On our way home we had been waiting with some delays for 4 hours at the airport already. They then called all of us on our flight to St. Vincent to come to the front desk. At this point we were all told our flight was canceled, but they would help with rebooking for the next day. They then directed us to go through immigration and customs again (you will understand the hassle once you have filled out one of these lengthy white forms). We had just previously done this and since our family fills out 5 it takes awhile. One of our new friends we had just made while waiting had a wife from the Philippines and she is not allowed into Barbados because of visa issues, so they had told her she would have to stay at the airport. All of this bonded our little group of 18 friends into a tight knit friendship and helping each other out.
Our group consisted of a man from Guyana married to a lady from the Philippines that had 4 girls ranging 4 years to 9 years. Then, there was the mom from England traveling with her 13 year old daughter and niece. Next came a man from Nigeria traveling to see his deceased wife's home of St. Vincent for the first time. Then, came a young man on business from Dominica. And a mom with her two teenaged boys was also along from St. Vincent. And our family of 5 got to be with them!
After our flight was canceled we all waited together to located checked bags, help one another carry all the luggage with all the kids, pleaded for a place to stay, and watched over the kids for another 3 hours together while they rebooked us for the next day. After finally arriving at the hotel they kept us all in, we had another hour wait as the room keys could not be found. Then, we shared a very late dinner and early breakfast together only to soon find out the plane was taking off earlier than we had been told. The family of 6 could not be found and missed the rest of us running to make it.
It was a chaotic time and made us think, "Are we nuts? What are we thinking living this lifestyle with 3 little ones?" And once again God equipped us and blessed us with amazing new friends I hope we are always in contact with. I admit there were times I wanted to cry from things being out of our control. Times I wanted to scream from impatience at the kids for being loud, hungry, fussy, and restless. And I even lost my patience at my husband since he was the only adult I really knew and the last person I should be losing my patience with. I don't even know that the airline workers saw a very gracefilled person that night. I was just tired, done, and ready to be in our home. I'm not perfect and hate that I can be that way. But, I'm so thankful God did not give up on us.
God provided some wonderful friends and some even that wondered what we were doing and that needed encouragement too. I was so thankful to be united for those 16 hours of craziness and support each other. And I realized that even when I thought we had nothing to give as a family at that time, we still could love them, smile with them, and hear their stories and struggles. We soon saw that God took over and took away the tiredness and impatience as we saw others needs.
"And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Cor. 10:13
Hope you catch His blessings in the pictures below.
How to entertain a 3 yr old in the airport for 7 hours straight? Getting pushed around in the wheelchairs by the teenage boys!
The girls thought it was so fun to chase after Pax and keep him taking everything out of all the bags.
I could not resist this picture we saw...we need one for the wall by our house, although I guess I can't say too much having a boy who loves to go outside.
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