The plane ride

(luggage tag for Quatar Airways)

Friday, January 7 (Saturday, Jan. 8)
   We got on our first plane at Dulles Airport at about 10pm on thursday, January 6.  As i write this on our final plane ride, we have now spent almost 17 hours straight in the air.  And by the time we land in a couple of hours, it will be sometime on Saturday, Jan 8.  It is amazing to think that somehow, while we were flying through the sky, we completely skipped an entire day.
   The time change is already beginning to take its toll on everyone, either through a lack of sleep, meals being served at strange hours, or just trying to remember what day we are actually in the middle of.  I think that i may just keep my watch on Eastern Standard Time, perhaps so that i will have some idea of what people are doing back home, but most likely so that there is still some connection with America.
   The sleep is rough, to say the least.  it was a long time ago when i last slept on a flight, and back then it was a much shorter trip and i was a considerably smaller man.  My chair, no matter how reclined it may be is a far cry from the bed i left in Newport News or in Fredericksburg, and the guy sitting next to me is a far cry from my beautiful wife back home whom i miss horribly.
   It is what it is i suppose.  i'm thankful that we are almost at our final destination, and everyone is looking forward to the experience we will have once we arrive (after our first day of "free time" aka sleep).  People keep telling us that God is going to do amazing things through us while we are here and it makes me wonder... Does God not do amazing things through us everywhere we go?  I completely understand what they are saying and i agree with them, let us not lose sight, however, of the fact that even while the 10 of us from BTSR are overseas, God is doing great things in people's lives through those we left behind 2 (or 3) days ago.  I look forward to hearing those stories upon our return as much as i look forward to telling my own.