I. Can. Not be-WEEVE It!!!

When Sam was little, he used to have this hilarious saying (well, he had a lot of hilarious sayings, but this was one of them ).  He would say, with dramatic pauses in between each word, "I. Can. Not. Be-WEEEEEVE It (he couldn't say "l's" yet :-).  This is a story that I still find hard to believe, and it brought that little phrase to my head as I was typing it out :-). With so many of you praying for a safe trip home, I couldn't not let everyone know what happened on the way home. Even this morning it brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.  I now have 6 million things to do since I am home and now have to start doing these silly things like cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping again - I have NOT missed that!!!!

We got picked up by our driver at 6:50 am yesterday morning. He dropped us off at the Kyiv airport (which, by they way, is absolutely gorgeous, not much bigger than Richmond's airport, and looks like something out of the set of Mad Men.  Does anyone know if it is new? We were amazed by it), and we had some breakfast and waited for our flight. When we checked in, the woman told us that she would give us our boarding passes for this flight, but that we would get the rest of our boarding passes in Paris. We thought nothing of that and went on our merry way.

On our flight to Paris, we had more leg room than I ever knew was possible on a plane. In order to eat my snack I had to pick up the plate off of my tray to hold it closer - I couldn't even reach it on my tray!! I am not exaggerating, I promise.  We were on the emergency exit row, which is why it was so huge - you have never seen Clint so happy :-).  Also, yet ANOTHER reason to love Ukranians - when the plane landed, they all clapped for the pilot!!! I LOVE IT!!!

We got to Paris with plenty of time for our next flight - we didn't have a huge layover but definitely plenty of time to make it. We didn't stop to eat or go to the bathroom because we wanted to get checked in and see if there was any chance of moving our seats (we had been assigned the middle seats in the middle section - pretty much death for a long trip like this, and had lots of folks praying that they would get changed).  We went up to the ticket counter and there were two other people waiting in line. There was no one working at the counter (someone told us they said they'd be back soon), but there was nowhere else really to go, so we just waited. We took turns heading to the restroom, because we ended up standing there for over 30 minutes before anyone came to help.  At that point I was getting worried because I was afraid we wouldn't have time to get something to eat (in case you haven't noticed, it pretty much always comes back to food, for me :-).  By the time the lovely French woman finally came to help us all check in, there was an ENORMOUS line behind us.  She helped the two folks in front of us, and then we were next. We told her that we needed boarding passes since they hadn't given us any in Kyiv, and we were wondering if perhaps we could get aisle seats (the folks in front of us had all gotten new seats so we were hopeful).  When we told her we didn't have our boarding passes yet, she gave us a strange look and started typing away on her computer.  The next thing she said made me feel like I was going to throw up.  "I am sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Dowda.  Zere are no seats for you.  Zee plane ees full."

WHAT???!?!?!?  How could it be full???? We had our seat assignments - our travel agent had sent us all the confirmations!!!!  Turns out here is what happened: if you do not check in earlier than an hour before boarding begins, they can give your seats to someone else. We couldn't check in from our apartment that morning because we didn't have a printer to print our boarding passes. We couldn't check in at Kyiv, because the lady there wouldn't do it. And we had arrived more than an hour before boarding, but we had been standing there for so long waiting for someone to help us that we had missed the hour deadline, so apparently they had given our seats away.  She typed away some more on her computer, made a phone call, and then asked us to step aside while she waited to hear back.  We moved aside and then watched as no fewer than 400 people (I am NOT kidding - this plane actually had an UPSTAIRS on it - It. Was. HUGE.)  passed us by to check in.  We stood there and waited, and waited and waited.  We watched as they had first call, second call, third call, final call for boarding.  We saw all kinds of crazy conversations and things go on, but somehow everyone else (except for one poor hispanic lady without a visa and this one sweet older French couple) managed to get checked in and on board just fine.  And we just waited. We made jokes about not getting on the plane, and I think I had let it go in my mind that we might not get on the plane. I figured there would be a plane going to somewhere near our home at some point from Paris a little later that day, and just resigned myself to the fact that we would be facing a much less enjoyable day.

Then the lady came over to talk to us.  This other very, very sweet lady who we had watched be so kind to the hispanic woman, came over and said she had a question for us.  At this point, the only people left in the area were a bunch of Air France employees and the one older couple. The wife had a ticket but her husband was on the wait list and they were hoping to get on - as well as cheering for us to get on :-).  So the Air France lady came over to us, and said that they were looking for volunteers to give up their seats for someone who had a medical emergency. She looked at us with those kind French eyes and said "Do you have any reason zat you have to bee in zee United States today?  Would you be willing to wait and go tomorrow?  Is zere a reason you need to be zere today?"  I wanted to say "my kids," but as my eyes IMMEDIATELY filled with tears that started rolling down my cheeks when she asked that question, I realized that if I were to open my mouth at ALL and say anything at ALL I would start crying - not just tears streaming down my face but the loud, ugly, heaving and sobbing kind of crying.  I had no idea all that was in there, but apparently it was.  And I didn't want to be the crazy lady standing there sobbing, so I just kept my mouth shut and nodded that it was okay.  We were willing to let the other folks go - how could you insist on taking seats from someone with a medical emergency?  We let the tickets go, and I just concentrated 100% of my effort on not totally and completely losing it in front of all of the cool and collected French folks.

The sign started flashing "Boarding complete" and they started closing the doors and shutting things down.  I felt like crumpling in a little puddle and disappearing in my sadness (okay, now I am proofreading this and literally crying thinking about it).  I truly had NO idea how desperate I was to get home and hold my kids until she asked that question.  We just stood there, kind of in shock, realizing we would be spending the night in Paris and taking a flight the next day, when the first lady looked up from the computer and called us over.  "I can get you on zee plane" she said.  I seriously could not believe it. She was typing away like mad, then started printing out our boarding passes. The sweet older couple was still standing there and they were so happy for us - I wanted to hug them but I was pretty sure they would think that was a little odd :-).  Plus I knew I would start ugly crying all over them, and no one wants that.  So instead we just grabbed our boarding passes and ran.

I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't even look at the stewardesses who helped us on board.  I couldn't look at the people staring at us either - especially since they had been sitting there for quite some time waiting on us - we were THOSE people.  If they only knew. We walked a million miles to the back of the biggest plane I have ever been on in my life - there were rows of TEN seats, broken up into three on each side and four in the middle.  And I don't even know how many rows - a LOT.  And with all of those seats, not a single empty one.  Not one.  God got us on that plane.  He did it.  And here is the best part.

We didn't have to sit in the middle :-).

We had asked folks to pray that we wouldn't have to sit in the middle, and we didn't. We ended up in one of the rows on the edge, in the middle and aisle seats.  And are you ready for this? Guess who was sitting in the window seat with us? A young man from ODESSA.  Yes, I think he was probably the only one on that whole plane from Ukraine. He was from Odessa, he KNEW Sergey's little, teeny, tiny village, and he was just the cutest thing you've ever seen.  He was heading to Charleston, SC, where he was getting on a cruise ship. This was his fourth stint as a mechanic working on a cruise line. He said he really liked it and told us all about it.  At several points I had to sit on my hands (really, SIT on them) to keep from reaching over and hugging him.  I kept wanting to stare at him (and I did a few times - he is probably writing his parents right now about the crazy American lady who kept talking to him and looking at him).  He was a bit older that Sergey, but had blond hair and that sweet Ukrainian face.  It was amazing.

So, I think it is safe to say that God was holding us in his hands pretty strongly every single second of this trip.  He is a good God, who gives good gifts to his children, WELL WELL WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND what they can ask or imagine.  We are so grateful for all of the prayers offered up on our behalf - I hope you are encouraged by the myriad of ways they were answered.  We had one last lovely surprise upon arriving home, when we came down the runway and saw that our dear and lovely friend Pamela Rogers had come to pick us up. She drove us home and when we got out of the car, we looked up at the boys' bedroom window and saw the silhouttes of their little red heads - looking out the window holding the little electric candle that sits in their window.  I wish now I had taken a picture of it - maybe we'll re-enact it tonight and get a picture of it ;-).  We walked in and Olivia was all curled up in the chair in her blanket - all we could see what her sweet face and her beautiful smile.  Our sweet neighbor Gina was here with the kids, and the kids had put together a welcome home gift on the kitchen counter, complete with flowers, wine, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, and Jujy Fruits.  NOTHING can compare to that feeling of being home - well, I guess nothing except when that homecoming includes Sergey :-).  THAT will be quite a day :-).