Tomorrow or Not Tomorrow...that is the Question!

Well, here we are...after making many phone calls to various bases, we find that Charleston has nothing at all leaving on Monday....Labor Day, no labor here. So now we are down to Tuesday or Wednesday. Unless we take the 8:10 flight out of here to Dover on Sunday night and then from Dover to Europe....however we do not know if anything is going from Dover abroad until midnight tonight...so we MAY know, or we may fall asleep before then. It is 11:08 now, so something tells me that Tom may be making a call.....I would always opt for a sure thing over a maybe thing, so we may just leave tomorrow night. My sons Jeff and Jason live about 70 minutes from the Dover AFB and said that if it involved an overnight at the airport they would come and get us, take us to Ocean City for the night and return us to Dover on Monday, depending on the time of the flight....so stay tuned, we should know something in the morning!!!

In the meantime my Rick Steeves Guide to Italy (given to me by a dear friend) awaits....along with eaplugs for the plane (VERY noisy plane)..but again, dear friends, the price is right!

Love ya,

Tom and Jackie

The Wild and Wacky Adventures of Tom and Jackie

Or better known as: We Are Leaving When?.. To Go to Where?.........Our First Adventure with Space A Travel!!!

There are many benefits bestowed upon military veterans with more than 20 years of service one of them being the ability to fly anywhere in the world, Space Available.....which to me is second only to medical care. Since I have the privilege of being married to a veteran, I get to fly with him. It was not until recently that I became aware of the endless possibilities of this privilege. Really? Anywhere in the world? Well, yes, as long as you leave from and fly into a military base....and most countries have one! With my love of travel, this makes travel to destinations only dreamed of before a reality. After having done a lot of research and asking millions of questions to those who have gone before me, I am ready to give it a try! Why wouldn't I?

There are a few quirks. First of all, you don't know exactly when you are leaving. Due to security restrictions, flight information is only given out 3 days in advance, so you need to call each day starting 3 days before you leave to see what is going out. And you hope and pray that there is a plane going to where you want to be, or going to a base where you can hop on another plane that takes you where you want to be, thus the term "military hop".....there are many retirees that do this a LOT, I mean they fly around the world and back......so nice when you don't have a work schedule to worry about. So here is the tricky part:

We want to go to Tuscany, Italy, where there is a gorgeous timeshare awaiting our arrival on the top of a beautiful hill in a beautiful part of Italy. There are no bases in Tuscany (too bad)...so we need to fly into Germany or Spain. We won't know which until a day or two before. So we have to have our bags packed. And we can't really make reservations for a car or a hotel since we don't know where will will be landing until the last minute. So you really are flying by the seat of your pants and have to be VERRRRRRy flexible, but remember, you are flying for FREE!

We should know tomorrow (Saturday) if or not we will be leaving on Monday. If not we hope to be leaving Tuesday, no later than Wednesday, so you will need to stay tuned to the blog.

Oh, another thing. The C-17 that carries us there is not built for passengers. It carries military equipment from Charleston to the rest of the world, mainly the Middle East. So we will be sitting in jump seats on the sides of the plane accompanied by anything from Hummers, to ammunition to God knows what. But remember, it is free!

What I DO know is that we will be on one of the safest planes in the world, flown by members of the best military in the world, landing on USA bases where we could not be safer. What a privilege....and an adventure. To me the journey IS the adventure, and I would love for all of you to join us! Please follow our journey day by day. The only days I won't be able to get my blog out is if there is no internet access...but I will get it to you eventually.

Please follow our journey, dear friends and family...you may find it very funny!!!!!

We love you,

Tom and Jackie

It's time!

Now I am REALLY mad!

One of today's headlines reads "Athiest Group Blasts Postal Service for Mother Teresa Stamp"....the stamp, which is due to be released on Aug. 26th, on what would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday, would recognize the 1979 Noble Prize winner for her humanitarian work.

It seems that the athiests, which comprise a modest percentage of our nation's population, say that the commemoration violates postal regulations against honoring individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings.

I believe that my blood tends to come to a simmer when I hear of a small minority of people tyring to take away the rights and freedoms of the majority. Perhaps they are loud when we should be.

Mother Teresa was one of the greatest servants of all humanity. I am sure that she did not ask them of their faith as she cleaned their leprous wounds. She was one of the greatest servants of HUMANITY ever, and her selfless work among the poorest of the poor of Calcutta should be an inspiration for people all over the world.

As I age (gracefully, I hope)..I tend to be more vocal about what I believe to be right and true. And I believe God smiles when we do. After all, Jesus wasn't the most popular guy on the block much of the time. It was much later when mankind realized the truth of his words.

It has been said that the way for evil men to prevail is for the good to remain silent. I hope that we do not remain silent on this one.

Why I Love Seacoast Church

I have loved Seacoast Church from Day One, when we first attended in 2002. I have been going ever since. One of the MANY reasons I love it is because it is always looking for ways to reach out to the community, whether it be the local community or the global community.

Recently we have placed a strong emphasis on Water Missions, an organization that supplies clean water to areas that would not have access to it any other way. Water Missions water purifciation systems can be found all over the world. I had the honor of seeing one in action when I was in Sri Lanka in 2007.

Recently, Pastor Greg taught a series called "Hope Epidemic" and asked for Seacoasters to take home water bottles (supplied by the church) and fill them with coins (although there was always the option to add checks or paper money, of course!)....well, the big hearts of Seacoast brought in more than 3,000 POUNDS of coins, which took the local bank over a week to count. The last figure that I heard was well over $200,000!

As soon as we heard about the horrible earthquake in Haiti, we wanted to help as quickly as possible. Within a few days, a water purification system was loaded onto a truck and sent to Haiti. What was especially meaningful to me was that we got to write messages of hope to the people on the sides of the container. Imagine the devasted people of that island not only recieving precious water, but also receiving precious hope that God still loves them and is looking after them.....I wish I could have been there to see their faces.

" For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in....... whatever you did for the least of these my brothers, you did for me.".........Jesus

A Tribute to Doctor King

Since it is the birthday of one of our most prominent Americans, I would love to share a few of the memorable words spoken by Martin Luther King. I need to thank my friend, Katie Hann, for the inspiration, as she is the Queen of Great Quotations and I believe the MLK's are some of the most inspirational that I have ever heard. I hope that you like them too!
(We all need to be a little inspired now and then!)

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter"

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missles and misguided men."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Although he died so many years ago, his words ring true in our time.....as we read the headlines let us be reminded.......

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

Yes, it is me, and I am back! I have wanted to jump back into blogging for some time and have just gotten the inspiration to do it! It is such a great way to keep connected with friends and relatives and to share my thoughts and experiences. I also find it a great way to share my photography which would otherwise reside on my hard drive without ever seeing the light of day, what a shame. Will National Geographic call? Probably not, but people that I know may enjoy it, especially if they see themselves!

I have attached this image to remind you to please pray for the people of Haiti. Such images break my heart...unimaginable suffering for people that have already suffered so much.
"Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them." Mother Teresa

I am in the process of preparing for a trip to Sri Lanka, so there will be lots of updates coming. It is my second trip there and I am very excited about going back. I leave as part of a team of 8-10 on March 3rd, returning March 13th.
Please stay in touch, I will do my best to keep you coming back!

Shalom,
Jackie