Israel: Not There Yet!

Finally! Philly! Only two days later than scheduled. What a beginning to this Israel tour! Never, EVER have we missed an international flight these past 25 years or more leading tours. It must have been “our turn.” And while at the time it was extremely disappointing to learn we could not go, good things have come of it. 

First—a quick explanation of what happened. We were scheduled to leave for Philly around 4 in the afternoon. That morning the airlines called and said the flight was delayed an hour—meaning we would not make the connection to the Tel Aviv flight. My husband Lyle was on the phone for two hours attempting to work things out. In the end he finally called our group and told them to go to the airport because sometimes these schedules can change or the flight we were connecting too might also be late. As we were leaving the house, the phone rang with another message from the airline saying the delay time was now two and half hours! Dismayed but hopeful for a good solution, we left the house. 

When we got to the airport, Lyle stood at the ticket counter for over two hours negotiating how and when to get us to Israel. I have the most calm and patient husband! He never lost his cool, just kept kindly pushing the ticket agents until sometime was resolved. This is one of the reasons he was so successful dealing with negotiations when we lived in countries like China and Afghanistan. 

Finally we all understood – we had to go back home?! After the many prayers that had been offered in behalf of our trip by many people for many months in many places, we had to believe this was for the best. And, yes—blessings did come. 

1. At such short notice, we were able to get our group scheduled on flights leaving Saturday for Philly, even though we were split on two different flights—one at 6 AM and the other at 7 AM. Even more amazing, we were able to get everybody on the flight to Tel Aviv Sunday night. That meant almost two days to spend in Philly. 
2. The tour agency making our Israel arrangements was able to get us the same hotels for the same amount days—just shifted the itinerary. We’ll go to Jerusalem and surrounding area first and spend the last three days in the Galilee area.
3. Members of our group not yet retired were able to change their vacation schedule, because now instead of returning home on June 3 it would be June 6.
4. One of the tour members could not locate her passport. When she called to tell us, Lyle told her the flight was delayed, to keep looking and come to the airport when she found it. An hour later, she still hadn’t found it. She finally called her son in Michigan and asked him to look for it at her house. She had left it in her copier! Lyle told her to have her son send it overnight since we were not going until Saturday. She got it Friday morning, and now she could go with us!! This is a wonderful blessing! 
5. When one of our couples returned home, they found a new leak under their sink. It was an easy fix, but if it had been left for two weeks—what a mess!
6. Lyle discovered when we returned home that he had forgotten to pack his camera of all things.  
7. The week prior to leaving, I got poison ivy on one arm and some other strange dermatitis reaction on part of my face. The delay in our schedule gave me a couple more days to heal.
   
8. I was able to do some things for the tour that I hadn’t accomplished before, like make some “cheat sheets” with the amounts of US dollars converted to Israeli shekels. These help us easily compute just how much something costs when in country.    
9. The best blessing though is that our group of wonderful people has reacted most graciously and with good cheer to all these adventures.

God works in mysterious way His wonders to perform! At the moment we’re all here in Philly. We are going to take advantage of being here with a guided tour of the historic places—like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I’m posting this from the visitor’s center that has Wi-Fi. Our flight leaves at 9 this evening. 

Until Israel……