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For the past several months Arran has been praying regularly for a way for us to go back to England for a visit. Traveling internationally as a family of five is not exactly in our budget and we had told him it would take a miracle and he would need to pray to see it happen. He started off so enthusiastically, but as the months have gone by some nights I would do the praying for him but he was becoming disillusioned. Last week when I had asked him if he wanted to pray that, before he went to sleep, he had told me that he did not feel like God was answering his prayer. I had tried to explain to him that he should not give up, that sometimes God's timing is different to ours but that He was listening. I understood how hard it was for him, a child's perspective on time is so different. Well today I found a deal that was remarkable. Not only was it the lowest price I had found in years, but we also had travel miles that could be used to help a little. I phoned James to see what he thought, I shot e-mails to family regarding dates. Of course I second-guessed whether we should do it, spend the money, but we felt like we could not afford NOT to do it.

I booked mine and Asia's tickets on the airline's site then went through our rewards site to book the other three....only to hit a glitch, a big one. I started to panic. I tried again and the system told me again, that the itinerary was not available. I was a little freaked out, I had two of us booked (with non-refundable tickets) and three of us now, supposedly unable to book. I got on the phone with a live person, who was no help whatsoever. She went through the same procedure twice, to tell me the same thing. I was a little stressed and frustrated at the lack of help. The process of booking the tickets had gone from a theoretical ten minute job, to an hour and a half. The kids were expecting to visit friends and friends were expecting us. We prayed, I called James and he said he would call to see if he could get any further. I took the kids to play with their friends.

I waited and waited, most anxiously for a call. It was nerve-wracking! I was distracted and antsy and impatient. Finally I called HIM and found out our tickets were booked. I still can't believe it. It has been five years since our last visit back to the UK as a family, Arran was only two years old, Bryttain was a baby and of course Asia had not even been thought of. The kids are SO excited and now we just have to figure out the details of when and where we will stay and how we will get around...oh and renew Arran's passport.