Upside Down Turtles

Don't worry, don't worry! Pictures will be coming shortly! I hope to blog later tonight with some pictures from the day. Right now we are still getting used to the altitude and time difference and the kids are napping, so we haven't done much but catch up with Lauren and recover from yesterday's travels! And as I mentioned in the previous albeit brief, update, we have made it to Guatemala rather safely and without incident.

There was of course the sight of upside down turtles in the airport, however.

What do I mean?

Give me a minute to explain. All good things come to those who wait.

First, let me say that wandering around in airports with about a thousand bags, 2 strollers and 3 kids is quite the challenge. Having overcome that challenge, I think I can say with some degree of certainty that we would do better than expected if we were ever selected for The Amazing Race reality show.

As a result of having simply too many bags to drag/carry with us at one time, we had to enlist the little ones for some help. Jackson and Reagan could be seen in the airport sporting their backpacks which had been packed to the gills. At one point, Reagan was also pushing a stroller.

On our second flight of the day (the one from Houston to Guatemala) we were joined by a very noisy and obnoxious missions team from another church. They were clearly southern and their leader's name was clearly "Amber" or "Miss Amber." I know this because every member of her team was constantly jockeying for an audience with Miss Amber. Calls of "Amber" and "Miss Amber" resonated throughout the plane for most of the flight.

And she was not a woman to disappoint her fans by ignoring them. Miss Amber was one of those southern folks with a heavy drawl and no compunctions about talking at all times at the top of her lungs about everything.

At one point, Miss Amber was so excited to have found Amy Grant serenading her on the plane music channels that she loudly instructed her team to "Turn to Channel 4, it's Amy Grant!!!" (This was after she loudly questioned a teen boy about whether or not he was excited to be finally on a trip with her after 5 years of her traveling the globe with his brother. Unfortunately, I didn't hear his answer.)

A volley of shouts about changing to station 6 and 8 began as the members of her team found some music in spanish. When prompted for a translation, Miss Amber came up short but had a hearty laugh about it.

She did, however, regale her one teammate (and by association the entire plane thanks to the volume of her voice) about all of the charms on her bracelet and the various countries of origin they were from. Bolivia. Costa Rica. Brazil. You name it, and Miss Amber has been there. Her twenty minute dissertation on the origins of each charm was quite the crowd-pleaser.

Miss Amber's team was ahead of us in the mad dash through the airport in Guatemala and got down the escalator before us. Unfortunately because we were each juggling several pieces of luggage and/or strollers, we had to send Reagan and Jackson down the escalator together holding hands.

The first escalator ride was a smashing success.

The second, however, not so much. Reagan and Jackson decided to rest their weary bodies by sitting on the steps instead of standing. Now, I don't know if you are aware of this fact, but on the escalator steps actually move and then slowly lower into nothingness as they empty their cargo at the bottom. Despite multiple pleas from Jaci and I to stand up, Reagan and Jackson did not.

As a result, when they finally attempted to stand up, their step was rapidly diminishing below them and threw off their balance. Flopped onto their backs, they were left to flounder around at the bottom of the escalator like upside down turtles frantically kicking their legs as they lie on their shell.

We continued to shout to the kids to get up as we continued rapidly careening towards them in a trainwreck in the making.

Miss Amber's team casually turned around to see the floundering kids at the bottom of the steps and continued on their way without a second thought.

The kids finally got up and avoided being crushed, but they were frightened and freaking out.

It was a funny moment to look back on, but at the time Miss Amber and her team were not my favorite people.

The judgmental part of me (admittedly a huge portion!) desired to send Miss Amber and her frolicking band of fools to eternal damnation. Then, of course, God got the better of me and reminded me that I don't really know Miss Amber. That, perhaps, just perhaps each of those charms on her bracelet represented a life that was changed or even saved by the willingness of Miss Amber to serve.

Of course, then I was reading in Psalms:

"If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O LORD, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness..." Psalm 130:3-4

Yikes. I've probably been like Miss Amber at times, right? (Don't answer that!)

And also:

"I will not enter my house or go to bed--I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob" Psalm 132:3-5

God reminded me that I'm not perfect either. That He desires acts of service not just lip service. Miss Amber and her team may be loud, obnoxious, and unruly but they also just may be the hands and feet that bring a message of Hope to a needy people.

It reminded me that as we re-enter Guatemala, I was so taken last year with the joy of the believers here who do not have nearly the material possessions that we do. Many, in fact, live in houses that are constructed of rusty metal pushed together with dirt floors. Yet they have that unsurpassing joy that is often missing in the believers of America.

Then, of course, still reading in Psalms, I came across:

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them." Psalm 135:15-18

What a condemnation of our culture and American way of life. I love America. I love the freedom and liberty that it stands for. I don't like the fact that I have become part of those American Christians who limit my need and passion for God because of the stuff that I have and/or want. I don't ever want to trust in my idols of stuff more than I do Jesus. I pray that I never do.

On the contrary, I want to live a life that abandons such things and embraces my faith to the fullest that I may experience that unfathomable joy.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News?" Romans 10:15

When you are praying for us and our little upside down turtles today, pray also for Miss Amber and her team. May we all have beautiful feet this week in Guatemala.