Leaving Spain (temporarily) & Arriving to the US - Part 1

My amazing friend Dave said that I should entitle this "I am foolish, God is Good." That is probably a pretty befitting title.

So... it all begins the night before I returned to the US. Some amazing friends asked if I needed help getting to the airport with my luggage, or if I just wanted some help. I said, "Sure... it definitely would be nice to have company," and Dave planned to stop by my apartment the next morning at 9:30am, so we'd have plenty of time to make the trek to the airport.

We took off and I was amazing how much easier it was having a tall, strong friend to carry my heavy luggage and to lift it up and down all the stairs. Dave asked me how I ever managed to do this alone and I said, "Well, I just do. I just get going and then at some point when I finally am exhausted say to myself, 'Well, you've made it this far.' And somehow once I'm on the way it's hard to justify getting a taxi instead of just pushing the rest of the way." It was amazing how easy it was and Dave wasn't even really tired. I am usually exhausted by the time I get to the airport.

This may sound strange, but the easiest route to the airport (without a taxi or car) is walking to the metro (just a block), carrying the suitcases up and down 3 flights of stairs to the actual train, taking it one stop, transferring to another line (the orange or 7 line) via an escalator, taking it three stops, going up 5 escalators (thank God for escalators), walking a little ways, getting on the bus to the airport, getting off, and walking into the airport. The other route involves only walking and the metro, but involves two transfers one of which adds at least two flights of stairs and once you get to the airport you have about a mile (literally) to walk to the actual international terminal to check your luggage. And taxis are an option, but for at least 35 Euros from my house (now over $50).

So, anyway,... Dave and I arrive, get in line with US Airways. I get to the person who asks the bizillion security questions. He looks at my passport and asks, "Do you have a renewal paper?" Confused I showed him my Spanish ID card and he said, "No, I mean a renewal for your passport." I say, "What do you mean?" and look extremely confused and he says, "Your passport is expired."

My stomach drops. No way! How in the world!?!?!?

So he goes and talks to a very kind woman who asked if I wanted to wait a half an hour for someone from the US Embassy to come. (As if I had any other option.) I said, "Yes" of course and we went to talk with the US Airways people about the possibility of changing my flight (for free - crazy?) if I didn't get on this one. They said there would be no problem and I went to wait.

Dave by this time had called his wife and their whole team (he works with MTW) to pray for me. Amazing! And he ran downstairs to get us both some coffee and breakfast. As we were waiting he offered to go with me to the US Embassy if necessary. Again, I have some amazingly awesome friends.

The embassy woman arrived sooner than expected, scolded me for having let it expire, got on her Blackbury for what seemed like an eternity, came back and told me to not ever let this happen again (as if she needed to tell me). She said, "It's on record that this has happened, so don't ever let it happen again." I then asked, "So, I can get on my plane?" She said yes and I was on my way.

The kind lady from before got me an escort to the gate, since I'd have to got through several more security checkpoints all of whom would say, "Did you know your passport is expired?" and then my escort would explain and they would call someone and let me pass.

Amazing! Amazingly smooth, amazingly gracious of them,... just amazing. The Lord was really kind to me.

So I got on my flight. And ten or so hours later we landed in Philadelphia, where we went through Customs. The guy there asked me about the passport situation and after asking me five times what I did and who I worked for and after telling me a few times that they really shouldn't have let me get on the plane, let me go with no trouble. He didn't even make me go through the crazy intense search someone he consulted said that I should go through. He just let me pass on through and said, "I guess I know you'll get this taken care of because you obviously want to be on the flight back."

I then rechecked my luggage and got on my next flight (to Chicago). I put away my passport and got out my driver's license so I could stop answering the "Did you know your passport was expired?" questions and went on my way.

I'll have to blog later about my first impressions of the US after 2 years of being gone.

We landed in Chicago (which is actually one of my favorite airports to have a layover in, unlike many people; i just love all the places to walk around and explore and the places to sit for several hours). And a few hours later I was landing in St. Louis at 11pm and was met by my parents.

So that is the story...

And the WHY... I don't really know what happened. I thought about it last year and made a mental note. Then I thought about it in January and though, "No, it's too early, but I won't forget since I'm going home sometime this summer." Then I was messing with getting a new residence visa in Spain and finally got it, so completely forgot that I needed to take care of my US passport. (And that was also about the time my life got pretty busy.) It expired April 30, less than a month before. And I just sent off for a renewal passport today, which should be here in four weeks or less.

All this to say I am soooo grateful for great friends and for a mighty and gracious God who helped me out in countless ways that day.