I am finally back in New Orleans! I left December 21 on what was to be a five hour trip home for Christmas. N.O. to Atlanta was fine and we left Atlanta on time. We were flying over Moline, IL (the destination) when the captain said it was too foggy to land and we would have to go to Milwaukee to come up with a plan and get fuel. Half way to Milwaukee he comes back on and says the fog has lifted enough and we're going to land. WooHoo! But, we end up circling Moline for an hour before flying to Milwaukee anyway. We find out there that our options are to fly back to Atlanta and wait for another flight to Moline or take a bus the airline will provide. Common sense says to keep moving, so I chose the bus.

Now let me paint a little picture for you. I get off the plane in Milwaukee wearing high heels, jeans and a dress shirt with no coat. My feet ache because, as it turns out, my shoes are too small and after hiking through the airport in Atlanta they are covered in blisters. So I put on the flip flops that I smartly stowed in my carry-on, but now I look goofy because I am wearing long jeans that must be rolled up. I get my luggage, praise the Lord, and change into tennis shoes and put on a sweatshirt.

We board the bus an hour later and take off on a who-knows-how-long trip to Moline. The bus driver doesn't even say "hi" let alone how long we will be traveling. It gets dark and I feel trapped. I am on a bus with 50 people I don't know, the windows are fogged over and it is so foggy outside that I can't even see the road signs. At 3 p.m. I call my mom who is waiting at the Moline airport with my brothers, and has been since 11:30 a.m., to tell her I have no idea when we'll be arriving. I call again at 5 p.m. or so and again a few times between 6 and 7 p.m. She talks with other relatives at the airport and we all try and figure out when we will arrive. It wasn't the magical homecoming I imagined, but I have never been so glad to be anywhere in my life.

We arrived home about 9 p.m. and considering that I had been up since 3:30 a.m. I figure I could have left New Orleans in a car around 4 a.m. and arrived home about the same time. But God is good and in all of the chaos I still felt a peace and I also felt him reminding me that it isn't about me. While we were sitting in the Milwaukee airport waiting for the bus I read the following and thought it was very fitting.

"In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote that when all is in turmoil and
when everything has gone wrong and we feel spiritually dry, when we can't even
feel God's presence, yet we still bow before Him, still we're obedient and
prayerful--that's the time when God is most pleased with us. Despair turns
quickly to victory when a broken heart is laid on the altar before God.

Yet we're not speaking only of those earthshaking trials. The little ones
are actually the most elusive moments for the worshipful life. You're sitting in
a snarl of traffic after a tiring day, and your nerves are frayed. What if you
took that moment and reflected upon James 1:2-4? Sure, you could honk
and gnash your teeth and bemoan your fate, saying, 'I don't deserve this! Why
should I sit in this gridlock?' Then again, you could also realize, 'I'm
counting this as joy! It means God is building something new and wonderful in my
soul, and it will lead to me being perfect and complete, lacking nothing--James
says it and I believe it.' Traffic suddenly looks entirely different as a new
song comes into your heart. You take that splendid moment to turn your focus
toward the praises of God as worship in everyday life."
- David Jeremiah My Heart's Desire