Dimes in the Darndest Places

I love to travel, but I hate to travel alone.  Sometimes, however, I just have to. 
And this was one of those times.



I had just had the most wonderful January weekend with my husband in the Seattle area. We had just snowshoe hiked on Mt. Rainier, witnessed glaciers, travelled to the top of the Space Needle, and shopped in the Pike Place Market.

Monday morning came and he had to get to work and I had to return home.  Alone. I had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon and my flight was scheduled to arrive late Monday night.  It was raining in Seattle when I departed, but that is nothing new.

For some reason it took forever for my plane to get off of the ground and into the air.  The flight was running behind and everyone on the plane was stressing about making connections in Atlanta.  The ATL.  I have flown in and out of there enough times to know that delays in Atlanta are almost a given.  I wasn't too worried about it.  I knew I was on the last flight out to Wilmington, but they had had all day to get behind schedule.  However, I breathed a prayer asking for favor with my flight connection.

I arrived in Atlanta with thirty minutes before my flight was to depart.  No problem, I thought.  I know the airport well and was prepared to make a mad dash to my gate.  I jogged as fast as my legs and carry-on bag would allow and arrived at the gate to find...the door closed.  Breathless, I gasped, "What!?!?"  Her reply, "We didn't think you would be able to make it in time."

So me and my carry on made our way to get our prearranged hotel arrangement voucher and a boarding pass for Tuesday morning from the Delta counter.  We stood outside at ground transportation waiting for our shuttle to a hotel I had never heard of.  Other shuttles came and went and returned, but a few of us continued to wait.  We even had the excitement of seeing an unattended bag being confiscated by airport security. 

It was actually colder in Atlanta, Georgia, than it had been the entire weekend in Washington. I had a ski jacket, boots, mittens, etc., all packed in my bag that was sitting snuggly somewhere in the airport.

I cringed as we arrived at the hotel.  It was nearing midnight by now.  I requested a 5 am wakeup call and found the elevator to my room.  The sign on the door said "no smoking" but the guest before me must not have seen it.

I dropped my belongings on the bed and picked up my cell to call my husband.  I was mad at the airline, disgusted with the hotel, concerned about tomorrow's appointment, and tired.  All good excuses to have a good cry about now.

Before speed-dialing my man, I remembered my request for God's favor with my connection.  Why hadn't He granted me favor?  It wasn't because I didn't ask this time. I did.  Now I added the feeling of being ignored to my list of excuses to cry.  But no tears fell.

I was being a big baby.  Big deal.  A night in Atlanta.  So what?  For crying out loud!

I hit the send button on my phone.  My husband answered and I began to tell him about my situation. I spelled it out in great detail...the late arrival, the closed door, the frigid wait. And as I started to plop down on the chair so that I could give a few details about my accommodations, God showed up at my pity party. Even when it wasn't a big deal. There, barely visible in the dimly lit room, was a dime--wedged between the arm and cushion of the chair. The tears began to freely flow at that point.  I interrupted myself as I said, "I found a dime."

My husband knows what dimes mean to me.  When I find a dime, it is a tangible sign from God that He is aware and that He cares.  God may have answered "no" to my prayer for favor with my connection, but that did not mean that I did not have His favor.  He knew right where I was.  And in the midst of my pity party, He said, "I care."

GPS

I didn't need one in Indiana, but I don't know what I would do without it in North Carolina. Maybe it's because I'm new to North Carolina, and I knew Indiana. My GPS in not a luxury it is a necessity here in Wilmington. I'm telling you, I love my GPS!!

As I look back over my travels and relocations, I'd have to say that while I was doing the thing, it all looked like a road map to me. Not a nice, neat, spiral bound Atlas. Not a laminated version. A crumpled up, can't-figure-out-how-to-fold-this-darn-thing paper map.

Which way do I turn? For pitty sake, which way do I even hold the thing? I'm the person that looks at a map and has to rotate the map when we make a turn to keep it straight in my head. So, I need a GPS.

I also need a GPS for life, but it seems all I have is a ratty old paper map. I try to keep twisting and turning it with each new crossroad, but somehow can't seem to fold it up all nice and neat. Where is my GPS!??!?

Yet, when I look back over my travels, it seems to all make sense to me now. In Indiana, God did some extensive training. He sent me to college to be a teacher and to Big Brothers Big Sisters to learn the importance of mentoring.

Then in Coastal Georgia, He whispered a calling to minister through one-to-one relationships. On up the road in North Georgia, He challenged me by expanding the vision to include adults as well as children.

When the northern trek continued, He took me to Iowa to start merging the knowledge with the vision. And as I returned to the South and the Coast, He allowed a returning to my roots with a school-based mentoring ministry. The scene through the rearview mirror might look clearer now, but the front windshield sure was pretty fogged up along the way.

Of course, you were probably screaming at me the whole time you were reading this, "God is your GPS, fool. Shut up and listen!!" And if you were, you are right.

Major Marker: Alone with God

After six days Jesus took

Peter, James and John

with him and led them up a high mountain,

where they were all alone.

There he was transfigured before them.

Mark 9:2 NIV

Then Jesus went with them

to a garden called Gethsemane

and told his disciples,

"Stay here while I go over there and pray."

Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee...

Matthew 26:36 MSG

If for one second you have ever been tempted to think that living life with Christ would be boring...well, I'm here to tell you that you are flat out WRONG.

OK, so I went to Coastal Georgia. Saw the ocean. Cast my sins to the ocean floor and haven't the slightest desire to jump in after them. Not to say there aren't times the thought crosses my mind. But that's where it ends. I've seen the power of the ocean and a few of the creatures in the sea and have decided I like staying on the beach!!

But then God said to pack my bags...and suggested I'd need a world atlas for this next jaunt. That's right. I lived the next year out of a suitcase. It took me north to Atlanta, and further still north to Michigan. If that were not enough, we then traveled west to get to the Far East.

From famine of biological family and feasting with spiritual siblings, He took me further still for some one-on-one time with the Father and the Word.

The Word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory,

the glory of the One and Only,

who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 NIV