Home Again

I love Christmas time though this year because I've been away and in a bit of a different atmosphere in the pre-holiday season I haven't had all the time to get hyped up on "Christmas!" things. Not sure whether this is good or bad, it's just different. Part of me used to hate Christmas for all the commercialism and what not but now I tend to pass over that a bit and chill out realizing materialism can only have a hold on me if I let it. Christmas is about Jesus. God became man so that my debt might be paid and that I may be reconciled to Him, that I might be in right standing with God, and that I might enjoy my place as His daughter in His Kingdom. How wonderful is that?! Christmas is great. Deck the Halls, the King has come!

MIRACLE: So in lieu of Mom driving 20 hours to come get me from Toronto and bring me back to Indy, we bought a plane ticket for me. It was set for Friday night but for some reason I was looking at other tickets the Monday before and saw there was one for six hours earlier where I would arrive at 4pm instead of 10pm which sounded a lot better to me. This would be great cuz I could hang out more with Kris, I might be able to see friends, and just be HOME before everyone went to bed anyway. Essentially it felt like I would have another whole day at home. I emailed the ticket company to see if it might be possible to switch and breakthrough one was that a real person emailed me back and said they were looking into it! Yay, she didn't say the seats were all taken or that it was impossible! *sigh of relief* 
{Side Note: one of my big struggles is with faith- believing that God will bless me in the everyday life-type stuff. Sure I know He is a good God and when He blesses me out of the blue, I love it and rejoice, but it's hard to believe for something that I actually asked for. Many many people have spoken words that God is going to give me ridiculous favor, wants to pour out His favor on me, that He's going to give financial blessings, etc. and I really felt like this was one instant where it might come to be. I could have easily not emailed about the tickets or given up when they didn't email me back, but I felt this was a exercise of faith that could bring about a huge blessing.}
The next day I think I emailed to see if anything had come up and the lady said no and that she would let me know when she knew something. I let it go for two days. It was now the day before and the flight I had been wanting was no longer listed on the travel sight because it was for the next day. The stress is totally rising; the day before I had gotten a headache that turned into a migraine and I almost lost my dinner. This day feels like it might follow the same pattern. I ask Mom to call in because I had to go to CBN and I'd check in later. Judith talked with me after and helped me give up some of the stress and prayed with me. You know, we were not meant to carry such heavy burdens... easy to pick them up though and hard to let them go... 

Fortunately for me the internet at SOM lags a bit so I didn't receive Mom's comment right away but I did receive an email for another lady working on my case: she was trying but wasn't getting anywhere. I decide to maybe go in to the airport early and trying the ticket counter in the morning. I go out with friends for one last Hoo-rah and pray for the best. Mom's message had been along the lines of "sorry, but it looks like you're SOL. see you at 10." And that is totally fine, it really didn't look like anything was going to happen, but for some reason this was a BIG deal to me and I was not going to let go so easily. I wanted a breakthrough in my life and I wanted faith. Who knows what kind of faith I was having at that moment (authentic or fabricated) but I had to hold on to something!

Went to the airport around 12pm hoping for the 2pm flight. The queue for the baggage check-in was HUUUUGGGEEE while that for the executive class was nothing. I start wheeling toward the former and then head back thinking, "I have the authority. I have class, and besides if they send me back what have I lost, this line is a mile long?" I walk up to a lady, say 'my flight is for 8' and 'may I switch to 2?' She does a little clicking and says that's just fine!!!!! O WOW. REALLY? Online the penalty of switching is $165 so I'm praying for not that and she looks at me concerned and says, "Oh, well that's going to um be $70." *!*!*!*!*!*!*!* haha I about threw my card at her. OK! Now my bag was overweight so I had to pay for that too but I pretty much didn't care. All the while I'm thinking, "God you are good, God you are good." but still inside me is this place of doubt, as if all of this could have been coincidence. Possible, right? Maybe if you believe in coincidence, I guess. I thought, "Maybe I should ask if I can have a window seat....well, no, you shouldn't push your luck." She does all the checking with my passport and all that and turns to me and says, "Well, your seat is now a window seat, is that ok?" haha I about laughed out loud. What an amazing God I serve. I can't believe he loves me this much. And yet, truly, it is so much more than I could ever love.

All on the plane ride I was shaking my head an grinning like an idiot. And it was amazing to be home early; it really made all the difference. I was able to unpack (and dump all my clothes in the laundry room), see a few friends at a Christmas gig, go shopping for my friends coming to stay the night, and get the house ready for them (bake, clean, etc.). So nice! It was a bit crazy, when I got home there was a bit of a culture shock for me...probably one of the only times I've had it. I was no longer in a building where 60 of my closest friends live next door to me, where my classroom in just downstairs, and where the Holy Spirit is so free to move in all of us that He so often does and we see it. Nope, now I was home, which is more an more not feeling like "home"; I know soon I will be leaving it for "good" which is probably a good thing considering I am -- years old. Crazy. Because of this mini-shock I was quite excited that Becky, Sandra, and Joni from school were stopping by the house on their way to Kansas City and CO. While it may seem lame that it had only been about 14 hours since I had seen them I already missed them sooooooo badly. My spirit was so homesick. Can't wait to go back even though it won't be for long. In the meantime I am enjoying home and family and shopping and good food and my bed and internet past midnight and a shower I can move in and real carpet and my kitties and....
Peace.