I wrote last week about the unexpected news we received regarding needing to postpone our travel dates by five weeks. I ended that post resting in knowing that God is not surprised by these changes that surprise and disappoint us, and knowing that God is not surprised enables me to move forward confidently and without regret.
The story had an interesting development today that is a pleasure to be able to share.
So, changing travel dates when you've already purchased tickets means that you have to pay re-issue penalties. We knew up front that cancellations were $200 per ticket and changes were $150 per ticket. Changing four tickets means $600 more for travel. Bummer.
But if you back up just a bit more, when we purchased our tickets in the first place, I remember marveling that when we totaled up what we already had set aside and what we'd been just recently given to cover the last bit of Krassi's adoption - namely, the trip to bring him home - that it looked like plane tickets were cheap enough that we were going to have roughly $500 left over! Who ever heard of there being money left over after an undertaking like international adoption? So, today, when I found out that changing a child's ticket only has a penalty of $125 instead of $150, putting our total penalty at $550, there were the numbers, staring me right in the face.
God was not surprised by this change. In fact, he gave us ahead of time just about exactly what we would need for the trip, and it was only our time-bound reasoning that thought there was extra.
The amount we had was exactly what we needed.
After nearly two weeks of more struggling through (I tell you, 90+ degree weather when it only cools down to the mid-80s at night doesn't help at all!) than riding high, this was such a beautiful confirmation that every step of this is in God's hands. Every dollar, every hour of every day. And every moment I can choose to rest peacefully in him or I can choose to worry and fret.
But there's more to the story.
The first tidbit is that, yes! we are changing four tickets because Dondi can still come!!!
And the second tidbit, which builds on what I noted in the first post about Dondi regarding God's delight in not just supplying our needs, but like a good father, also choosing to give us things just because we like them, is that I shared briefly with our travel agent about the ~$500 estimated "overage" that just happened to be just about what was needed to change the tickets, and how it was neat to see God's orchestrating of the timing every step of the way - God knew all along how much we would need for this trip and I didn't need to worry about having to leave my son in the orphanage for an additional five weeks. He emailed back and asked if he could share the story with his family over supper tonight. I responded with a resounding yes! One thing we have loved about walking through this past year is being able to share with others how God is working. He wrote back a bit later saying he had shared the story with his manager and asked if he would be able to waive their agency's portion of the change penalty, and his manager said, "Yes"! So instead of paying $550 for change fees, we will pay $350 in change fees, leaving us again, based on my estimates of cost for hotel, food, and various other known expenses for the week, with a little bit extra! His comment was, "Perhaps you can enjoy a nice meal or two on us en route."
One thing God has spoken
Twice have I heard this
That power belongs to God
And lovingkindness is yours, O Lord. (Psalm 62:11-12a)
What an incredible joy it is to serve a God who is both powerful, and who also apparently takes pleasure in delighting his children.
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