Neil's Amsterdam flight touched down in Minneapolis around 11:45 a.m. yesterday. He helped the young woman from Rwanda, who was seated next to him, through customs. She was a new international student enrolling at a college in New England, and she was understandably frightened and confused by airports. After waiting for Neil's plane to land, our friend Scott Crump drove to meet Neil from his home in Hudson, WI. He had circled the drive in the pickup area once when Neil made it through the airport. Scott returned to his house with Neil, where Neil's 4-Runner had been parked, and Neil was on the road.
Neil's two legs of his return flight were uneventful, arriving at his destinations ahead of schedule. In the 34 hours since leaving Nairobi, Neil had slept only 2 hours on the planes. Neil phoned me when his flight landed in Minneapolis and again as he headed out of the Twin Cities traffic. We talked until he pulled over at Nelson Brother's truck stop near Clearwater.
Although his body screamed for sleep, Neil remained awake while driving home. On my phone's tracker, watching the little vehicle icon still making steady progress toward home was reassuring. Neil pulled into our driveway at 5:38 p.m.
When he stepped out of his 4-Runner, he looked like "death warmed over" and took a much-needed nap. He insisted I wake him in an hour so he could take me out to dinner. He has so many amazing stories to share, which I will begin to hear today as he takes me through his photos. His plan was to start sharing the stories during our dinner date, but we saw a recently widowed friend sitting alone as we walked into Old Number 1. We were just going to say, "Hi," before finding our table, but she offered us seats. She was about to leave, having just finished her meal, but said we could use her table. We were soon wrapped up in conversation, and after an hour, the three of us left together.
Neil apologized for not reserving that time for us, but I don't mind. Ever since we bought our house in Morris, the whole world has been our family. In 1983, we filled our home with people coming off drugs and alcohol or ex-cons from prison. Later, we filled it with students, some domestic and some international. It is just the two of us now. We have space at home to rest and capacity for visiting as we leave our door.
Neil slept soundly through the night, and I was the only early bird this morning. May your homes be filled with the peace and joy of God's presence. Thank you again for your prayers and for the prayer requests you sent us. We enjoy being able to return the favor.