The White Family Journey: AGM in Germany!

We have an "Area Group Meeting" or AGM most years, where we are able to get together and hang out with other missionaries. Our kids really love this time, b/c they have built relationships with other Missionary kids in other countries. They look forward to getting together and playing... in English. :) PLUS, there are churches who come from the States and do VBS for our kids while Wes and I are in meetings. It's so fun for the kids to learn about Christ in English!... such a blessing for all of us parents! :)

This was the view from our hotel window, 14 stories up.

This year, we had our meeting in Germany. The only flight we could get left Madrid around 8pm. We had to leave Cáceres around 12:30pm in order to get to the airport on time. It was SO crazy. We were heading on vacation in Germany after AGM, so we had luggage for 2 weeks worth of travel.

We were traveling with a local, cheap airline, and there are no seats reserved. So, obviously, with 4 kids, we really needed to have seats together.... I've never seen anything like it. We showed up at the airport 2.5 hours early (the airline suggests 2)... and we barely made it through everything on time! We waited almost 2 hours just to check our baggage. It was so hectic. It's a very popular airline to fly in Europe, b/c it's so cheap. :)

I was thankful all our baggage was under the weight limit... I was a little worried. I've never been one for scales, so we don't even own one!! :) It's at times like this, that I wish I did... maybe we'll get one before we fly again. It was just stressful not knowing if everything would go through. But, thankfully, it did!! :)

We had reserved a wheel-chair for Nathan ahead of time. It's hard for him to walk through all those crowds and for such a length of time (not to mention if we have to hurry.) It's just easier all the way around, if we get help for him. By the time we finally go to the check-in desk, we only had about half hour to get to the gate. With 4 kids (not to mention security!!!!), that's a difficult feat! So, we quickly asked about the wheel-chair, thinking we needed to HURRY. She told us to wait over to the side and it would arrive within 20 minutes. Right. Ok. Great. It really didn't seem like anything we said could make them hurry... nothing much mattered to her! I'm sure she sees lots of stressed out travelers in her day, so we were no exception. The poor kids had been in the car for over 3 hours and then had to wait in a two hour line... they were so restless.

Wes and I debated and debated on whether to just leave without the wheelchair. We were so concerned that we would miss the flight. When I went to check again on the wheel-chair (like a good American...), she told me not to worry... that they knew what time my flight left. That didn't encourage Wes at all, but it made me think that they might plan to take us through security themselves, which would be a lot faster! So, we decided to wait.

Once the wheel-chair showed up, we were off. It was amazing. The guy assisting us took us right to the front of the security line. Wes got off easy b/c he was helping Nathan. They let him walk through without taking off shoes, belt or anything! I had the rest of the kids, so we struggled with all our different items and finally made it though. Praise the Lord, there were no further complications... other than trying to get 4 sets of shoes and coats back on, and not leaving a DVD player behind or something. (Gotta give another shout out to The Creek for those blessings... 2 portable DVD players... you can't know how much we have used them!!!!!!!)

The kids occupied themselves for a while, just watching the planes.

Once we arrived at the gate, the attendants were amazing. I was so very impressed. For this airline, everyone lines up in front of the gate as soon as they arrive... so they can get the seats they want. By the time we arrived, the line was forever long. But, the wheelchair attendant told us to take some seats and just wait. He would have them reserve 6 seats together for us, b/c Nathan needed to be in the front AND b/c we all needed to be together. He told us that everyone would board before us, but that there would be 6 seats in the front. WOW. My stress load was gone! Thank you, Lord!

Carolina LOVED the hot pink planes! :)

Sure enough. After everyone had boarded, we were brought on and had 6 seats up front, with no one ahead of us (which is really nice when you have a little boy who tends to kick the seat without thinking about it.) :) I had just passed out gum to the boys and a Starburst to Carolina (to help their ears get unplugged), when the pilot came on and said we were delayed... over and over and over again. So much for the gum during take-off ... I didn't have any more. Ha! It was only supposed to be a 2 hour flight, but we didn't get to Germany until after 1am.

Amazingly... well, I'm sure it was absolutely the grace of God... the kids did so well. We sat for hours on the plane, waiting just to take off. Wes and the older boys played UNO Spin, and Jonathan and Carolina watched a video and played games on my ipad. Nobody complained. It was actually quite fun! :) Praise the Lord!

We were definitely exhausted the next morning, but the excitement and energy from being with other believers was enough to get us all through the next day. AGM is a time of renewal for both adults and kids! We get to worship and be fed in our own language (which really makes you cry, after you've been away from it for so long!) Plus, we had training and got to hear from the hearts of our leaders. It was a blessing.

For the kids, they had VBS all week! :) I was so shocked when I went to drop Carolina off at her class. She let go of my hand, and walked in without looking back. I know it's just practice for what's ahead when she starts school! She is so her father's child! :) ... just like Wes. She loves people. :) At the end of the week, the kids all came in and did a little performance.