Well hello there. Lisa asked me to be a guest blogger for her blog and post about what I was feeling, thinking and going through in the early stages. To be honest, almost from the moment it was found at home, I had a feeling in the back of my mind that it was going to be more serious than my lovely bride was playing it off as. I have always been a strange combination of a little bit of a dreamer mixed with a realist: sort of a realistic dreamer. I tend to see several possibilities a path can go before I even get to the fork and prepare myself for either one. This has served to help me be prepared for most things that I have faced over the years. I think about what could be, then layout a very short response and then I move on in my mind. This allows me to be free from sitting around and thinking about something that may or may not be a big deal.
As I said, from the very beginning I started thinking in my mind about what the possibilities could be, what the possible long and short term options were for either one and “pinned” those in my mind and was able to move on with my life and stay focused on the task God had set before me. While this allowed me to stay focused on sharing His word where we were, the news took a little wind out of my sails. I also was blown away by the speed in which our company and our family/friends (friends who are like family) moved Heaven and Earth in order to get Lisa back to the States, get her appointments set up and then get me and the kids in the States as well.
I was certainly more than a little concerned when the doctor sent her to the States, and more so when the diagnosis came back as cancer. The first few days were difficult telling others about it, but the more I talked with God and laid out my concern to Him, the more His peace settled over me. The roughest time though was the 4 – 5 days that Lisa and I were apart. Across the ocean I knew I could not hold her in my arms and pray with her in person. I was grateful for modern technology that allowed us to Vox and Facetime each other and allowed the kids to talk to mommy as well. That helped fill in the gaps, a little. Most of my time those days though were spent being almost too busy getting things packed and squared away getting me and the kids ready to leave. That helped to occupy my mind and keep me focused on the kids.
The flight though, did cause me a little anxiety, the thought of a 32 hour trip with the 3 kids through 5 airports, 4 planes, customs, and layovers. I should have known better as God was in control even over that. We got on the plan in Dakar faster than thought, made a few friends on the airplane that helped a little and the kids and I all slept the first leg (it left at 9:45pm). At the Brussels airport, we had a 6 hr layover and a Starbucks! After some breakfast and checking in, once they opened the gate to do so, we settled in to a seating area and then the tiredness hit. The kids watched a show on their iPad, they share 1, which I preloaded on there and I took a short nap sitting in my seat with the kids at my feet. When I woke up Lydia-Ann had fallen asleep as well and took about a 2 hour nap. Meanwhile, after I woke up, Mariama and William both proved to be big helpers and big kids by taking each other to the bath room as well as watching the bags and everything. When we got on the plane for the longest flight of the trip, 8 hours, the actually bumped us up to Business class!! I was able to switch seats with another father and son and all 4 of us sat together. It was like First Class with seats that laid back, which allowed us all to take another sleep, after watching some shows on the bigger screens and eating ice cream for dessert of course.
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