This past Tuesday the 13th, I arrived at our local airport in Peoria, IL at 4:15 am for a 5:15 flight to Chicago. At Chicago I would pick up a flight to Washington and from there I would fly to my final destination in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was scheduled to arrive around 2:00p.m. I was given another opportunity to speak for Christian Library International at their Advance the Light Dinner.

Upon my arrival I was told the plane was in need of repairs and the departure would be delayed 20 minutes. No big deal until the delay was changed to 7:30. I still had a pretty good window in between flights so I thought I would be okay. I decided I would practice my speech and read the Bible as I waited.

I noticed one of the other passengers began to pace. The more he paced the madder he got. He informed me he was going to go to the ticket area and give them a piece of his mind.

When 7:30 became 8:30 his pace became quicker and from the tone of his voice and the color of his face he looked like he was ready to explode. He paced I prayed.

As I prayed the verse from the book of James, “Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds” popped into my head. It appeared I was in for a joy filled day.

He paced because he didn’t have any control of the situation. I prayed because I knew God was in complete control. I was confident God wanted me in Raleigh and knew one way or another He would get me there. To use prison slang, “I wasn’t trippin” but the pacing passenger sure was.

Once again the pacer went to the ticket area to straighten them out. I never saw him again. We didn’t leave until 10:00 a.m. I was switched to a direct flight from Chicago and arrived in Raleigh at 3:00.

The next morning I arrived at the airport in plenty of time for the flight home. At the time of departure I was informed the computers were down and there was going to be a delay. I just began to pray and thanked God for what appeared to be another joy filled day.

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