No room at the inn...

So...today has been the craziest travel day I've ever experienced. After flying for 8 1/2 hours from Houston to Amsterdam we were told the last 15 minutes that the Amsterdam airport was shut down and they were wanting us to circle for an hour and half before landing due to snow. Our pilot said we did not have enough fuel for that so we were rerouted to Dusseldorf, Germany (20 minutes away...strangeness) and refueled there. So we were delayed by about an hour getting into Amsterdam. We found a self serve kiosk and scanned our boarding passes for a flight we didn't connect to (no worries...that flight didn't end up taking off that morning for Rome anyway and we heard stories that people boarded that flight and sat on runway for 3 hours thinking they were going to take off and ended up back at airport anyway). So we had boarding passes for a later flight...about 4:00. We went back through security and waited at gate until about 4:30 as messages kept playing overhead that flights were beginning to be canceled throughout Europe from Amsterdam. We were told there would MAYBE be flights after 4:00 and ours was scheduled to leave at 4:30 so we waited. 4:30 came and went and then we were told there might be flights that would leave after 8:00. So we changed gates and sat there for another 3 1/2 hours hoping to get a boarding pass for a flight out (with a large group of others). The entire time there were NO gate agents...just these big T (for Transfer) desks that had lines that were HOURS long just to get to talk to an agent who ended up knowing nothing because the airport was shutting down due to weather closures. At this last gate we waited with others and about 45 minutes before flight left the waiting room filled up and the board still didn't say cancelled so we were hopeful and praying for a flight. The crews began preparing for a planes arrival and finally 2 gate agents showed up to work the desks and my heart began beating faster! They told us to wait as they called in to find the incoming plane and what the plan was. Josh was standing at the gate desk this entire time to be up there when something happened. After about another 20 minutes they finally came on and said the flight was cancelled and that we would have to leave the gate area so they could shut it down. No more than that was given. Big FAIL!! We were also told ALL public transportation was shut down going into city center. No trains, no taxis, no buses...nothing. About 5:00 in this ordeal I got ahold of my father back home who was trying to find out how he could help by calling our airlines and mentioned that the airport at the hotel was full which I assumed as the whole airport was slowly shutting down. At that point I got a little emotional about the whole ordeal as we did not sleep on the plane (after trying a sleeping pill and having a good travel pillow it just didn't happen...there were 2 little ones crying around us off and on but the flight wasn't that bad at all...the nightmare began when we landed!) so I was exhausted and hungry and I knew I was about to just cry to cry...just because I was so drained. So I went down to the restroom and of course there was a little boy about Oliver's age just sitting on the counter with his mom telling her he was sad because they had been there so long and I made it to (fantastically closed off completely) stall and just cried...oh how I missed my boys and how much I wouldn't have left them these few days early just for this!! :) That helped tremendously and I calmed down and got some cold water and went back to waiting area for more waiting! Just had to get it all out!

After the last flight of the day was canceled we figured it was time to try to head down to baggage (no bags as they are checked through to Rome but we did pack well in our carry ons for this trip) and out to see if indeed everything was shut down. Oh what chaos! There were people EVERYWHERE...we found the taxi lines and were told there were some taxis running but that half the city was closed down due to snow so we probably couldn't get in to city center (where the hotels were). Trains were half running but we weren't sure where to go and afraid we couldn't back to airport. There were people finding spots on tile floor and sitting and playing cards and just trying to find somewhere to rest and I was beginning to feel hopeless and STUCK! We spent about 45 minutes just trying to find out what our options were (not very many) and even the hotel shuttles line was fantastically long and standing outside in the blowing snow was miserable. So we decided to head to the Sheraton hotel which is connected via a walkway just to at least sit on carpet for the night. There was a sign out front saying the hotel was fully booked but Josh went in anyway just to check. I stood out in hallway watching as people walked away feeling so hopeless and tired and rundown. After about 15 minutes he was at front of line to talk to someone and I saw him take off his backpack after what I thought was the lady shaking her head. My heart leaped but I assumed he was just tired of wearing it. Then he got his wallet OUT and my heart started beating faster! Some rooms had just opened up and we GOT A ROOM at the Sheraton with a personal bathroom (woot woot) and a BED!!! We ordered room service, brushed our teeth, and went to bed! What a relief! We woke up (I think the stress of not knowing what time we had to be up did it) and saw a message from Dad that said we had a flight out on SUNDAY to connect in Rome a few hours before our scheduled flight to Ethiopia that night at midnight. So we ask for your continued prayers that we do indeed get to leave Amsterdam on Sunday and that we do INDEED connect in time to make our next flight (which is the important part!!!) to Addis Ababa. Who knows where our bags are or what we're going to do tomorrow but we're just so thankful to HAVE A ROOM!

Which leads me to the title...never before have I spent so much time thinking about what Mary and Joseph must have felt like as they traveled from inn to inn and were told there were no rooms. How hopeless they must have felt and how desperate they must have been to find ANYWHERE they could lay down and how worried to be having a baby and not knowing where they would be able to do that. I can't imagine giving birth in a stable...on hay...with animals around me. I know from reading children's books on the subject that we idealize it and make it sound so charming and peaceful but can you imagine? I know the thought of laying on a tile floor tonight was unbearable to me and how my heart leapt when we were told we could have a room. I'm thankful to God for taking care of us in the midst of the chaos and I suspect Mary and Joseph felt the same way on that incredible night so many years ago. I suspect in their hearts they were just thankful to find a place to lay down and I suspect they knew in their hearts that God was taking care of them. Thank you God for the small gifts you give us daily and for the gift of your Son.

Now back to bed...thank you for the prayers...we know God answered them today.