Change of plans

Where do I even begin. The anticipation and tearful goodbyes are over and we begin the first leg of our journey to Zambia . We get settled in to catch our flight from Corpus Christi to Houston, then on to Amsterdam and Lusaka. Then we get news that our flight is slightly delayed. A little while later we learn we are slightly delayed again. Then we hear Houston is grounded. By this time we still have several hours to connect out of Houston. Delayed. Delayed. Delayed. Around 2:15 we finally board the plane for what should have been our 11:00 am flight. We taxi out to take off only to turn around and go back to the gate we just left. They open the door and let 2 people off and one person on. We try again. Finally in the air and I think air traffic control played a joke on the pilot. We flew a zig zag all the way to Houston. We finally arrive at IAH with a little over 20 minutes to get our bags, change terminals and check in. We had notified the airline and our pilot also called ahead for us. In the meantime, we are sitting on the Tarmac waiting for a gate. All the planes that pulled up after us pulled into their gates. We were still waiting. I look out the window and I watched our KLM flight 0662 leaving Houston without us on it. Pulled away from the gate and we were stuck in a plane. Helpless but hopeful. You would think after everything up to this point we would be panicked and irritated. Nope. I felt so at peace that the Lord had made different travel plans for Dad and I. It was so clear that all of this mess was from Him. And I was overwhelmed with His peace that surpassed what my little mind could attempt to make sense of. My heart kept reminding me that God knows the plans He has for us and His timing is perfect. We finally get to the gate and rush our separate ways to figure out what happens next. My Dad goes to baggage claim and I head to another terminal to find a KLM ticket desk. And before you know it I am rushing through the wrong terminal, lost, feeling pretty helpless but in His hands. I make my way to the area our flight left from just 20 minutes earlier. But it, unlike the rest of the airport which was completely chaotic, is now a ghosts town. No KLM agents to be found. I go outside security to the kLM ticket desk. No agents to be found,
Gone for the day. "Try the courtesy phone." no answer. It is becoming pretty clear. God's flight plans for us were very different than we thought.
we finally settle down with all of our luggage to figure out what is next. After sitting on hold with the toll free number, since all agents were gone for the day at 4:30. We find out our next chance to get to Zambia would be Sunday evening with stops in Atlanta, Paris, Kenya or South Africa. Which would put us in Zambia Wednesday of next week. We really feel that all of this mess was from the Lord. Very different than when the enemy interrupts your plans. We make the decision to change airports and catch a flight back to Corpus Christi. A few hours before, I was crying because we were leaving. Now I'm crying because we are going home. It doesn't make sense that we don't get to accomplish the mission we had planned. But it does make sense that my Dad got to witness to a young soldier that he wouldn't have met if our flight was in time. It doesn't make sense that I won't see sweet
Mwila's smile, but I do get to kiss my Emma goodnight and take her to her first day of pre k. It doesn't make sense that the Lord had prepared me to deliver a message to a village in Zambia on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6). But then again it does make sense, because I had to practice what I preach this week. I thought I would be sleeping in an economy class seat somewhere over the Atlantic ocean tonight. But God has us over the Gulf of Mexico instead. Headed home and heavy hearted. I couldn't have seen His master plan when I walked into the airport 12 hours earlier today. The preparation for this trip is not wasted. Mission Zambia 2012 was still life changing. We still have a story to share. We just didn't have to travel thousands of miles and cross hemispheres to learn it. I think the Lord just wanted to know we would take the first step. I've learned more about God today. This trip sure hasn't turned out how I thought it would. But I am confident it has turned out just how He planned it would. We have not been able to tell the rest of our team that is already in the bush about what has happened today. It is the middle of the night and they don't have phone service. We are comforted by your prayers and the reminders we have in His word. Like Jesus' command to a man in Mark 5:19 to go back home and share his story of what the Lord has done. And Paul's "change of plans" in 2 Corinthians 1:15-23. We saw God's fingerprints today. We saw them in our flight schedules, in the empty ticket windows and in the encouragement of scripture from our loved ones. But most of all in our peace-filled hearts as we head back home different than when we left 12 hours before. Only God can do that.