Jetting to Joy When Your Flight is Cancelled

I've spent a lot of time in airports these last couple of days. Flying internationally on a stand-by ticket is filled with crazy inconsistency and, when your focus is solely on an exciting trip ahead, it can turn joy to misery if you are not careful. Yesterday painted a vividly coloured metaphor for life. After finally getting on a flight to Washington DC, we were listed for, then bumped off, then listed for and cancelled on more than one flight.  Finally, at around 11:30 pm, we were sent to a 4 hour customer service line. It took about an hour just to collect my bag (which was checked on a flight from LA that I got bumped off of at the last minute).  With 2 days of no sleep, I still thought the situation was semi-poetic. There we all were, clinging to our baggage, exhausted, and waiting for frazzled gate agents to change our situations so that our lives can be better. Many people were vocally refusing to be consoled and cursing their situations and cursing the people there to help them. They were upset that they were not receiving immediate help or compensation they thought they deserved. They forgot that there were 600 people in the same boat as they were. They lost sight of the shore and gave into panic. Okay, maybe that was just me.  But, think about it. How many times in our lives do we "board a plane" with happiness and expectation as a destination and end up with a layover in defeat? And how many times during that layover do we only focus on ourselves and begin cursing everything (or maybe just at everything) that isn't making us feel comfortable? How many times do we cling even tighter to our baggage and desperately look to unqualified people to improve our situation so we can feel better?  When the truth is, there is joy in every airport. Although, in some airports, it might be in a terminal that's far away and so will take some work to get to. In the Dulles airport, it's in a very distant terminal. But it's there. After a night in a hotel room bed having finally gotten some sleep (thanks, mom and aunt Jenny!) we were able to regroup and pray. Pray that we get on a flight, pray for peace, and give thanks for the opportunity to even be on a trip. It gave us a chance to realize what's important in life (because once you start thanking God for things, you usually get back to the cross which puts everything in perspective). The frustration and headache is still real and still there, but there is joy in knowing that we are not in control and that the one who is in control knows how badly we want to get to our destination and always knows what's best for us. Who will be with us in every airport and gives good gifts to his kids. This all shifts perspective.  As for us now, we are stuck in a really cool city where a good friend of mine lives and has offered to be a refuge if we get stuck again. Worst case scenario is time with a good friend in our nation's Capitol.  Not too shabby. Here's to Jetting to Joy this June. Good luck with catching your flight!