Turbulence...Yes!

Early Sunday morning, 3:00 a.m. to be exact, Scott, Catie, Michelle and I left Santa Rosa en route to SFO where Catie and I would fly first to Chicago and then to Birmingham, Alabama, so Catie could compete in the National Christian Forensics & Communication Association (NCFCA) National Championship Tournament. She had qualified in the expository speech category back in January by taking first place at a qualifying tournament in San Diego. It has been a great year of speech. In addition to qualifying for Nationals, the year even included the excitement of a newspaper article in April.

Up until early April, we had thought Nationals was going to be held at Concordia College in Irvine, CA, but suddenly what seemed like a "done-deal" fell through and Birmingham, Alabama became the destination. The prospect of flying with Catie's presentation boards presented a challenge -- two phone calls to the airline made it clear that chances were we would have to check these 20" x 30" boards with our luggage, though I was lobbying to carry them to the gate and check them there like people do with strollers -- even the day before we left some of my friends prayed with me that Catie's boards would arrive with us.

I told these friends that I knew God was in charge and He would work it out according to His plan, but that I really hoped the good He would work would not be of the "character building" variety. With unflattering honesty, I confessed I preferred to deal with the "character building" blessings when we were not spending so much time and money. Well, God in His wisdom, knowing what is best for Catie and I and His glory, much better than I did, allowed us to receive a "character building" lesson beyond the inconveniences I was trying to avoid.

Catie and I both enjoy flying and especially love take-offs. If the flight can have a little turbulence and bounce us around a bit, it just adds to the fun. Our flight to Chicago had all the right elements, and arrived on time to boot. It was about two hours into our three hour layover that suddenly everything changed. Catie and I were killing time in some window seats near, but not at, our terminal when I got a call from Scott that United had just notified him that our Alabama flight was cancelled. After locating customer service and standing in what I thought at that point was a moderately long line, we were able to talk to an agent about catching another flight. When she told me we would arrive in Birmingham at 10:00 in the evening, I was a little disappointed because I wanted Catie to have a good restful night before speaking the next morning. I mentioned that to the agent and she looked a little panicked. Turns out, she meant a flight the FOLLOWING evening at 10:00. All three of Catie's speeches would take place before that. At this point, I called Scott. As I relayed the information to him the tears started flowing. The agent quickly said, "Don't cry!" and started working on booking us a flight with another airline. We were so thankful to get seats on a flight scheduled to arrive in Birmingham at 5:40, five minutes before our original time. Our agent then painstakingly went through the process of making sure our luggage would be going with us -- after all, without Catie's presentation boards, she would not be able to make her speech.

As we were walking to our new gate, Catie with tears in her eyes, shared with me how God used the thought of not being able to make it to the tournament, to really show her how badly she wanted to be there and how thankful she was that God had provided this other flight. I gave her a hug and we recounted some of the ways God had worked on our behalf. After getting lost once (something I am very good at) we found our new gate just in time to hear that this flight was also cancelled.

This time, I was feeling the prayers of many and was calm as we got lost again, and then finally made it back to that original counter and were able to have that same sweet agent, who I knew on a first-name basis by now, help us find another option. There were no flights to Alabama she could book us on, but some of our dear friends, the Danfords, were willing to delay their drive to Alabama and hang out in Atlanta for as long as it took for us to get there and then drive together to the tournament. The agent was able to book Catie on a flight to Atlanta and I would try to go standby. In the event I could not get on the flight, I would join Catie late the next evening. It was not a great option and meant that I would miss seeing her speak, but at least it would get her to the tournament. At home, word had gotten out to our speech club and several others and people were praying. Catie and I both knew God was in control and we were praying I would get on that flight with her.

Well, a couple of hours later (the Atlanta flight was delayed about 2 and 1/2 hours), just as it became clear I would not get a seat on the flight and I was packing the camera in Catie's carry on so someone could video her speech for me, the lady behind me got an email on her phone that notified her the Atlanta flight was cancelled. In disbelief, we checked the monitor a couple of terminals down and it was indeed cancelled. The agent at the gate announced it to everyone seated about five minutes later.

At this point we had to find customer service again and I joined about 1000 of my closest friends in a line that stretched about 1/4 a mile through the concourse. Flights had been cancelled left and right, and I now had a new definition of a long line. I had Scott working with an agent on the phone and checking online at home and I called a friend who's husband was a pilot to see if he knew of any options. I also put a call into our speech coach and asked if she could talk to someone about the possibility of delaying the Expository category. It turns out there were no good options that would put us in Birmingham in time for Catie's scheduled speech. And, even if we could get ourselves there, which we couldn't, Catie's presentations boards went to Atlanta even though we didn't.

We are on a very tight budget, so Scott booked us on a flight home rather than continuing to Alabama for the week-long tournament when Catie couldn't give her speech. United agreed to refund our money since they could not get us to our destination in time. We went to dinner knowing we had a late trip back to California unless the tournament directors would be willing to delay the start of Catie's category. With flights being cancelled left-and right due to weather, I figured others might be in the same situation we were so a delay might be possible.

At dinner, Catie received a call from the California NCFCA director letting her know he had requested a delay on her behalf but the chances of it happening were very slim. So we headed to our gate and waited for our SFO flight home knowing that God can move mountains. Each time our SFO flight got delayed I wondered if even then God was keeping us in Chicago because there was still a chance we could get to Alabama in time. Finally, after a long delay and three gate changes, we actually did board our plane. We arrived back in San Francisco at 3:30 a.m., just a little more than 24 hours after we had left Santa Rosa. We're pretty much zombies right now.

I had been hoping that God would not use this tournament as an opportunity to weather hardship, but He had other plans. He knew that Catie and I would benefit most from the opportunity to be refined. I have to say, one of my greatest joys as I write this is the privilege of seeing my daughter handle one of the biggest disappointments of her young life with grace and trust in God. That is not to say the tears did not come -- both us us wept, me more than her, but she did not complain and I kept hearing her say things like, "I feel sorry for people who are stuck like us but don't speak English" or "Wouldn't it be difficult if you were sick and stuck in the airport?" or "We sure have met a lot of nice people who have been really helpful to us". I don't think I could have been more proud of her even if we had made it to the tournament and she had taken first place.

I know she handled it with far more grace than I did. I was trying so hard to trust God, but I was also so spent. Even before we ever left Santa Rosa I was very worn physically, mentally, and emotionally. I had people praying for my peace and joy in the situation and I kept having to say, "God, please help me to be strong." Yet the tears would fall unbidden and I would have to make a hasty retreat to the ladies' restroom to splash water on my face. I thought more than once, "Good thing I didn't bother to wear make-up!" I wish I had been more stoic and kept my emotions in check, but God was able to work in that as well. I thought of 2 Corinthians 12:9 this morning, "But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." Certainly I am weak, but praise God for His all-sufficient grace. And, in His grace, though I was emotional, I never felt angry at anyone and tried to be patient to everyone, whether it was the hassled agent or the lady behind us who got mad when we didn't move our luggage quick enough in line. That had to have been God working in me and being strong in my weakness.

I knew from the beginning that God allowed Catie to qualify for Nationals for a reason. He does not open that door for everyone. We know from personal experience how hard you can work but not achieve that -- last year Catie and Michelle both came so close to qualifying and Catie finished one place away at two different tournaments -- so we absolutely knew this was a door God had opened. It did not end the way I was hoping, but we know that God worked this out according to His plan and even though I was not desiring "character building", my Heavenly Father knew that was far more valuable than the alternative.

As we were finally getting ready to take off to return to California the pilot warned us we would experience turbulence. I was delighted at Catie's excited response, "Yes!"

Will I be able to respond "Yes!" regarding the turbulence to come in my life? Probably not. Knowing my character, I will still probably wish for the times when everything works the way I'm hoping. But praise God He knows better and He does send those character building and refining blessings that grow us and change us for our good and His glory! Maybe not a "Yes!" but hopefully at least an "Okay Lord, I trust You."