13 August 2008

It is 5:30 PM at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. We have just checked in our 24 pieces of luggage and managed to make it through security and passport control. Whew! We have boarded the Boeing 747 on British Airways flight 296 and are settled in at the rear of the plane with our four anxious children (their backpacks brimming with assorted activities to keep them busy for the next two eight hour flights). We feel the surge of the turbines shaking the plane as we head down the long concrete runway. We sink back into our seats as the aircraft lifts from the ground. We are ascending into a journey that will change the course of our lives forever. Suddenly the cell phone rings, pulling us out of our dream and back to reality…

The reality is that today is the 13th of August, the day we should be returning to Kenya, and the flight will be leaving without us. God has chosen for us to not be on this flight, for some reason. We are sad that we won’t be able to meet our dorm boys on arrival day and be a part of their lives. Travis is disappointed that he won’t be there for his students as they begin their graphic arts and photography classes. But we trust that God is sovereign and has our best in mind. We sing along with Chris Tomlin in his song, “How Great is Our God” the words in the 2nd verse:

Age to age he stands
And time is in His Hands
Beginning and the End,
Beginning and the End

Chorus:
How great is our God,
Sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great is our God

God is not constrained by time so He is never late! We thank you for your power-filled prayers and faithful giving. Please KEEP praying as we seek God’s perfect time for us to return to Rift Valley Academy. As soon as 100% of our support is in, we will be on that airplane, continuing the journey God has begun in our lives. We look forward to when we can REALLY write about that adventure!

Waiting on Him,
Travis, Patti, Kylea, Joshua, Tia, & Levi