Military Man or Angel?

Yesterday’s post ended with, “Five minutes later, he was an angel.”

However our encounter started an hour earlier. When I first approached him, he was having breakfast in the small food court. We were the only people there at the time.

I asked him permission to say something and, of course, he graciously granted it.

After sharing a very simple thank you with him – and I may have mentioned my Dad (Korean War) and Father-in-law (WWII) both served – we both smiled and went on about our morning.

About an hour later, totally by chance we end up sitting together for 3-4 minutes right before boarding.

The plane was a smaller regional jet and, being in Zone 1 (first boarding) I walked out on the tarmac and up the steps (like the President does) to get on the jet.

It was there that panic set in. “My phone! Where’s my phone? Oh no! I can’t be missing my phone. I’ve got to find it!”

As I was about to have a meltdown, and was walking the opposite way to get off the plane to go back inside the terminal, the Military Man, my new Angel, was holding it out in his hand.

God is good! 🙂

Citizen Soldier

Not talking about the Three Doors Down rock song Citizen Soldier, or our Country’s National Guard, for whom the song is dedicated.

Talking about all the active duty men and women military personnel I’ve seen this week. Orlando to Atlanta, Atlanta to Columbia, Columbia to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Dallas.

Decided, in the spirit of giving, to not only give thanks internally, but to give thanks externally.

So I awkwardly asked how best to show appreciation for their efforts. They all said basically the same thing.

A simple thank you means a lot.

And so that’s what I’ve been doing, going only a little out of my way (that’s all it takes), to thank each and every one I pass.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. One of the service men, heading back to Iraq and leaving behind a wife and three children (16, 10, 6) at Christmas time, wound up being an angel for me about five minutes later.

So Sad It’s Friday

No, I’m not sad it’s Friday. I’m incredibly grateful it’s Friday.

It’s been an interesting week. Spent five full days “on the road”. Portland, Eugene, University of Oregon, Hayward Field, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and the Joshua Tree National Park.

The incredible folks at Delta Airlines treated me like royalty. Had two long travel days, an 18-hour day and a 12-hour day.

Was humbled by my inability to manage time better than planned.

There are always things that will happen that cannot be foreseen. They almost always happen. Why is it so difficult to accept this?

Whether it’s a trip or daily life, I must learn to plan for the unexpected. Common sense, just not common practice.

Looks like we’ll all have our work cut out for us today. Good luck.