What a ride....

The journey continues

Like every good book has a selection of chapters that adds to its allure, so does our journey to Indonesia.  Up until this point we have been praying, planning, and working towards getting to Indonesia.  The culmination of this manifested itself just 24 short hours ago as our family stepped on plane bound for the great unknown...or at least the unknown to us.  With the weeks prior being a great blur between my brother's wedding, packing, commissioning services, bitersweet goodbyes, and more packing, we were relieved to step onto the Boeing 777 for a calm, relaxing, 27 hr flight.  A great leisure time we were assured, especially with two kids right?  

Leaning Tower of Necessity

Sadly as everything seemed to go all sideways as our departure drew closer.  I cannot say that there were not times that Amy and I didn't look at each other with total dismay.  Starting with packing, consolidating and loading 16 different bags culminating in 3 plastic totes, 3 hockey bags, 1 body sized bag, a suitcase, backpacks, computer bags, 2 car seats, 1 stroller, purse, diaper bag, and nursing pump.  I do believe we got everything and the kitchen sink.  Thankfully some of our friends chipped in to help load this mess and with the use of one industrial sized aircraft scale, we were weighed in.  Shortly into our packing we also got the car that we were borrowing stuck in the mud and had to winch it out of the hollows of North Carolina, only to find that the door was no longer latching.  Great way to thank the generosity of the owner by breaking his car that he had loaned you just after we sold him ours.  So into repair mode we went, only to find that the part for repair was through the roof expensive and had to be ordered with a delivery date the day before we left.  Needless to say that wasn't going to stop us so onward we pressed.  All the way to the airport loaded for bear with all of the necessities that we needed, and WITH the infamous 17lbs jumper that was lamented over for those of you who were in on the discussion. 


After feeling a bit like the Clampett family with all their earthly possessions tied to the side of their wagon we deposited most of the burden behind the ticket counter and into the underbelly of our trusty air wagon.  Now onto security screenings, the thing that everyone loves about our modern transportation system.  With nearly eight carry bags/ personal items, a stroller, 10 lbs of E's infamous medication, and a car seat lets just say that we made a spectacle of ourselves as we spread our belongings from one end of the security screening line the the other, only to be heavily questioned as to why my baby stroller tested positive for explosives!  Yes, that's right EXPLOSIVES!  I guess it was thought that maybe we packed indiscreet amounts of C4 in our baby stroller of all places.  After a thorough questioning and a not to friendly encounter with the TSA man and his rubber gloves, we were released with our stroller, a warning, and the knowledge to never again grease the folding joints and moving parts with WD40.  Apparently it registers as a certain class of explosive; who'd have known that, obviously I didn't. 

Sadly to say, the encounter with the nice man with the rubber gloves size-ably bit into our time reserve and we were the last to board the airplane, children in tow, bags in hands, arms, legs and any other appendage that you could strap, tape, or drag something with.  In all my years of racing I had gleaned on thing when it comes to air transportation, NEVER BE THE LAST ONE ON.  Especially if you have 8 bags that you are trying to fit into the micro bins above your head on a small commuter jet.  Lets just say that of the 8 bags only 5 made it on board with us, and Oh yes we were THAT family that everyone just shook their disapproving heads at.

Once we landed in JFK and we now had the mission of going back through security to claim our checked bags and then again back to security for a second time only to find out that our bags were not only to big, but to heavy to be considered carry ons.  Thankfully, although we lost a brownie mix in the interaction, I was relieved to pay any price to not have to haul all of those bags once again through the security lines.  And since we had managed to get the bags to JFK we only had to pay half the price to ship the extras on to Jakarta and on we went to Dubai.  If only I had had the energy to find and use the camera we would have been one hot mess of a picture at this point.

TWELVE hours after leaving JFK we landed in Dubai.   I would love to say that we saw the great wonders of the luxurious city but after leaving the US in January most of our time in Dubai was spent as quick change artists changing out of the winter duds and into something more suited for the desert.  Dubai was nice but we were relieved to jump on the next plane for another climate controlled NINE hour stint to Jakarta.  Sadly two of Amy's favorite outfits for the little one were lost in the making of this film as we had not accounted for shedding the layers of winter clothes and where to carry them so lets just say that Goodwill missed out on a great donation in Dubai, besides what's the point of taking sweaters to the tropics?

10:30 PM (Jakarta time) we landed slightly worse for wear, complete with the mountains of luggage, tired, but anxiously awaiting the new beginnings that the screech of the tires signaled as they came to a stop nearly 10,000 miles away from what we have called home.  Today we spent the day catching up on sleep, each other, and sitting on the curb with E watching all the motorbikes fly by......

God has been faithful, even in the trying events of our journey, even in the bursting of our water heater that was rupturing in Charlotte as we crossed the Atlantic (another time, another space, lets just say it was ironic).  He has been faithful to complete what He started for little boy who made a commitment to Him nearly 13 years ago in the back yard of a missionary family in Perry Hall, Maryland.  So now we find ourselves surrounded by a sea of difference and separated by a barrier of words, looking forward to what He has next. Thank you all for walking this journey with us and lifting us up as we go forward for His great glory.  

Our Indonesian Guest house while in Jakarta

First Indonesian Breakfast....Fried Rice!

Watching all the strange new cars go by.....