Today was a travel day. Just getting to the airport turned out to be a multi-plan-saga.
My beautiful hosts had called for a car to pick me up at 7:00. Right on time, we got the notification that the ride was 4 minutes away. Perfect!
We moved out to the meeting area and then the magic happened. The car was suddenly 11 minutes away, then 16, 19, 26. By the time we canceled the ride, they were 50 minutes out. How is this even possible?
Plan B, Macherie would finish getting dressed and escort me to the airport via the sky train. In the meantime, she checked in with the driver they often use, and he could be at the apartment in 20 minutes. Plan C.
Instead of a 7:00 departure time, it was well after 8:00 before I managed any progress at all. With self-check-in and non-existent immigration lines, you can indeed manage to catch an international flight in an hour plus change. However, you must do a lot of deep breathing.
At only 2 hours and 45 minutes, today was my shortest/quickest flight. So, to keep things a bit spicy, we flew circles over Kathmandu, waiting for air control to work through the weather-related backed up air traffic.
And now, I sit on a balcony in Kathmandu, with this view into the hotel courtyard. All is well.
(Fun detail…when I first arrived, Miss Nepal 2024 was doing a photo shoot wearing a wedding dress from a Nepalese designer. I got to visit with the designer as well as greet Miss Nepal. You never know!)
My prayers for my time apart are:
Be present.
Be thankful.
Be receptive.
Feeling all three this afternoon…mixed with joy.
Pastor Leah
