Travel Trust

Trust in the LORD. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the LORD. Psalm 27:14

I really enjoy traveling and meeting people in all the cool places the Father invites me to tell his story.  August has been a 4 state month and I got to add so many new faces and names to my heart.  I’ve been privileged to hear stories of great joy and tremendous struggle.  I’ve had the chance to laugh with people, cry with people and pray with  people.  I’m so grateful for the adventures he sends me on but sometimes the travel can be tricky.  I’ve discovered that air travel is a great way to build trust and surrender and as usual; the Father doesn’t disappoint. God has showed up in some pretty fancy ways this month so I just thought I’d tell you my favorite stories.

*The West Virginia story…the retreat finished early Friday afternoon but the only flight I could book didn’t leave until 7:30 Saturday night.  I was not thrilled about spending more than 24 hours in a hotel room and airport waiting but I told God I’d look at it as a chance to practice Psalm 46:11 Be still and know I am God.  I did however put in a request for a little travel blessing to see if there could be any way he could get me home earlier.  As I wrapped up the retreat ,Mary Ann, the lovely woman who invited me to WV told me she was leaving to drive to Michigan and offered to take me along.  Instead of getting home at 1am Sunday morning, I actually got home at 8:30 Friday night.  Talk about a travel blessing!

*The Texas story…my flight from Lubbock to Dallas kept getting bumped back and my layover in Dallas had been whittled down to 45 minutes and I was a little concerned about hiking through that big airport in such a short time so when Tricia dropped me off I asked her to say a little prayer at 8 pm so I could scoot quickly and catch that last flight from TX to MI.  As I got out of her truck I got a text that the flight to Dallas had been bumped another hour and I’d miss my connection completely.  As I walked into the terminal I heard an announcement that a flight to Dallas was in the final phase of boarding.  I scrambled through security and noticed it was 4:09 and that the flight was departing at 4:23.  They saw me coming with my shoes in my hand and quickly changed my reservation and got me on that flight just as they were about to close the door.  I really savored my 2 hour layover in Dallas that evening!

*The Iowa story…I was so excited that after a two day training I would be able to finish up Saturday afternoon and get a 7pm flight home.  Getting home Saturday night was exciting since Monday is the fist day of school. My excitement faded a few weeks before the trip when the airline cancelled that evening flight and put me on a 6am flight Sunday morning.  In an attempt to avoid having the folks from St. Paul the Apostle parish do a 4am pick-up, I decided to be brave and take my first go at an Uber.  I loaded the app, scheduled the pick up and set my alarm for 3:30am.  I waited in front of the hotel for my Uber and they didn’t come so I headed back in to the hotel and called both of the local cab companies and they had no cabs available.  I said a quick prayer, “Lord I came to Iowa  for you so please get me home.”  As soon as I finished that prayer the man at the front desk re-appeared and introduced me to a member of the maintenance staff at the hotel and said that she would be happy to give me a ride to the airport.  

I’m sitting here in the Chicago airport early on a Sunday morning with such a full heart and giant smile because I just can’t believe how faithful he is.  I always remind myself that the God who could part the Red Sea could certainly arrange a flight schedule so I could get where I needed to be.  He rewards that trust again and again  and sometimes he even shows off a little so I can be reminded of how fancy he can be.  I’ll be home by noon and that gives me  plenty of time to hang out with my husband and finish up a few things to get ready for a whole new batch of middle lovelies on the first day of school tomorrow.  God is so good!

A Seed To Plant:  Sit for a few minutes and think back over the month of August and make a list of things that have happened that were evidence of God taking care of the details of your life then make sure you thank him!​

Blessings on your day!