Divine Outcome from Yet Another Blunder

And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

I’ve lately commented on how embarrassing it is how many of my “God stories” start out with something dumb I’ve done. I guess God is showing He has a sense of humor. Or keeping me humble. Or both.

After almost two weeks visiting my sister in Arizona, I was packing to fly home the next morning while she was at an appointment. The phone rang shortly after she’d left, and I was mildly surprised to see her name pop up on caller I.D.

“Hey, I was supposed to remind you to go online and get your boarding pass for tomorrow.”

“Oh, yes! Thanks! – Shoot, it’s less than 24 hours now!”

It’s important for me to get in an early boarding group when I’m carrying my guitar. Although my favorite airline, Southwest, is the only one I’ve never had trouble with in that department, if I’m at the end of the line and the overhead compartments are all filled, I might be forced to check the expensive instrument, with no guarantee it’ll arrive in one piece. (See link below for a poignant story about one such episode.)

https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2019/06/07/that-passenger/

With a precarious internet connection, I was having trouble getting to the website where I could secure my boarding pass, so I opted to call the airline. The cell connection wasn’t much better. (Wouldn’t you think a big metropolis like Cave Creek would have better service?)

I reached a menu, stated my purpose for the call, and waited on hold for a tense few minutes. When the agent answered, she asked for my confirmation number, and I scrambled to find it in my emails. She kept saying, “You’re cutting out…” and I kept moving to get a better signal …

Instead, I lost the connection. (As my son used to say as a toddler, “Fry again.”)

The second time, I was perched on a chair on the patio trying simultaneously to avoid the burning sun while keeping the connection. This time I was asked for the confirmation number before a real person came on, and when I gave it, I was told it had “expired.” – Huh???

I redialed and requested an agent right away. While I waited, I took another look at that weeks-old email from the airline and suddenly got that sinking feeling. My return date was down as …

TODAY!?! The flight I was booked on (and apparently misremembered) was already in the air!

When the nice lady came on, I blurted out my dilemma and asked if there was room on tomorrow’s flight. She said there were “still seats available.” Since I only needed one seat, I figured this was good news. The bad news was, one of these seats would cost over $700 – more than my original round trip. I gasped. What about other flights? I asked. Other routes home would involve changing planes (a pain when I’m carrying my guitar and trying to get it stowed on two flights) and getting in late at night. And these were still over $500. I asked about my “points,” but I didn’t have enough. She said I could “buy points” and get on the flight the day after for under $400. That was progress, and I was pretty sure my sister would have loved to have me stay another day, but I would have had to reschedule appointments back home and …

While I was frantically weighing the options, the sweet lady finally said, as if she had just gotten permission, “I think I can get you on tomorrow’s flight for the price you paid for the original ticket.” (Less than $200) I could’ve kissed her.

“This is why I love Southwest!!!” I gushed. She even got my boarding pass for me and sent me the link in a text. Although I cringed to see I was in Boarding Group C, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

… and curiosity.

OK, this better not just be my stupidity again. I wondered if there was another reason I was supposed to be on that plane…

Being one of the last ones on, I wouldn’t have much choice of seats. Good. God can seat me wherever He wants me.

In case I ran out of reasons to exercise faith, my phone couldn’t connect to my sister’s printer, so I had to trust it would open up and show my boarding pass when the time came.

Of course, it wouldn’t open up as I checked my bags. The man at the counter was kind enough to just take my photo I.D. and look up my flight.

“Will I need my boarding pass at the gate, or will my photo I.D. work there, too?”

“You’ll need your boarding pass,” he said. “That’s why I printed it for you,” he added, smiling and handing me the document.

“This is why I love Southwest!” I gushed again.

As expected, I was one of the last to board, and there was room in one overhead compartment for my guitar. At first it didn’t look that way. But the flight attendant believed me when I said it could slide back behind the other bags, and she did some shifting and rearranging and got it in. Perfect fit!

“This is why I love Southwest!” I gushed yet another time.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I took the last available seat, next to a man named Paul …

To be continued …

Prayer: Father in heaven, I love how You take my blunders and turn them into a good story. You show that You can bring good out of any situation, even my weakness, ignorance, and fallenness. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me and make atonement for my sins on the Cross. And thank You for giving Your Holy Spirit to guide me through each day, including and especially on the unexpected detours I don’t understand and don’t like. Help me to trust You with it all. In Jesus’ name, amen.