A Compassionate God

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. ~Psalm 145:8 (NIV)

This verse was going through my mind on our trip to Kona. Let me tell you about how God showed us how much He absolutely loves us and wants to provided for our needs.

Starting on our last full day in Arizona, Jonathan mentioned that he really wasn't feeing 100% and was filling up on Airborne (my father's influence is evident here). By noon he was sitting outside in 100 degree F weather shivering. He finally went to lie down and slept for the remainder of the day. I checked his temperature, and by nightfall it had hit 102. I was doing my best to keep him hydrated, but it was all he could do to sip little swallows of juice and water while the clock was ticking closer to us leaving at 4am for the airport the next morning. I finished packing for both of us, and finally went to sleep a few hours before we needed to leave. At 3am, the alarm frantically alerted me to the hour as we dragged our bodies out of bed. My poor husband was so weak as he tried to gather his things and head out the door. I knew it was going to be a loooongggg day.

An action shot of our luggage being towed.

Due to traveling with SO MUCH JUNK  many valuables, we had to repack our bags when we got to the airport to distribute 6 pounds of extra weight. It was like Nip and Tuck for our baggage in front of the whole airline. But God placed an extremely kind airline associate to work with my NyQuil-drunk husband and I with our blimpish bags. He was able to help us get all 6 pieces of luggage headed to our final destination  leaving us with our (much more manageable) smaller carry-on pieces. Our first flight was 6 hours. Not horrible, but not thrilling either. I got up to stretch my legs on the plane and decided to walk the length of the cabin. When I got to the back, I noticed several empty rows of seats...odd, I thought to myself. I then asked the flight attendant if they were taken. "No, they are not, but they are for any kind of medical emergency." Oh, perfect! I then asked him if my husband could stretch out on a row, and he was so kind about Jonathan being back there. I suppose God booked those seats for him. At this point, he still had a fever of 102. 

When we landed at 11am, I texted my mom to let her know our status, and she suggested that I ask about getting an earlier flight. We were scheduled to leave Honolulu at 4pm, which meant we were so close, yet so. far. away. and my dear husband was only getting more exhausted. I began silently pleading with God to make a way home sooner. As soon as we got off the plane, I asked the flight attendant if there was any way we could get an earlier flight home. Her response; fully booked and impossible if we've checked luggage. Rats. But I wasn't ready to give up. I hit the next available Hawaiian Air representative and asked again. Same story. So we found an empty plot of carpet where Jonathan could lay down and he settled in for a long summer's nap. I went running around looking for more meds and fluids for him, and when I returned he asked if I heard the announcement. What announcement? They had opened up two seats for standby for the next flight to Kona. I was all over that, you better believe it. 

"Hi, it's me again...my husband said he heard something about standby opening up?"

The guy remembered the information I had given him last time and asked for my boarding tickets. He didn't say anything to me for a few minutes as he furiously typed and then began printing off a whole bunch of tickets. Finally, he tore 2 off and handed them to me with the previous tickets. "Go to gate 56 right now, but remember...it's only for standby."

That was all I needed. I had full faith that God was making a way for my husband to get home earlier and rest. But, we weren't there yet...

We gathered our things together and headed to the right gate. I've never been standby before, so i checked in with the flight attendants at the gate to let them know we were waiting. 30 minutes crawled by as we watched all the passengers load onto the plane. They were almost done when they made this announcement," If there is any single passenger that would like to depart earlier than scheduled, please come to the front desk where we can issue you a ticket." I asked Jonathan if would mind traveling alone, and got a mumbled, "Sure, I'll do it." So I walked up to the desk and told them our situation and mentioned that I had 2 standby tickets, but if we were going to make it we would be willing for Jonathan to go ahead just so he could home and rest. I flight attendant was very gracious and told the lady taking tickets that we had 2 standby but were willing to split. She looked down at her computer screen and smiled at us saying, "That's ok! They made the list!" I was seriously about to cry when she sad that.

God was letting us go home 5 hours earlier than scheduled!

As we walked onto the plane to find our seats we discovered that we were right behind first class with even more leg room than they had, a very nice discovery for my 6'4" husband. 45 minutes later mom and dad were greeting us with hugs and leis.

Our luggage arrived on the flight we were originally scheduled for and everything was still intact.

We serve a such a compassionate God. So many little things throughout the this potentially stressful day that God beautifully worked out for us.

So tired...but even more thankful.