Sunday, July 13, 2014

An Epic Journey Begins

I posted on Facebook earlier in the day: You know the saying, "You can't get there from here? Well, I think that applies to South Dakota." For the second year in a row our trip has gotten off to a rough start. The team got to the Atlanta airport this morning at 5:00. We went through the ticketing and security process with no problems whatsoever. Only to have that be the end of our good fortune. The flight to Chicago-O'Hare was uneventful, but we were delayed on the tarmac upon landing due to departure delays from the gate to which we were supposed to go.  This delay was at least 30 minutes which made our already tight connection totally impossible. Our scheduled flight to Rapid City left the airport while we were still on the tarmac. Thankfully, the airline rebooked us as a courtesy... The problem is that their idea of help was to send an unaccompanied minor through a completely different airport than the rest of the team and have him arrive a full two hours before the rest of the team would. After several attempts to talk to unhelpful gate agents and the rebooking team from the courtesy station I had to go outside security to the ticketing counter to try to get the issue resolved. With boarding passes in hand (finally!) I went back through security to join the team for lunch. Instead of going directly to Rapid City, we were now going to connect through DFW and then on to Rapid. We had about an hour and a half delay leaving DFW because the plane we were supposed to be flying was delayed in arriving. About 10:00 MDT we arrived on the ground in the Rapid City airport a full 12+ hours after our initial itenerary would have gotten us here. Oh wait, the excitement is not complete yet. Of the 7 checked bags plus the 5 carry-ons that were gate checked to our final destination from Atlanta we had 1 bag come in at baggage claim. With the help of a nice gentleman who works for the airport, not one of the airlines, we were able to track someone down that could help us locate our luggage. Unfortunately, it had not beaten us here as we had hoped. As it turns out we have luggage scattered across the county! My bag is still in Atlanta while the rest is in Chicago.  I don't think we have any in Dallas,  but I wouldn't be surprised  if that were the case. Given the time and the fact that we have no sheets, clothes, medicine for some we decided to spend the night in Rapid City rather than drive to Bridger tonight. The Chicago luggage should arrive by 9:30 or so tomorrow, not sure when the 3 pieces from Atlanta will get here. We will get our luggage and make our Wal-Mart run tomorrow. At least we aren't sleeping on the floor of an airport this year. every cloud has a silver lining!  I hope you enjoyed this comical tale as much as it was cathartic for me to write it down. I really am laughing about it even now.  1. There's nothing I can do about it now and 2. Getting upset doesn't help and 3. My bag didn't make the first flight. Really?






On a more serious note, the team covets your prayers this week as we forge new relationships and develop new ones. I ask that you would pray specifically for us as we seek to identify the best use of FBC's talents and the gifts and talents of the community to come together for God's Kingdom. May we follow the missio dei onto the reservation and be used as willing vessels to do God's work.

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