The Journey Home

Kim and I recently returned from a trip to the Bahamas with my brother and some of his family.  When my brother approached us about going on the trip with them, we had to count our pennies to see if we could afford to make the trip.  The only way that we were able to go was that we paid for the airfare with air miles that we had earned on our credit card so that the flight was essentially free.

When we booked the flights, we were able to get tickets down to the Bahamas together but the only flight options available for the return had Kim leaving on Tuesday, flying through Ft. Lauderdale and with me leaving on Wednesday, flying through West Palm Beach and Newark, New Jersey.  Our journey home would end up having Kim fly back alone and my return voyage taking over 12 hours to complete, putting me back in Houston at midnight

Needless to say, I tried and tried to change the return tickets before we left and was unsuccessful.  We ended up driving two cars to the airport so that we could both get home from our separate flights on two different days.

We made it to the Bahamas and spent nearly a week of fishing, snorkeling, touring the area and spending time with my brother and his family.  Finally, it was time for us to begin our journey back home.  On Tuesday, our guide and I took Kim by boat to the marina where she caught a cab to the airport for her return flight.

We then went back to the large trawler where everyone was fishing, turned down the two-way radio and began watching an old Clint Eastwood movie.  After an hour or so, a boat pulled up alongside us and asked us to turn our radio back on to channel fourteen.  They then advised us over the radio, "You have a person at the airport whose flight has been delayed.  She needs for you to pick her back up!"

We hurried back into the small boat and tore out for the marina, where we found Kim waiting at the dock for us.  It turned out that her flight had been delayed for a day due to mechanical problems.

The next day, we made the same trip to the marina where Kim and I both unloaded and hailed a cab.  Since my flight was at noon and hers wasn't until several hours later, we dropped her off at a shopping area where the cabbie agreed to pick her back up in a couple of hours.

I checked in at the little airport in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas for my flight to West Palm, Newark and Houston, then went outside and took a seat.  Momentarily, one of the clerks came out and asked, "Where is your wife?  We've got her on the same flight with you to West Palm Beach!"  I told her that she was in a shopping area and she told me to come with her.  We got into her car and tore out for the shopping area where we had left Kim.  Don't expect that to happen in Houston!

We soon found her and headed back to the airport to get her boarding pass.  The clerks had changed her flight so that now she was supposed to have a flight from West Palm directly to Houston.  For some reason, they were unable to print her boarding pass for the trip to Houston and said that we'd have to wait to get those in West Palm.

We made the short flight in the puddle jumper to West Palm where we went through customs and quickly made our way to the counter to get Kim's boarding passes.  I already was in possession of the boarding passes for my long flight home through New Jersey.  We told the agent what we needed and she asked to see our identification and my boarding passes as well.

We stood there for what seemed an eternity as she pecked on her keyboard, called her supervisor over for guidance, pecked some more and then handed what looked like a boarding pass to me.  "Here's a voucher to get you both by taxi to Ft. Lauderdale airport, and here's both of your boarding passes for a direct flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Houston, arriving at 7:25 pm this evening.

I was stunned!  I had tried with all of my power to get the flights changed so that we could fly home together and was only met with frustration.  Now without our even trying, we would be together for the entire journey.  Only God could have orchestrated the events that kept us together!

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."  God has untold blessings in store for those who follow Him.  Sometimes when we least expect it, God reminds us that He is in control and that He is walking along beside us on our life's journey.  Remember to walk by faith and not by sight, for it is the only way to live the life abundant in Christ Jesus.