God has already blessed my wife and me on this trip. We were originally scheduled to land in Phoenix at 10:35 pm. Once we got off the plane in Atlanta (from Charleston, WV) we proceeded to find the big screens to see what our departing gate would be for our 7:55 pm flight to Phoenix. We were in no rush as it was only about 3:40 pm....more than a full 4 hours before our departure. As we spotted Phoenix on the screen, we noticed a 4:20 departure time from Gate A29. We thought, 'Hey, let's get there as quickly as possible to see if we could hop on that flight.' We approached the desk at the gate and the clerk placed us on a standby list. We noticed on a flat screen at the gate that it said 2 seats available. We thought, 'there we go....just for us.' However, as the last passengers were boarding the plane, they called two people up to the desk.....not us. Both of us were disappointed, and Stephanie said, 'should we go?' I said, "let's just wait it out until they shut the doors. We have no place else to go for now." A moment later they called another name, and the screen said 0 seats available. The final boarding call was then made for the flight, and we still just sat there...kind of hoping against hope. Well, our ears perked up as they called the names of 2 more would-be passengers....and no one came up....hope was alive again! A third name was called.....again....no one. Then we heard it...."McCollam party of two...."McCollam party of two".....just like we were eating at our favorite restaurant. :-). We walked up to the counter and they said they may have seats for us, but we would probably be sitting apart. This was ok with both of us if it meant getting to Phoenix at 6:30 instead of 10:30! As we approached the door of the plane, they told us to wait, as they were not positive that there were seats. As we waited, we were told it looks like there is one seat and asked if we would we be willing to travel on separate flights. We told them no. We wanted to be on the same plane.
The next words we heard were 'hold on....we have 2 seats'. Thank you Jesus! Instead of spending 4 hours in the Atlanta airport, and probably not getting to our hotel until close to midnight, we should be landing in Phoenix around 6:30 pm. This is a true blessing considering how important 'rest' is leading into the marathon.
Tomorrow I will post some final thoughts heading into the race. In the meantime, as we are currently flying over Arkansas, I long to rest in the peace and presence of God. He is so faithful.
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