Much to my parents dismay, I find myself traveling by myself quite often. Well not completely by myself, the Lord is always with me:) Most of the time, I do try to book my flights at the same time as my co-workers, but sometimes schedules conflict. And if I do travel by myself, I avoid answering my parents directly because they have a tendency to worry.
This was the case on my trip to San Antonio. I think everyone in my department had a different flight. I arrived at the airport two hours prior since my sweet mother volunteered to take me. Honestly, I was more worried about her getting lost leaving the airport, but she had offered so I accepted. And yes, two hours prior seems a little extreme especially when you are flying Southwest and they are the only airline in Terminal 1, but my mother had read on the internet that you should get to the airport two hours prior (no arguing with mom because I always lose and its disrespectful). In the two hours, I caught up on emails, readings, my daily Proverbs 31 devotion (great site), and created a to-do list. My flight from Raleigh to Baltimore was pleasant. Sat beside nice individuals that engaged me in conversation about NC State, agriculture, and my southern accent. Then I landed in Baltimore to receive notice that my flight was delayed. Now I have a three hour layover. While most would be frustrated, I grabbed a prime people watching seat, Arby's, and chose to enjoy my three hours of "joy time" which is actually when this blog post was written.
"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." -Zephaniah 3:17
According to Meyers Briggs, I am an extrovert. Depending on the situation, I can be extremely extroverted or an extreme introvert. My introvert nature makes me appreciate alone time, and I find myself craving it daily somehow. I enjoy alone time because it allows me an opportunity to refocus, reflect, and engage. As I sat there eating my Arbys, I saw a variety of feelings of those passing by my table. I noticed the happy couple returning from their honeymoon (okay maybe not but I get to make up their stories) who both had nice tans and were carrying their Jamaica bags, a girl on her cell phone yelling at someone, people running (probably to catch a connecting flight), and then I realized that I myself was pretty happy enjoying the time God had given me to rest and relax. Gladness came over me as I used this time to write the next blog post. I was quieted inside and worries of the day slipped away. And well the loud singing of the verse above, was the hustle and bustle of the airport. It was a happy noise as I sat seeking out God's word as the rain poured outside the terminal windows. (Side note: Little did I know that my luggage was also getting a shower outside....isn't it ironic haha)
"It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden, and it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches." -Luke 13:19
The day of my flight, my mom and I had started off with a country ham biscuit, Elbie my dog decided to run away to the woods (after 45 minutes of looking I found her), enjoyed a great lunch at Cracker Barrel, great flight to Baltimore (got peanuts and pretzels...score), delicious meal at Arbys, and was delighted with the numerous conversations with random strangers. I only managed to forget my laptop charger, a pair of khakis, and shorts. All of these small things like tiny mustard seeds had marveled into what turned out to be a good day. I got to spend quality time with my mom which I always enjoy doing and talk about so many different things with complete strangers. God had allowed me the time to look at small things and how wonderful those small seeds at the end of the day make great trees that allow for others to benefit. In my delay, I chose to accept the delay. I think my friends and family were more concerned about the delay than I was in all actuality. And those little things I forgot, well its okay. I assure you there were plenty of clothes in my suitcase and well luckily my laptop was charged enough to get me through those necessary tasks. Sometimes those small moments in life are planted by God for a reason and it just requires patience to see the tree that will one day be.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope." -Romans 5:3-4
God encourages us to reflect on our past, present, and future. He encourages us to become more Christ-driven individuals and improve upon on attitudes and mindsets. So as I sat in the airport terminal content with the delay, the rest of the events were one that made me realize that sometimes I like to think God has a sense of humor in a sense or maybe decides to see how we will react to things that challenge us. Boarded the plane to go to San Antonio, only to be told that we could not take off and we would be sitting on the runway for a little while due to storms and air traffic. I land in San Antonio after midnight, get my luggage, which is drenched from the Baltimore monsoon. Then flying back to Raleigh, I land at midnight only to be the only person on the flight whose luggage did not make it back. Yeap, God that's a good one! While at the moment of landing in Raleigh realizing I did not have any luggage was not one of my proudest moments especially since I was leaving for the beach the next morning at 7 am and they didn't know where my luggage was, everything ended up being okay. I had a great time at the beach and did not need one thing that would have been in my luggage coming from San Antonio. Those events in our life help us build perseverance, character, and at the end of the day we still have hope that tomorrow is a new and glorious day! And yes, I probably failed at the test of my luggage not being at the airport when I landed. But I did try to calmly explain my frustrations to the support staff with Southwest. As I returned from my trip from the beach, I realized how small of a deal my luggage not showing up really was. So good job God, you yet again win at proving to me that you always take care of everything!
Thanks for reading as always! Faith, patience, and love to all! Joy