One week. ONE WEEK. One week from today I'll be up at 3:30 am, driving with my folks to the Philly airport at 4:15, arriving and hauling HEAVY bags to American Airlines (thanks again M and M) by 5:00 am, boarding at 7:00, and then headed for San Juan PR to arrive at 12:00, then depart at 2:00pm, then FINALLY arrive at S. Domingo at 3:05pm. Time change=one hour later than us. At 3:15 my friend Laura arrives so I'll search or wait for her and then we'll hit customs together. I'm hoping to be in our car by 4:15 or 4:30, to the grocery store by 5:00 and to our sweet little hostal in Boca Chica by 6ish. HAHA. Who am I kidding? It's the DR. Schedules are irrelevant. We'll be lucky if any of the above mentioned things go off without a hitch. The hilarious part is me attempting to plan at all. But hey- it's how I roll. Everything is packed already except socks and underwear and I had to physically restrain myself from doing that today. OCD to the max, people!
Til then, I've got 6 more days to try to pull myself together and put a lid on my life here in PA. Silly things like verifying that the bank won't freeze my ATM card due to international use, handling health and car insurances, prepping to renew my nursing licenses, buying Christmas hams with money savers for church, squeezing in lunches/breakfasts/dinners with pals and family that I won't see for awhile, preparing for our small family Christmas on Saturday, cleaning the truck (ugh!), setting my fantasy football lineup from home FOR THE LAST TIME THIS YEAR (sob...but a good thing I can handle it from San Juan!), finishing up the last 2 shifts at work, renting Mary Poppins to watch with my nephews, practicing for the Christmas choir at church this week, grocery shopping, laundry, loving on my fabulous folks, etc. It's exciting! YAY!
So I'm blessed. But we already knew that. The trick is: What is Jesus pushing me to think about right now, RIGHT NOW, while I get ready. His birthday is approaching and I don't want to lose that in the rush of new adventure. I want to find a quiet spot- to think about new life, the snuffling-about of a newborn, the panic of new parents, the smell of hay, the wonder of it all. Sometimes when a particularly observant or alert baby is born and stares out into space with these intense eyes and furrowed brows, I wonder if that's how the Christ viewed us. Did he crinkle his forehead and think "do they know what they are in for?" Did he throw his head back and scream with abandon or cold and turn all red and mottled? Did he make slurping noises and try to suck his own hands? Or his mama's nose? Was anyone there with Mary and Joseph or did Joseph deliver his own son? Gotta wonder.
Anyhoo- I'm in search of a moment. I'll let ya know how it goes.
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