I was thinking . . . She wasn’t angry. At least not at me. She could have been. Perhaps, she should’ve been. After all, she had spent Sunday night packing after a long, challenging, and traveling weekend. She had gotten up at 3:00 in the morning on Monday to get ready and we left our house at 4:00. We were excited. It had been over a year since she had been with me to Haiti and we were finally going. So much had happened since her last visit. So much improvement, so much ministry, so many lives blessed. Jewell, my wife, was headed to Haiti. We were going to spend two days at a retreat for our Haitian and American staff and their spouses. We were going into the mountains to Thoman to see the progress on the new Hope Center. We would spend the final night in Galette Chambon at our original Hope Center. I was so excited to have her by my side. It was going to be great. We arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m., checked our bags at the airline counter, then headed for the security line. As we approached the TSA agent, Jewell took out her passport. That’s when it happened. That’s when it all fell apart. She looked at me in disbelief, held up her passport and said, “it’s expired.” In an instant, I knew. I knew there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t fix it in the next 30 seconds before we stepped in front of the TSA agent. There was nothing we could do. So I said, “you can’t go.” And as I said those words my heart sank. I wanted her to go. I wanted her to see all that had been done since her last visit. I wanted her by my side. The couple we were with took out the keys to their vehicle that was parked in long-term parking. She would drive that vehicle home. Alone. It was my fault. You see, I’m the keeper of the passports in our family. For years, whenever we have traveled, immediately after showing our passports, I have taken them all up for safekeeping. I keep them at home in a special place. I’m the keeper of the passports. So I should have known. I should have been paying attention. It was my fault. And that’s when grace entered the picture. She had every right to be angry with me. But she never showed anger. She never said the obvious: that it was my fault and I’m the keeper of the passports and if I’m going to be in charge then I need to be in charge and take care of things. I think she knew. She knew I didn’t do it on purpose. She knew the retreat was very important and I needed to focus on it. She knew the other couple traveling with us needed to have a good experience. So she didn’t lash out and she didn’t pout. She just went home, caught up on her sleep, went to work the next few days, and picked us up at the airport at the end of the week. Marriage is a wonderful, difficult, blissful, challenging, complicated sort of thing. But three weeks ago she didn’t angry. And I am blessed.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 13:01:58 +0000
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