Turkey trip Blog 2 - Bring on the waterworks

What a day! I started off with a wonderful breakfast and then on to our first worship set of the day with just the workers. The conference hasn't started yet so all the workers are just gathering to unite and get on the same page.

The moment the first chord was struck, God was there. It was amazing to feel Him like that. I haven't experienced that in years and yet it was so familiar and peaceful. We then sat in a group and were able to hear some of the stories of the workers here. Again, tears. I felt like the group was going to think that I was a big old baby but then I look over at Christina, another girl from my team, and she is crying too. Yes! Another tender heart...HA!

After lunch, the IHOP team met for a last minute detail meeting to secure all of our plans and what happened...? Wrecked again! The Lord had different plans for us and we all found ourselves weeping before the Lord again!

We have been met with great humility, gratitude and so so so much love by everyone here. Our team came fully ready to give, and so far have only received. What a shift. There are so many thoughts and emotions stirring in my heart and mind. I know that this week is a journey that I will never forget, and it's only just begun.

Here is a health update for my mom. I know she will be worried about me until I write her something:

Mom, I'm actually doing great! I haven't had any nausea and my salivation is almost completely gone! I couldn't believe it. I went this whole day with no spitting or mints. Crazy! I am resting well and getting plenty of rest. Actually I had a little too much and am awake right now. It's 9:30pm there and 5:00am here. I went to bed at 8:45pm and slept until about 4:00am then popped up wide awake! So I just thought I would get up and then take a nap later on this afternoon. The food has been the biggest surprise. It's been wonderful! And Josh went to the market and bought fresh fruit for our room. The fruit here is amazing. He also loaded me down with chocolate. What a good man. HA! The only thing is that I have to constantly be drinking water. I get dehydrated really quickly with the altitude change and everything. And it wouldn't be that bad but they use ice here so all the water is room temp. But if that is the only thing then I would say all in all I am doing pretty well.

Please email me Emma updates. Josh and I are going crazy to not hear how she is. Love you!

Alice

Turkey Trip Blog 1 - God Knows

So our trip started with Josh and I meeting up with Khaleed and Christina at 7am Monday morning and driving to KCI airport to catch our first flight to Detroit. The car ride had lots of laughter and good conversation. This was going to be a festive trip. HA!

While looking at our flight schedule I noticed that we only had a hour in between each flight. I knew from personal experience that was going to be cutting boarding our next flight pretty close but getting our baggage to the next flight even closer. Still we forge on and hope for the best. Meanwhile, always carry a change of clothes and toiletries in your carryon.

We arrive in Detroit and meet up with Nathan Panke. As we are sitting at our gate the announcer comes on and informs us that due to air traffic, our flight to JFK will be delayed by one hour. That is the amount of time we had to make it to our international flight! Officially we were going to miss our flight. When we arrived at JFK, the first person we talked to said, "oh they have rebooked you for tomorrow for the same flight." Which was a direct flight from JFK to Istanbul. She then directed us to another gate to talk to someone there. As we walked I kept thinking back to all the flights I have taken and they never just give you one option so I just prayed that when we got to that gate, the person would offer us another route so that we could arrive on the day we were needing to arrive.

The girls decided to handle the problem so we approached a counter where every worker was mad and frustrated and hungry because it was their lunch time. It turns out there was another flight to Amsterdam and then on to Istanbul and would put us in 4 hours later than our ORIGINAL schedule! Christina and I were patient and joyful and by the end, all the ladies were laughing and telling us stories about their life. It was awesome! Then, just joking, but not really, I told the lady that since we made her day better she could just upgrade us to first class. HA! She printed off coupons for us to use at our actual gate to obtain our boarding passes. When we got to that gate, we checked in at the terminal and the lady looked at us and said, "In order to get you all on this flight, I had to upgrade your whole team." What!!! Praise God! We were ushered into business first class and served a 5 course meal, hot towels, mini travel kits, fresh squeezed juice, fully reclinable seats that let you lay down like in a bed, and a personal attendant. What an amazing God we serve!

We arrived in Turkey and got through customs with no trouble (well a little but that's another story of God's favor on us), and got to our hotel. We walk in to an amazing room with tons of space and a sea view. We go to dinner where a buffet of over 30 dishes were being served and they all tasted amazing! We set up our rooms are planning our day tomorrow. It's sure to have it's own adventures. But for now, I am going to crawl into bed and sleep a full night of sleep. That hasn't happened in 4 straight days so far.

I miss you Emma. Mommy and Daddy Love you! Have fun with your grandparents and know that we think about you all day.