We're in Japan!

We’re in Japan! We arrived at the Tokyo airport on Thursday, March 23, after a 14 hour flight from Atlanta. The girls really did well, considering how long the flight was … although we did have our moments. ☺ We saw God’s provision throughout the day, and were blessed with an amazing gift – 2 empty seats next to us on the plane! This was such a help to be able to spread out with our two girls during the long flight. Another amazing example of God’s providence was the fact that 4 people from our church in Atlanta (Perimeter Church) were actually on our flight to Tokyo on their way to Thailand for a mission trip. They gave us some help with our bags and gave us an emotional boost knowing we had friendly faces on board.

We got off the plane and worked our way by tram to passport control, with two adults, two little ones, a double stroller, two car seats, and four backpacks! We quickly gathered attention and sympathy (or maybe pity?) from the Japanese Immigration Staff, and they let us walk through the special line for stewardesses & flight crews. We then got to baggage claim and customs, and added eight more 50 lb bags and a guitar … we were quite a sight! The customs staff also were attracted to our little girls like moths to a flame, and we ended up having three ladies help us push our carts out through customs. They didn’t even ask to inspect one bag. Yet another blessing for us during this long day of travel. We were picked up by one of our MTW team members, and drove home – trying to keep ourselves awake. We were dying to fall asleep at about 5pm, but persevered until about 8pm (which was 6am for our bodies – having been up all night.) We slept well, but woke up about 2am with our girls wide awake and ready to play. Oh well … that’s jet lag with kids!