Balut - Slightly more awake

Now that we have removed a few hours from our sleep deficit, I would like to share a little more of the last few days.

While we have been preparing for quite some time, this weekend was when we really began to focus on packing up the house so it could be rented out and packing up the Maxwells so we could head out.

As stated in the previous blog, this was a lot of work in too short a period of time. Some friends of ours who attended CDTS with us last year mentioned the idea of "let the stripping begin". (No, they did not expect CDTS to be a nudist retreat.) The idea was that they wanted to allow God to strip them of the things that hold them back or are barriers between them and God. This last week, a lot of stripping was done.

The job was much larger than either of us had anticipated. Even with the help of our parents prior to the move, we were unable to complete the work we needed to do. We were both way out of our comfort zones. Lisa is normally very organized and her packing is no exception - except this time. I am not good at delegating work and struggle with the thought of failure.

Both of us were stripped of the "strengths" with which we are familiar. As we were trying to make it out the door, rather than having bags packed in such a way as to maximize space and have an idea of where to find things, we were shoving whatever we could grab into a bag. In the end, we left the house without a 3 month supply of a prescription we had just purchased. (Thanks to Lisa's Mom who drove back to the house to get it for us and bring it to the airport.) I am sure in the coming weeks and months we will be wondering where something is and need to wait until someone is able to send it to us. We also left the house trashed. All of the big items were moved out and put into storage but a lot of work ended up being left to our families. I am ashamed of the condition in which we left the house. (Thanks to both of our families who will spend a lot of time finishing what we left behind.)

I think that more time will be needed to truly reflect on what God may be showing and teaching us about ourselves and Him. It would be easy to jump to conclusions, but I will refrain - at least for right now.

Anyway, we made it out of the house and to the airport without needing to cause bodily injury to anyone along the way. We were escorted to the airport by some and met at the airport by others, and by all of them, we were blessed. We appreciate the expressions of love and support we have received as we prepared to leave this time.

The flights went well. Nothing was running late and connections were no problem. Unless you count the small detour we took in Detroit. It seems that when you are tired, gate A34 and C34 aren't that much different. Neither Lisa nor I noticed that we were heading to C when we should have been going towards A until we made it to C34. We still made it to A34 in time for Lisa to grab a snack for us from McDonald's before we boarded - just a little extra exercise to work of the fat of the fries. In Japan, we got off the plane, went through security (I guess just in case we found a gun on the plane or something), then waited at the gate to reboard the same plane.

We did not have any real issues until we were flying into Manila and they announced that 178 bags had been left in Detroit because there was a problem with the cargo bay of the plane and had to be unloaded. Fortunately, it was only two of our bags. They are supposed to arrive at the airport in 1.5 hours, but we are trying to arrange delivery to YWAM.

It took us over 1.5 hours to make it out of the airport. I was a little worried that the folks who were to pick us up would have given up. Thankfully, they were there waiting for us. Alayna shared her life story on the trip from the airport to YWAM. It is a good thing she is young or we may have had to drive around the block a few times.

Today, we went to the immigration office and the visa extension office. Did you know that shorts and sandals are not allowed inside these buildings? I didn't either. Fortunately, I was able to gain access at the first, but only Lisa could go into the second. We picked up the forms we need and hopefully we will have everything ready to submit on Monday morning.

The girls have enjoyed themselves. Penny, on staff here, gave them laundry lessons. They have also been making friends and playing games.

We are still pretty tired, but that is good as it will help us to make the shift to local time.

Grace,
Tom