In the Midst of Chaos

This year I had the “honor” of flying the day that the Microsoft outage caused worldwide disruption of the airlines’ scheduling systems. I was flying from Raleigh Durham to Houston (and onward to Guatemala City) and our takeoff was delayed for three hours due to thunderstorms in Houston. Unfortunately, this delay caused me to miss my onward flight to Guatemala City and as we were traveling to Houston… the Microsoft outage hit.

Traveling

When I arrived in Houston, I made my way towards my gate which was at the end of the concourse.  As I got closer to the gate, the sea of people became overwhelming. I literally had to squeeze and push past people to make my way to the desk to speak to an agent. As I pressed my way through the crowd, I
noticed that none of the screens at the gates were on and there was no way to confirm which flight was leaving from which gate other than the frazzled airline agents attempting to announce information over the PA systems. People were frustrated and frazzled as they were missing their flights. Computers were down. Airline websites and apps were spotty at best. Gates were changing and information was not correct on the flight monitors. It was chaos.

When I finally got to the desk at the gate, the agent advised me that the next available flight to Guatemala City would arrive TWO DAYS LATER. A quick online search revealed that there was NOTHING available to Guatemala City on any airline for less than $2000 to arrive that day. I accepted the ticket to arrive two days later and got to work searching flights. I had a friend flying into Guatemala City that same day and a mission team coming. I NEEDED to get back ASAP.

One thing I have become well versed in living overseas is putting together itineraries with bits and pieces. I was able to book a flight from Houston to New Orleans, then New Orleans to Ft Lauderdale using the credits from my original flight. I would then switch carriers in Ft Lauderdale and fly out EARLY the next morning to Atlanta. My final flight would be Atlanta to Guatemala City, and I would arrive around 1pm. I would have a six-hour overnight layover in Ft Lauderdale, so sleeping in the airport was also in the cards but I could make it to Guatemala City the next day and pay only $270. I took a deep breath, purchased the itinerary, and headed towards my gate to take me to New Orleans.

New Orleans is one of my all-time favorite cities. The music, the food, the ambiance… even in the airport the whole vibe is different. On my layover in NOLA, I just wandered around the airport and breathed in everything. I deeply inhaled the smells of cajun and creole cooking, listened to jazz piped into every corner of the building, and could hear God’s whispers to my heart that everything would be ok. If I had to detour, New Orleans is probably the place I would pick. Next stop would be my overnight in Ft Lauderdale.

              My Chairs      

If you are ever forced to overnight in an airport, there are websites that will give you the intel on the best places to sleep (big chairs WITHOUT armrests between them, quiet corners, etc). Upon arrival, I directed myself to one of the suggested areas in Ft Lauderdale airport and I managed to score a WHOLE ROW of big chairs without armrests! I felt a little guilty for the people I passed by who were attempting to sleep twisted across armrests of chairs. I stretched out on my chairs, pulled my suitcases close, put in my headphones with white noise, and draped my scarf over my face and settled in. Yes, I COULD have gotten a hotel, but with just six hours of time I opted for an airport nap instead of spending money to stay in a room for three or four hours. Besides, there are things that happen in the middle of the night at the airport that you just don’t experience when you opt for a hotel…. Like the 2am robot cleaners.

 

At 2am I could “feel” that something was moving back and forth in front of me. I couldn’t hear anything due to my headphones, but as I uncovered my face, I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie or one of those hidden camera shows. Directly in front of me at the other side of the hallway was what looked like a big square trashcan moving back and forth completely unattended and unassisted.  I watched in awe as it moved back and forth with no one guiding it thinking… what is this thing?!! Is this the end of the world? That’s when I realized that it was cleaning the floors and was some kind of cleaning robot… Yes. Cleaning robots at 2am. Add that one to the unexpected happenings on this trip. After watching the robot for a few moments, I returned to my chair fort and tried to get more sleep before my early flight and secretly hoped that it wasn’t an assassin cleaning robot 😊.

The Sunrise

As 6am approached, I walked to my gate and nervously awaited updates. After a few moments, I stood up to stretch, and that’s when I saw the sunrise. There’s something about the warm light that infiltrates everything in the early morning hours. The windows of the airport were covered in condensation and the light was bouncing off the drops of water as it passed through the glass. The beauty took my breath.

I heard God whisper “It’s going to be ok… It’s all going to be ok. Yes, you got delayed… but I AM WITH YOU.”  Immediately He reminded me that He took me through one of my favorite cities making the most of an unexpected detour, He showed me the angels ministering to me as I slept in the airport the night before, and He surrounded me with His tangible presence so strong that I felt His arms embracing me. The tears flowed as I stood in that moment just worshiping Him.

 

Our 6am flight to Atlanta was delayed as they tried to get the computer up at the gate; however, my connecting flight to Guatemala City was also THANKFULLY delayed. I made it back to Guatemala City around 3pm that day with tears of gratitude in my eyes. I know I won’t understand on this side of Heaven what God was accomplishing through/in me through this experience. However, I am grateful that God is ALWAYS with us in the midst of the chaos.

 

So many times, we pray that God will take away the sickness, change the situation, or deflect difficulty from our lives; however, that doesn’t always happen. God uses the difficulties, the frustrations, and the unexpected speed bumps in life to show us who He is and help shape us into the person He wants us to be. In this world we will encounter chaos, disorder, and the unexpected. Yet, we must remember that God is ALWAYS PRESENT with us in those moments. Just because He doesn’t change the situation, doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us or we are doing something wrong. We need to always remember, that He is with us even in the midst of the chaos.

THANK YOU for reading my blog and being a part of what God is doing. To find out more about our ministry in Guatemala, head to our website: www.graciaministries.com