La Gracia de Dios

It was one week ago today that Polly, Genevieve and I boarded a plane and moved our lives to San Jose, Costa Rica. We have slowly but surely been adjusting to life in our new context. But before we get too far removed from our travel day, I wanted to share with you the favor God showed us that day (after all our anxieties about it)

What do you do with over 20 pieces of luggage?

I don't know the most pieces of luggage you have ever traveled with at one time, but for us this trip brought a record. We had:

• 9 plastic bins, zip-tied shut
• 5 duffle bags
• 5 suitcases (including 3 carry-ons)
• 3 personal bags
• 1 stroller
• 1 car seat

That's a lot of stuff. Have you ever thought through the practical side of how you handle that much luggage at an airport? I hadn't prior to our arrival at the airport. A few components combined to make this go smoothly.

1. The kind employees of Jet Blue sectioned off an area for us to put our luggage while Polly and Genevieve waited in the line.

2. We had friends and family there to help us bring the luggage to that area and tag it all for us.

Excess baggage gets expensive

Jet Blues policy for baggage fees is:

• 1st bag free
• 2nd bag - $40
• 3rd+ bag - $75

The very nice woman helping us at the desk spoke with her supervisor and had them eliminate $225 of these fees. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Dragging her kicking and screaming

Genevieve got upset when took her carry-on from her as we worked our way into the security line because she was holding the people behind us up. Polly was literally dragging her kicking and screaming through the line. While this may seem inconvenient, it did cause an employee to put us in the fast line bypassing everyone. We made it through security with no issues.

Oversized carry-ons

When we arrived at the gate I asked about our carry-ons. They were oversized, but they gate checked them at no cost. That's another $150 we saved (though they didn't arrive in Costa Rica until the following day).

Immigration

There were quite a few people ahead of us in line once we arrived in San Jose. Thankfully, this culture loves and looks after pregnant women. They moved us to the fast lane again and we received our tourist visas in the matter of minutes.

Time to get the luggage

How were we going to get all that luggage from the conveyor belt through customs? Thankfully, they had Skycap guys waiting at the ready to help for a tip. They even waited with our luggage while we filed the paperwork for our 2 gate-checked bags that didn't make it with us.

Customs

The guy wanted to go through all the plastic bins. But after opening one, he accepted the fact that it really was household items. He told us to take the rest. We weren't held back for very long at all.

That day will serve as a reminder to us of God's favor when we face difficult days here. God really drove this point home to us on Sunday when John Musacchio preached on God's favor. God is so good!