The text popped in and through instant tears I read: “Mom, I made it!”
Our daughter, flying home this past November for deer hunting and staying through Thanksgiving, was heading back to Texas on a flight out of Appleton, with a one-hour layover in Chicago. Getting her to the airport around 9:30 that morning, it hadn’t started snowing. Yet.
Watching the weather intently, we noticed a storm had started brewing a few days earlier in Texas no less, heading north right about the time our daughter would be heading south. Lovely.
Keeping in touch via text messaging, we monitored her progress. Also, she had shared her flight plan with me so I could see the virtual plane on a map making its way slowly north — the one our daughter was to board at 10:50 a.m.
1:01 p.m.: “This plane is still not here.” I could sense her disappointment without hearing her voice.
“It’s not for sure canceled yet but it keeps getting pushed back and pushed back. I’ve rebooked. My new connecting flight in Chicago is 3:15 p.m.”
At 1:09 p.m., she texted her plane just got there, two-hours plus past the original time. Her rebooked connecting flight was at a gate right next to where she’d land, which was handy. The next text message was ominous.
“Mom, they have to de-ice the plane. Pray I make this new connection, it’ll be tight.”
Immediately, I started praying and to comfort her I sent her the prayer exactly as I was talking to God: “Father, move your hand swiftly over the plane; heat, holy heat. Father God, in the natural, make happen supernaturally. Delay the departure from Chicago so that your daughter will be seated and ready.”
Before praying, I felt anxious helplessness. After praying with conviction, I knew deep in my innermost being that he would intervene. It was a reassurance, a settled-ness, a knowledge that I was not begging my father, for he is my daddy and a child does not have to beg for favor. I had no clue what he was up to, but oh I knew his good hand was on this.
Her next text was, “Just landed in Chicago. Still on the plane. Totally missed my connection. Dang. I have to rebook.” (She wouldn’t have to.)
My heart sunk, but again, overriding this was a certainty that he was moving. I cannot explain it, but what happened next proved it.
“Mom. I’m still on the plane and my app isn’t working so I have to talk to a human once I get into the airport.”
I kept praying, thanking him for intervening, that she will get where she needs to go without having to stay overnight at O’Hare. I checked again.
“Flight AA1674 – en route.”
Oh-no-oh-no.
Then a text … “Mom, can you check that flight again?? It just said delayed but idk if that’s right.”
I checked again. I blinked. Read it twice making sure I could comprehend what I was reading: “Flight AA1674 to Dallas – delayed 15 minutes.”
The next text from Jess literally made me burst into tears. “Mom. I made it! Mom, I cannot! Oh my gosh, God is real!”
There was no reason why this flight, which had been posted as en route was in fact, delayed 15 minutes, enough time for my daughter to sprint at a dead run, from one plane to the next. The flight attendant at first thought she wasn’t supposed to be on, but she figured it out and let her board.
Had her app worked while waiting to get off the plane, she’d have scheduled a flight she wouldn’t have needed. God saw and assisted his daughter. However, little did we know, the saga would continue.
Later that night, just after 7 p.m., as she was riding with a friend from DFW to Tyler, I received a heart-sinking text: “I think I might have lost my wallet. Mom. Ugh. I can’t find it in my bag. I called Appleton airport, and their lost and found is closed.”
Calling her immediately, we discussed options and after assuring her this stuff happens to people all the time (her response: “But not to me!”), we hung up, promising to stay in touch and to pray.
“Here we go again, Father God! We need yet another favor from you, that some kind soul would have discovered the wallet and turned it into airport security. Father, we know again, Your good hand is on her and this situation.” That same sense of assurance settled upon me; his holy spirit quieting my heart.
Mid-morning next day, she called. “Mom. They found my wallet! In O’Hare!”
We were speechless. She made arrangements for it to be delivered to her home. Had she needed to rebook in Chicago, she’d have had no means to pay for food or a flight; her credit cards, debit card weren’t in her possession, and she didn’t realize it until she was on her way to Tyler. But he knew.
God is always in control; trust him, he is so good.
(“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9)
Kay Reminger was born and raised on a dairy farm, and she married her high school sweetheart, who happened to farm for a living in Leopolis. Writing for quite a few years, she remains focused on the blessings of living the ups and downs of rural life from a farm wife’s perspective.
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