God is just PLANE good

When stressing turns to blessing.

So I’m currently sitting at Denver International Airport with a final destination of HOME, aka Virginia where I’ll get to see my uncle marry the love of his life at their wedding on Monday. The funny part is that 9 hours ago I was at my local airport in Colorado Springs, with the expectation of arriving home a little later tonight. Obviously, that didn’t end up happening.

A while after having boarded the plane, we were all told that there was a mechanical issue and no estimate of time for it to be fixed. We waited patiently for continued announcements, which unfortunately ultimately resulted in finding out that the issue was worse than they originally realized. We were then given the option to get off the plane. At this point I had no idea what to do, so I did what I’m sure many young adults would: I called my dad. He advised me to make the best decision I could after seeing what my options for other flights would be since I would surely miss my connection.

Now here’s where I started seeing God enter my story of the day. I called the airline’s 800 number (dreading what I thought would be a terrible wait) and was unexpectedly answered (by an actual human!) in less than a minute. The man on the phone was truly so helpful. Halfway through our conversation and him checking alternate flights for me, all of us were called to deplane. Thank God I was ahead of the curve by calling the airline because I was able to set up a new flight route in no time.

Once I got off the plane and approached the counters to receive my new boarding passes, I realized that there were no representatives to be found from my airline. All of us were wandering around aimlessly until I found just one employee to direct me to a specific gate to wait for him. Because of this, I was the very first person in line as it continued to grow behind me with dozens of frustrated flyers waiting to figure out a new flight plan. What grace I was given to have been able to book something new on the phone in a matter of minutes (while everyone around me was scrambling to get ahold of someone) and to be the the first person in line to be helped!

Since my new flight was in Denver over an hour away, I called my roommate Amy asking if she could pick me up and take me back home so I could get my car and drive up north. BLESS HER for being the kindhearted friend she is, because she immediately dropped what she was doing and offered to drive me herself so I wouldn’t have to leave my car here. Once we got on the road, the fun really began & I forgot all about the drama I had a few hours earlier. We drove with the windows down, music blasting, taking in the most beautiful Colorado views. The coolest part of all of this was the adorable little cafe we found to eat at. We soon realized that this restaurant was North Carolina themed! They had a pin board of the state to show where you’re from, and a cute logo shaped like NC with the classic Colorado logo inside. What a wonderful taste of home to have shared together on such a spontaneous day.

Even though I’m about to get a whopping 0 hours of sleep catching this redeye tonight, I can’t rave enough about the way God showed off for me today. In a situation where I easily could’ve gotten stressed & upset, He eased all my concerns through the speedy assistance of an airline agent on the telephone, a prime spot in line, & the selflessness of a sweet friend. I’m so thankful for the peace that the Lord gave me today and I cannot wait to make it home to my family for a few days full of love.

Carolina Girl in a Colorado World

When the page got turned.

Just a quick life update now that this Carolina girl is living in a Colorado world…

My dad and I made it into the city a day early, which turned out to be the biggest blessing ever because we spent all of Monday running around getting a bunch of things checked off of our to-do list. If you were to ask him, he’d tell you that I’d been dreading our day of wrestling with the DMV (and other things one has to do when moving 1,800 miles away) for weeks because I just knew something(s) would go wrong. And they did. But God is so faithful, because each time something would go differently than planned, we seemed to catch a break right after. I’ll spare you the full story of each place we had to visit, but if you’ve ever moved out of your state I’m sure you have an idea of all the things we had to do. Here’s just a glimpse of one way the Lord showed us great favor yesterday:

When going to the third DMV of the day to get my car title transferred & vehicle registered, we found out after an hour of waiting our turn that we needed the title notarized. We had one hour until the DMV closed at 5pm to accomplish this. Mind you, at this point we had not eaten a bite or even had a drink of water since 7am, so our patience was short & our frustration (and dehydration) high. Lucky for us, one of only two Navy Federals in this huge city happened to be a very short drive away. We got the notarization done there in no time and were given “head of the line” privileges which allowed us to successfully complete the registration. Despite a few other unforeseen stresses of the day, we were able to see God in it all and thank Him for His provision through a seriously busy first day.

By the end of the day I was able to get my utilities turned on, obtain the keys to my new apartment (which has the most beautiful mountain view ever, shown below!), get a Colorado license, register my vehicle & get Colorado plates, stop by my base to pick up paperwork, transfer my prescriptions, and even enjoy a nice nature walk & delicious dinner to top it all off. Today all of my belongings arrived, so the next few days we’ll be unpacking boxes and getting my apartment organized slowly but surely until my dad leaves on Saturday. My mom is awesome too and was kind enough to take care of my cat Abel for me while I’ve been out here! She’ll be bringing him to the airport on Saturday as well for him to take a flight out to me. I’m praying that the temperatures stay in the right range so I can have him here with me as soon as possible! I’m definitely trying to soak in these last few days until I start my internship and really start doing big girl things. I honestly still can’t quite believe that this isn’t just a vacation and I don’t have to leave!

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20