Total flying time: 23 hours (5 flights)

Total time waiting in an airport: 25 hours (including 4 hours in UK interrogation room- which we will get to later)

Hours of sleep I’ve gotten: 5

Times I’ve almost cried: 10

Times I’ve cursed myself for remembering my toothbrush in my carry-on but not my toothpaste: 15

And the beauty of it all- after 48 hours I’m back in the exact same place I was when I started on Saturday- Dallas…..

For all of the craziness I’m getting ready to describe, I’ve actually felt pretty calm and at peace. Incredulous would probably be the best adjective to describe how I feel- I just can’t believe this is all happening but I'm really just trying to trust God and remember that He is in control!

So the flight over to England is good- uneventful, went by pretty quickly, got a little sleep, watched a few movies- all a good start to the trip.  And then it starts to go downhill pretty fast.  As I’m going through British Immigration, the woman looking over my stuff asks me lots of questions about why I’m staying so long and what exactly I’ll be doing in England for 9 weeks.  Apparently no one has ever come over to the UK for that long of a time period without an ulterior motive.  Even when I tell her the truth, she thinks I’m hiding things or changing my story- she must think I’m trying to work without a work visa or something but she will not listen to anything I’m telling her.  I’m looking around to other people, like can you believe this?  Who ever gets questioned for spending a month or two in Europe?  People backpack and travel all the time where they don’t have every little detail planned out.  I mention again I will be on an American military base, helping out some friends who do ministry work.  I then get told to step out of line and that I will need to be taken for further questioning.

I’m led to a room to get fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken- still not really knowing the problem about what I told Immigration girl.  I’m then put in an interrogation room and told someone will come talk to me soon- 3 hours later someone finally comes to talk to me.  He’s cordial and nice- asks me a few more questions about MCYM and then says he’s going to go talk things over with his boss.  Luckily I have been able to talk with the Pitzer’s so I could keep them informed about everything that is going on.   Mr. Interrogator finally comes back about an hour later and informs me that I will be leaving on a flight back to the US in 20 minutes so I need to hurry up, get my stuff and get on that plane.  I have to question him while we are walking, trying to figure out why I’m being denied entrance.  He explains that the UK immigration policy changed in April 2009 (2 months ago!!) and that anyone who is doing any type of ministry work needs additional paperwork (I guess like a visa) to get permission.  Jim and Shannon were just as confused as I was.

This whole day has felt very surreal- I still can’t believe all this has happened!  So then I’m on my 2^nd transatlantic flight of the day.  Luckily this flight was not full so I could stretch out and sleep some.  I’m so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open at this point- I’m pretty sure I was snoring on the plane but I didn’t really care.  I arrive at JKF around 8pm on Sunday to realize that in London, they rebooked my flight to Detroit instead of Dallas.  I run around for about an hour and a half (with all my bags, mind you, because they did not book those all the way through) but I finally get all that settled with a ticket agent and am booked for the 8 am flight- to…. Atlanta (+4 hr layover, then Dallas).  Why can’t anything be easy? 

 

So I left Dallas, Saturday at 5pm and arrive back to Dallas on Monday, 5pm.  What a crazy 48 hours….

Please be praying that this all gets sorted out quickly.  I honestly have no idea how long that paperwork will take to get worked out or when I’ll be leaving to go back.  There is a possibility that I'll be going to another base instead of England as well.

Luckily after having this for my bed tonight:

I have Leslie’s comfy guest bed to look forward to J  You know I’m going to be sleeping for a day straight.  

I'm usually a really good and organized packer for traveling overseas.  For some reason, packing for this summer is really challenging to me!  Maybe it's because I'll be over there for 2 months and will be living there- not just traveling around. Last summer when I went to China, I was so tired of wearing the same clothes I had packed- and that was only for a month!  My goal is to always get my stuff in one bag but I'm afraid I might have to take two this time. But I'm a girl and I just 'can't live' without 10 pairs of shoes, right?  I guess taking two bags wouldn't be that bad since I'll have a home base all summer except maybe the last 2 weeks when I might be traveling on my own.  I guess it's just a pride thing- a real traveler should only have one bag :)

I also got to hang out with Tyler a lot on this trip.  He was nice (aka forced) to let me take tons of pictures of him.  He's so photogenic!  I adore that last picture- his eyes just jump out at you.  We did play a lot of Wii bowling- he kicked my butt.  He did make me be 'Tony Romo' as my character just so his 'Clinton Portis' could beat me.  This boy is a football nut- he knows literally every quarterback, team and their number.



How could you not just cuddle this!!

What do I love the most, but the glass discs in the restaurant.  Leave it to me to be enamored with random things instead of the "real" art in the museum :)

Playing some Guitar Hero......


Little did we know the the World famous Wiener Dog races would be happening this weekend. We couldn't contain the excitement!

Hosanna, Leslie and I went down for a little girl's trip down to Austin.  Leslie had never been so we wanted to see all the sights, relax and just hang out.    We stayed at my parent's house and ended up chilling there a lot- mmm... hot tubbing, sleeping in and then coffee on the back porch, guitar hero (literally as soon as we woke up), Moulin Rouge on the big screen.  So good!  It was such a fun weekend!!

This summer I'm going over to minister to teens, through an organization called Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM). I will be able to tell these teens of Jesus Christ’s love and the stability He can bring into their lives in the midst of the instability that we often see in this world. We will be going to summer camp, having small groups and just hanging out- I heard we do a lot of Frisbee golf :-) I better start practicing some more after church on Sundays so I don't utterly humiliate myself....

I will be in Europe from approximately June 7-August 14. I've been assigned to RAF Alconbury which is in Cambridge shire, England about 60 miles north of London. The Lord is so kind! He knows my love of everything English. I've had dreams about just moving to London- even the dreary weather wouldn't get me down, because, hello- its London! Plus the accents would just always put a smile on my face :)

I'm also going to be with my friends, Jim and Shannon Pitzer who are the MCYM Community directors on that base. I was a Young Life leader with them when I lived in Arlington, TX way back in 2000-2002. I haven't actually seen them in quite a few years but it will be awesome to do ministry with them again- their passion for the Lord and love for kids really spurs me on to reach out and do the same!! I secretly always wanted to be like them "when I grew up and got married" because they served together and ministry was just their way of life. I know they have touched so many lives and I feel blessed to be able to go over and work along side them this summer.

I am excited about this opportunity that the Lord has brought my way. I've never really done a mission trip before and feel so inadequate at times. Please pray for me as I to go reach this group of teens with the message of Christ!!!

Ways to pray:

• That I will be able to quickly build relationships with the kids on base.
• That the Lord will use me and help me to be bold in sharing the gospel.
• That these teenagers will fall in love with Christ and accept Him as their personal savior
• For safe travels- personal and when we are traveling with the kids to camp
• For finances for the summer
  

Great salad with goat cheese- there are even edible flowers in there!
Lamb shanks with feta
This adorable little nests are made out of Phyllo dough and my favorite Easter candy.
Here is my contribution: