"Patience is a Virtue"

Well, after waking up at 5:00am yesterday morning, I finally arrived to Santo Domingo at 8:30pm(ET). Yesterday was quite a crazy day. The plan was to fly from Miami to Dallas at 7:40am and arrive at 11:30am(ET). Then, I was supposed to fly from Miami to Santo Domingo at 12:50pm and land at 3:00pm. Well, that didn't quite happen the way I had planned. The flight from Dallas to Miami went very smoothly and I did arrive at 11:30am. However, my flight from Miami to Santo Domingo was a different story. We started boarding the plane around 12:14, which was normal.  Everyone had boarded and we were just waiting to take off. After the last safety check, I thought it was time but boy was I wrong. There was some kind of maintenance problem that needed to be cleared. We had already started our journey to the runway, and then the captain informed us that maintenance needed to take a look at our problem. By now, it was around 1:30 which really wasn't that much of a delay. Well, we ended up having to bring our plane back in to a different gate to allow maintenance to assess the problem. After about 15 minutes, the captain informed us that this particular plane had a history with this maintenance problem. He then continued to say that we would all need to get off this plane because the maintenance would take a few hours.  The captain did explain to us that we shouldn't have to wait for the maintenance, we would just schedule a different plane. So after reading all these confusing signs and riding a skytrain, I arrived at the new gate. Originally the captain told us this new flight should leave around 3:30(remember I was supposed to arrive in the DR at 3:00). We ended up boarding this new plane a little before 4:00 and I figured we were ready to roll. But, I was wrong.  Apparently the crew that was on this new plane we had acquired was not able to fly internationally because of legality issues so we had to get a new crew.  Our captain informed us that as soon as the first officer of the new crew arrived we would be well on our way.  I guess it was wrong of me to think that should just take a few minutes.  To compensate for our delay, our seats were stalked with pillows and blankets this time. So I decided to nap. I woke up around 4:45 and knew I must have been so tired if I could have slept through our take off. But wait, we still hadn't left. At this time, the captain told us that the first officer had been located and he was on his way.  At around 5:45 he arrived and we took off at 6:00.  Just keep in mind that my friend Taylor and our professor Christine had been waiting for me at the airport since 3:00.  After finally getting in the air, the 1:45 minute flight went by in a flash and I was able to reach the DR smoothly. Taylor and Christine greeted me with so much love as we all talked about the long days we had. We arrived in a wonderful hotel in Santo Domingo and had a great night's rest.

Although yesterday was a rough day, I learned the importance of patience. I know that this summer I will have to be more patient than I ever have before and The Lord knows this too. He used yesterday to prepare me for the trials I will have ahead and I thank Him for that. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers for me yesterday, I am so blessed!

-Kinsey