Today has been a whirlwind of a day. It began at 3:45am with a blaring alarm and an instant panic attack. Through prayer after prayer and some encouraging words from Andrea, I made it down to the shuttle and we headed to the airport.
Upon arrival, our group was waiting for us, having arrived early from Hershey. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, but I was feeling much better. We got checked in and headed for security. It has been about 4 years since I had traveled via airplane, but the airport regulations quickly came back to me as we stood in the TSA line.
We got to our gate with about a half an hour until boarding. Having never flown Jet Blue before, I was unaware that we didn’t get our assigned seats until we got to the gate, and there was a very high chance we would all be scattered throughout the cabin. Our leaders took care of getting those for us and I was so very happy to see that Andrea was right across the aisle from me for our first flight to Fort Lauderdale. Once we got on the plane, to my pleasant surprise, we were also sitting with other members of our group. God couldn’t have planned it better.
I took some Dramamine before take off, closed my eyes and prayed until I fell asleep. After a successful landing, we traipsed a few gates down for our next flight which was set to board shortly. I had been concerned that we would be rushing to our next flight since the layover was less than an hour, but we arrived at a gate in the same terminal, so there was no rushing needed!
The assigned seat situation was the same with this flight – we didn’t get them until we were at the gate. Andrea was sitting in the row in front of me this time, and I was with two other members of our group, completely putting me at ease for the flight. I slept most of the way to Costa Rica.
Upon arrival, everything went smooth through customs – we made it just in time before a large group of people entered the line. We waited for our last team member who was coming in from Kentucky, and then we met up with our contact outside of the airport.
Once our luggage was loaded onto the bus, he informed us that the road to Cariari (where we were headed for the week), was closed due to a mudslide. It was scheduled to reopen in the afternoon, but we couldn’t be sure. So, our plans changed a little bit and we headed to dinner.
The restaurant we went to is one I have heard my team members rave about. It didn’t disappoint. I was able to eat a bit of rice and chicken – the first food I’d eaten since 6:30pm yesterday. We then headed to Wal-Mart (yes, they are very similar to the ones in the US) to pick up a few things and then headed down the road for the 3 hour journey to Cariari. If the road was still closed, that three hour journey would turn into a 7 or 8 hour journey. So, closing my eyes and praying while I was conscious, we headed down the road.
We came to the tunnel that was right before the closed section of road, and I just happened to be conscious for it – the road was open! I cannot tell you how relieved I was that we were able to continue our journey and not extend it too much longer.
We’ve now arrived at our hotel for the week and I’m just reflecting on all of the wonderful things God did for me/us today:
- Made our flights with ease – no rushing around, no hiccups
- Arranged our seating with favor
- I made it through all the travel without having to take my anxiety medicine!
- The road was open for us to travel the more direct route to Cariari
- I didn’t get sick at all today, and after this morning, my anxiety was manageable all day
- We made it safely to our hotel with plenty of time to settle in and rest up for tomorrow
God is so very good, and he listens to the prayers of his people!
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