God has a sense of humor

Today is the day I left camp to go home and take my area Young Life kids to a camp (Windy Gap) in North Carolina. I purposefully purchased tickets out of Flagstaff (only 40min away from Lost Canyon) because I knew it would be easy for someone from camp to get me there, and would not be a big burden. It just means taking a small duel prop plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. What little did I know about these small planes though. They can be quite unpredictable when it comes to take off times. Because they are so small, they only fly when the conditions are right. Okay, back to my day (I am rewinding now). I start my day off by working with my guys for a half day at camp. It was hard to say goodbye to the people I had created relationships with over the past 3 weeks, but I did. I got my bag packed and then sat down to read in the Bible for a bit before it was time to go. I entered into a time of prayer, where I specifically said to God, "if you want me to be relational on this trip home, then I will do whatever you want me to, but if not, I really just want to read my book." It's funny though, because I never expected God to set something up for me, and I fully intended to read the book I wanted to read. I then got picked up by Mark Booth, the intern coordinator and he took me to Flagstaff so I could get on my plane. After 40 minutes or so of good conversation in the car, I arrived at the airport. The Flagstaff airport is a little hoe dunk airport that only has small duel prop airplanes fly in and out, mostly just to Phoenix (about a 35-45 minute flight). When I arrived, the sign said, "4:35PM flight to Phoenix DELAYED." I thought to myself, ohh great what now." As I waited in the line of people, the gentlemen announced that the plane would not be flying out today, and that they could get us out first thing tomorrow. I said, "Well I have a 6:50 connecting flight, how are you going to get me there?" He said, "you can try car pooling with some of the other passengers sir." I was about to get frustrated when all of a sudden, a really nice man walked up to me and asked what was going on. I explained that they just canceled the flight. He then told me that he was in town on business and would be happy to re-rent his vehicle from the rental agency and drive us both to Phoenix. I smiled and thanked him while agreeing to go with him. Just then I looked up with my eyes and said to God, "Okay, I get it, i'm sorry for being selfish" and looked forward to the drive.

The mans name was Billy and he was an extremely good guy.While I learned his story, I got the chance to tell him mine. It was pretty much a two hour trip of me sharing my testimony and talking about Young Life to this guy. It was really neat because through my story I kept telling him that, "Everything happens for a reason, and God is in control of it." Right as we pulled into the airport, I said it one last time. He said to me, "Ya know, a lot of people say that, but when you say it, I believe you." That simple phrase blessed the heck out of me and I know God set up that car trip.

I had to rush to get to my plane on time. I just hardly made it too. But I did, and silly me, I immideatly was back in the mind set of, "Ohh I can't wait to sit down and read this book." And again, God had different plans. As I approached my window seat, There was a middle aged woman who looked like she had been crying, and a teenager already sitting next to where I would take my place for the flight. I am ashamed to say it, but I thought to myself, "ohh I really hope this teenager isn't a jerk" and took my seat. Still half wanting to get my book out of my carry on, I sat down and introduced myself to the kid, I forgot his name (not because I didn't think he was important, but because I am forgetful). He ended up being an awesome kid with a huge heart. He has 2 sets of parents because of an early divorce in his life, and a half brother with down syndrome. The guy is a really great guy, who needed to do a lot of talking. And that is just what we did for the next 3 hours. He is on the right path, and is ever close to really entering into an awesome relationship with Christ, if not already there. I felt he was in a really good place. The woman was flying to Indiana to see her step-mom, she had tickets to go stay with her in the hospital, but on the day she was to fly out to see her (today), her step mother passed away without warning. She was extremely emotional, and only cared about drinking. I could tell she was a big drinker whether death was present or not. It made her cringe a bit when I talked with my 17 year old friend about my relationship with Christ. But, she never voiced any opinion either way. I told her I would pray for her, and she thanked me. I have been praying for her too. I had plans today to do what I wanted. I prayed that God use me however, but did not expect to be used in the slightest. I learned today that I must always expect to be used by God no matter my frame of mind or expectation level. I wonder how many times must I learn this lesson.