Extraordinary Journeys

My faith that God is guiding my journey is tested every time I use my standby pass to travel by air. A friend has graciously made this available to me, and we are beginning to total up the amount of monies we are saving as David and I both have a great deal of journeying in our schedule this year.

However, my trust is tested every time I check in, receive my boarding pass (with STBY clearly labeled on it), then find a place in the waiting room to see whether I make the flight or not. The trip I took two weeks ago entailed a leg out of Chicago to Phoenix, then out of Phoenix to San Francisco, then from San Francisco to Modesto, from Modesto to San Francisco, and finally from San Francisco back to Chicago.

The mid-morning flight from Chicago to Phoenix was fine. My name was number four on the posted standby list. The plane was large, other travelers had flown out on earlier flights—I was even assigned a seat in an exit row, where the leg room is much more compatible than in the painfully crowded economy rows.

Leaving Phoenix for San Francisco was another matter. The 10 o’clock flight was full, the plane was smaller, and my name was number six on the list. I have made it a rule of thumb not to scoot from counter to counter, trying to take care of myself, but simply to trust the process of boarding and reassigning. I’m learning to simply let the Lord take care of me. Because I was troubled that morning by something pressing upon my heart, I decided not to read or make notes for writing, but to spend the time in prayer and to include all the strangers who also were waiting to fly to San Francisco.

Because I was paying attention, I realized that a good number of folk were traveling through San Francisco to different points in China. Our flight was delayed due to fog in the Bay Area, and the gate attendant called for people connecting to Seattle. About four people were reassigned to another flight. They weren’t on the standby list, but it did mean that more seats had become available on the full plane.

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