A Lesson in Faith
The last week of October 2021, Sandy asked Susan and I to fly to Guadalajara, Mexico, to meet a potential investor. We really did not want to go, it was short notice, we were in the middle of Covid, and in order to return to the U.S., we would have to test negative for Covid within 3 days of our flight. However, God had other plans for us and made it very clear He wanted us to go, sign, after sign, after sign. So, on Friday, October 29th we flew to Dallas on American Airlines, then on to Guadalajara. On top of everything else that was stressing me about the trip, American airlines began cancelling flights on Friday that went through the Dallas Hub, blaming bad weather and tight staffing. It was only going to get worse.
We landed in Guadalajara and immediately went to get our Covid tests. We were flying back on the U.S. on November 1st, so my plan was to get tested before we had a chance to show positive. Our window of opportunity closed if we did not leave on the 1st. Mission accomplished, we were all set as long as we departed on schedule.
As we spent the next days in meetings, the news kept getting worse, American Airlines cancelled 340 flights on Friday, another 543 on Saturday, and then 840 on Sunday. I had to put all my faith in God, that since He sent us on this trip, He was going to get us home safely. God has been working with me on faith, and a big part of that is visualizing what I believe will happen.
So, Sunday night as I was lying in bed, I started visualizing Susan and myself sitting on the airplane in Guadalajara, I’m sitting in my seat, I’m wearing my red sweater, Susan is beside me, the plane is full, and we are good to go. I kept going over the visual, strengthening my faith that we would be home tomorrow. Then a heard a booming voice in my head, think Samuel L. Jackson, saying “you’re doing it wrong!”, followed by somewhat calmer voice saying “visualize flying home”. Wasn’t that what I was doing? Well, I was visualizing sitting on the plane, so maybe I should visualize flying into Dallas. If we made it to Dallas, and flights were cancelled, we could rent a car to get home, or stay with Susan’s brother in Dallas. So my new faith focus was arriving safely in Dallas, and I imagined just that, I’m wearing my red sweater and I’m on the plane, but this time the plane was flying, and then landed in the U.S.
Early Monday morning, Dusty and Gris took us to the airport and stayed with us until it was time to board. Susan and I made our way through security and to our gate. After a little while, here comes the flight crew, all toting their wheeled suitcases. This is a great step. Soon we board the plane and settle into seats 27a and 27b. I’m wearing my red sweater and I let out a sigh of relief, we have it made now. However, we sit, and we sit, and it’s now a half hour past our takeoff time. After a little while, the stewardess announces that “we are sorry for the delay; we have a crew issue”.
Ten minutes later “Ladies and Gentlemen, this flight is cancelled”. What’s going on? I had faith we were going to be in Dallas this morning, I had visualized us flying!
They told everyone to get their bags and to exit the aircraft, as I watched in disbelief, row after row of passengers stood up, got their bags and headed to the exit. This continued until the folks in rows 25 and 26 stood up, and then they made another announcement, “please take a seat, any seat”. So now, all of us behind row 26 were still sitting in our original seats, half of the people had exited the plane and others were sprinkled is random seats. After another five minutes we hear “Ladies and Gentlemen, this flight is NOT cancelled”. As people started returning to the plane, I looked over to Susan and said “you’re doing it wrong”.
I think I heard God chuckle as this lesson sunk in, you have to visualize the goal, not the steps to get to the goal. Have faith in the end result, God has many paths to get you there. If you visualize and concentrate on a step that seems logical to you, but not aligned with God’s path, you just might be left siting on that step.