We have a story to tell you. Will you listen? It happened in 1994 on a Delta flight from Bucharest, Romania connecting to Frankfurt, Germany. But Jim and I never made it to Frankfurt. We were returning from Bucharest where we had served as part of a Work and Witness team.
The Berlin wall had fallen just a few years earlier, and the Romanians were eager to interact with Americans. They asked many questions about pop culture and freedom in the West. Conversely, we learned and lived their culture, discovering, only slightly, just how tough their lives had been and just how gumptious they were going to have to be in order to join a world that, in many ways, had largely moved on without them.
Now, it was time for our team to board our returning flight back to the states; however, we would experience a slight interruption.
The flight was bound for Frankfurt when our pilot announced there would be an unexpected delay. We landed in Vienna, Austria, where we sat on the tarmac without explanation. Shortly afterwards, police and dogs entered the plane. Something was up, but, for us, this was about to become an unexpected opportunity simply because we were prepared. Jim and I backpack a lot in Europe which means we don't have luggage on wheels; it's all on our backs. We had planned to depart from our team when we all landed in Frankfurt because we wanted to spend an extra 10 days backpacking through Europe. Instead, we found ourselves detained in Vienna. While seat cushions were being upturned, we decided to send a note to the pilot. On that note we explained where we had been and why and then added, "Here are our passports, our Eurorail passes, and our tickets back to the U.S. in 10 days. We don't have checked luggage, only backpacks in a bin above us. Would it be possible for us to get off this plane to begin our journey from Vienna?" We signaled the flight attendant and asked her to hand this packet of information to the pilot.
Ten minutes later, she returned, delivered our papers, and bent down to whisper, "Point to your backpacks." We did. Per her instructions, we gathered them and, without speaking to anyone, followed her to the passenger door. We were sure many of the passengers thought we were the target of the inspection! She opened the door and pointed to a waiting car on the tarmac at the foot of the mobile staircase. The private car transferred us to an airport gate where we went to a ticket agent and cancelled the leg of our flight to Frankfurt. There we were! Free to go wherever we wanted. We validated our Eurorail passes and headed to Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
On this blog, we write about being prepared and being ready. In this particular experience, everything seemed to be happenstance; actually, not. We travel with backpacks, paperwork, and even Eurorail passes, which must be purchased in advance before leaving the U.S. The pilot validated it all, pardoned us, and even wrote, "Have a good time."
Life is not always like this for us. Multiple times, alternatives have interrupted our "flight plan," and our conduct is akind to a river trying to find our way around a boulder that has planted itself in our tranquil stream. Like you, there are some things we can plan, such as vacations, retirement, and even some surgeries. And, heaven, of course. We can make plans for that departure by trusting our souls to Jesus Christ. In reality, after that is nailed down, then we are able to manage the boulders that slide into our streams. Preparing for planet departure means Christ validates, pardons and welcomes us to good times with Him.Keep Looking Up! And, thank you for reading our blog.
J:m and L:nda
