I love plans. I love making them, but even more I love accomplishing them.

I wouldn’t say I’m 100% Type-A, but there’s enough in there to make me kiss a pretty spreadsheet and love my planner to be completed. 

We’ve all told someone, “Don’t worry – sometimes plans change and it’s not that big of a deal, don’t stress!”

But, what happens when you’re on the receiving end and your plans get all twisted & turned?

As of right now, I’ve been at the Houston airport for a total of 16 hours.

S I X T E E N. H O U R S.

So where did the madness begin? Let’s go back shall we?

8:00am – Arrive to TUL airport, check-in, security, breakfast.

9:02am – Flight to Houston

8:30am – Flight to Houston Delayed

*no big deal, we can wait. it’s alllll good*

At last, we board for Houston. The rain finally cleared out and we were able to make a go for it! BUT THEN…

As we’re all buckled and the flight seems full, one last woman steps onto the plane.

And this is where plans change.

Her and her husband had been fighting for WHATEVER reason the entire morning! So, the scene broke out, words were thrown, etc. Both flight attendants talk to her, the captain himself comes back to talk to her…”what’s the problem? can you calm down? are you going to make a scene the whole time? do we need to throw you off of this plane? should we call security?” About 15 minutes pass during this time.

Meanwhile, we had a connecting flight waiting for us in Houston that was held up due to our delay in Tulsa…

FINALLY, the woman is moved to the front of the plane. Away from her group of 15 family members, all traveling to Cancun.

Now, I don’t know the nitty-gritty details, but I’m thinking something major must have happened for this woman to be calling her husband her future ex-husband, demanding for refunds, hating her family, etc. Who is that mad going to the beach? I mean for the love…

So we fly, we land. 

As soon as we land, we get notified our connecting flight had left us about 10 minutes prior to our landing.

10 minutes. 10. Minutes. 

Our thoughts at the time: if that woman could’ve controlled herself a little better, we would be on our way to Florida as planned. What a fool she is.

So long-er story short-er, we go to customer service (aka a Kiosk) and print new boarding tickets, scheduled to leave in about 4 more hours.

We get lunch, we find the gate, all is well. 

And then, we get delayed again. 

And then we get gate changed.

And then we get delayed again.

And then we get gate changed. 

And then we get delayed again.

And then we get gate changed. 

And then we get delayed again.

And then we get gate changed. 

I say that not to exaggerate, but to let you know those are the amounts of times this happened.

At this point, it is 11:45pm and we are in-line to board.

AND THEN, 12:00am approaches. 

FLIGHT TO JACKSONVILLE CANCELLED – PLEASE VISIT CUSTOMER SERVICE TO RE-BOOK

Is this making your skin crawl a bit? Hang with me…

We wait in customer service line until 4am. 

You read that correctly.

4 AM. 

We gave up. We Ubered. We hoteled across town. 

We got to bed at 4:30am.

The next flight out was the next day at 7:30pm.

Yeah. I’m exhaling with disbelief right there with you, but really…just hang with me. 

Today, I sit in the airport about four hours out from boarding my flight to Florida, at last.

But, I’m flooded with thoughts of yesterday and then God speaks to me and I roll my eyes a little bit…why?

Because it’s not fair I waited this long.

We had PLANS GOD. WHY did this happen?

I’m suppose to photograph a wedding SATURDAY God. Do you realize this?!?!?

This is my first wedding anniversary weekend God. Do you get that?

Why US? Why NOW? Why RAIN? Why this AIRLINE? W H Y

I can’t help, but realize God’s plans are NEVER ours.

– Last night in our Uber, the man had just seen a woman get hit and killed on the highway before picking us up. Do you think he planned to see this and deal with this? 

– The woman on the plane…do you think she planned to feel unwanted, unappreciated, and downright crazy to the point of yelling all of her issues to the entire plane?

– This morning, our Uber driver was a woman who had just lost her job of 16 years unexpectedly last Thursday. Her son is 15 and she’s trying to complete nursing school.  Do you think she planned to feel like once her life was figured out, all of the plans fell out of place?

As our sweet driver was dropping us off this morning, Micah and I were able to encourage her that God will take care of her and something better was ahead and she responded the same to us and our flight troubles…

And it hits me.

How often are we delayed on the things we want in life?

We get pushed back. We have to wait. We have to change base. We have to move around. We have to wait for more answers. 

But the truth is, just because we get stuck, doesn’t mean we have to stay.

Are Micah and I going to live in this airport and say, “well this is it. we’re stuck forever”

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! (I mean aside from the fact I would lose my mind)

That’s just silly. 

But, I can’t help but feel that same message applies to you and those people I’ve encountered along our journey.

That woman on the plane doesn’t have to feel that her marriage has come to an end, she’s unwanted and not believed in. God has called her to be loved.

The man who witnessed a woman dying doesn’t have to stay on the side of the road where it happened and he doesn’t have to stop driving. God gives healing.

The woman who lost her job doesn’t have to stay unemployed or call herself unsuccessful. God has given her wisdom and promises to take care of her.

As I was writing this in my current airport home, I was listening to Steffany Gretzinger’s The Undoing album and the song, “Getting There” came on shuffle.

Here is the first verse:

Further seems forever
Until you’ve seen, until you get there
Until you feel that promised land beneath your feet
There’s a reason for the journey
There is purpose in the learning
Not everything in life comes naturally
No, not everything in life comes easily

Wherever you are today. Whether you’re struggling in relationships, your current state of living, your heart, your worth…throw your itinerary out, because your plans will never go as planned.

Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG) says:

“i’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”  

Take heart, your flight is boarding soon.

xoxo

holly