Day 1

Our flight to JFK went fairly smoothly. We had to pay a $300.00 oversized baggage charge for the two weed eaters we purchased for Pastor Carrol in Orlando and at JFK we sat on the runway for an hour and a half waiting for our turn in line to take off. The delay made us hurry to our gate in Paris so we had no time to look around or try any foreign treats. We went straight to boarding for our flight to Malabo. Byron and I had seats on opposite sides of the plane so I asked the young woman sitting beside me if she’d switch seats with Byron so he could sit with me and she agreed. So my hubby and I got to sit together for most of the 8hr flight. It was a nice thing for her to do.

I talked her for a little while at the end of the flight and she said her name is Dilara and she is a 20 yr old Turkish college student. In Texas, the others pronounced her name just as it's spelled and they ran the "Di" and "lara" together. It should be pronounced "De-lata" with a little roll on the "r." It's much prettier said this way and she wishes the others had pronounced it the way her mother intended. She had just completed a 3 month work/travel program in Corpus Christi, TX, where she worked as a hotel housekeeper. The bonus was a five day stay in New York City where she did some shopping, sightseeing and saw a Broadway show: The Addams Family She was heading home to start her new semester two weeks late but was confident she would catch up with her missed class work. She is studying to become an ecological engineer like her father and sister and is beginning her second year at Istanbul University.

I asked her about ecological engineering and she told me she was only studying it because her father and sister did, and her father was the one who had suggested the work/travel program. I was impressed with her courage, this girl who’s never left Turkey, never been to the USA, who's never even had a job, and who doesn't really want to be an ecological engineer. Her heart is in the arts. She wants to become an actress and be on stage. Ecological engineering is what she studies because she doesn’t know what else to study and because it was a family choice. Quite a conundrum. Why does someone with her whole life ahead of her spend 4 yrs and much of her father’s money pursuing someone else's dream?

I enjoyed talking to this young woman who may one day become a talented actress or even a great ecological voice. She has potential for anything she wants to do, but I wonder if it will be her dream, her father’s dream or will she make choices in her young life that will take her down a completely different path. She wants to be known by her correct name, “De-lata,” but she’s studying a field that’s not truly hers.

Does the Lord look at us and see great potential for us in Him and see us going down avenues that don’t suit who we are? Are we following someone else’s dream and passing by God’s best for us? Each one of us wants to be known for who we are and still sometimes we wander off into directions not at all good for us or we do things that totally change our course from which we can never return.

We made it to Malabo along with all our bags and the weed eaters. Gayle had a great pot of homemade chicken veggie soup and we made ham sandwiches to go along with it. We talked a while. We caught up. Had fun fellowshipping and turned in pretty early. We had church in the morning and my job was just beginning. Breakfast bright and early at 8. It would be a good day!

Father, thank you for safety, flight connections met, and meeting new people. Guide Dilara, guide us in your chosen way so our potential in You will be fulfilled. Give us strength to do the tasks ahead of us. I love you, Jesus.

Suz