Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Can I Get An Amen?

And all the people said..."AMEN!" I was little, but I remember being raised in a Southern Baptist Church in the middle of the Bible Belt itself, that people did do this. The preacher would stand at his pulpit (often one that my father had built for the church) and he would say something profound. Just as soon as he did, he would come back with "And all the people said..." trailing off just long enough to give the que for everyone in the congregation not too shy to speak, to give out a hearty and well deserved "Amen!" I need that today! God did something kinda cool.

God is always doing cool things in my life, so one more won't hurt if I tell you about it. I won't mention the name of the school I was suppose to be visiting today. I won't mention the name of the principal who could possibly be blamed, I won't even say the name of the CITY because it's not the fault of the people of that glorious city - - God did something cool today.

Last night my manager asked me to be at the airport at X time, and to fly out at X time in order to make my connection in Dallas (I can say Dallas, it's OK). I always fly through OKC to Dallas, Chicago, or Atlanta because that's how we have to make our connections to wherever it is that we are ultimately going. Now, I will say this, I fly to Dallas enough that I should just move there! I prefer living in Chicago, but I fly to Dallas so often for events and to visit with the men and women in the USO...I should just move to Dallas. When Mike asked me to be at the airport I told him it wouldn't be a problem. We live 15 minutes away - it doesn't matter what time of the day I'm expected.

Mike then added these words "Oh, the principal didn't want you to use any religious overtones or Christian wording in your presentation." I had to laugh. My dog is the reason I travel, I tell her story. I tell the whole story, the complete story - we begin the story simply by introducing the dog, whose very name is a religious overtone. Her name is FAITH. He understood, but he said the principal was adamant about it, and that they tried to keep it all on an even playing field. Wow, God made every playing field out there - right? OK...I'll do what I'm asked, but that didn't stop me from praying about it. I asked God to let something happen so that the principal herself could ask me something about my personal faith or maybe a kid who needed to hear God's word today.

This morning I got up at 4:37. I showered. I dressed. I got myself and my dog into my car at 5:10 and we made it to the airport. Our flight wasn't until a little after 6:00 so we were fine. Oklahoma City's airport, though named Will Rogers WORLD Airport, isn't all that big. You can make it through the terminal and the security in usually about 30 minutes. However, today it was really really crowded. I got there in time, and we made it past every check point with a few minutes to spare - but there was a problem with that particular flight - - weather. Not weather in OKC so much, although it was raining buckets. The weather was in Dallas where my connecting flight was. They put a delay on MY flight. I wasn't going to make it in time to do the show. It just seemed...oh, I don't know...Godly.

I called my manager told him what the 6 men in American Airlines white shirts and blue jackets were saying at the gate. They discussed it over and over, and decided that one flight (my connection) in Dallas could be cancelled to allow others to have the time slot to make their connecting flights if and when our plane took off. It did finally take off, but I wasn't on it. EVERYONE else on the plane was on the plane a little later, but MY connection was cancelled....you just gotta love God.

This is Passion Week. Show a little of it! If someone tells me not to use religious overtones for their presentation - OK...but I'm asking God to do His work any which way He chooses. My dog's name is Faith for a reason.

1 comment:

jstringfellow said...

By the way, I'm no longer a member of the Southern Baptist Church. I am a member of an Independent church because I don't like organized religion. I love Jesus.