Well, we’ve arrived. Our flights went surprisingly well (it was all the waiting in the terminals that nearly did us in—picture sibling wars with whipping blankets and empty water bottles—we were popular with the terminal folk). Right after the first flight took off, a three year old three rows up began shrieking, “I want off the plane! I want off the plane NOW!” I sat and prayed for that Momma and Daddy, because we were that family a few years ago. Memphis refrained from joining the little girl’s chorus until we were seven hours into the eleven hour flight, and she protested with sulking and whining instead of shrieking. Otherwise, the kids watched movies and refused to eat the airplane food, until they tasted ours then begged for a meal once the food service was over. By my calculations, the older two subsisted on trail mix, lollipops, and crackers for about seventeen hours.
Friday night, we were greeted in Okinawa by a team of chaplains and their families who all cheered when they called our name from the terminal. It was an amazing welcome, and they swooped in, took our eighteen bags of luggage in multiple vehicles, and caravanned to the lodge where we are staying, which was good, because I am pretty sure after over twenty-four hours in transit, I was drooling and speaking in incoherent babbles.
Everyone slept really well, but woke up (as expected) at 4 am Saturday morning. THE (caps intended) base chaplain had arranged to come take us to the base pool and then lunch at her house. I was more than a little nervous for her to meet us in our first 24 hours on island, as we can *sometimes* be a handful. The kids all swam and we had a great lunch with her family. No incidents that I know of, and the chaplain and her family were extremely gracious. She took me to the commissary, something that was at the top of my list. I had planned meals and shop lists stateside (before I became brain dead) that I knew I could keep in a dorm fridge and cook with one skillet or pot and a spoon. So far, so good, and the chaplains on island are hosting us for the meals in between.
I expected to be completely exhausted, depressed, overheated, and overwhelmed as we arrived. I must be saving those things for later when we get a house or once we’ve been cooped up in a hotel together for a month, because right now, I am feeling pretty good. The humidity has not been overwhelming, but maybe that is because Phoenix was 115 degrees with monsoon humidity when we left. All this optimism will likely come crashing down as I have to take the driving test this week, but for now, we’ll just go with it and be thankful that I am functioning.
Prayers are appreciated this week as we will be:
Talking to housing about where we will live
Taking (and hopefully passing) driving tests Buying a car
Meeting Matt’s colleagues
Living in a smallish two room suite with four children who ADORE each other
Thank you for all your prayers thus far. Blessings and greetings to you from Okinawa!
YEAH!!!!! So glad you made it mostly unscathed. It was good to see at the end that you said you had 4 children because from the picture, I was thinking that you had lost one… So glad the welcome was enjoyable. We will continue to pray for you. You will do great on the driving test, the hard part is the written (learn the road signs really well) and then just continue this mantra “stay on the left, stay on the left”. You will rock it! Love you all, can’t wait to see what housing God has prepared for you to live in and me to visit 🙂
We love you all! Cheryl (&Robert)
Love your mantra, Cheryl! One of the other people we met gave us the same advice. I’ve already started practicing my chanting. Love y’all.
They don’t even make you drive for the test, it’s easy. You are gonna love your time there! So sorry we missed you. You are so blessed to have so many “sponsors”! Ours was less than helpful… I’m already scheming a space -a over at some point. 🙂
We definitely feel blessed to have the sponsors we have– at the airport, there was a Gunny and his family of five stranded at the airport, glassy eyed, with no contact info for anyone. I was panicked FOR them! Luckily, our ‘swat’ crew was so large that we left a couple chaplains behind to help them find their sponsors and get them to the lodge. Would love to see you if you space-a over!
Sue,
You reminded me how important people are in the lives of those in transition. Thank you.
Also, I was reading up on the driving test in Japan. Do not worry, no matter what the posted speed is, everyone goes slow due to the congested traffic. Also, don’t worry about the lanes. When it rains, you cannot tell which lane is which due to the type of paint used the lanes disappear. I think you just need to remember to drive on the left side at all times.
I have also been reading up on places of interest. Your kids will certainly have some adventures:-)
Your family is in my prayers. Love you dearly!
Thanks Judy for your encouragement and YOUR hospitality before we left. We had such a good time with you all!
Yippee, first week here we come with lots of success. I have always loved adventure and all your gang will also. Have some fun and cherish every moment as this experience will only happen once (let’s hope) :):):)
Glad it all went well with the flights. Hope housing comes thru quicker than expected. Also happy to hear you were greeted so graciously and that you are being taken care of by your new friends. They will be blessed to get to know such a great family. Good luck with that spoon and pot! Love to all!