At first I sort of enjoy the idea of flying to Eugene rather than being stuck in Portland Airport over the holidays. This enjoyment is soon replaced by panic when I realize that it is 2:00pm and I'm still sitting in the plane. I strike to action, forgetting the main reason I turned on my phone was to see if Courtney sent any flirtatious messages while I was airborne.
In case you have never travelled before, there are an entire list of items that make this accomplishment rather impossible. I have one hour to accomplish the following:
1) Get off of the plane and to the baggage claim 20 min
2) Get bags 20 min
3) Check in again for my newly purchased flight 20 min
4) Pass through security 20 min
5) Get to my departure gate 5 min
So that is 85 minutes. At a smaller airport like PDX or Columbus on an early morning flight it probably takes me about 45 minutes. The problem is that ice and snow are covering Portland right now. PDX was opening and closing all day, chains are mandatory (in the city), garbage pickup has stopped, and lo and behold even the "through snow through sleet" postal service is shutting its doors. As consequence to all of this there are tons of people trapped in the airport who have been waiting hours and even days to get a flight to anywhere else. I just got off the plane. By the time I get my bags and get in line at the ticket counter it's already 2:30 and the line is out and around the corner filled with people who have already been waiting for hours. This is where nothing short of an undeserved miracle begins.
On the fringes of the chaos I see an Alaskan Airlines employee with a list that I knew probably contained answers, like how long will I be stuck in this airport. I approached her and explained my situation, simply wondering if there was any way I would be able to make my flight at 3:05.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"2:35" I said, glancing at my phone.
"Come with me." She whisked me to the fringes of the crowd without saying a word. At the end of Alaskan Airlines ticket counter was a slender old woman, I'm sure at one point she was one of those smokin young stewardesses for TWA, the kind of girl that is only mythological now (at least in my flying experiences). Thousands of flights, however, had turned smooth features into wrinkles.
I tried to thank the other worker for her help the angel was already off to create another miracle on 34th street... or at least at baggage claim.
The gal at the counter asked for my I.D. As she looked at my flight time she printed my boarding pass and sent me on my way with a speed that I did not know was ever possible at an airport. I appreciated that one of the flight stopping hurdles was over with expediency I never knew possible; but I was still calling my mother to let them know how frustrated I was that they had bought me a ticket without consulting me, and that I was going to miss it anyways.
The security line was average, but still enough to keep me from reaching my flight (which I had learned from the old stewardess that it was boarding). I used my new found information to ask my way up the security line. Everyone was so gracious. No one hesitated to tell me to move on except for the Hispanic family that couldn't understand what I was saying, but let me by anyway. Hurdle number two. I still thought I was going to miss my flight.
I hate running in airports, in 90% of circumstances a brisk, unpanicked, walk is sufficient. It drives me crazy travelling with people who are freaking out all the time. This one freaked out even me, I ran through the airport. The following conversation with God is the heart of what I'm writing about.
"I can't ask God for this, that's stupid. But why not, why not just ask him to hold the plane. Hey God you can do something about this right?" I started thinking about the way I was feeling towards my brother and mother who had put me in this situation. I was blindingly bitter and ignored the fact that they were trying to help. I forgot about my flight and whether or not I was going to make it, I honestly didn't care. I had friends who I could stay with in Portland, it wouldn't be the end of the world, I would adapt to my new situation; but my bitterness. "God I'm thinking you care more about this bitterness than you do my flight." I don't remember praying anything beyond that, I couldn't concentrate enough. In this sort of haze I finally made it after running to the opposite side of the airport with a pack on my back and a full size suitcase behind me. I heard "Last boarding call for flight 4021... last boarding call for flight 4021" I made it.
I have a friend that asked us to pray about her job, she really liked it and did a good job and felt like God had opened up the door for her to be there in the first place. I believe her. I just felt weird about how we went about it. It felt like the idea was that we were battling some sort of evil, praying that a certain event would happen. I love this gal and I know she has a huge impact on the lives of students there. I do this same thing all the time too. Me missing my flight was evil and my responsibility in prayer was to pray against that evil it seemed. The good Christian thing to do would be to call up all my friends and have them pray that I make my flight, so that I can be a bit more comfortable over the next few days.
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I could totally see Jesus stepping into the situation (He did actually but I'm thinking physical Jesus incarnate). I would be freaking out and asking him to get my flight held. "Jesus I totally have faith in you, can you take care of this... come on... it's gonna be a bummer stuck here.""Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself."
This is where I would start to get pissed off, first of all because I already knew that was in the Bible, and second because I was ignoring it.
Jesus then crawls up on a chair right in the middle of the airport and says "Beware of bitterness. You all travel to your homes to spend time with relatives that you don't want to talk to, why do you keep up such formalities and avoid healing wounds."
The words penetrate my heart. I don't care about the flight anymore. Jesus seemed indifferent about it from the beginning.
Jesus gets off the chair and we start walking towards my gate. I'm still not thinking about the flight. "I'm a jerk huh?"
"There is grace. I love you. I know you love your family. All is forgiven."
We arrive at the gate when I snap back into reality. "Are you two on flight 4021?" The lady behind the counter looks suspiciously at Jesus on account that he is middle eastern.
"Yea that's us."
"Oh good, well we had a small delay, you guys made it not a moment too late."
Jesus smiles at me and says "I would rather have you stay here and share some hope with people; but I know you aren't ready for that yet. Don't worry, I still love you, let's get home."
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I think in the long run, whether I made it or not was moot. God's kingdom does not come in fixed flights, or continued employment, it comes in our hearts. God wants to heal families, cure our bitterness, make us patient and loving. I used to think that trusting God was believing that he would do whatever we wanted. I think now it's trusting that God knows what's going on, and knows what He's doing. I'm not all about New Year's resolutions; but I want to trust God more this year, go about doing His work with his peace reigning in my heart, whether He holds the flight nor not.
And this is how he taught them to pray
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Any man can get a flight held. Only God can change the heart.
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