I traveled to Atlanta for World Race launch on January 3rd from Des Moines, Iowa. It did not go the way I thought. I left at 6:30 am. I had a stop at St Louis for an hour and was going to be at Atlanta Airport around 11:30 am. I thought I was going to have 5 hours at Atlanta Airport to just chill and call people, etc. But the Lord had other plans.
The day was going according to plan as I landed in St Louis but when I got there I realized there was an hour delay. I didn’t stress because I had a lot of time that I knew I had. That delay allowed me to get some breakfast because if you can imagine leaving your family and making sure you have everything for 11 months at 6:30 in the morning, I had no time to even think about eating breakfast.
I was sitting at the gate getting ready to start the lining up process when suddenly I heard someone say that they got an email saying the plane is cancelled. I checked my email real fast and saw that he was correct. There was a lot of people already starting to line up at the guest desk to get on another flight to Atlanta. By the time I got in line, there was a lot of people there. I stayed in line and was very calm even though a lot of people were freaking out. I prayed to the Lord to just provide a way for me to get to Atlanta on time for my training I had to do for the World Race. Suddenly, a guy who works for the airport showed up and said that there is another place about 10 gates down that has another desk that they can change tickets at. I decided to go and hopefully have a smaller line there. I got there and there was about the same amount of people there.
In front of me in line was a lady and a guy. I noticed they were sharing a beer. They turned around and started talking to me. They told me they met at the airport bar about an hour ago and just hit it off. They pulled me into their conversation. The man was flying to Atlanta to go to a place in Georgia to go to a funeral for his dad and bury him. He talked about that for a little bit. It was sad.
The women lived in Atlanta and was flying home. We ended up talking about squatty potties for some reason. I shared that I will have to use them and just a hole in the ground because I am going on this missions’ trip for a year to 12 counties in 11 months. The woman was super excited for me. This woman proceeded to tell me if I get a chance to go to some shrines/temples to do it. She said, “She has been to Cambodia and that is where there are a lot of shrines and they are beautiful.” I told her that, “I would love to if I get a chance. I told her that my heart of wanting to go is to learn about their culture and religion and really see the person for who they are.” She got excited and almost started to cry. She asked me if she could hug me and I gave her a hug. She told me that,”she is so encouraged to hear that because a lot of people go for the wrong reasons and have a prideful mindset. She told me that it was a blessing to meet someone as genuine as me.” I believe this lady wasn’t a believer but respected all religion. She told me that I encouraged her to want to go and help people with a genuineness. “She had a stirring in her that made her want to go and do things”, she said. Personally, I believe that was the Holy Spirit even if she didn’t realize it. It was a blessing not just for her but for me as well. It encouraged me in the exact time I had a few doubts.
So, I got my plane rerouted to go to Kansas City and then to Nashville and then to Atlanta. Southwest also gave me $200 in vouchers to use up to a year from that day. I will be using that as a means to get back home from where they let us in at in the United States. ANOTHER BLESSING! God was and is watching out for me.
When I got to Kansas City, I got to my gate and met this lady who had a small teacup 11-month-old puddle. That little ball of fur was so adorable, and it started a conversation with this lady. She was on her way to go meet up with her sister who was currently at that moment in a surgery to find out if she has cancer. I found out this lady was a Christian. I was able to encourage her and vice versa. She even saved me a seat on the airplane (open seating) because she wanted to talk with me the whole way to Nashville. It was amazing how God worked out me meeting both ladies in different airports at the exact moment and place. If it was any later or a different line or seat, I would not have met them. What an amazing God we have.
I got to Atlanta around 6 pm and I had an hour to get to the hotel and I made it there a few minutes late but not by much.
I am so blown away by how God turned something that is normally stressful or a not really fun to experience into two divine appointments and something I realized I needed as much as they needed. Only God can do that.
