December Update

Whew! December was a month to remember. Our time was filled with reconnecting with friends and family and making many new memories. God has blessed our final month in the US, and as we reflect here in Australia, our hearts overflow with gratitude for every second of the month of December.

As our stay extended at Hotel Creekmore, we embraced the old and familiar feelings of home in Amory, Mississippi, but also grew keenly aware of our soon departure at the end of the month. There was an immense joy to be home but, at the same time, a looming weight of final goodbyes. I (Mark) must admit. I am not one for goodbyes.

Even still, we made the most of our time. We tramped around Mee Mee and Papa Creekmore’s old farm (which is now a gravel pit) with our old dog Ella.

We were able to take George and Lia to their first Mississippi State basketball game! Lia watched Bully the whole time! And had the opportunity to meet with multiple churches, speak to the youth at FBC about Teen Missions International and catch up with our some of old youth group at FUMC.

At Christmas, we were commissioned out and fervently prayed over by 45 “Creekmore’s”. This was probably one of the most impactful moments in the month of December.

Finally, on the 29th, we fit all of our belongings into ten bags and made the 10-hour trek to Houston, TX. Sheila and John were kind enough to come down to Houston with us to say goodbye. Our good friends/COVID family from Chicago even came as well!

Our Travel To Australia

Next was 28 hours of travel time, where we would make stops in Mexico, Canada and finally, Brisbane, Australia (we found a great airline price. HA!). All of these stops with short 2-3 hour layovers.

The flight from Houston to Cabo San Lucas was easy. Three hours of bliss, where the babies slept peacefully and George and Lia enjoyed their own screen to watch movies ( Thank you, Lauren and Russell). The rest of the trip was like an M. Night Shyamalan movie, unpredictable, suspenseful and shocking.

When we arrived in Cabo, we were in awe of the beauty of the landscape. Sharp mountain peaks, beautiful oceans, and pleasant airline workers greeted us as we made our way onto the tarmac. Every flight member was directed in a line towards customs and baggage claim. Side note: This is not where you want to go with a connecting flight and a short layover.

Before we knew it, we had exited the airport, past the point of no return. Anxiety began to boil up. "What happened? I thought! Among the mass New Years' crowd of people, we found an airline employee who could only speak broken English. "We have made a mistake," I began. "You see, we have a connecting flight to Canada, and we need to get back into the airport as soon as possible, or we will miss our flight." He signaled for us to come with him. He led us to two or three more workers, who led us to another worker until we found someone who could speak English. She told us we must take our ten bags and go through customs, then go check our bags back in and go through security, all in under an hour and thirty minutes. Our anxiety turned to dread. I thought, "How are we meant to carry ten bags, two toddlers and two infants?" We didn't have a choice. So we stacked up four bags each onto three push carts, slowly made our way through customs, and ran up to ticketing. (45 minutes until our plane departs.)

The pleasant ladies behind the check-in desk were confused when they saw a bizarre family sprinting for them. They were kind and really helpful, but they told us that it was impossible for us to make it in time. She continued, "The next flight isn't for another three days." Dread turned to horror. Mavea and Simon began to squeal because we had hurried past their mealtime. So, with a chorus of crying babies, I begged these kind ladies to try. She looked at us in pity and started working her magic. The next 30 minutes seemed like an eternity as they clicked away on old, ancient keyboards. Finally, we were checked it. We rushed through security and, like the McCallister family, made it just in time. Sweating and dehydrated, we all sat down with crying babies and breathed a deep sigh of relief, grateful for God's provision. He was with us even in the horror. And after 28 hours, we landed in Australia, tired but ready to begin a new adventure!

Thank You!

Communicating to the God most high is an honor and a mystery. Why would a God with power such as ours bend his knees to hear our prayers? Yet, he does. Christians, for centuries, have offered up prayers and supplications to God.

Prayer is like lying awake at night, afraid, with your head under the cover, hearing only the beating of your own heart. It is like a bird that has blundered down the flue and is caught indoors and flutters at the windowpanes. It is like standing a long time on a cold day, knocking at a shut door.

And we stand alongside the saints praying for each other, and God intercedes. Lily and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your prayers and support keep us going. We love you and cannot wait to see what God will do next.