Looking back and finding plenty of tender mercies!

A friend of mine had an event that was taking place and I was invited to attend. I wasn’t just invited once; the invitation was extended three different times. The first time that I was invited, I contemplated the distance that I would have to travel, the money that would be involved, the vacation time that I would have to take off from work, and the crazy weather that we were experiencing. The second time I was invited, I contemplated the things that had been previously on my mind but this time, I seriously started to contemplate if I should go. The third time, I decided to take it to our Heavenly Father in prayer.

I knew that I needed to go.

I woke up Friday morning, with a strong impression that I needed to go and be there for my friend. As I looked out the window, it was snowing and had been snowing all night long. I was torn, I know that I needed to go but I was a little scared to drive 6 hours in the snow by myself. My car is built to drive in the snow but driving alone during a winter storm made me a tad bit anxious. I decided that I would turn it over to Heavenly Father. If I was supposed to go, he would make it possible.

I had an early morning meeting that I needed to attend. As I sat in that meeting, I had such a powerful strong feeling that I needed to go. When I arrived back at my desk, waiting for me was a special gift. A ticket-an airplane ticket. Someone had paid for my flight to Durango, Colorado. My flight had been booked and I had one hour to pack and get to the airport. I hurried home with tears in my eyes, threw some stuff into my carry-on and my dear friend, Vieve, drove me speedily to the airport. We arrived with only minutes to spare. I made it through security in no time at all because a TSA guy looked at me told me not to take off my belt nor my shoes, he grabbed my carry on ran it through the machine as quickly as he could and told me to run to catch my flight. I arrived at the gate one minute before my flight was scheduled to take off when I noticed the words “DELAYED” flashing behind the ticket agent. I have never been so grateful for that word. Our airplane that we were connecting with had some mechanical problems.

Finally, we were off…I flew to Idaho Falls.

(Yep, this is the entire Idaho Falls Airport)

Mechanical problems brought more delays.

(My breakfast and lunch in Idaho Falls Airport).

Finally, we were off again on our way to Denver, Colorado. Since our flight was delayed, I missed my connecting flight to Durango, Colorado by two minutes. Yes, two minutes. Not knowing what to do, I headed for the nearest ticket agent. As I was standing in this line, I looked at the kiosk that shows the flights and I could see was “DELAYED” on the boards. Flights were being delayed because airports were being closed due to this horrible winter storm that was upon us. The lady in front of me was screaming at the ticket agent, the guy next to her was screaming at the ticket agent in front of him…people were upset. The girl in front of me was demanding that the airlines pay her food and her stay if she couldn’t get on the next flight. The guy next to me was screaming that he didn’t want to go to Pittsburg and demanded that they open up one of the airports that had been closed. The ticket agents were doing the best they could. I had no idea what I was doing so I just stood there watching the people. I could not believe that they were screaming. Seriously, screaming!!

Finally, it was my time to approach the ticket agent. I explained to her that I had no idea what I was doing and that I missed my flight. She took a deep breath and told me that she was sorry. I told her that it wasn’t her fault but if she could help me, I would appreciate it. She looked at my ticket, started working on her computer and then she paused. She looked at the screaming lady that she had been helping and then at me. She then told me that she was going to have the airlines pay for my dinner in the airport and handed me a voucher. She told me that I was scheduled to leave at 10 PM but she would get me on the next two flights on “stand by” status. She explained to me what that was since I had never missed a flight and did not know what the whole process was. I was so grateful. She gave me my boarding passes and my voucher. I thanked her and wished her a good day—the smile on her face was priceless. I had several hours before my first “stand by” flight would be taking off. So, I visited all of the shops, watched the entertaining people, and then decided to get something to eat.

(My dinner in Denver).

I made it on to my first “stand by” flight. The flight attendant started her normal procedure when a guy in the back of the plane starts yelling to get her attention. While she is explaining and the guy is yelling, the plane is starting to taxi out to the runway. She continues on, the guy keeps yelling and finally she stops and asks if he has a problem. He tells her that they have forgotten to close the fuel caps and fuel is flowing out of the plane. She is silent for a second and then continues on with her explanation. The guy starts yelling again and she pauses and looks around. She makes eye contact with a passenger who happens to be a pilot. The pilot looks out his window and says, “Yes, you definitely do have a problem.” She starts to panic because we are now increasing speed. She calls the pilot—we can’t hear the conversation. The plane slows down and stops and we are now being pushed back to get checked out. They have to refuel the plane and FINALLY we are on our way.

I missed the event by 20 minutes.

For the next 48 hours, (I spent all but two hours by myself) I met some interesting people. I had an incredible conversation with the car rental guy, the hotel desk agent, the lady at Wendy’s that was missing most of her teeth but was so delighted about life and all it had brought her, and the Walmart lady who wondered why I had purchased a couple of boxes of tissues and some pickles. I know why I bought the tissues but for the pickles…they just sounded delicious. I watched a zillion Hallmark movies and drove around Fort Lewis campus. I found an incredible clock tower.

My rental car—we became really great friends!

I love clocks and this was one of the coolest ones that I have seen. I attended a basketball game and cheered on the Lady Skyhawks.

(Durango, Colorado Airport)

I left for Provo at 4 am Sunday morning. I made it to Denver on time only to be DELAYED again due to freezing fog! By this time, all I wanted to do was be home!! As I was watching the flights rotate on the screen above me, a lady approached me in a panic. She was frantic and pretty much not in the right frame of mind. She said that she needed to find her flight because she needed to get home. At this moment, I felt this amazing powerful peace come over me. I was supposed to help this lady. I started calming her down. I knew what she was going through. I had just spent the past 48 hours in complete heartache and some reason my heart connected with this lady that I had never met before. I checked her flight and helped her get to the gate she needed to. Peace and gratitude filled my heart.

Finally, the freezing fog lifted and we were able to board the plane. We experienced so much turbulence that the flight attendants did not leave their seats. They would make an announcement every so often that told us that they weren’t going to risk their safety but if we had an emergency, they would come to us. It was bad but for some reason, I fell asleep. When I awoke, I had the most powerful experience. All weekend, I had been asking why my purpose was so important for me to travel to Durango and go through the experiences that I had gone through. Even though, I felt a great amount of peace, I could not understand it. Well, when I awoke, I had the most powerful experience (yes, I just said that but it was awesome). As I opened my eyes, a scripture came to mind. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Then the sweetest spirit touched my heart. I trusted in the Lord with all of my heart and I did what I was supposed to do and what was asked of me. It is the free agency of others that caused the tragic events of this weekend. He will direct my path because I did what I was supposed to do. My heart was filled with so much peace and I just let the tears flows from my eyes. I am sure the guy next to me was wondering what was going on because of all the tears. I am so grateful for a tender loving Heavenly Father who loves me dearly.

As I look back on this weekend, I have been able to see so many tender mercies that took place from plane ticket to the incredible experience that I had on the airplane to Provo. I am truly blessed.

I really am!

~Michelle