Mercies in Disguise

As I traveled to the airport last week for a quick trip for paperwork, I had no idea that my flights would be delayed, and I would arrive at my destination in the wee hours of the morning only to travel home soon thereafter in turbulence making for a less than pleasant journey.  Sounds pretty terrible eh?  Trust me it was not ideal.
However, amidst all of the chaos, bad weather, delayed flights and sickness I came out the other end with the mission accomplished, just maybe not in the way I had planned.

Isn't this often how it happens?  We pray and plan one way and God puts a twist on it just to make sure we are paying attention.  There are several things I learned during my trip, most of which was post journey and rest.

1.  Faith is believing the unfathomable and NOT trying to create a back up plan just in case something falls through.
-  My first flight was delayed and it looked that I was not going to make my connection, which was less than ideal as my appt at my destination was at 8am the next morning.  I prayed several times, begging the Lord to get our plane in the air, to calm the storms outside so I could make my connection.  I was positive and had a good attitude about the situation but I was slightly stressed on the inside about what I were to do if I did not make the flight.  It was at this point that I started with the back up plan.  I should have known better and actually there were a couple times where I told myself "just trust that He will make all things well".  Unfortunately I did not fully trust that and got off the plane to try and arrange something else.  Fortunately God does follow through and while at the gate trying to make other arrangements I was told that the connecting flight was also very delayed.  Thank you!  So I hopped back on the plane and shook my head at how silly I must look to God at this point.  If only I had just had enough faith, faith to move mountains.  He has always shown up so why not today too!  The next flight which ended up being more of the delay (7 hrs) was the real faith builder.  I had learned earlier that my attempts at controlling things did not work so I decided to sit back and fight my anxiety, which was made easier by an intoxicated woman next to me who entertained me the whole wait (nice lady just has some problems).  As it turned out the crew was determined to get us to our destination no matter what and had enough crew time to wait out the storms.  Sure enough He calmed the storms and we were able to take off!  If you want to move mountains you have to be strong and if faith moves mountains guess what we need to be to back it up.

2.  We are good old fashion Lights, none of this energy efficient or dimmer types.  Those around you are affected by the light you choose to be.
Thank the Lord, I was feeling rather positive during this trip, it sure helped me to stay calm and relaxed when stress was mounting.  Looking back at the day it was clearly that peace in God that kept me sane.  I may have had some human moments in my belief in prayer (well more not giving up the whole situation) but I think overall I managed to be a pleasant traveler which in hindsight could have been of encouragement to anyone during my travels.  I suppose I could also add that it is not just about being a light but also that the Lord has a plan for every situation.  Clearly I learned a few things but I imagine someone around me was affected by my attitude, such as the drunk woman next to me on the long delay.  I hope that I can remember this every day and be of encouragement more times than not.

3.  God's plan is not always my plan.
I eluded to this earlier but after thinking about my trip after getting some sleep upon my return, and thinking over how crazy it was.  A good story for sure.  However, it dawned on me that in the grand scheme of things, what I had prayed for and what the goal of the trip was had been achieved.  I had a limited amount of time and plenty of things going "wrong" that I had never really thought about it in reverse;  that is, the mission was accomplished and the way it happened is only distraction-  many ways to skin a cat as they say.  So in the end it is important for me to remember that 12 hrs of annoyance, pain, agony or whatever else is only the path.  The gift at the end is much greater and far more worth focusing on.

So this is my trip.  Great what you can learn in a little over 24 hrs eh?  Oh and what I did not mention is that my ribs were great the whole time, I was only mildly aware of any pain despite all the sitting and carrying of luggage through airports.  This was also a great triumph for me :)

Well upward and onward into a new week!  Still not rowing due to the rib fracture situation but I am healing well!  More cycling, stair climbing, Ellipticalling (is that a word) and Running (yes, this is my latest feat!  I can run pain free!).   Have a great week, keep things in perspective and spread a little sunshine!

Song for the week: Laura Story "Blessings"