Greeting Unexpected

Our trip to Africa was a long three days in airports. No, not three days with time change- three days of flying and waiting. One layover was long enough to take a hotel room for the night only to head back to the airport first thing in the morning. The flights were long and dry, and to my amazement, Celia did very well with them.

As soon as the plane touched down in Addis, all the "things" came flushing back to my brain. The front and rear door were opened on the plane and the hot air came in as our fresh air went pouring out. I am sure you have never heard the air on an airplane described as "fresh", but that is only because you have not been to Addis. The city air was hot, smoky, and immediatly tightened my lungs.

We marched down the metal offloading steps and onto a bus. We were one of the last off the plane so fortunate for us, we had no one exposing their armpit in front of our nose as they held the hand rail, such as the last time I was in Addis. No, we had the tram pretty much to ourselves and it was great to take in the expressions of my family as we drove to what was likely one of the smallest international airports that either J or Nana had ever been in. Luggage was everywhere on the tarmic, apparently in an order that only made sense to the airport staff- but looked like a security issue to American ol' me.

We waited in line for Visas. We waited in line for customs... and out of no where I heard my name, "Brooke!" I turned, half expecting to see Kibrom from the guest house I stayed at last year. It was not. Instead, it was Pastor Surafel from Phoenix! He was supposed to have left Addis the day prior to my arrival, and yet here he was, standing on the other side of customs to greet me! I was so surprised and so happy to see a familiar face.

He had postponed his flight in order to greet my family. So sweet. So thoughtful. We walked with him as he arranged for our bags to be taken (which was no small feet with a total of 16 bags weighing over 600 lbs). I had to excuse myself to run off to the restroom... the first one I could get to since we landed (someone must talk to the airport about that since those lines can take some time!) . Anyway, Surafel escorted us outside as I scanned the people for our driver. I was expecting a sign with my name on it but instead, found 2 staff from HOpe for the HOpeless and 4 beautiful children from the Drop In Center at HOpe! They each had a beautiful boquet of flowers for each of us which brought tears to my eyes. We were hugged and greeted. It was SO GREAT to be in Africa with my extended family! It was just where I was supposed to be and felt completely right.

We found a sign for Carolyn Fremouw- And we were off to drop some things at our guest house and on to see the kids. The exhaustion faded to nothing and the excitement for our tasks ahead was all that was left. I felt whole. I felt at peace. I took in a breath of that smoky air and praised God for all that he had done to prepare me and to assure me. It was very right.