Massive amounts of irony and perspective

I don’t journal enough. When I do, its typically notes typed in my phone, hence only one prior journal entry here last year. But the picture of my current situation could only be painted through telling this story here.

Last week I spent 8 days with 16 college students serving at the Wine To Water factory in the Dominican Republic. We had an impactful week and were able to get A LOT of work done while also connecting in a deeply rich way with the locals. We all flew back to the states this past Saturday (it’s now Monday morning) with full hearts and leaky eyeballs. I’m typing from the service lounge of a car dealership in Charlotte, NC. I’ve spent 5 hours here in the past 2 days and have met almost the entire staff and consumed almost all the free popcorn and watered down coffee. Let me explain...

As my plane was leaving the runway in Santiago, DR this past Saturday afternoon I realized I had just made a massive mistake. I tried to remain calm in the air (there was literally nothing I could do to fix this mistake anyway), but I had no idea what I was in store for and what is finally almost resolved, 2 days later. So what had happened was, was I left my car, house and work keys in the DR at the WTW factory where we stay.  A very simple yet costly mistake. I’m still calculating the total amount spent on my mistake, should have it to you by the end of this read. I immediately purchased the in-air wifi to start reaching out to folks and figuring out my options (in the end, there weren’t many). I was flying to Newark, NJ and then home to NC through Charlotte, so I had some time to make a plan. Now, issue one is that there’s not reliable (or fast by US standards) shipping in the DR. And some of my coworkers will be in the DR in a few weeks, so why try to ship them when they can just be brought back home right? Plus, home and my dog are 2 hours from Charlotte in Boone, so it’s not like I had time to wait for the keys in Charlotte (unknown duration of time) before buying new ones. My boyfriend started working on contacting dealerships, the airport parking department in Charlotte, etc. That man can get things done! There were all kinds of grand ideas, but at the end of it all, my car key needed to come from the dealership because its a mini-computer for my push-to-start and the dealership couldn't make the key without having my car present and my car couldn’t be towed without me being present. Lots of unfortunate circumstances. When I got to NJ, my superhero pops decided to book me a hotel room in Charlotte since I would be landing around midnight with no progress on my immobile vehicle (thanks Dad!). I got my first hot shower in 8 days at the hotel, and that was nice, but I still had a major puzzle to solve. 

I don’t think I mentioned the reason why my keys were left. Simply stated, I was sleep deprived and forgot them, but there’s more to the story. It was freezing temps when I left Charlotte for the DR and connected through JFK last weekend. So, I wore my winter jacket down. Decided putting my keys and airport lot parking ticket in the jacket pocket was a safe bet over my backpack since I bring my backpack all around to different communities when in the DR, and there’s more of a chance I would lose it there than in my jacket. Obviously, it was much warmer in the DR so I tucked my jacket away somewhere out of sight for the week, the first minor mistake to lead to this BIG one. After shuttling some folks to the airport at all hours on Friday night, when it was my turn to pack up and leave the DR, I remembered everything except my jacket with it’s important pocket contents. Landed in NJ and then Charlotte to more freezing temps and snow, that jacket would have come in handy. Luckily, I had a throw blanket from Nepal that my boss gave me to act as a shaw for some warmth (thanks Lisa). And but of course, I have winter gear locked up in my car right now.

The next afternoon (yesterday) I met the tow truck at the airport. Of course he had a hard time finding the remote parking lot where I was located so I hung out in the snow, underdressed, waiting for him. He struggled finding me and my car, and also struggled getting my car hooked up and out of the lot. Oh yeah, my parking ticket was also in that jacket pocket, so a parking staff member who happened to be from the DR helped me out with getting my parking paid for so i could finally exit. So, tow truck driver, me and my car head to the KIA dealership. On Sundays there are no service or parts staff working, but the dealership was open. I spent 4 hours there waiting on 3rd party vendors to show up to attempt programming a key for me, but no luck. I had to stay another night in Charlotte and wait for KIA parts guys to get to work. 

I decided on an Airbnb for the first time ever, mostly because I was bleeding money into this cause and it was more affordable. I met the sweetest woman and her big old Great Dane, Titan. She talked with me and the dog loved on me all night, while giving me some dinner and allowing me to wash my smelly clothes. What a great experience. This morning a manager from the KIA dealership picked me up so I could save on Über fares, this guy was also from the DR and spent some time in my home town of Tampa. I was able to meet some pretty great individuals in Charlotte. But all I really want is to get home to my pup who has been staying with strangers for 10 nights now.

So now I’m writing from home in Boone, with my Camalamadingdong pup by my side. The dealership made my key and the GM and other managers of the joint banded together after hearing about my situation and brought the price of my key from $350 down to $115. I couldn’t thank them enough and was seriously smiling the entire 2 hour drive home to Boone. Which felt nice because there were a few meltdowns over the last 36 hours.

The total spent between Über rides, hotel room and Airbnb, replacement car key, extra days with my dog at the boarding facility, and tow truck: $335. What I learned from all this: patience, to practice what I preach (we spent a lot of time in the DR talking about choosing joy in all situations, flexibility and perspective) and most importantly: If you continue giving everything to God and trust in Him, He will send you angels in your times of need. We also talked a lot about monetary poverty and how little our friends in the DR actually make for their labor. Spending this amount of money on such a minor mistake had my stomach in knots. But my faith never wavered, I continuously thanked Jesus for everything he was teaching me through this circumstance, and he continued to look out for me. Thank you to all of the angels I’ve encountered as a result of my mistake, the staff at the car dealership, Carrie from my Airbnb, the volunteers I spent the previous week with to help me keep things in perspective, and as always my loved ones that never leave me hanging. I’m so blessed. God is so good, all the time.

On Flight 2 of 3 to the Dominican Republic

Due to a scheduling conflict, and still a bit to learn about international travel and booking the best flights, I’m currently on a plane from Tampa, FL to NYC (JFK). My morning started at 4am in Boone, NC, from where I drove to Asheville, NC (2 hours) to catch a flight to Tampa. From JFK, I’ll be hopping on my final flight to Santiago, Domincan Republic, to meet with the Wine To Water volunteer team.

Not only is this group of individuals unique and special on their own, but they’re even more special to me because they are the first group that I will be leading on a volunteer trip into the field. The group is primarily comprised of the Charlotte Chapter of WTW (Thanks, Ed!) and a couple of folks are traveling from other cities in the Southeast to bring our group total to 11 volunteers.  We’ll spend the week working in the ceramic factory, with the help and guidance of our ground team in Moca we will be creating ceramic water filters that remove all bacteria and contaminants up to 99.99999%,. Radhames and his team of specialists will teach us every step of the filter making process (and maybe some brick making, too!). Throughout the week we will visit the homes of our beneficiaries to follow-up with them on how their filter is functioning and their lives and overall well-being. We will also have the joy and fulfillment of delivering the filters to folks in need of a clean water solution while simultaneously teaching them about clean water, sanitation and hygeine (WaSH program). These trips really seek to show the volunteers every aspect of helping to build-up a community, through the projects of providing clean water. Although, they are also meant to serve as one small piece to a much larger process of alleviating the world water crisis. Because let's face it, the issues our world faces are far too large for one group of individuals to correct in just over a week. But as each of us return to our homes of comfort with transformed hearts and perspectives, we can slowly chip away at those big problems.

As I mentioned, this is my first solo trip as a WTW leader and staff. I’ve served as a volunteer in the Amazon and DR and co-lead with my friend and trainer, Lisa Merritt, up to this point. Her experience, love for service and others and way of changing one’s outlook on volunteer work, is what has brought me here today and I’m forever thankful for her. I learned long ago, when I received my first and most memorable miracle from God on my 8th birthday, that my purpose in life was far greater than I could ever imagine and that purpose will continue to be revealed to me by Him and Him alone for the rest of my life. I do know that I’ve never felt more of a calling to be anywhere or anything than right here and now. So, thank you Doc for being the regular ole’ ragamuffin bartender just like me, and for taking a huge leap of faith to make a difference when others would hold back with overwhelming fear and defeat. And thank you to every person in my life who has supported and loved me along my journey. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me and each one of you.

Unfortunately my pops’ writing skills never translated over to me, so I will do my best to document these beautiful experiences. I’m choosing my challenge to journal these sights and stories so that I can look back in awe and admiration.

Love and serve #OnPurpose #WineToWater #WineToWaterVolunteers