49:29

Forty-nine hours, twenty-nine minutes, and two seconds. That's how long it took us from the moment our plane left Ethiopian soil  to the moment it touched Minnesotan soil. Because of the predicted snowstorm in Minneapolis yesterday, our flight was canceled. After a rough, rough two-three hours of waiting and waiting and waiting, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that KLM had booked us all on a flight today (Monday; at that time - tomorrow) at 2:40 and they would put us up in a hotel and pay for all our meals. Although it was at first a bitter disappointment to find out we had to wait another day to see our families, our layover soon turned into, at least for me, a tremendous blessing. First of all, I got in twelve hours of sleep at the amazingly soft beds (especially compared to what we were sleeping on!) on Sunday night. It was SO nice to have a full night's rest under my belt for the nine hour flight to Minneapolis. I have no idea how I would have managed to do it all in one trip. Secondly, it gave a nice break between Ethiopia and home. Instead of going from doing ministry work everyday for two weeks in Ethiopia to waking up to normal life, we all had a two-day "in-between" where we weren't in Ethiopia but we weren't home yet. It's hard to explain, but that was the biggest blessing. It helped soften the blow of not being in Ethiopia. And lastly, it tripled my desire to see my family. There's nothing like having to wait 30 hours extra to see your family to strengthen your longing! Looking  back on it, God was SO good. I honestly can say that I wouldn't have it any other way.
Anyways, I'm home, I'm safe, I'm thankful, I'm blessed, and I'm exhausted. Look for more blogs coming soon!