This is Rebecca for the NA crew here in Louisville. Praise God, we made it all the way here safely!
We have all had an amazing time so far, even though the conference has not started yet. I sat next to a girl on the flight out of Fort Myers who turned out to be a neighbor of our church, (she lives only a few blocks east of our building) and whose family has been looking for a church home since moving down our way almost a year ago. We had a great time talking, swapped contact information, and I hope and pray to see more of her over the summer.
Our group survived the 5-hour layover in the Detroit airport (or should I say, the Detroit airport survived us!). And we managed to get all of us on the connecting flight to Louisville just before the doors on the plane closed.
Upon arriving in Kentucky, we somehow piled all seven of us, plus luggage and a driver, into a modified minivan with only 5 seats for the 5-minute shuttle ride to a nearby hotel. There we were met by some great new friends, Timmy Brister and his wife Dusti, who escorted us to Dr. Tom Nettles’ house, where we were greeted warmly by pizza and a game of frisbee in the backyard. (We discovered that some of us were not called to play frisbee). 🙂
Now, well past midnight, we are finally settling in here at the Nettles and getting ready for the conference tomorrow. No, we did not keep them up. On the contrary, Dr. and Mrs. Nettles were the ones who instigated a “talent show” after dinner that ranged from piano duets (“chopsticks”) and cooking tips, to recitation of government facts (complete with an attempt to name all of the Supreme Court Justices), selections from “The Music Man”, and a dramatic scene from Pilgrim’s Progress. It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship for all of us, culminating in group devotions led by Dr. Nettles before we all headed to bed.
One of the greatest things about flying is experiencing some of the grandeur of God’s creation from a new perspective: 32,000 feet in the air. It gives an amazing feeling both of how awesome God is, and how small we are. More than once, from more than one member of our group, I heard phrases like “This is so awesome!” “My God made this!” and “Wow. I feel so tiny” as we flew over the numerous states between Florida and Michigan and back down to Kentucky. It was a much-needed “perspective glass” from God that has helped to set the tone for what we pray will be a wonderful conference over the next few days.
