We Have Won!

It is Finished

I have seen the Passion of the Christ twice.  The first time was when it came out in the theatres when I was in high-school. I remember my heart hurting, sobbing, and watching the screen with my mouth wide open in utter horror. And then of course at the end, crying tears of joy and wanted to shout Hallelujah when Jesus stands up in the tomb and you see the holes.  After the movie I decided that one time was enough and I never wanted to see it again.

Today, instead of having our class, we watched The Passion of the Christ. I really didn’t’ want to. This week of classes has been so intense spiritually, and I was secretly hoping for a lighthearted missions documentary or something. Nope. The Passion of the Christ.  So now I am completely drained spiritually and just a complete mess. Jesus has made me a mess because He’s got to put me back together again and make me more beautiful than I was before.

This week we have been studying about how the enemy attacks us, deceives us, and how we must surrender our entire life over to Christ.  Its been really challenging and I’ve learned some things that I never knew. Yesterday the Lord really broke me and spoke to me. My Lord. My Jesus.  Sometimes I forget what He did for me. What He CHOSE to do for me. He chose to surrender His OWN will to the will of God. Even though He was equal with God, humbled Himself and made Himself a servant so that I might have eternal life. Abundant life. And moreover, a life with Him. With my God. My Savior. My Jesus.

Have you seen Saving Private Ryan? Near the end, the soldier Ryan goes to the gravesite where  the Captain who died for him is buried. The soldier looks at the Captain’s tombstone and says, “I hope that, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me.” In otherwords, “Is the way I have lived my life worth the sacrifice you made for me?  Worth your death in place of mine?” Wow. My question is this: Am I living my life in a way that makes Christ sacrifice, torturous death for me worth it?”  I’m not asking myself this to bring guilt. But to bring about a passion in me to want to live the kind of life that was worth dying for.  

There is life to be had. Abundant life. Freedom. Joy. Grace. Mercy. LOVE. Why don’t we grab hold of these things since they are given to us freely? Why do I continue to live in my own world of fear, distrust, control, independence, etc.  Did you know that when Jesus cried out, “It is Finished” on the cross,  the  greek word is  tetelestai? And one meaning of that word is one  that soldiers would cry out in the streets of Rome after they had won a battle to proclaim their victory! It was as if, on the cross, Jesus was looking up and saying, “Papa…we’ve won!” Beloved! We have won! LETS LIVE LIKE WE HAVE WON!!!

God obviously has a lot that He is doing in my life. And honestly, it a painful and tiring process. I’m so exhausted spiritually and emotionally after classes that I have to take a nap! And if you know me…I don’t take naps.  But, to God be the glory and I can’t wait to see what He continues to do.  

Missed flight + Lost Luggage = A Unique Way for the Lord to Bless Us and Grow Us

“Well, There’s a First Time for Everything…”

We all know that saying “There’s a first time for everything”. And usually it is used when we experience something not so fun for the first time. Well…that’s what happened to us. But we tried to make the most of it. J

We arrived at the airport 4 hours early, baggage paid for, printed tickets, and a copy of everything. (I tell you this because it shows how sometimes no matter how prepared I am, things can still go awry.) After enjoying a huge smoothie and some pizza with Ben’s family, we said our official “so long’s” and made it through security without a problem. (Well, except for the fact that they took my peanut butter but I was prepared for that)

Then the chaos starts.  Our flight, which was supposed to leave at 6:45 P.M. was delayed until 8:20 P.M.  After a bumpy ride in the storms and waiting on the landing strip for 30 minutes, we set foot into Philly airport at 9:45.

I am now convinced that I have what is called “Air Rage”. Air rage is very similar to road rage but its even worse because you don’t have a horn to beep and no control whatsoever. This gives us a total of 10 minutes to run to the bus, catch the bus, and ride it through 6 terminals.

If that weren’t far enough, we had to run from Gate 1 to Gate 25.

I am now convinced that I have what is called “Air Rage”. Air rage is very similar to road rage but its even worse because you don’t have a horn to beep and no control whatsoever.

As you can imagine, we were a sight to see! Running at a full sprint. Guitar and Backapack on hand (and pants that I REALLY wish I had worn a belt with. Philly definitely got a show from me when I was running…)

We didn’t make it. And I had a mini asthma/panic attack at the end. It was quite dramatic.  I felt like I was reinterpreting Home Alone.

By Midnight, we had managed to book a flight for the next morning (6 A.M.!), contact our travel insurance company, book a hotel nearby, and get to the Renaissance Airport Hotel via free shuttle service.  We dropped our carry ons into our room (we didn’t have our luggage because the service lady guaranteed that they were lost somewhere).

We were STARVING! We hadn’t had dinner. And I had just had a smoothie for lunch. Everything was closed. Ben desperately went down to concierge to find a domino’s pizza number, hoping they were open. Well the concierge manager who was working just happened to be Filippino. Ben made an instant bond with him and the manager proceeded to open up the food service for us so we could have a salad and sandwhich.

We ate at 1 A.M. in the morning and had to be back at the airport at 4:30 A.M. You can imagine our mood that early. Especially when we found out what awaited us next….

The service desk had not booked our ticket. So we had to walk (in the rain) to  US airways to get them to re-book our ticket and then back to United  (in the rain) to check in. By  the time we finally got our tickets and made it to security, the line was SO long. I was afraid we wouldn’t make it.  We were very grumpy, tired, nasty (we hadn’t packed an extra pair of clothes).  Not a good marital bonding experience haha. Or maybe so…

We made it to our flight as they were boarding. Phew! We both slept a little bit on the 2 hour flight to Chicago.  When we got to Chicago we had 2 hours to get to our final flight to London. Another problem: it was on another airline! So we walked for 45 minutes from United Airlines to American Airlines.

Then we had to wait to confirm our tickets. But God blessed us because  the lady was really sweet. She is tall and has the same birthday as me so she gave us a row to ourselves! I also managed to contact the house here in Notting Hill and tell them we missed our flight and what time we would be arriving (10:45 P.M. their time)

The flight wasn’t too bad. We watched a few movies, slept a little, ate the salty, horrible for you airplane food (which I always vow to never eat but then I always eat it!) We even had the cutest British children in front of us who were very lively and reaching their hands through the seats to try and steal Ben’s food. It was hilarious.

We arrive in London and make our way to customs. We were at the back of the plane and there was a MASSIVE, and I mean MASSIVE line to go through customs. I have traveled to several countries and have NEVER seen a line that long. We  finally got to the customs lady and she grilled us with some tough questions that I had a feeling she might ask (and Ben wasn’t really prepared for). But we were both so tired that it was hard to answer all of her questions without pausing. But she let us through!

And of course….no luggage. We had to file a report for it and just hope that it would show up eventually. By the time we walked to see Ezra and Jose waiting for us…..it was 12:30 A.M.

We got to the house at 1 A.M. They showed us our room (which we love! Pictures to come on facebook) and gave us some sheets and a towel for the night (since we had no luggage).

The next day we spent a few hours talking to our travel insurance and the airlines trying to locate our luggage. We found out that our insurance covered up to $400 for clothes, toiletries. So….it was a blessing in a way that our luggage was lost because we were able to go to Primark (a REALLY cheap store here that is like Target. I’m talking  $8 for a really nice sweater) and buy clothes. Ben bought some cute stylish clothes and I was able to get some sweaters, a raincoat, a winter coat….and some fleece Footie Pajamas (which were only 9 dollars!!!). Our luggage arrived that evening so now we have all of these new clothes and extra toiletries (that we can use when we run out) AND our luggage we brought.

I know that this blog is already super long. But its so crazy how a LOT happens in just a few days! So I will blog later about other things that have happened since then. For right now….let’s just say that its been a fight getting here because they enemy is real…but it’s also been obvious we are in the right place because the Lord CONTINUALLY blesses us and comes through in an amazing way when the enemy tries to stop us.

May the Lord bless you richly and may you look to Him for everything today.  Peace