Yesterday

Let me tell you about my yesterday. (Well now it was several days ago but I thought that was a good intro.)

Frying Pan Farm, Fairfax, VA

It was Sunday but I didn’t go to church per se. I was in church all day as I saw God providing for me in so, so many ways.

It really started the night before as I enjoyed a nice car and safe travel from Jacksonville, NC to Fairfax, VA to stay in a hotel before my journey to Cameroon began. Kaiah called ahead to the Candlewood Inn and suites (provided at a discount thanks to membership at Costco) to let them know I would arrive after 9PM. She and Vanessa, the weekend manager, had such a lovely conversation on the phone that I was given a free upgrade. God provided plenty of space to spread out my carry on bags and arrange them for the flight on Sunday as well as a kitchenette so I could enjoy the simple supper I had packed from Charis’s house. I also brought a tiny bit of milk and cereal for the morning, along with some cream cheese that was waiting to discover a bagel.

After a little Google research on where to find some more nice food for the first part of the day and how to spend my extra hours after checking out of the hotel I was ready for the morning after a little sleep in a nice, cozy bed.

God provided a spacious car for me to get all my bags situated for the arrival at the airport. I needed to arrive with as little to carry as possible because I was driving in to drop off the rental which is a looong way from the check in at the terminal. I would take the bags from the car, onto a bus, into the terminal and I certainly couldn’t manage more than two large ones and the carry on and personal bag.

God sent me to the most delicious bakery in Fairfax County. Well, obviously, I haven’t been to that many but this one was top notch! It is called Fairfax Bakery, minutes from the hotel and run by Turkish people. And, yes, behind the glass were all kinds of Turkish delicacies. And, No, I didn’t buy those. But this is where I found my scrumptious breakfast and extra bagel that received the cream cheese. I ate that later while waiting for departure.

Google maps is fantastic! Maybe you don’t love everything Google. I know I don’t. But those maps have led me to some fantastic places. Did you know there is a farm about 10 minutes from Dulles Airport???? Frying Pan Farm. Yes, look it up. The sweetest child greeted me there, right after an encounter with a sweet, blind, curious dog. I was walking the trails and saw a mom with her kids as her son was set on getting a particular rock. I made a simple comment about rocks being important and he heard me. I was just walking past and the mom spoke up and said, “he wants to say “Hi.”” So, of course I stopped, bent down and received this toddler greeting. In addition to the blind dog there were about 15 others to say hello to. All in all, it is a grand place to visit and kill time before a late afternoon flight. God provided rest and exercise before my long flights.

Then God provided a kind Enterprise employee who guided me to park under the bus stop so I could unload my baggage. He also sent helpful bus drivers to help get bags on and off the buses. (Maybe all the bus drivers are kind and helpful but I NEEDED this.)

God also provided a gentleman within earshot of my voice to help me up the incline that forms the entrance of the Dulles International Airport. (My kids know that this is no simple thing as my voice carries like a bag of rocks.) Both bags were well over the 50 lb. limit the airline has and I’m not as strong as I used to be! God provided a sweet lady right at the top of that incline that gave me a cart and a space to rearrange my luggage into 3 bags to check. This was my plan all along as I only wanted to pay one extra charge and not two for both overweight bags. That process was all planned out from several packing attempts in the previous days, (credit to Channah for helping work that out) and carried out successfully as I checked in for the flight.

What about security you might wonder. It was a breeze. This particular day of going through those awful lines was the easiest I can recall. It was a short line. All belongings on the conveyor belt. All things through. Picture scan – or whatever that thing is- clear and off I went. Yep, you guessed it- my take on this is God provided.

One more interesting thing before I conclude this story of Yesterday. As time for departure drew near and more and more people were gathering to board 1 of 4 international flights scheduled to leave within about 15 minutes of one another all in one end of the terminal I moved closer to my gate. Right next to that spot a young man, early 20s, clean cut, standing straight, conservative clothing, standard carry on and backpack with a pleasant look to him arrived. Oh, did I forget to mention the Marine haircut! I never got his name but he was headed to Brussels for his duty station. We struck up a conversation. He was curious about many things of Cameroon and of course my family in general. By the way, Dulles does not have a USO! He was waiting and wandering around that airport for 5 hours. Conversing with him was a lovely way to conclude Sunday. God provided. May God intervene in his life and in the lives of all who need to seek Him alone.

P.S. God started providing for this trip actually the day after I arrived in Maryland. It was another Sunday. I went to the Goodwill store in MD after church with Grandma Kidder (Kevin’s mom) to see if they might have a “perfect” pull along bag to replace the carryon I came with that has no wheels. I’d been looking for one for a while that would hold a computer +. Not only did they have exactly the bag I’d been hoping for, they also had a perfect shoulder bag to slide onto the handle! This one will be so much easier to get around in airports with.