I flew FIRST CLASS!!
- Before any one wonders how we can afford that, the answer is we can't!! BUT because we fly standby, flights in America are the same price whether you fly coach/economy or first class...God is FANTASTIC (and that is a note all in itself for another time!!)
Standby rules meant I wasn't allowed to wear denim, shorts skirts or skorts (skirts and shorts combined). I thought my brown knee highs would look sophisticated but they only go with my jeans. In the end i picked a relatively sensible outfit, but topped it offwith a sweater pretentiously placed over my shoulders and tid in a Little Lord Fauntleroy/Prep School/Country Club manner. I discovered that my bag had a slit in it so you could slide it on the top of my small suitcase and look professional and like a well-seasoned traveller.
"Jaunty Fierce" best described me.
On my ticket was written 'Priority Access' so i got to go through another line while those in economy classes queued up.
The flight crew welcomed me more graciously then they had on my previous flights when I was slumming it.
I sat in seat by just ONE other person. Out arms never touched despite my fidgeting.
Our drinks orders were taken and arrived in real glasses.The orange juice tasted as if they had freshly squeezed the fruit from a beach that morning and then thoughtfully sieved to remove pips, bits and impurities that would impair taste.
Snacks were available for sale in coach. In First Debbie (who loved my accent) came and took my order on a stainless steal notepad. My omlette arrived accompanied by potato wedges, a fruit bowl and a lightly toasted bagel. I ate with real silverwear, savouring every morsel of this exquisite delight.
I was being treated like the princess I always knew myself to be.
Amidst this experience i kep thinking:
"I wish Steve was here!"
"Kaream would love flying in first class like this!"
"Jess and Jemma were so lucky when they got to fly first together!"
I had never felt so special.
Yet I had never felt so alone.
Experiences aren't that great when you don't have people to share them with. The moment was sophisticated and refined, but it would have been complete if the moment had been shared.
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I spent the second half of the plane ride so engrossed in a conversation with the lady next to me, that we never exchanged names though we exchangedlife stories. We talked of healthcare, children, foreclosed houses, pets, flying, birds that were part of divorce settlements, nannies for children vs staying at home, church, quiliting and death.
She was alone.
I was alone.
Together we weren't.
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On the shared shuttle ride to the hotel, a lady named Harlee who was travelling alone made this simple yet profound statement:
"Its always so much more fun when you can share it with someone!"
And that's the challenge for us all - to find someone fun to share it with. It's not about having a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/child/best friend...its about appreciating and realising that the people that Father God has placed around you are not by chance, are not by accident...there is a plan and a purpose for them. They add to your life. There are experiences you will gain from them that you will not gain from anyone else. They are gifts they have that you are lacking so Father is blessing you by allowing you to learn from them. There are hard times that will remain hard but become bearable by leaning on those besides you. There are words that you will say, words that you will hear, that will change the very trajectory of your life, but you need to be around to be in that moment.
We can have the most amazing experiences, have the most beautiful clothes, have the best job...but if we don't have the right people around us...
In my first year on Pais, I was put on a team with two other boys who could not have been more different from me. I was pretty convinced it was a set up and after a day or so someone would come out and say "SURPRISE" and reveal my actual team to me.
But no one did.
And I think I've come to the place where I am glad they didn't.
There are challenges, conversations, prayers to God, situations that I went through in that first year that without the team I had, I would have never experienced. I was forced to grow and adapt in a way I wouldn't have chosen, but has shaped me into the woman I am today. There are apprentices on Pais that I can guide and encourage because I've been where they have been.
That team, those boys, those people shaped me into what I am today.
I wasn't better off alone.
Who has God arranged for you to be sat next to on the plane?? Nothing is by chance.
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| People help shape our lives... |
