This guy.
Last night he was a champ. When my flight was delayed leaving Florida and I texted him that I worried about making my connecting flight in Atlanta, he immediately pointed me to Christ with a simple text that said, “God’s got this. I am praying.” I needed that reminder in that stressful moment!
Then when I got to Atlanta and found I did indeed miss my flight, he stuck by me. Delta gave me a hotel voucher and I asked about getting my checked luggage. They said I could request it and get it in 35-40 minutes. It was already 10:30 pm but I decided to go ahead and request it. It actually took a little over an hour to get it but I was never alone in the waiting. Mark stayed connected the whole time.
When I got my luggage and went out to catch the hotel shuttle, I watched it drive off before I could get there. When I went to the pick up area, I learned that after 11pm, the shuttles no longer came every 15 minutes but now every 30 minutes! A kind driver from another hotel asked me who I was waiting for. I told him and he confirmed it would be another 30 minutes. He said, “I can drop you in the gas station right by the Crowne Plaza Hotel if you want to hop on my shuttle because I’m driving right by there.” He explained that they would frown on a Candlewood Suites shuttle pulling into the Crown Plaza Hotel, but dropping me off right next door would work and it was just a walk across the parking lot to the hotel. I was so grateful for his kindness and I could tell Mark was praying!
Sure enough, he dropped me off right next to the hotel and I just had to walk across the parking lot, arriving 30 minutes earlier than I would have if I’d had to wait for the other shuttle to pick me up and drop me off. Considering it was nearly midnight, I was grateful for this man’s generosity to add me to his shuttle when he had no other reason to do so but just caring for another person.
Just knowing I wasn’t navigating all of this alone really made a difference for me! Mark is usually asleep by 10pm so I knew this was a sacrifice for him staying up with me, supporting me with his “presence,” encouragement, and prayers.
When I arrived home today, he met me with flowers….my favorite, roses! I nearly cried!
This whole situation was a reminder to me of several things:
- Sometimes we can’t be physically present with a loved one, but our “virtual” presence can still be powerful. Just knowing someone is praying and staying engaged through a challenging situation can make a huge difference. I certainly felt that with Mark last night!
- Prayer is a powerful tool. I truly believe that kind shuttle driver was moved to generosity by the power of prayer.
- Flexibility is an important trait in this journey of life. All around me folks were getting so angry at the situation. However, we were delayed because of a tire with a cut in it! I certainly don’t want to land in a plane with a bum tire! While I was disappointed in my delay arriving home, I found it much less stressful to be flexible than angry.
- Kindness can be key to getting good customer service. When I interacted with the gate agent today in a very kind manner she told me to call and ask Delta for a travel voucher for the inconvenience. I honestly would have never thought to do that since they put me up for the night in a hotel and rebooked me on the next flight out. Today when I kindly called the airline to ask about a travel voucher or they’re willingness to replace the award miles I had been traveling on, they very generously offered to put 9500 miles back on my account. I was very pleased with that!
- We need to keep an eye open for ways to serve. As we share in Better Together, “God will use you to help, encourage, and care for others if you’ll keep your eyes open to see the need and your heart available to meet the need.” I believe that shuttle driver did just that!
What about you? What “life lessons” have you experienced in a challenging situation?
