I'm at my gate in the airport :) I've met some interesting people- airports are the best. Ha- a kid was runnin' and face planted right next to me. It didn't even phase him- awesome. Anyways, just lettin' y'all know I'm headin' out soon. My flight was delayed about an hour, so we'll see what happens. God's in control!
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Due to electrical storms in ATL, my flight from DFW was delayed, making me miss my flight from ATL to Manaus. So I was able to reticket for tomorrow, Saturday, and go home for tonight. To reiterate: God was definitely in control. He watched out for me. Check it out:
My parents and I bump into an almost middle-aged man at the check in kiosk and exchange some friendly banter and jokes. Later, as I'm standing in the security line, the same man is behind me. After a bit, he smiles and asks me where I'm going since I have a passport in my hand. I tell him Brazil. He says, "Ohh, you're gonna love it!" I ask him if he has been there. He says, "Yes, I've gone on a mission trip down there with my church (Northside in ATL). Why are you goin' down there?"--ha, I was pleasantly surprised at that bit of irony from the Lord.-- I tell him that I am doing mission work as well for Amazon Vision Ministries. He was happy to hear it and we chat about the Lord's plan, how it's so much better than the one we have for ourselves, and how we daily have to be like... "Oh yeah, Lord, You're in charge, not me." He sees my parents standing ahead by the outside divider of the security check and says how sweet it is that they're makin' sure I get through security. He then tells me he has a son that's 23 and a daughter that's 21. He says he'd be doin' the same thing for his daughter. We soon realize we are probably on the same flight to ATL.
My inevitable thoughts of, "Ok, this man might be borderline creeper," are pretty tame since it's such a public place (the line was long), my parents are watching, and I think he would have witnessed to me right there in the line if I hadn't said I was a Christian, haha, which is awesome! When we get to the security workers, he tells my parents that they have a good kid, tells them he has a son the same age, and my parents and him joke about his son and I meeting. So my creeper suspicions are further calmed by him joking with my parents. We part into two separate security lines 'n say our God blesses and see ya's. Then, I say bye to my parents, get through security, wave the last, "I got through," wave to them, and head to my gate.
I sit at the gate for a while and meet some more interesting people like a couple from China, a man who hates his iPhone, a mom with an adorable 10 month old, and a woman who praised the Lord when she got on a flight on standby after waiting since 5:00 am! Then... a Delta employe announces my flight's delayed an hour. After a while of being caught up in my book, my head pops up-- Wait... if this flight's delayed an hour... and I have an hour layover in ATL for my flight to Manaus... hmm.. this is potentially not good. Then it's announced that my flight's doubly delayed (a bit paraphrased). It's final, and confirmed by the 'desk lady'- I'll miss the connecting intl. flight to Brazil.
Trying to sift through possibilities, with no cell phone to call anyone since I didn't want to bring it to Brazil, I go online to ATL airport's website. I find that my Manaus flight is unfortunately on time with no delays in sight. So I write down ATL's customer service number. Startin' to stress out, I mumble under my breath "...Ok, Lord- You're in control. Please work this out." Turning to my gate, I see the same man from the security line sitting where I hadn't seen him before! I walk over, make eye contact and a reciprocated head nod, and shyly ask if it'd be alright to use his phone really quickly. He says no problem. After he sees that I'm a bit stressed/out-of-place/still standing there, obviously insecure about using his phone, he says, "Have a seat. My name's Steve by the way." I say my name, sit down, and explain the situation with my flights. He sees I'm dialing the ATL number and says, "Oh, you need ATL airport? Here, I'm a platinum member. I'll getchya through."
All I could do was let out a sigh of relief and say, "Wow. God will protect His children."
Steve chuckled a bit and agreed.
After taking the phone, he calls ATL and explains the situation, finding out any information he can about possibilities of getting me to Manaus. Then, he lets me call my parents and update them. Heh, he asked to talk to my mom after I did to introduce himself, explain why I was using his phone, and probably assure her he wasn't a crazy with alterior motives. I went to the desk and re-ticketed for basically the same flights, only tomorrow. The 'desk lady' (what are those people called? attendants? Idk) was super nice and considerate. I thought I'd have to be standby- but nope, guaranteed seats! Praise the Lord! She squared everything away, I thanked Steve, told him my parents really appreciate his helpin' me too, said my see ya's, got my luggage, and waited for my parents to come back to the airport.
No flying through lightning storms, no creepiness on the part of my helper at all, no getting stranded, no sleeping in the airport, no arriving in ATL and finding an absent flight to Manaus. God calls, protects, guides, and provides- gotta love the body of Christ! Not that every situation will work out smoothly in my favor, but this one strangely did. I think God used Steve to reassure my parents even further in how they can trust that I'm in God's hands. I was also really encouraged! God's plans really are so much better than my own. So Brazil, I'll get to meet you soon! :)
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