Christmas Eve

A couple of weeks ago I went to our Christmas Eve service at home.
It is always so special.
I love Christmas Eve services.
They're so simple. And joyful.
And I love celebrating the birth of my Savior with other believers.

But this one was a little different.
We walked in and sat down. In a pew.
We were just a couple minutes late (I'm still adjusting to this whole "being on time" thing).

It was the first time I had been in a "church building" per se since the previous August.
And I was exhausted by the end - all that standing and sitting in really quite a workout.
Truthfully, it was incredibly hard to concentrate.
There were so many distractions.
So many people.
SO MANY BELIEVERS all in one room!
My heart was on overload.

Less than a week prior to that Christmas Eve service, I had been living in a country that was not preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. There were just a handful of lights shining in that dark country. Most had not heard of the great hope in a God who saves.

I don't want to take for granted the priviledge that I have again in America of gathering together with other believers.

Longest Day Ever

While growing up, I remember my mom reading a book to us titled "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day." Don't believe me? Seriously, it's the name of a book. Go check it out here.

Anyway, December 17, 2010 was that day for me.

It was the day I was supposed to leave Turkey and fly home.
It was the day I was supposed to see my family and hug Michael for the first time in nearly 5 months!
It was a LONG day.
and no-good and very, very bad (and almost horrible).

It all started at about 7:30am on Thursday, December 16 when I woke up for what I thought would be the last time in Turkey. I woke up and started my day, feeling very surreal that in the wee hours of the next morning I would be boarding a plane to fly home. That day was filled with lots of errands, last-minute packing, checking off everything from my to-do list, having coffee with a friend, saying goodbye to friends, then coming home and staying up making cinnamon rolls for our roomates to enjoy after Sarah & I left.

Considering the fact that we had to be in a taxi at 3am in the morning to head to the airport, Sarah & I decided we would wing it and stay up and sleep when we got on the plane to make our homeward bound travel go a little faster.

Seemed logical at the time...
Until we arrived at the airport at 3:30am on December 17 only to find that the status of our intial flight to Germany was CANCELLED, not delayed, but cancelled because of a snowstorm blowing through Germany. At this point, we had been awake for about 20 hours.

For the sake of becoming too excessively wordy I am going to re-cap the next 13 hours I spent in the airport through bullet points...beginning with the 3:30am flight cancellation...

• We were funnelled into lines in order to be rescheduled onto later flights.
• I was put on a flight for later that morning, still connecting through Germany to pick up my original 2nd leg back to America (great idea - remember there's a snowstorm there?)
• Bags were re-checked on to my new flight, which by the way was with a new airline - I was feeling more and more comforted by the minute haha.
• Said good-bye to Sarah - our new flight arrangements didn't allow us to travel out of Turkey anymore together
• Found the gate for my new flight - starting to feel completely exhausted. Could not wait to sleep!
• Flight delayed.
• Flight delayed again.
• I looked out the window at the airport - it was snowing lightly.
• At this point, airport staff were beginning to find out final destinations of the passengers and attempt to reassign us. That's when I found out there was a direct flight to Washington, D.C. leaving in an hour. Keeping fingers crossed I could get on that flight (it was a brand new direct flight that just ran a few days a week).
• Flight to Germany is on again.
• Airport staff couldn't confirm an open seat on the D.C. flight so advised that I continue with the flight through Germany.
• Boarded plane to Germany.
• I had a window seat and IMMEDIATELY fell asleep - I had been awake for about 28ish hours.
• 30 minutes later, I was awakened by the passenger sitting next to me as they were tapping me to tell me the flight had been CANCELLED, again. For real this time. Like we're not going to Germany at all kind of real. Back to the gate we went. Off the plane we came.
• Major realization:  There was no way I would get to Germany to catch my next flight to D.C. I had now missed the direct flight for sure to D.C. I would not be getting home today.
• The next 3-4 hours was a blur as I was passed from one staff member to another.
• Oh yeah, keep in mind: my bags are checked with a different airline than my baggage claim tickets are for AND I have half of a boarding pass from the flight I boarded, but was then cancelled. It looked BAD. And super, super sketchy.
• I cried.
• I wished I had a phone to call someone. Anyone. Any human being who could speak English and get me out of this mess.
• I struggled through language barriers and exhaustion from no sleep and trying to explain the predicament I was in (I was beginning to not even know how to explain it myself or even where to stop). I think I literally wore every person out that I talked to trying to explain what had happened.
• One person informed me I had to go back through customs to start all over and re-book a flight based on what was available. That was the dumbest idea ever.
• Stood in the customs line for a long time.
• Failed customs - because of all that jumbled paperwork I had. It looked as sketchy to them as it did me. They didn't buy any of it and said "I'm sorry I can't let you into our country." WHAT?! But why, I've been living here for four months and really just want to go home now? Please let me. Not happening.
• I cried at the customs counter. Crying didn't work. I didn't care how pathetic I looked.
• I turned around and walked back through that big, huge line. What a defeating moment in my life. They probably all thought I was a terrorist because I got denied at the customs counter.
• I tried one more crowded counter.
• FINALLY, one blessed little Turkish man pulled me aside and took me into an office where I could finally SIT DOWN while he started doing research. I am convinced that the Lord gave him divine wisdom that day in order to see that I was at my whit's end. And I am so grateful for that.
• He said that there was a flight to London then to D.C. on Saturday. Things were beginning to look up (just so long as no one tried to send me to Germany again). Then there was real music to my ears: A direct flight to Washington, D.C. on Sunday at 11am. DONE and DONE. I accepted. I was so ok right then with waiting an extra 2 days to have a DIRECT FLIGHT. Praise the Lord that I didn't foolishly choose the London option as on Saturday I watched on the news as all the major airports across Europe (including London) were closed because of that major snowstorm that cancelled my first flight. Who knows when I would have gotten home.
• Then the Turkish man asked me if I wanted to get my checked baggage to take with me. Here's how our conversation went (it's really quite comical to think about now):
• Him: Would you like to claim your baggage to take with you today?
• Me: What will you do with it if I don't get it today?
• Him: Check it on to your flight on Sunday.
• Me: Ok.
• Me (thinking in my head): I have absolutely NO reason to trust this man that my luggage would get on my Sunday flight, but I don't have enough hands or strength to take it with me now. I don't even know if I'll ever see it again. Who cares.
• He scribbled down my flight information on a piece of paper to bring with me on Sunday - can't I even get a PRINTED confirmation?!
• I told him of my difficulties getting through customs the first time, so he escorted me to the diplomat line where he shouted a few things in Turkish at the customs attendant, and they waved me through.
• Breated a MAJOR sigh of relief. I might have even shed a tear of happiness.
• I was back in Turkey and had never been so happy!!!! Those 13 hours I spent in the terminal were like the movie "The Terminal" where the guy was stuck in the dead zone. I can feel every ounce of his pain.
• Exchanged my American currency back into Turkish, got on the train and went back to my apartment where I prayed someone would be home to let me in.
• When my roomate opened the door, I truly lost it and cried for about an hour.
• Once I finally got myself together, I called my mom and Michael to tell them I was stuck there until Sunday.
• Went to bed. Finally. I don't even know how many hours I had been awake, but sleep was glorious.

Despite all the immense frustration of Friday at the airport, the extra day I got to spend in Turkey was a blessing. I got to spend some quality time with my roomates and even see Chronicles of Narnia in the theatre in 3D. I remember thinking on our "last night" as we rode back on the bus in the dark that I was sad I wouldn't get to see the city I had grown to love in the daylight again. What a blessing to see that beautiful city again.

Sunday morning was another fiasco upon arriving at the airport. Remember all that mumbled jumbled paperwork I had from Friday. Oh yeah, that confused everyone all over again. But I got through customs. And then questioned a million times over at my gate. No one understood my baggage claim tickets - I'm not really sure I did either. And then someone came running over to me and took me over to the window and look down to identify some luggage they found and believed to be mine. It was.  I was elated!!! Then, I finally got to board the plane - I was the last one to board, but felt so at peace once I sat down in my seat (I had a whole row to myself which was wonderful). Just 11 more hours before landing in the U.S. to come home.

Never have I ever been so thankful to see America and hear "Welcome to America"