We’re officially in Florida! It’s been a crazy week – we keep forgetting what day it is. When loved ones are traveling, I have often heard people request prayer for “travel mercies” – one of those nice vague Christian terms that gets tossed around in prayer meetings. :) However, I think God really did have mercy on us in our travels, and we certainly know people were praying. Thank you, if you were one of them!!

Yesterday we packed like madmen in the morning, hit the road by 9:30am (we were aiming for 9am). We weren’t sure what to expect for road conditions between Grand Rapids and Lansing, seeing as we were at the tail end of a small blizzard. First blessing: the roads had been salted that morning and, aside from a few cars that had spun out in the ditch, things were relatively clear. We got to the airport with plenty of time – even with a wrong turn and accidental detour through Lansing!

We pulled up to the Lansing airport and our second blessing met us at the car in the form of an airport employee. She got a large cart and wheeled all of our baggage and car seats to the check-in counter for us. NP parked the car and we got through check-in just in time before the crowds started to gather. Blessing three: we were given seats together in a row of three! The small airline we were traveling with charged an additional fee to have seats assigned when you purchased tickets, so we opted out of that and prayed for the best. Thank you, Lord, for seats 7D, 7E, and 7F!

Our flight ended up being a little delayed, but the excitement over watching planes come and go and all of the airport trucks kept AG happy as a clam. We boarded the plane and got settled in our blessed row 7, and LB was predictably busy and squirmy. A while into the flight, he was getting downright fussy. Naptime had come and gone, and LB is not one to sleep anywhere except his bed. Maybe, just maybe in a carseat, but that’s about it. I took him from NP and rocked him for about… 30 seconds?… and the miraculous happened right there in my arms: LB FELL ASLEEP. And he stayed asleep for about an hour!! I am seriously not exaggerating when I say the ONLY explanation for that is answered prayer!

The flight went well from that point on. After we landed we asked AG what her favorite part was and she said, “All the noises!” This is my child who has, at various points in her young life, been afraid of the vacuum cleaner, the blender, the juicer, the steamer, packing tape (not kidding), and the distant whistle of trains because of the noises they make. Yet, her favorite part of the trip was “all the noises” on the plane! I must say here that I HIGHLY recommend the book The Noisy Airplane Ride by Mike Downs to those of you who will fly with young children in the future. It talks about all the noises you hear on the plane and we had been reading it for several days leading up to the trip, in the airport, and through the plane ride itself. I think it definitely helped prepare her and take away the fear of the unknown.

Once we landed in Florida, we headed down to baggage claim and were met by our limo driver. We had hired a limo to take us to NP’s parents because it ended up being only slightly more expensive than a one day car rental… and a whole lot less stressful. It was supposed to be a Town Car, but the driver told us that he had twisted his boss’s arm and brought the full stretch limo for us! How funny is that! So, our 2.5 hour car ride was in a huge white limo, complete with mirrored ceiling, “stars,” and color-changing light strips all around the interior. AG watched Peter Rabbit on the TV screen. It was great to have all the space- the kids sat in their car seats on the back bench and Nate and I stretched out on the side bench. I even was able to sit on the floor in front of LB to feed him his baby food when he was getting fussy. If you are flying into Orlando, I highly recommend Embassador Limousines!

God definitely showed us mercy the whole trip – add to that the fact that all of us are healthy and seem to have avoided my dad’s stomach bug, and we have much to thank Him for.

We’ve had a good day with NP’s family – his mom is definitely weak, although she says she hasn’t had much pain to speak of. For the most part we pretend that everything is fine – in some ways I guess you have to do that to enjoy her in the present rather than grieving her death before she’s gone. God is sovereign over all the little things, and we know the big things are in his hand, as well. Now we pray for “travel mercies” of a different kind as she comes to the end of this earthly journey – we know that what’s waiting for her is WAY better than a white stretch limousine!