Last Flight

• 

My heart is now broken. Why did it take so long for me to GRIEVE for humanity? I was numb when the coronavirus spread through China, intrigued and concerned when it made its way here, and now that the death toll will be “good” if it hits 100,000-200,000 cases in our country: devastated and emotionally overwhelmed. It finally HIT HOME in more ways than one. The numbers are daunting and chilling. The president of the United States reported that we will be saving at least a million lives potentially if we continue the measures in place. There is no doubt that COVID-19 is a pandemic of epic proportions.

Though the coronavirus was on the news, it had not yet made its way around the world. So, after five years of waiting, on February 27, 2020 we returned to Cuenca, Ecuador where my husband is from. Family reunions and birthday celebrations were in full swing when we arrived. We were overjoyed to be back in the country where we met, fell in love, and where our children could bond with their Ecuadorian relatives.

On Thursday, March 13, 2020 we spent the morning visiting two peaceful and lusciously green parks in the city and soaking in the vibrant sunshine. Our family trip was coming to an end after two weeks of memories, with one full week left to go.

• 

The weekend plans were to travel with the entire family to a private beach to relax, enjoy the scenery and spend some quality time together. That same day, after visiting the parks, we ran into some friends at the mall who shared that students were sent home early from school due to the coronavirus, and classes would be cancelled indefinitely until further notice. Odd, we thought.

The following day on Friday, March 14, 2020, we geared up to travel. We made our journey in the late afternoon with 13 passengers: out of the mountains of Cuenca to the hot and humid Ecuadorian coastline! After seven hours we awakened to a gorgeous landscape of tropical plants and the pure, captivating waters of the Pacific Ocean. Our weekend was truly picture-perfect: a morning in the small beach town to eat breakfast and buy souvenirs, the day spent on the glorious beach wave-jumping and sand-castle building, and the evening gathered around a table on the coolest man-made boathouse-lobby playing family games like “Mafia” and invisible ball. We were Wi-Fi-FREE until Sunday night, March 15.

• 

• 

On our way back I felt a sense of urgency. We had a flight scheduled in a few days to visit family in Quito, Ecuador before flying home on Thursday, March 19. When we arrived home from the beach on Sunday night, March 15, we saw that our flight on Thursday to go home was cancelled due to health regulations; my heart skipped a beat. I prayed for God to help us “get out” in time, as I started to feel the walls of circumstance caving in around us. There wasn’t much we could do about it Sunday night other than wash our clothes and try to get a new flight online, of which none were available.

• 

• 

The following day, Monday, March 16, I awoke with an instinct: PACK EVERYTHING. I had so looked forward to NOT touching a suitcase and just relaxing the day after we returned from our weekend trip, but God had other plans. So, after a few hours, suitcases were zipped up and ready to go. By that time my husband Jorge had been in touch with a friend who works with a travel agency coordinating business travel for executives. A flight was found heading to Toronto by 2 a.m., and we took it! Shockingly, within minutes the government decided to indefinitely close the airport the next day, so 2 a.m. was two hours too late from a midnight shutdown; now we knew we could be “stuck.” As much as we adored our stay in Ecuador, we knew making it home would be the best given this pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding it.

• 

At the “eleventh hour” our friend was able to get us a pricey flight back on business-class seats, only to JFK/New York City, but we would take it! It took the rest of the morning and afternoon to finalize the deal in person. Once we returned to my sister-in-law Lorena’s house where we were staying, we had a ten-minute meal, said our goodbyes and immediately boarded a private bus that made the four-hour trek to the airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We arrived there at 7pm, our flight left by 11pm, and the airport shut down at 11:59pm; ours was literally THE LAST FLIGHT OUT! Phew!!

• 

Once on the plane in Ecuador we could finally breathe a sigh of relief. With coronavirus regulations, however, I had to pray that God would even allow us to get home. “Quarantine” was now a term that the United States had officially declared for the country the day before, so we had no idea what to expect once we returned. My sister-in-law and her husband in New Jersey had gotten us our final flights from JFK to Buffalo while we were traveling by bus to the airport, so we knew we had everything lined up to get home: it was just getting there one flight at a time.

On the first plane, one of our children got motion-sickness and threw up right after take-off, while another coughed a couple times before drifting off to sleep. We got dirty stares and even a flight attendant interrogating me on when was the last time I took their temperature! Inwardly I had to release the control factor, knowing God would accompany us no matter what transpired. Thankfully no one had a temperature or anything more than just fatigue, but would we still be “quarantined” before we could make it home? I prayed again for God to keep us healthy enough to continue our travel! We counted how many planes “to go” after each flight.

After 28 hours of traveling (including the bus ride and three separate plane flights) with our four children ages 4, 5, 7, and 8, we reclaimed our baggage in Buffalo and made it HOME! I can assure you, home NEVER looked so good as it did that day. The whirlwind of travel and uneasy emotions could now be put aside; we could finally REST. Ecuador’s borders were and are still closed internally and externally. We boarded the last flight out of the country; we made it!

The coronavirus presently has no cure, no universal remedy, no life-saving vaccine being administered at this time. Fear probably has or will inevitably invade our hearts and lives. Fear of death is instinctual, and may it URGE us to reflect on our SOUL remedy. Our fears CAN be pacified because Jesus’ death was not in vain; it was meant to SAVE THE WHOLE WORLD.

In the midst of this coronavirus crisis, I am reminded of another tragedy that occurred this year. On Thursday, March 26, 2020 it was the two-month anniversary of another “last flight.” Our story pales in comparison: the tragic last flight of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the many others aboard the private helicopter on January 26, 2020. Just as we couldn’t wait to “get on” our flight and be home, I can’t imagine his wife, remaining daughters, and family pondering the thought, in hindsight, of if they would have only MISSED that flight. What irony.

Though I was never an avid professional basketball fan, I knew who Kobe Bryant was. He was a memorable player, a sports icon. I have followed the news since he and his second oldest daughter, Gianna, passed away. On February 24 they had a “Celebration of Life” service which packed an arena. His wife, Vanessa, shared intimate details about her daughter and about Kobe that the public would have never known. It wasn’t “the basketball star” that she had fallen in love with, but the man. She tearfully recounted his love for her and his daughters demonstrated in simple and creative ways. I can’t imagine a double loss like the one she is enduring; it seems too much to bear. Vanessa Bryant’s heart-wrenching speech ending was, “God knew they couldn’t be on this earth without each other; He had to bring them home to heaven together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi and I got Nani, baby and Coco. We still remain the best team. See you soon.”

In her sentimental last words there is a glimmer of HOPE. It’s the only light we can cling to after all is said and done: ETERNITY. In a spiritual sense we are all on OUR LAST FLIGHT. We have this ONE LIFE to live, but are we really living it for GOD? Heaven is the place where we can spend eternity with HIM and with others who know and love Him. Let’s not wait until it is too late to know WHERE we are going and WHO it is that offers us this future PARADISE.

The most famous verse in The Bible states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in HIM shall NOT perish but have EVERLASTING life” (John 3:16). ETERNITY is SECURE if you simply ask Jesus to SAVE YOU, as for that very reason He came. Don’t be misled: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The truth is we need a Savior, and God brought Him here in the most humblest of ways. After an angel appeared to Mary, Joseph was also visited by one and was told, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins“(Matthew 1:21). Jesus’ earthly parents were aware that they were raising THE REMEDY, THE SAVIOR, the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy!

As Easter approaches, I pray for the souls of those rapidly leaving this earth in record numbers, for YOU reading this blog, and for your family and friends:

1. May we receive the gift of salvation from Jesus and the forgiveness He offered when He shed His blood on the cross for us. Our eternal remedy is taken care of already, but it requires an INDIVIDUAL response. We are all imperfect and THAT is why fellowship with God requires retribution. Jesus already took care of that, conquering the grave! Say YES!

2. May we LONG FOR our HOME in HEAVEN, where tears will be no more, made possible by His RESURRECTION, conquering death and the grave (Revelation 21:4).

NOW IS THE TIME to know Your Heavenly Daddy and the forgiveness He offers from His heart abounding in love. Amidst this health crisis, let’s be CERTAIN of our FINAL destination, our ETERNAL resting place. Though my heart still breaks for the many who are perishing from this earth, I know that in Jesus their eternity can be secured. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,” says Acts 16:31. Truly THAT is all that matters in the end.

Happy Easter, Happy Resurrection Day! Share this post with someone today, dear one. SHINE as a TREE OF HOPE FOR Our RESURRECTED KING on this LAST FLIGHT of LIFE.