October 6th and 7th
The feeling was little different leaving OKC this time. Knowing that I would be definitely bringing Vanya home has both excitement and anticipation to go along with it. To try to save some money, it was cheaper to book a round trip ticket for Vanya. Also, to save money on both plane tickets, food as well as keep money coming in; Rachelle and I decided that it would be best for her to stay home. After the last trip, Andrew and his Mommy really started missing each other and we felt that it was better for her to stay home with him, money aside.
We made it to Will Rogers Airport in OKC a little under 2 hours before departure. We walked up to the check-in desk and explained to the airline that Vanya wouldn't be on this leg, however would be on the return flight. That is when they dropped the bomb on us. According to them, his entire flight itinerary would be cancelled since he is not on this flight. They can make a note for them to hold his seat, however this is not a guarantee. I would need to contact the other Airline, Lufthansa Airlines when I arrive in Washington DC to see if they would be able to hold the seat. THIS IS NOT THE WAY I WANTED TO START THE TRIP!!!
It was hard enough that Rachelle was staying home, but now add this to equation. I reached out to a couple of close friends (more like Brothers) for some prayer and Rachelle to a couple of her "Sisters". The texts came back almost as quick as we could hit send confirming that our path has been prepared and God has this covered. Such an AWESOME support when you need it the most!!!
Rachelle, Andrew and I said our "Good-Bye's" and off through the Security Checkpoint I went. I had just got done getting all of my belongings back in order when Rachelle texted me telling me that it will all be OK and this just gives me something else to Blog about.
After waiting around for a little over an hour, I was on the plane headed for DC. My seat was on the last row, window side. Apparently the flight was short of some people and the Flight Attendant asked me and the two other people sitting in the back row if we wanted to move up to the "Exit" row to balance out the plane. Knowing that there is usually a little more leg room, up and forward I went. A little more leg room? How about a HUGE amount of leg room! I could stretch my legs and could barely touch the supports for the seat in front of me.
I landed in DC and through a maze of escalators and trams, I was at the right Terminal in no time. The first thing I did was went up to the Lufthansa desk and inquired about Vanya's flight reservation for the way home. The lady assured me that his seat was secured and even told me the row and seat numbers for the returning flights. THANK YOU JESUS!!! I know that our Journey to this point has been Blessed and we have had Favor in every aspect. Perhaps a little test opening up our eyes to see if we still trust Him as we complete this process.
Upon boarding the 747 my first impression of the airplane is this is Really Nice. Each chair back had its own monitor. I drew one of the middle seats in a four wide section in the middle of the plane. As people were coming in, the seat next to me in the middle remained empty. Could this be that Vanya's seat would indeed stay open giving me more room? Sure enough, the seat was open the entire time and it sure was nice having a little more room.
The service on the flight was the BEST I had ever experienced when flying domestic or international. Rachelle and I had heard great things about Lufthansa, it was nice to experience it for myself. I hope that the planes that Vanya and I get coming home are just like this!
During the flight, I selected to watch one of Andrew's favorite movies, SHREK. It kinda felt like I was home, except for Andrew acting out almost every scene. I actually dozed off for probably half of the movie.
After landing in Frankfurt, Germany; I was walking through the terminal when I saw a woman wearing an OSU BIG XII Football Championship t-shirt. I stopped and talked to her and her husband. She told me that she was originally from Stillwater. As a matter of fact, they were on my connecting flight to Kiev.
While checking in for the 3rd and final leg of my trip to Kiev, my seat was moved to a window seat and yet once again there is an empty seat next to me, in the middle of the section. The empty seat began to continually remind me how Blessed and Honored we are to have the chance to travel 1/2 way across the world to adopt a special little boy who fill fill so much more than that seat!
As I landed in Kiev, in a weird way it is nice to be back to something that is somewhat familiar. After a brief Tango conversation with Rachelle while waiting to get thru Passport Control, I met up with Sasha soon afterwards and off to his house we went.
He has a really nice place. I met his wife Natasha and their older daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth showed me some of her sketches and she is very artistic when it comes to portraits, especially in the detail of the eyes.
After we ate dinner, I was able to Tango Rachelle. She brought me up-to-speed on everything back home, especially all of those from Victory Edmond that inquired about the trip. I continued to layout the plan here for the next few days. We are believing that everything continues to go as planned and with no interruptions. I slept good, but got up a couple of times throughout the night. The good thing about being 8 hours ahead is I was able to text Rachelle back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment