As I stood in my bedroom packing my bags yesterday, I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten. “Pray for the person you sit by on the plane today.”
I am taking a personal retreat to begin writing on my next project – HEARTfelt. The plan was to be a hermit of sorts and confine myself to a small hotel room with my computer. I was so looking forward to having some uninterrupted time to pray, think, read and write. To be alone with the stories that these women have shared with me to put into this project. To enter their hearts a bit and watch what God does with mine in the process.
In my mind, the plane trip was just a means to get me to my destination where the real stuff would happen. Funny how I can so easily forget that God’s thoughts are far beyond my own and that He can move and work in the seemingly mundane and ordinary of our lives. “Pray for the person you sit by on the plane today.”
And so I did. Honestly, it wasn’t the most heartfelt prayer I’ve ever prayed. All I really wanted to do on that plane was rest and read. But because of the countless times I have seen God do His thing while I’m belted into a too small seat next to two strangers, I prayed any way.
As so often happens, the seat mate God had prepared for me was one of the last ones on the plane. Just about the time that I think that there might be an open seat next to me, they show up. Enter Charlie. I knew from the moment that he crawled over me that it was going to be a fun trip. With a bit of an Irish accent that made each word a little happier than normal, it was obvious that this young man had a wonderful sense of humor and a zest for life that was contagious.
We shared stories of life, family and the profound things that have changed our lives forever. The good and the bad. Those things that have taken our hearts to new depths of understanding and compassion and appreciation.
Once again, I “happened” to have my book with me. Actually, my very last one. I shared it with Charlie and as he looked through it and read the back cover, I was able to share a bit of how God had used this project to grow me.
Charlie, if you are reading this post, I want to say thank you. Thanks for sitting next to me on a plane and being such a tangible example of God’s hands in my every day happenings. Thank you for sharing your heart and for letting me share mine. Your hearty laughter was just one more reminder of God’s delight in bringing together strangers to make a little impact in each of their lives. Your sense of humor highlighting the fact that Jesus smiles when these things happen. And the accent? To me, that was just an audible picture of God doing out of the box things with such flair – in our own language, but better. 🙂
How much will I accomplish on this personal retreat? I have no idea. But if the only purpose was to share a little of Jesus’ love with a once complete stranger, then I am absolutely okay with that. One more illustration from God, the AUTHOR and perfecter of my faith, and the WRITER of the book that is my life…
Hebrews 12:2 – Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…
