live from d.c.

Chau Asuncion!

The skies have been particularly stormy this weekend, making for a rather tumultuous flight from Asuncion, Paraguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have a love/hate sort of relationship with airplanes...the turbulence always freaks me out, but it's amazing to see the world from this point of view.

Hola Buenos Aires!

Hard-working employees unloading our bulky bags in the rain

Coca-Cola is huge in South America

What I did for six hours: play chess, journal, and read

Flying over Washington, D.C. before landing

Definitely not in South America anymore

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, we learned that the outgoing flight to D.C. was delayed because of all the snow on their runways, so our layover was extended for another two hours. I ended up missing my connecting flight to Los Angeles because our plane arrived in Dulles International Airport a few hours too late. Hundreds of other passengers were similarly stranded due to bad weather, so we all stood in line to get our seats rebooked from United Airlines. After a 9-hour wait I was able to get on stand-by for tomorrow's 6:00 AM flight to LAX.

There was a troop of Marines trying to fly home for the holidays as well. I felt bad that they had to be stuck in an airport after flying in from Iraq

Made it to the front of the line at 6:00 PM, after shuffling slowly towards the ticketing agents since 9:00 AM

One of the great things about traveling is getting to meet people from all corners of the world. On the 10-hour flight from Argentina to D.C, I sat next to Isabella, an elegant woman in her late 40's from Argentina. I learned that she was on her way to Denver to spend Christmas with her daughter's family, and that she is a fellow believer. It was a great encouragement to share about God's work being done in Paraguay, and to hear about the work being done in Isabella's life. God is good, all the time!

And even the 9-hour wait was fruitful, because I was able to organize my hard drive, make a few friends, and start + finish Jerry Bridges' Respectable Sins (a timely read and welcome reminder of the sinfulness of sin and my daily need for the transforming power of the Gospel, especially as I dealt with my own sins of anxiety, frustration, impatience, and selfishness during these delays. Bridges even makes a few references to his own temptations to sin when faced with problems during air travel: "Will I succumb to the temptation to anxiety and fret and fume, or will I believe that God is in sovereign control of my travel and accept His agenda, whatever that may be? As I have struggled with anxiety in this area of life, I have come to the conclusion that my anxiety is triggered not so much by a distrust in God as by an unwillingness to submit to and cheerfully accept His agenda for me" (65).)

Marienella and me at Harry's - tired, grungy, and hungry after those nine hours in line

My $12 airport meal: roasted red pepper, tomato, and blue crab soup; tarragon chicken salad sandwich; shrimp salad sandwich

I befriended a stranded first-year law student from Lima, Peru named Marienella, who was standing in front of me in line. She had been waiting to catch a flight home since Friday, when her original flight was cancelled due to the weather (I definitely had no reason to complain after hearing her situation). Since we were stuck in line all day and didn't get a chance to eat, we rewarded ourselves with dinner at Harry's, a restaurant inside Dulles. I prayed for our meal, which led to a discussion on religion (she's a nominal Catholic) and me witnessing to her. She asked a lot of questions and was open to hearing the Gospel. Please pray for Marienella's salvation, as well as a prompt flight back home so she can be reunited with her family.

We're currently sitting on the floor at Dulles, using the airport's free Wi-Fi and waiting for the United Airlines kiosks to open at 3:00 AM. God willing, we'll be on our way home tomorrow morning!

Prayer: For Marienella; thanks for divine providence; to willingly submit to and cheerfully accept God's agenda for me