Mariah's Class Trip: How God Made It Happen

One day this past spring Mariah asked her daddy, “Daddy, the last couple of weeks my history teacher and the kids in my class have been talking about a class trip this summer. I haven’t mentioned it because I know it probably can’t happen, but if it could happen, would you let me go?” For weeks David and I fretted over this opportunity for Mariah, knowing that at that time it would be next to impossible financially. About a month later Mariah came to us again, “Mommy, Daddy, remember the class trip I told you about? Now my friends in class are saying that they want to raise funds for a plane ticket for me to be able to go.” Wow! What was God up to? As we discussed it more both Dave and I felt that, if she did go, I would have to accompany her; We just didn't feel comfortable sending her alone. Round-trip tickets were running around $600 apiece. If I did go, that would mean I wouldn't be home for over a week, putting David and Ben in a difficult situation. At this point we just didn't feel like it would be a wise decision. But God wasn't done surprising us yet. We found out that a dear friend of Mariah’s, whom we trust greatly, was coming to Honduras for a month and would be returning back to the states at exactly the time Mariah needed to be going to the states. Perhaps I wouldn't have to go. We found out that Hannah, Mariah's friend, was flying on American. We have someone close to us whom we asked if he would be able to purchase Mariah a ticket to the states using his American Airlines points. He graciously agreed. In the process of reserving Mariah a seat, he realized that Mariah, as well as Ben, had to get their passports renewed. You have no idea what a huge brick wall this could become when dealing with the American embassy in Honduras. Dave was able to make an emergency appointment at the embassy. After weeks of finding the right documentation, dealing with missing birth certificates, and jumping through hoops our family loaded up the truck and took a long road trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras where we were graciously hosted by a lovely Honduran family. The next morning we were at the American embassy where, praise God, things went very well and we left with their passports approved and on order. In the meantime another special family had invited Mariah to spend some time with them while she was in the states and they generously purchased Mariah’s plane ticket to the class trip. Mariah is there as I write,(written in late July, 2013 posted in August, 2013) meeting her online teachers and classmates face to face for the first time. She is so excited and we are excited for her. I must not forget the final phase of her travels: Her teachers and classmates raised $600 for her return ticket and some extra spending money! Her Grandma pitched in some spending money too! God clearly wanted Mariah to go on this trip. We had no choice but to trust Him as we placed our baby girl in His hands and His will. Mariah is spreading her wings while firmly protected under His wings.