Our last day was one of goodbyes.
We bid farewell to our host family, the Wetzel’s and prayed with them (as well as Molly the Collie) and once again, they voiced their appreciation for our continued commitment to come back year after year. They restated that the door is always open to us.
Mosaic Church
After a quick breakfast at McD’s, we went to Mosaic for church and heard a great message on Depression from Pastor Dustin. It was a great balance of practical and spiritual support. From their webpage:
This weekend at Mosaic is especially important.
We will take a short break from Hebrews to talk about Depression. It seems to be on the rise both in our church and in our community. The Bible has much to say about it and there are great medical and psychological resources to help. We will share them with you this weekend in all three services. If you want to read the passage we will study check out 1 Kings 19:1-18.
We had a goodbye pizza lunch with Brad, Paul and Denise. The fellowship was sweet and heartfelt. Our goodbyes and hugs (including the typically non-hugging Roy) almost went too late and we took off for the airport.
Airport and flight delay
Departure from Biloxi went reasonably well, with the last of us walking up to the gate just as they called for boarding, but minutes after our arrival in Dallas/Fort Worth, we found our flight had been delayed by two hours (our scheduled plane had been shuffled off to an international flight with a mechanical problem, and we received another plane in the shuffle)
Texting and calls to alert those we expected to see at LAX, we settled into an additional couple of hours to enjoy each others’ company, some reflecting on past trips, some discussing the possibility of returning, some just taking advantage of our close bonds and discussing life.
We arrived at LAX, and after the typical post-flight business, we approached the baggage area. Unfortunately two members (Tommy and Peter), didn’t hear that the team was going to pray and went straight to luggage. The rest of the team prayed in thanksgiving for a fruitful and safe trip and came down a few minutes later.
Unlike our arrival in Mississippi, we made sure to get our luggage before it was too late, we took a team photo and Pastor Kyle led us in a prayer.
We’ll have a few reflections in the coming days, but wanted you to see the video of our last day
Thanks much!