Life on Standby

"I didn't know this was happening today....!!!"

That's a favorite SNL line of ours that we like to repeat in the moments when life gets real crazy. Today's that day!!

I've been flying standby since I was 6 years old. Because of this I've gotten really used to holding onto my plans loosely. I get excited with expectations and possibilities in life but I try to hold on loosely until they actually come to pass. Living a life where you don't know whether you'll get home to see someone you love or make it to a graduation or wedding would be full of disappointment and let down otherwise.

So I got up at 4am this morning hoping that I would fly home. I had huge desires in my heart to fly to GA and see my mom and wrap my arms around my twin sister. I was planning on driving to the beach with some of my best friends. I just hoped it would all come true. But by 6:15 this morning the first flight had already come and gone. You get two chances a day to get on a plane when you live in El Paso and fly standby with Delta. Two opportunities for your plans to come true or break. And by lunch time there would be no question about my day. I would either be having dinner with my family that I haven't seen in months or on my way back to my apartment wondering how I will get to FL now that I have missed my ride with my friends.

The next plane was full but I was hopeful. You never really know, and if you hold out long enough lots of times the unexpected happens. As I watched everyone board the plane I tried not to plan the rest of my day. I tried not to be swayed one way or the other by the expectation of seeing my sister and going to the beach or going back to my apartment. I tried to stay neutral. Until at the last minute when they called my name to get on the plane. And as I ran down the tarmac to my seat I sent off a text message full of exclamation points that said, "I'm coming home!!!!!!!!"

Home.
This meant dinner with my sister and surprising my dad and the rest of my family. Hearing stories and seeing pictures of all that I've missed. And then getting up to drive to the beach with some of my closest friends in the morning. As I texted my friends we talked about how Jesus instantaneously answered our prayers! I remember the moment when I turned my phone off, sank into my chair and let out a huge deep breath of relief. I had made it! As I breathed into the fact that I was actually going home my eyes welled up with tears and I realized how much I need this; how much I miss these people and this home; how exhausted I am and how I can't wait to just "be."

And then it came. The announcement on the loud speaker after the doors had been closed and the security procedures were about to begin. The announcement that said to disarm the doors. And then they started to call names one by one. And there it was, "Girle" please come to the front of the plane and bring your luggage. And I knew it, everything I had just sunk into, everything I just thanked God for, all the plans I finally let myself make in my head, had changed. I wasn't going to have dinner with my family, I wasn't going to the beach in the morning with my friends, and I didn't even know how I would get there at all because the flights are booked and my friends were leaving. We had been sitting on the plane too long and as the temperatures outside rose the weight that the plane could carry and fly safely dropped. Due to weight restrictions they had to call all 5 standbys that had just sunk into their plans, right back off.

We stared. My phone came back on. The exclamation mark texts were followed up by "I'm not coming..."

The flight attendant suggested that we all rent a car and drive to Albuquerque together. We are all seasoned standby travelers and understand how this works. Plans come and go, things change, and you make decisions based on questions rather than answers. Today was done. None of us would make it to GA today. But in the morning there are more flights and more seats and more opportunities out of Albuquerque to give our plans one more shot. El paso was overbooked all weekend and out of the running.

So after a few quick phone calls, we all exchanged names and embraced our new plans for today. For some reason God had brought the 5 of our lives together and we were going to find out why. We jumped in a car and filled the hours with the stories of who we are.

Bridget is from France and has been living in the states for 20+ years. She's traveled the world and speaks 3 different languages.

Ralph is from Alabama and in the Air Force. His wife Dee is from California. They are stationed in Alamogordo. We shared our thoughts on faith and life and how we're both Christians following Jesus but not really bought into the Christian culture of the world. We dig the same tunes and have been exchanging artists along the road.

Lyndl is from a small town in GA and actually went on a Casas por Cristo trip 7 years ago. Her church in Jonesboro gave me the trailer that I use to carry my tools every week in Mexico and we know the same friends. Her daughter actually played softball against Ralph's team last week in Alamogordo. We were all in the same place at the same time passing by, but it wasn't time for all of our their lives to collide until now.

Tomorrow we'll all rise early hoping to continue the plans that we set out for today. But in this moment as 5 strangers become friends in a car with just enough seats and packed with the exact amount of luggage we can carry, our lives have come together for a reason, and we intend to find out why.

"Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

"Hold into your plans loosely, they're all about to change."




I'm not having dinner with my family right now. My brother isn't kicking me and I'm not hugging my sister. My dad isn't handing me pictures and my step-mom isn't telling me stories about their trip. This is not what I would have chosen. But, I also only see the small picture in life, so, I am here. And I will trust and seek and take advantage of every moment this opportunity brings.

What if everyday I said the same thing that I can see clearly today?...
"I don't know why I'm here God, but I trust you have a plan."
How much would that change everything?