Road to Rwanda-----Packing

 So with all the horror stories coming out of Europe about flights right now, of course, WE are scheduled through Brussels on Aug.4!!! Brussels has the worst record for ontime flights in the world.   Not to mention all the things being said about lost luggage.  BUT, we just got confirmation that the portion of our flight from Newark to Brussels has been upgraded to Business class!!! I cannot express how thankful we are.  It will mean being able to lie down for the overnight 7+ hour portion.  It also means we have 70 pounds per suitcase all the way through, regardless if the other two legs are upgraded or not.  So relieved.  I had visions of sitting on the floor of the Greenville/Spartanburg airport throwing out 20 pounds from each bag inorder to get on our flights.  We easily manage living overseas.  Enjoy ourselves immensely.  But the travel to and from has become more and more exhausting as we have aged.  So the Lord told me that maybe upgrading our class of flight would help.  We appealed to our FB friends.  The Edmonds from Panama days and Claudia, a childhood friend, came through with United Airlines points for us so that we can be blessed in this way.  (We could never afford the actual price of business class tickets, but the points upgrade becomes quite manageable.  Anyone have extra United points they want to donate for our return flight?  Or bless other missionaries in this way?) Thank you for the points and also for all of you who have prayed that we would be changed from "waitlisted" to "confirmed" in a timely manner.

Also, a packing tip.  Years ago I realized that the usual organized way to pack with all the meds together and all the clothes together, etc. was not really helpful when moving overseas.  Rick and I had the time now to sit and divide our categories of things into 3 or 4 piles and distribute things like the meds between the suitcases so that if one is lost for some reason, we will still have some quantity of meds and clothes and household items, etc. Makes for a messy pack and unpack, but very worth it.

We certainly will let you join in our fun as we acclimate to Rwanda.  Right now pray for good flights and luggage retention as we begin this journey in 2 days on August 4.