July 6, 2008

I was so mad at American Airlines on the 4th of July that I wanted to spit nails. Jill and I had arrived at the airport as we've done dozens and dozens of times to fly to a concert. We have all the items we need tightly packed into luggage and cases under 50 pounds and were ready to fly like pro's until the self-check in machine told me it would be $80 each way for our bags. What?! This is ridiculous. I'd heard about the concept of charging for bags but sheesh we were paying an arm and a leg just to get to Minnesota in the first place and this was something the airlines had conveniently omitted at booking time.

I made my way through security mad mad mad. I heard some clapping down the hall as I put my shoes back on and re-loaded my pockets and stowed my laptop but it didn't really register. Then I heard it again and wondered what the fuss was about. We walked down the hall toward our gate and passed through the large clapping crowd so we stopped to see what was going on.

American Airlines and their crew were yelling and whistling and clapping every time a service man deplaned and came out the doors. My frustration turned to vapor and whisped away. I put my bags down and Jill and I stood there and clapped every time a man in uniform walked out that door. As we walked down the corridor Jill approached each military person and gave them her thanks and we both felt extremely thankful for our freedom.

This weekend has been a wonderful time doing what we're assigned to do but the icing, and I mean rich, thick sweet icing was meeting some of the DAB family from these parts. I loved meeting Peggy. What a beautiful witty lady. And then this morning we met Mary, Greg, Eva and Ian Allen who drove 300 miles to say hello and share a story of how the DAB walked them through very swift waters. Mary told me of the prayers of the community and how they meant so much. That's YOUR prayers. They changed things. Wow.

As always I am incredibly humbled when I meet anyone who listens to the DAB. I feel like I'm meeting a rock star or something. I also feel like we can just pick up wherever we left off because we're not really meeting for the first time. We're already friends.

I'm not all that excited to pay the baggage fees to go home in the morning but I would gladly pay three times as much to have met you all and tomorrow is the Long Walk. What would I be willing to pay to have a day with God? Everything simmers down to choices and perspective and when things get boiled down to their basic elements there is faith, hope and love not security, bag fees and gas prices. God is sovereign and we are His children. That's pretty much the end of the story. He may not be acting on our behalf the way we'd like Him to but our perception has very little to do with what is actually going on sometimes. A little clapping down the hall changes a lot quick. Hang in there. Breakthrough is on your doorstep just be prepared for it to look nothing like you thought it would.



Onward Comrades,

Brian