A Sense of Humor is Key! God sure has one....

Americans are spoiled when it comes to airports. We're used to having everything we need available 24/7 and we just take it for granted that every place is like that. Little did we know.

While the airport building in Suriname is open when we arrive at 2:00 AM, the gate for Carribean Airlines does not open for check in until almost 3:00 AM. When the attendant did finally arrive it was so comical because she had to manually change all of the overhead signs for the gate, set up all of the tags, desk paperwork and everything before she could check us in. It was like setting up for the first time and they do that every day. In the meantime, we sat/stood right in front of her with all this luggage just waiting for her to be ready. She wouldn't even look at us or acknowledge us. Course by this time we've been up since 6:00 AM and we're looking just a little scary anyway so you can't really blame her.

We finally get checked through her, customs, security and such and then we get to wait again. Hard chairs, nothing open to look at, dark so you can't see outside and we're all exhausted. Boarding begins about 5:30 to Trinidad and thankfully an uneventful flight for the first leg, although by this time my poor butt is so sore from sitting in hard seats. I need something cushy to sit on.

So we get to Trinidad and that's where everything begins to unravel. This is where a sense of humor REALLY comes in handy. At check in we are told that our flight to Miami has been cancelled. My first thought is the hurricane, (which by Sunday afternoon had disipated). Oh no, nothing that simple. We are told that the flight crew just didn't show up and they didn't have another one to fly the plane! This begins about a 2 hour saga of running from desk to gate to line as they try to figure out what to do with us. We are dead tired and holding onto our sanity by a thread. They finally book us on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale leaving at 2:00 PM then are gracious enough to take us to a nearby hotel to try and rest and get something to eat.

I couldn't bear to sit in one more chair so I head straight to our room and lay down asking Tracy to bring be back anything that looks edible. I am numb and so tired that I can't even sleep. I ache all over and though I never slept it sure felt good to lay down.

At 12:15 we're back at the airport for our flight home. This time our crew shows up (YEAH!) and we're off to the USA. It's a four hour flight and it was broken up some by the movie "Get Smart" which was a nice diversion. In flight we are told that when we get to Ft. Lauderdale they will shuttle us to the Miami airport where our van is. Most of us breeze through customs, Tracey got grilled and Cody was the only one to get pulled into the little room to be questioned and have his luggage searched.

We arrive at the Miami airport and are praising God that the van is still there and still has all four tires! We load up, stop at a nearby McDonalds for a quick bite and begin the 4.5 hour drive to St. Pete. The ride was brutal because we are all so tired and I'm worried about Pastor Tom driving since he's had less sleep than any of us, but he's caught his second wind and drove the entire way. It's the longest drive I can remember in years. The sight of the Skyway bridge brought tears to my eyes. Home was in sight. Since our house is right over the bridge, they drop Rand and I off at our house and it's over. Home sweet home! Rufio goes crazy wimpering and licking my face over and over. Bruce took Rand to meet MB at the YMCA so I did some unpacking and hit the hay as soon as he returned.

At that moment, we had been up 42 hours straight. What an awesome trip. God is SO good. Night.......ZZZZZZZZZZZ