Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Here’s one for ya: How many aircraft technicians does it take to change a light bulb? I don’t know, but here’s what actually happened recently.
We had flights booked since March to send our grandson to visit his mother and for me to attend a conference and spend a few days away with my wife. About two months after booking the flights, our flight was cancelled, and we had to reschedule. Not a problem, but it threw us two hours later arriving.
The morning of our flights, I was texted the second leg of our rescheduled flight was cancelled. The ticket agent took care of that after he reassured me our grandson would be on his flight though he’d been placed on standby (remember, we bought that ticket in March). With our re-reschedule, we’d be another 30 minutes later arriving after a four-hour layover AND a flight with a 45-minute stopover without changing planes, although we’d be starting our flights about 90 minutes earlier than the first reschedule.
So, we got the grandson off, and we left about an hour later. While trudging down the jetway after the four-hour layover before the second leg of our re-rescheduled flight, we saw two airline technicians doing some paperwork, and after we got seated, we learned a landing light had to be repaired, leading to another 20-minute delay. Now we know how long it takes to change a light bulb by two aircraft technicians. Remember the riddle? We learned more information than we needed for the answer.
That’s how God does things: He gives us all the information we need to become his children and participate in his divine nature through his indwelling Spirit (2 Peter 1:3-11; Romans 10:8-13; Acts 2:38-39; 22:16). All we need to do is follow his directions (John 14:15-21; Matthew 5:21-27). There are so many good and bad things in this life that can distract us from following God. So we must be careful and not lose sight of what’s important — our salvation (Hebrews 2:1-4; 11:24-26; 12:1-3).
Another delay at the stopover threw us another hour late arriving, and by the time we reached our hotel at 4 a.m., they were about to cancel our reservation. There’s more to our story regarding the rental car, travel illness, another hotel and flights home (all of them, including more re-schedules), but space limits prevent me from providing those details.
In the end, everything worked out, including an upgraded hotel room. I also used the situation as the basis for this article, and I had plenty of time during the second leg of our re-rescheduled flight out to write the first draft, even pecking it out on my trusty seven-inch tablet, one character at a time, because I didn’t get to sit next to my beloved. I did get to sit next to her on the third leg of our re-rescheduled flight. Now we’re home safe, including our luggage. God is good that way (Romans 8:28).
Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]