that would honor my dad's memory.

2:45 PM

Start spreadin' the news . . . . . We have landed at La Guardia after flying by the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan.  I hadn't seen either since I was a Junior in college back in the late-1980s.  It is truly a breath-taking view and was extra special knowing that the Twin Towers, which were there when I first visited, are gone.  I thought that Josh was going to float out of his seat!!  His joy of everything new is just so fun to watch.  We currently are sitting on the runway awaiting a gate opening.  And then, the all important search for some decent food!!

7:00 PM

Stage 2 has begun.  We boarded our flight to Atlanta around 6:30 PM.  I am on my second Starbucks Mocha so I am doing great!  Ha!  My traveling companions may be ready to throw me off the plane when that much caffeine starts to work its magic.  It was truly fun going via New York city because it was a treat to a number of the team members.  We are now preparing to taxi for our take-off on the second leg of our journey to Atlanta.  As usual, the Atlanta connection is a tight one which will leave us running to catch the flight to Brazil.  I am amazed to watch Kim D. out of the Waynesville environment.  He shared his faith with our waitress at Chili's in La Guardia airport.  She was very sweet, twenty-one years old, and a Christian as well.  Laura is exhausted and a little under-the-weather.  Both she and Tony slept for a while in the floor at La Guardia.  Laura has been coordinating everything for days and needs to rest during our overnight flight to Brazil.  Tony also needs some rest because he has worked and prepped materials and assignments for his classes for the past two weeks.

I am tired but am really running on full adrenaline.  It is good to be on planes again!  I guess it is true that there are two types of people:  those who love to travel and those who hate to travel.  I definitely am someone who loves to travel.  And this group has already proven that it is never going to be dull!!  We have all laughed so much today.  And yes, Chris is being remarkably well-behaved.  I'm definitely impressed.

The most amusing thing that we've seen was watching three Delta flight attendants try to figure out how to stow Kim D.'s fishing poles!  It took them about ten minutes to figure that one out leading to the inevitable jokes . . . "How many flight attendants does it take to stow a fishing pole?"  Hopefully, all will proceed smoothly and we will make our connecting flight to Manaus.  More to come later!