Grounded

I was "grounded" by the Lord yesterday. I learned a pretty valuable lesson about faith and trusting Him and in hearing His voice.
One of our team members was still without her passport as of Monday of this week. So, she decided to head to DC early in order to re-issue one. The man in charge of the Africa trips at Visiting Orphans suggested I come with her since I know the area and could act as an ambassador to her and help her since she'd only flown once, etc. I'd already asked off the days, so I packed and got ready to leave 2 days earlier than planned. I had this feeling..this wondering/pondering in my Spirit though...If God had called Jennifer and we'd been faithful to pray, then His word was not going to return void. He had a plan A, were we supposed to be making our own plan B? Were we just supposed to stand in faith and believe and not move and the Lord act on our behalf? Yet, I just wasn't sure as the ticket was changed and I was encouraged to go. So, with a heart sincerely wanting to please the Lord, I went ahead with plan B, the back up plan. I couldn't help but notice that there were no hotel rooms availabe that were affordable in DC and no rental cars, but yet, I was told to just come anyway. When we got to the airport, we were randomly picked for the total security check where they go through everything and then on the plane we couldn't get our seats next to each other and not one person on the entire plane wanted to give up their seats for us. And as we sat there waiting to leave we received a call form Visiting Orphans that there was a great chance that Jennifer's passport was going to come through, that it was going to be delivered anyway. So, here we sat on a flight in vain. I sat there thinking to myself...I've never encountered so much opposition when I travel and I travel all the time. So I started asking the Lord to forgive me if I'd stepped out of His plan and we'd made our own. About that time the flight attendent came on the intercom and said the flight had been "grounded" due to bad weather in D.C. and we were delayed, so she asked us to get off the plane. We did...and then I told Jennifer, "I'm going to laugh if they cancel this flight"...As the words came out of my mouth, the flight was cancelled! Jennifer and I just sat there and laughed so hard as everyone else got frustrated and rushed the ticket counters to get booked on other flights. We took our time and waited and then easily got put back on our original flight leaving on Thursday with the rest of the group from N'ville. I had paid an extra $50 for a bag that was too heavy and lo and behold it was the only payment made that had not yet been put into the night deposit. So I got my $50 back and then they gave us a voucher to use on our next flight! Jenifer and I walked out of the airport in a daze. It was like we'd boarded a plane to go to a physical location, but God used that time to "ground" us to teach us to trust Him..and it was the most loving discipline from my Heavenly Father. I was ashamed before Him, but so humbled at His love and grace in the way He disciplined me, yet He even blessed me in the end. So, yes, we did board that plane for physical change of location, but God used it to change us spiritually. We did get off the plane with new perspective and in a new place. I feel sorry for all the other passengers that had to endure the delays just so that God could keep us on His original plan..;)
My good friend and co-worker, Amy, is supposed to go on this trip with us as well. She still does not have her passport. We are going through teh same mind sets..is this you Lord or does she keep trying? We have pretty much released it and are trusting at this point that if she is supposed to go, that the Lord will create a miracle. Since she has to leave by 1 tomorrow, it would indeed be a miracle. But, we are trusting Him!
p.s. Word is that Fed Ex will be delivering Jennifer's passport by 10:30 AM tomorrow, just in time for her to get to the airport by 1 PM!