In March 2022, God performed two miracles in my life, and they occurred just three days apart. Both miracles had to do with my flights during my spring break trip to Washington D.C. and New Haven, CT. In both situations, it seemed impossible that I would make it, but not only did I make it, God did exceedingly, abundantly, more than all I could ask or imagine through His power at work within me (Ephesians 3:20). Let me tell you all about it!
So the first miracle occurred on March 12, 2022 (and onto March 13th), and it had to do with my spring break travel to D.C. So for context, my dad works for the airline so I have the privilege of flying standby for free on domestic flights. I was planning on leaving St. Louis on Sunday, March 13th; so on Saturday I called my dad to inquire about which flight I would take on Sunday. When I called my dad he was caught off guard because he had forgotten that I was traveling, and on top of that there was a big storm in the East Coast that weekend. The storm resulted in many flight cancellations and delays—this was a standby’s worst nightmare. If people who had bought their ticket were getting their flights canceled and delayed, how much worse would it be for someone flying standby (which means you only get a seat on the plane if there is space, plus there is a whole ranking order to it)? So I began to panic; since going to D.C. was mandatory for my fellowship, I needed to do everything I could to arrive on time.
Lesson number one learned—I need to take responsibility to remind my dad about my flights in advance. Lesson number two learned—I need to buy my ticket in advance for important events (thankfully I get discounted tickets through my dad) .
My first event on Sunday began at 5pm, so I was trying to find a plane ticket that would get me to D.C. before then. Thankfully, my fellowship was going to reimburse a portion of our plane ticket, so that helped shoulder some of the burden of buying a plane ticket at the last minute. I tried to buy a plane ticket to leave that Saturday night since all of the tickets on Sunday were overbooked or pricey, but none of them worked! When I tried to make a payment, in the 5-10 minutes that it took me to confirm my living arrangements for the night, the ticket was gone. The only ticket that was available on Sunday was a flight that would get to D.C. at 5:45 pm, which meant I would miss the first activity. But since I had no option, it was better to get there late on Sunday and miss the tour of D.C. than risk getting there Monday and missing the more important things (still, I hated the thought of being late).
But it doesn’t end there! I LITERALLY got a text around 7 pm on Saturday telling me that my flight was canceled! Can you imagine!? I literally just spent like $450 dollars on the ticket ($320 was going to be reimbursed) and they’re telling me it’s canceled?! So they gave me the option to pick a different flight but all of the earlier ones on Sunday were full, and the only option was a flight that left at 7pm (which would get me to D.C. so late). I was stressed out and panicked, and I called my boyfriend about it. He said we should pray (God bless him because that wasn’t on my mind) and we did. And when I tell you, IMMEDIATELY afterwards a spot opened up for me for the 5 am flight that was not previously there! I grabbed the ticket, which was going to get me to D.C. at 12:40 pm (much EARLIER than my original ticket) and also give me time to make the first activity at 5 pm. HALLELUJAH!
God, in His awesome wisdom and power, made a way for me to get there earlier than originally planned. The canceled flight actually allowed me to get there earlier. TRULY, what the enemy meant for evil, God turned it around for my good. HALLELUJAH!
Oh, and God’s favor doesn’t end there. Not only did I arrive at 12:40 pm, but the group flight got delayed (I had the option to fly with the group in which the fellowship would have bought my ticket or fly separately, and I chose to fly separately so that I could visit New Haven after D.C.). Thus, I was able to make it to the group coach. At first, the group was scheduled to arrive at 11:30 am, so I wasn’t going to be able to make the coach, but would have to Uber to the hotel myself. BUT GOD worked it out for my good and not only did I make it in time to catch the group coach, but I landed 10 minutes before they did. God worked out all the delays and cancellations perfectly together for my good. HALLELUJAH!! (PRAISE THE LORD WITH ME)
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So that concludes the first travel miracle, but there was a SECOND one just three days later. So I arrived in D.C. on Sunday night and I was planning to leave for New Haven on Wednesday afternoon, after our scheduled activities ended. I was originally planning to take a flight that left D.C. at 5:40 pm, arrive in Hartford around 7 pm and then get to New Haven late at night. However, when I called my dad on Wednesday morning to inquire about the flights, he told me that the 5:40 pm flight was now full. Instead, the 10:50 am flight had 11 seats open and that was my best shot at getting to New Haven that day. Mind you, I was calling my dad at 9:30 am and I was a 30 minute drive away from the airport.
I didn’t want to risk losing the flight, so I took a leap of faith and called an Uber right then and there, RAN out of the hotel (thankfully, I was all packed up and ready to go—good job, Rebecca). The Uber was supposed to arrive at the airport by 10:15 am and boarding was supposed to end at 10:35 am, which would give me 20 minutes to get through security, take the shuttle to my terminal, get to the gate and get on the flight. It was going to be tight, but I was willing to try.
I prayed for God’s mercy and grace (another lesson learned/repeated—communicate with my dad about the flight status at least the night before I fly). I expressed my situation to the Uber driver (God bless that woman) and asked her to please go as quickly as possible because I was trying to catch a flight. My heart was racing and I had butterflies in my stomach, because it was so risky and I would hate to have paid for the Uber (it was around $50) only to miss the flight! But I chose to trust God, for there was nothing else I could do.
But get this, the GPS literally took us to a closed road, which added an EXTRA 15 minutes to our travel! Let me break this down:
- My ETA was now 10:28 am
- Boarding ended at 10:35 am (Lord have mercy)
- This meant I had 5 minutes to clear TSA
- Then take the shuttle to my terminal (about a 5 min ride)
- Then lastly get from the shuttle to my gate to catch the flight.
Long story short, around 10 am it seemed all hope was lost and I feared that I had wasted $55 on an Uber. I was struggling to hold onto faith.
Sitting in the car, the Potomac river to my right and beautiful trees all around me, I looked at my phone screen and saw the Bible app reminder to pray (it’s not a coincidence that I have it set for 10 am because that morning it was truly divine timing). I prayed and I had peace that it would all work out, and IT DID. God ALWAYS provides!
I literally arrived at 10:25 am (3 minutes before the ETA, God bless my Uber driver!) and the following events felt like I was in a movie. Also, mind you, the whole time I was in the Uber I needed to pee, but there was absolutely no time for that when I arrived at the airport—I had a flight to catch. So, as soon as the Uber stopped, I dumped the water from my bottle onto the ground, RAN to TSA, asked people if I could get in front of them because my flight leaves in 5 minutes (God bless those kind people! No one said no), cleared TSA, ran to the shuttle, waited 5 minutes (it was 10:40 at that time), rode the shuttle to the terminal, literally SPRINTED to the gate (as soon as the shuttle door opened I rushed out of the shuttle and my suitcase—it was a small carryon—went over the foot of the person who opened the door, I apologized and had to keep running), waved my hands as I got closer and then got on the plane around 10:45 am.
So context, since my dad works for the airline he was able to call the people at the gate and tell them I was coming, so they graciously held open the gate for me (a whole EXTRA 10 minutes!). They literally held the plane for me and broke protocol! So shoutout to my dad for calling the gate on my behalf and encouraging me that I could make it, shoutout to my friends who prayed for me while I was on the way (I needed a miracle), and finally shoutout to my heavenly Father for making a way! Hallelujah!
Thankfully, I was able to use the bathroom after the flight was 10,000 feet in the air and made it to New Haven safely. I got to surprise my boyfriend (shoutout to Mpilo for helping me coordinate), spent some unexpected quality time with friends and I was able to pull together housing at the last minute (shoutout to my friend Amara). There was a purpose beyond what I could imagine in me coming to New Haven a day earlier. GOD IS GOOD! So be encouraged. God still performs miracles, if only we will take a leap of faith—He’ll always come through. As He’s done for me, may He do it for you. 🙂
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” Ephesians 3:20.
Writing Song: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United
WhollyRebecca 