My friends, who know me best, know I'm not famous for over-sleeping. Only years ago when I had that bout with what they called "trigeminal neurolgia" did I crave sleep. And, oh, yes, there were the five days I had malaria. Other than than, I usually don't sleep very much.
"The Midnight Hour" has been a friend of mine most of my life. I'm in it right now. Quiet. Pervasive silence. Nice.
For the last few years, Jon and I saved frequent flier miles to be able to take a "trip around the world". Missionary friends of ours, the Sraders, took such a trip years ago. We didn't know how the deal worked, then last year we found out that the "price" of it jumped from 150,000 miles to 180,000. Very practically, we thought we should take it as soon as we could -- before they raised the number of miles again, especially since we are not flying around as much as in the past few years.
Then came the dilemma -- trip or job? Job might have seemed to be the proper priority, but job didn't materialize, yet. Trip was more difficult to schedule than one might expect. The seats for this class of flight are the scarcest of the lot, so we couldn't even find a route to stop on the East Coast Somewhere in order to hug our grandbabies before we flew off into the wild blue yonder. =(
Trip was difficult to schedule, so, when at last one patient agent managed to find flights that would get us to four of the places we wanted to visit, we locked it in! Soon we leave, in a few hours, actually The full route has many legs: Portland, Salt Lake, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Cruise, Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam, Seoul, Brisbane, Seoul, LA, Seattle, Fairbanks, Seattle -- back in time for important district meetings.
I have internet tonight, but don't know when I'll have it again. I'll post again when I have it. In the meantime, let's all remember that this trip of ours is happening during the spiritual journey of the season of Lent. We haven't forgotten that important aspect. We chose Lenten additions and subtractions to be able to fit them into this trip, to be able to keep the disciplines to draw us closer to Jesus, wherever the journey takes us.
He is here. He is there. He is in me. He is in you. He loves, pursues, guides, fills and blesses. Amen!
Dearest Jon and Margaret . . . what an adventure! I am so glad you are going to blog on this amazing journey. May God grant you safety, good fellowship with world-class believers, and maybe even a bump to first class along the way. In any case, travelling with the Lord is always first-class. We pray daily for you both, look forward to reading this blog, and to your safe return. Love Gary and Eleanor.
ReplyDeleteThanks, each of you, readers. Today is the LOOOOONNNNG day of flying from Australia to Seoul to LA through Seattle to Fairbanks. Sigh. Such is the lot of flying as a freebie =) It's VERY nice to fly on Jon's gold card. In Asia that has meant entrance to the premier lounges that are quiet, well designed and service very nice breakfast or snack options.Love to you.
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