We are on our way back home to Germany and we
were supposed to be home already. Instead we are still in the US... Why? I'll
tell you in a minute.
After the GC Session we were blessed by the
hospitality of our dear friend Melody who opened her cabin for us. After 10
intensive days in the prayer room, we were all exhausted. So spending time in
nature of the Ozark Mountains was such a refreshment. Who cared that we had
a flat tire on the way? Actually, it was not a flat tire, but the rubber
started coming off the wheel. Here is the proof:
And who cared that the
spare tire went flat after we put it on? Anyway, this might not seem a big
thing, but since the car was FULL with luggage (and I really mean it when I say
full), dealing with the flat tire took us a few good hours.
The 10 days spent with
Melody and he family were a balm for our souls... Resting and working on
different projects in the peacefulness of her place, surrounded by trees and
wild life (we have seen many deer, squirrels, rabbits and even a snake) was such
a blessing. Mel even organised a late surprise birthday party for my birthday
with one of the best vegan cheese cakes I have ever had!
Eating from the fresh produce of Sylvia's garden was another huge blessing! We have been more than blessed with the hospitality of the Masons.
So yesterday Mel dropped us at the airport and
we started our journey back home. We made it safely to Charlotte, NC. Than we
boarded the flight from Charlotte to London. I was hoping to be able to sleep,
but I was not very successful, so I kept checking the GPS to see where are we
and how far away we are from London. Two and a half hours into our trip I saw
on the GPS that we are flying back. I thought it might be a mistake. I waited
for a while and the GPS showed the same thing. I wanted to call the cabin crew
to solve the dilemma. But I did not get to do that, cause the pilot finally
decided to make an announcement: Because of security breaches on board in the
business class, we were forced to go back. What that meant, we were not sure. But
we were relieved that it is not a mechanical problem of the aircraft. So we
flew back another hour and 50 minutes to Philadelphia. Once we got there, we
were asked to stay in our seats until we are given further instruction. Since I
could not see what is going on, I heard from a few people that some police
came, handcuffed a lady and took her off the plane. A few minutes later we were
told that we should take our belongings and wait in the airport for further
instructions. When disembarking the aircraft, we could see the handcuffed lady
right outside the plane being questioned by a group of police men.
Later on we found out more details: the lady
was on medication and drank alcohol. That made her violent. She tried to break
into the cockpit a few times. She was violent. She tried to get out of the
airplane while we were in the air. She asked for a knife. She damaged a window.
They used tape to handcuff her, but it did not help cause she broke it every
time. So they had to turn around... since there was no way to calm her down and
she was doing more damage.
So here we are, in Philadelphia. Thank God that
they changed our tickets. And gave us a meal voucher for each one of us. And
when you have a wise husband, a $10 meal voucher for one can feed very well two
people for a meal. So we had two (almost) free meals today. I say almost
because Roman had to pay one more dollar for each meal.
Though we do not understand why God allowed
this, we are fully confident that He has a plan and that His plan is perfect.
We are happy to be safe and thankful that we will be home 24 hours after we
were planning to. I guess it could have been much worse.
We are fully trusting in the promise from Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose."
