Bon Voyage!

Friday night blog

I have a little time to write from LAX as I await my 12:30 a.m. flight from CA to Ethiopia, an 18.5 hour ride without de-planing! Then a 5-hour layover followed by another 4 hour flight to my final destination of Lubumbashi, DRC, Sunday afternoon their time (they are 9 hours ahead of CA)

Praises:

• The airport process was fairly smooth and even though my Sac flight to LA was delayed almost an hour, there was no problem with my connection
• The longer flight means I don’t need to re-check my bags in an East Coast airport or risk delays we’ve run into in the past (the first time I went, there were hurricane warnings on the E coast and we spend a night in DC and a night in Ethiopia before arriving). 
• I had good time with kids on the way and with grandparents who will take them overnight to help my dear wife who I praise God for all her help.

Petitions:

• Pray for my precious partner Jaime and our cherished children while I’m gone 20 days. With school in full-swing and challenging chauffeuring without the dad driver, please pray for her stamina and spiritual strength, and for the kids to serve her and one another 
• “Travel mercies” is a vague phrase, but as I travel, please ask God to mercifully enable me to get some hours of sleep on the long flight and to be merciful in this cold and cough I have coming on
• I would also ask for God to mercifully help in these flights to be able to put together teaching outlines and scriptures for the first couple days that show His mercy. 
• My parents reminded me while I might be stressing before I get there, or struggling as to how to best put it together, to make sure I’m smiling when I stand up to teach, and shining the love of the Lord above all to them, and letting the joy of the Lord be my strength. So the travel mercies I need are to be a traveler who brings mercy in my message and even my mannerisms and I pray God’s mercies would be new every morning (and renew me each morning) to be most satisfied in Him so He might be most glorified by me