November 8^th, 2013

Peru Trip Day One: Airports-The Classroom of Humility

So Jake and I voted to go with the “old people” and spend the night before the big trip in Atlanta to avoid having to get up at 2:30 in the morning and ride in the church van that has a less than credible history of breaking down half way through trips to ATL. Call me boring, but the mere mention of a slight possibility we could find ourselves breaking down on the road to the airport when we’re under the time crunch of making a flight, having had had virtually zero sleep, didn’t sound like an adventure I wanted to add to the books. In the end, all 15 members of our team made it safe and sound with no break downs and no major melt downs (those come later). 

We were up by 5:30 and out the door to the airport at 6 where we’d meet up with our team coming in the van and catch our flight to the (not so) beloved Mexico City airport. For some of us who have gone on the trips to Peru before, a stop in Mexico City = Customs and Immigration. Welcome to the land of anything goes and the ultimate game of terrifying chance where as you are scrambling to get yourself through customs, sweating with fright and the load you decided to pack, and the time comes for you to push The Button of Spontaneous Shame- green light means go, red light means you get to have the pleasure of a random customs official baggage search. In our case, they demanded (in spanish) why we might be carrying baby formula when we clearly have no baby. If you haven’t guessed already, the button turned bright red and Jake and I were shuffled off to a customs clerk. Terrified, I looked at Jake in a panic, desperately trying to recall any spanish I may remember from my pitiful efforts in my high school Spanish classes. Flustered, sweating, and looking like the saddest specimen of pure panic, 4 beautiful words suddenly came to mind. I hurriedly blurted them out to the dear clerk that it was “LECHE PARA LOS NINOS!” I’d done it. I’d conquered my fears and the Lord had graciously spared me from more uncomfortable and awkward glances from the flock of customs clerks that had come to try and help this poor pitiful foreigner who clearly had no knowledge of what is appropriate to carry and what is not. She smiled at me and said in broken english, “This time okay, next time you must have baby!”. Let me tell you about a wave of pure relief! I quickly zipped our bags back up and Jake and I got our tails out of that line and back with the team as fast as our tired little legs could carry us. 

I’m not sure if we’ll end up running into a baby as we serve in these orphanages, but whatever baby may get this formula is well worth 10 minutes of panic stricken fear and embarrassment. Lesson learned: be able to laugh at yourself (maybe not in the moment, as I can’t see the customs clerks finding this very amusing) and thank the Lord for adding a little spice to your life. 

After our little adventure in Mexico, we made our connection to the Lima airport in Peru. We had to go through customs again, and thankfully we didn’t get the Red Button Drill of Insanity this go around. We arrived around 10 PM and our final connection to Arequipa wasn’t until 6 in the morning. As you can see, this gave us 8 hours to kill. 

By this time, some of our team members had been up for at least 18-24 hours so needless to say, we were beyond exhausted. Now, when I get put under stress (like traveling overseas, going through crazy customs, security checks, making sure everyone is still together, etc) I more often than not have the tendency to get real annoying and snappy. I really struggle with this and it’s something the Lord is constantly having to reveal to me. After we’d been wandering around the airport for awhile trying to figure out a plan of attack, the Lord convicted me of how my attitude needed an adjustment. I’d been getting rally agitated and ugly and I was letting little things really irritate me, so Jake and I decided to go take a walk around the airport just for a bit of a break. We had both been kind of ugly to each other about things that were really trivial (like where we were going to sit in the food court….seriously, the things that seem like such a huge deal when you’re sleep deprived are so clearly RIDICULOUS when you are able to step back and look at how minuscule they really were). We ended up just talking about why we’d gotten so bugged at each other and about things that were clearly not a big deal and  let me say, just being able to “air our grievances” was such a blessing. We were both able to see what big idiots we’d been acting like as well as see that we were allowing our flesh to get a foothold in our desire to boss each other around. 

It’s always so convicting when the Lord reveals how little it takes for me to take stock in what my sinful flesh is saying. I could not be more thankful that the Lord has given me a husband who actively seeks to call me out when my attitude is taking a turn for the worst. The fact that he diligently communicates with me about how the Lord is the only one who can change our hearts with grace helps me to be faithful in doing the same for him. Because of the Lord’s grace and diligence in our lives, we’re able to call each other out not because we see it as a chance to really dig deep into the other person’s character, but because we know we’re both completely flawed human beings who desperately need a constant reminder of our need for God’s grace and faithfulness. Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love; Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy”. I love the fact that Jake values my betterment as a believer more than tickling my ears with what I may want to hear. I’ve told him this once and I’ll say it till the day I die, I would rather live being humbled in love, than to think I’m being loved because I’m never driven to being humbled. 

The Lord never ceases to amaze me with how He chooses to teach us the boundlessness of His love. I thought I was coming down to Peru to minister to orphans when in reality, maybe the Lord is using this as an opportunity to show me (again...and again...and again...) how I need Him. It isn’t always a life altering change or adjustment that causes our eyes to be opened to our desperate need of Him. A lot of the time, I think we just have to step back and see that day to day, minute to minute, second to second we are being lead and guided by the Lover of our very souls. And THAT is what brings me some of the deepest comfort. He must increase, I must decrease. 

I could not be more thankful for this guy! so glad the Lord has allowed us to share Peru again! Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming:)