Today I was supposed to be on a plane to Seattle.  We have been prepping for this trip for a month.  I was going to fly out around noon today and fly all day Thursday to be home right after 5.  I was super excited about it.  Traveling alone is one of my happy places.  I can do what I want when I want.  I don’t get lonely, I really like it.

Today Randy dropped me off at the airport and I flew through the security line.  Everything seemed like it was going great.  Too bad I had this little nagging feeling in the back of my head/pit of my stomach.  It just didn’t feel right.  Long story short, the plane I was supposed to take out of San Antonio was struck by lightning in flight from Dallas.  I’m sure that happens, but it seems pretty unlikely to me.  We waited and waited and waited and finally they told us the crummy news.  Our flight was canceled.  They got me booked on the next flight to Seattle, but I wouldn’t land until 10:30pm.  If this was a trip to ANY other refinery this would be no problem.  I would miss my ride with my boss (who was on a different flight) but I could just take a taxi to the hotel and it wouldn’t be a big deal.  Unfortunately the Anacortes refinery is 90 minutes from the Seattle airport.  Not only would I have to rent an additional car, but I wouldn’t get to the hotel until well after midnight.  And I would have to drive in the cold and dark all alone.  I have done this before, but this time it just didn’t feel right.

I walked down to my boss’ gate and he told me to stay home.  I was SO very disappointed.  I went home and prayed about the situation.  I prayed that I would find peace with the situation and would have a good attitude for my kids.  Then I took a long (fantastic) nap and by the time I woke up I did feel better about the situation.

I have no idea why I wasn’t supposed to get on that flight, but I am at peace that I wasn’t supposed to.  I am sure that I will never know why I should have been home this week, but tonight I am thankful.  I’m thankful to be writing this blog post from my living room.  I’m thankful that I didn’t have to worry about the logistics of bringing home about 75 ounces of breast milk on a plane. I’m thankful I got to hold both of my babies tonight and didn’t have to worry about how stressed out Randy was at home alone with both of them.  More than anything I’m thankful that I listened to God when he told me to change my plans.  It isn’t an easy thing to do.  Stop your agenda and listen to what His plan is.  But man it felt good.  Let’s hope I can be smart enough to listen next time he wants me to do something contrary to my grand plan.

This is what I got to look at tonight instead of an empty hotel room!!

JB