Eyes Wide Open

At the speed of light the innocent looking van from the hotel breaks traction with ground contact as the driver brings us a new reality to stunt driving. Passing cars on blind corners, dodging pedestrians as though they were part of the obstacle course. Half way through I glance at Nate - he glances back Eyes Wide Open.  The look was sheer terror with a pinch of excitement. 

Arrival at the hotel

We finally arrive, check in and find our way to our room soaked and more than exhausted. 

Nate falls to his bed after a few minutes of tinkering, shortly followed by sounds of logs being sawed. 

I lay down reviewing the day in my mind, thanking The Lord for His hand of protection and wondering WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?

Sleep never really found me last night. I spent most of our remaining hours before dawn staring at the ceiling mind racing from the dash of events that day. 

As the morning sun rose here is the first glance of the city we've come to visit:

The final leg ...

Have you ever been to an indoor swimming pool?  If not come to the Philippines. The air is dense, hot and carries with it busyness.  Busyness that is found in the city; the ones that never sleep. 

Stepping off the plane there became the instant awareness that comes with experiencing lines of people outside the ol' US-of-A. Yes, I'm talking about Personal Space. Only in Merica are you guaranteed 18" of space between you and the next person. Other countries either don't know about the 'rule' or they don't care. Rushing off the plane, corralled like cattle, we all usher ourselves down a flight of stairs and around a corner to the Immigration desks. Did I mention us and 300 other passengers from 2 other flights?  The local Immigration Agents were caught off guard as the mob dashes towards them. Waiting in line I was constantly bombarded by old ladies bumping me from behind all the whilst trying to defend my God given position near the front-middle of the line from would be line robbers. 

An hour later we finally made it through and we were the lucky ones near the front of the mob. 

So recap, 13h + 2.5h + 1.5h(delay) + 4h + 1h (immigration) = one grumpy fella and Nate. (Cue readership for sighs of Pity for me) 

Okay back to my story...

Waiting outside the Mactan Airport at 1:45 am the hotel shuttle was no where to be found. After a phone call another 30 minutes and the last strand of patience he shows up. 

...And that is where the story only begins......next blog:  the look of fear in Nates eyes as we have our first experience with a Philippino driver. 

Departure and Stop #1 Incheon Airport, Korea

It is amazing to have left SFO only 12 hours ago but as I type this we are watching the sun set on Tuesday here. Where did  Tuesday go?

I'll tell you what...the rump is sore. That is a long flight!

We had sweet goodbyes with Starlyn and the other kids this morning. We miss them already. It's still surreal at this point.

We have a 2 hour layover here in Seoul before our next 5 hour flight from Seoul to Cebu.

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

—Psalm 18:1-2

My beautiful family 

Nate in front of our 777 waiting to board. 

In flight...

Waiting at Incheon

Update:  flight to Cebu delayed due to change of aircraft. 90 minutes and counting. 

T

20th Century Fox Movie Trailer...You Gotta Watch This!

This is a great link to a video by a man who was approached by 20th Century Fox to create a movie trailer for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".  Click here to see what he did instead.

Count-down t-7

We are less than seven days from departure.  Funny thing, emotions are; overall I have felt only brief moments of anxiety about this trip.  Yet, those brief moments, have been deafening to say the least.  This morning I had the epiphany that I would not experience another "Monday" before leaving for the Philippines.  All of the sudden a wave of panic tried to overtake me.  "Am I ready?"  "Are you sure you want to do this?"  I tell them to get behind me and they go...of course it may be the busyness of life that has kept me distracted from the reality that we are "in-the-snap".

Preparing for this has been an adventure, story and testimony.  As a family we have been planning this trip for more than a year.  The purpose to provide a Rite-of-Passage trip for our son Nate.  The goal, to broaden his world perspective, utilize his natural gifts, and win his heart more for the Lord.  Originally we planned to travel to Tanzania and spend this time with our wonderful cousins Ryan and Stacy Helbling (You can read more about them here) who run Global-Effect.  Now I had felt strongly the Lord promised flight tickets for less than $1200.  Quickly it became evident that tickets to Tanzania for $1200 would BE A MIRACLE.  By mid-November I was getting frustrated because ticket prices were never below $1500-1700.  As the story unfolds I felt more uncertain the trip to Tanzania was not going to happen; in fact it felt like the doors were closing.  Then it happened:  Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) touched down in the Philippines and a few sunday's later we saw pictures of the devastation.  I felt moved by the need for help, and that tug on the heart you might know so well.

I ignored it.

By early December we still had no tickets and all our plans were getting stalled.  Then another update from the Philippines by Edgar and Edna Bantigue and again the tug.  That night I turned to Starlyn and said, "I think we're supposed to go to the Philippines."  There was no time to plan, no time to schedule; this became an impossible task.  Perfect.  For this to happen, in one week we would need to communicate with Edgar and Edna, find flights, plan dates, order tickets, reserve hotels and travel arrangements...impossible.

Nothing is impossible with God.

In a week and a half schedules were made, tickets were found and purchased, hotel rooms were reserved and we had successfully shifted from flying east out of SFO to flying west.  Oh did I mention our tickets were $960?

Now to start planning what to pack.  Since we ordered our tickets, the Philippines have experienced more than two weeks of Monsoon storms causing additional flooding and destruction.  We have been praying for a change in the weather...Just today the weather report for next week shows partly-cloudy skies, 76-84 Degrees 85% humidity.  With great weather like that, who needs a monsoon?

-Tim