"I can't find my wallet love"

Travel days can always be... "Interesting"

As you can guess from the title, I (JJ) had a really hard time on August 4th, the day Morgan and I were flying back home to Santiago. But what started as my struggle quickly became our struggle.

It was 3 a.m., and we were packing up the last few things: chargers, toiletry bags, that kind of stuff. I grabbed my phone and reached for my wallet... but it wasn’t there. I scanned the room. Nothing. I laughed, half in disbelief.

“There’s no way you lost your wallet, right, JJ?” Yes, I actually said that out loud.

I ran downstairs. “I can’t find my wallet, love,” I told Morgan.
Her response (being the blessing she is): “Well, let’s go find it.”

And so, the search began. We tore through the whole house. We checked both cars. We even called Aunt Carla to ask if I’d left it in Uncle John’s truck. Still, nothing.

My wallet was gone. But time wasn’t waiting for us. Our flight was leaving with or without us. So we jumped in the car and headed for the airport.

The REAL fun begins

We arrived at the airport 30 minutes later than planned, and the check-in line was long. Stress levels? High. We had four checked bags (two packed with donated ministry supplies), two carry-ons, two backpacks, and very little time.

To our surprise, the line moved fast. We reached the ticket counter, greeted the agent, and handed over our passports.

Then she asked, “Do you have a return flight booked?”
(Only once in four years has anyone ever asked me this.)

We told her no.

“You’ll need to book one now if you want to fly,” she said.

So Morgan quickly jumped on the JetBlue app and booked a return flight right there. Crisis averted... or so we thought.

We then placed our checked bags on the scale:
51.5 lbs, 50.9 lbs, 51.3 lbs, 51.6 lbs.

“It’s going to be $900,” the agent said.

$900?!

“$100 for the two checked bags you didn’t pay for online, and each bag has a $200 overweight fee.”

We just stood there. Shocked. There was no way we could pay that.

We asked if we could redistribute the weight and just pay one overweight fee. She agreed, but told us we’d have to step aside and repack.

"We are going to miss our flight"

As these words came out of Morgan's mouth, we rushed to move items from one suitcase to another, stuffing things into our carry-ons and backpacks, making one bag intentionally overweight to keep the rest under.

Time was ticking.

We got back in line.
The moment of truth: not a single bag was overweight. Praise God.

Security was slower than usual, and by the time we reached our gate, boarding had already started. In fact, it had finished. The only person left at the gate was the agent at the counter.

We scanned our tickets, walked onto the plane, and found our seats. We made it.

Now I ask you, what do you think happened next?

We sat.
And sat.
And sat.

From 5:24 a.m. to 5:57 a.m., we just sat there on the tarmac waiting for takeoff.

We had been in such a rush. So flustered. So worried about making it. And yet... we still had to wait.

In that quiet moment, it hit me.

I too often walk through life this way:

Rushing to the next thing on the to-do list.
Worried, fearful, stressed about tomorrow.
Trying to control outcomes instead of trusting the One who already holds them.

We thought our world was ending that morning.
And don’t get me wrong, it was frustrating. But we made it.
We made it home. To Santiago. With all our luggage. With stories to tell.

And about that wallet that started all the chaos -

Two weeks later, I got a new one. New cards, new ID, everything. That’s the one you see in the cover photo. The one that will remind me, every time I go pick it up, that there’s always another wallet, another flight, another moment.

So the next time things go sideways, when you lose something important, or feel like time is running out, breathe.

You’re going to be okay.
There is always a way forward.
He has GOOD PLANS!