In 2021 the UK government announced that Kenya will be added to the "red list". In short if you arrived from Kenya after a set date, you would need to go into a designated hotel and quarantine there for 14 days, at a cost of around £1,400. My mom was in Kenya and was due to return the week after. There was no way that money was going to come out of our pockets. That amount is what you spend on a nice holiday, in a nice beach, somewhere far from the UK. I don't know how many designated hotels there were and where they were, but they all seemed to have horrible reviews. Thanks to the video recordings from guests, you could see why these places would be given 0 stars, if you could. I was not going to let my mom get into one of those. So I had to look in to changing her ticket. The battle began!
This announcement was done just before a public holiday. I had to not only change her flight to make sure she arrived before the deadline, but also find a place to do the PCR-test, and fit in with those calculations as per part 1 of this series. 1+1= major stress! As for the ticket, the agent couldn't find any availability because everyone was trying to rush back. The flights were full! I didn't know what to do because if I asked them to cancel the return ticket and didn't find a flight elsewhere before the deadline, then that meant mom would have been ticketless and money would have been lost. I told the agent let me search around and come back to them. STRESS!
I check with the usual airlines, KQ or BA as I prefer to book direct flights. I especially wanted to do this considering the PCR test needed to be valid both on departure and arrival. Well, none of those two airlines had availability. If they did, they made the price of the raggedy hotel look like the price of buying a lollipop. Still, there was no way I was going to let my mom even hover over the hotel. By this time I have searched everywhere and everywhere and again there is nothing or it is very expensive. "aki God please make a way" is my prayer throughout this search.
I looked at another airline that I had cancelled/banned following a horrible experience. I don't even want to mention their name. When I look at their website, lo and behold they have availability. As for the price, economy is about £60 less than business, but still cheaper than the other airlines. For Covid-safety reasons (I was not playing with Covid) and to give mom a well deserved treat, I get this business ticket before it disappears! I call the agent and tell them I've found a ticket so can they proceed with the refund. They tell me the refund is at the discretion of the airline, so they will check with them and let me know. They later come back and tell me that only the taxes will be refunded i.e., a very small amount. At this point I don't even care. The biggest part is sorted. Then I remember, I need to book that PCR test!
But wait, when should she do it considering the UK needs the test to have been done 72 hours before departure, she leaves on Tuesday and Monday is a holiday. Where she was in the country, not many places were open on Sunday. I didn't want it to be done on Saturday but it had to be done then. I ask my friends and do some searches to find a suitable place. Mom goes and has the test done. Everything is sorted. The result should come out on Sunday.
This is Kenya we are talking about (Off course I love my country, I just know its "character flaws")! Sunday comes, no result, the office is closed and no one is responding on any platform. Tomorrow is another day. Monday comes and nothing! On Tuesday, the day of the flight! my mom calls and the test results are still not out! I keep checking her emails and at lunchtime, I get an email saying her test came back positive! SAITAN!
I don't know whether to fall on the floor or scream, because what is this! I'm at work when all this is happening and no one knows what I'm dealing with. The only private place I can go and say a prayer is in the bathroom. I go in, kneel somewhere away from the porcelain "throne" as I try and speak to the One on the Highest Throne. I ring my mom and tell her what's happening. I've already devised a plan of what she should do. "Don't worry, I know I am fine" (She knows my worry worry self). I get her to go to another testing centre as she is now in the city, where there are more options. The result would need to be ready before her flight at 11pm. She tries and the queue is too long and there's a whole process that will just delay things. I find the details of another centre and call them. I was told they had already finished for the day! I pleaded and explained the situation.
Mom was not too far away and notorious Nairobi traffic seemed to be cooperating. She got to the test centre and had the test done. The result would be out around 8pm, the same time she needed to be checking in at the airport, on this day that is now two days before the red list begins. I finish work and head home. I'm just driving in tears. I can't believe what's happening. All that searching for flights, trying here and there, the money lost, the money spent, then this! Please God come through. I get an email alert. I'm even scared to open the thing. What if...
I open it and it says negative! If I was crying before, now I was weeping. God you've heard my prayer and my bathroom lamentations. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I ring mom, tell her I have sent the certificate on her phone so she can now go and check in and enjoy herself in Business class. As for the original PCR test company, they were known for doing such stunts. All this time, mom was not even stressed out or worried. So this lesson was clearly for me. What did I learn and more importantly what will I take forward?
God is Good, All the time and all the time God is Good. I say this all the time and this is the truth that God shows me relentlessly. Sometimes I will be able to remember the incredible favour and Grace He has shown me, when other challenges come so I can walk by faith and not by sight. Other times my A.P.A. (Answered Prayer Amnesia) sets in and I will worry myself as if worrying will change anything. Actually it will, my stress hormones will just keep going up and my body is just in this fight mode and I'm sure my guardian angel asks " Surely TPA! who are you fighting and why! are you fighting!". This is why the Most Excellent book says the battle is not yours! The battle is for the One with whom nothing is impossible. The battle is for the One who says "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" The battle is not mine, because its not mine to carry.
I was not designed in my human anatomy or spirit to carry burdens. I just wasn't. I don't have the capacity to carry even half a burden and when I attempt to do so, it is just too heavy. Meanwhile Jesus is like "But TPA! I said give me your burden, si you know I care for you?". Carrying stress and worry takes away my peace. It also takes away the essence of the light I should be shinning, and honestly this all messes up with the purpose God created me for. I wasn't created to be crying out of worry and stress in the car or anywhere else.
I was created to be enjoying myself with my car-karaoke, in full concert, knowing and trusting wholeheartedly that so long as Jesus is with me in the car, in the house, in the bathroom, as I browse the internet, should the devil come and knock on my door with his malicious plans, I only have to be still and know that God is with me. While I'm cruising these streets of life, I need to let Jesus be my "bouncer" and raise his hand and tell the devil " Not now! Not today! You can be the terminator and be back tomorrow and the answer will still be the same!" Surely, if Jesus is in my car, boat, flight, plans and life! what have I to dread? What have I to fear?
May The Lord Bless you and Keep you.
Related verses:
Isaiah41:10, 1 Peter 5:7, Luke 1:37, Matthew 19:26, Luke 18:27, Jeremiah 32:17, Mark 10:27, Philippians 4:13, Genesis 18:14,1 Samuel 17:47,2 Chronicles 20:15
1 John 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:7
#Dread #Fear #GodHears #Terminator #JesusBeMyProtector #AuthorOfFaith #NotNow #NotToday #FearfullyMade #WonderfullyMade #CarKaraoke #FullConcert #Trust #Believe #Wholeheartedly #Cruising # Stress #Burden #CastYourBurden #AnsweredPrayerAmnesia #TheBattleIsTheLord's #Purpose #LightShine #BathroomLamentations #Cortisol #PCRtest #FightMode #Cry #Weep #CharacterFlaws #UnnamedAirline #RaggedyQuarantineHotel #Terminator
Next post: 28/10/2022
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That part about letting go of our burdens...........