once again.....

It might possibly be that we can't take a family vacation without a missed flight.

I can't decide if it is better when you know you will miss the flight because you are 2 hours from the airport and your flight leaves in 1 and 1/2....you know you aren't going to make it and even though you have called and found out you will be put on standby......you just can't get that knot out of your stomach because there are 5 of you and you are about to miss your flight and you can't help thinking this is a really bad way to start your vacation. As you drive along that dark rainy highway and wonder if the plane you see in the sky is the one you are supposed to be on...........that was us last summer.

This year we were prepared. We had a flight coming home that left at 6 am from Baltimore. We needed to be at the airport an hour and a half early and we also had to return our rental car. We knew we needed to be there at 4 am. We were prepared!

We planned to drive in the night before and stay in a hotel AT the airport.

We planned to get a solid night sleep.

What actually happened was that we had so much fun the day before we just couldn't get to the hotel early! Of course if we are driving through Philadelphia we HAD to take time and run up the steps at the Musuem of Art and pump our fists in the air like Rocky! And oh yeah.....we HAD to find out who made the first philly cheese steak and go try one! (even if we did have to drive around until we could find an internet signal to research this information and THEN drive around a 2 mile circle for an hour until we located the place)

We finally made it to the hotel and in bed at midnight. I knew that 3 1/2 hours sleep wouldnt be much so I made sure we were prepared. I pulled one change of clothes out for each of us and the dirty clothes bag and left the car packed. I set the hotel alarm clock AND my cell phone alarm for 3 am thinking I would be up first and be prepared and ready to hustle 3 boys and a husband out of bed and into the car by 3:30ish.....we would NOT miss another flight. I kept waking up with that feeling "its been 3 hours"......it was 1:30.....then it was 1:56.......then it was 2:15........I called the front desk and requested an emergency wake up call for 3:30 thinking that I would just cancel it when I got up at 3. I went back to sleep knowing all would be OK.

I woke up.....I felt really rested! I laid there for a minute trying to remember where I was......I looked over and saw the hotel curtains and my heart started pounding as I realized.....I felt REALLY rested. I dreaded looking over to see the red lights on the clock tell me it was 5:30!

Yes

5:30

Our flight would be leaving in 30 minutes

They had just started boarding "our" flight

I had 4 sleeping family members, 8 pieces of luggage and a rental car and my flight left in 30 minutes!

We had done it again! I took the laptop and snuck into the bathroom.......there was no need to panic anyone else until I had a new plan to reassure them with. The website tells me there is a flight at 8:45. I make a quick call and find out they can put us on standby but they can't offer me confirmed standby and the flight is "pretty full". I shut it all down, wake up the family and loaded us up within 15 minutes.

We got to the airline counter and they told us they would check our bags on the 8:45 flight and if we didn't make it they would be waiting for us in Dallas when we eventually got in. THEN she tells me that since we are on standby we might not all make the same flight but they would make sure the 2 children got to fly with adults.......WAIT........2 children? I have 3! That is when she tells me that since Travis is 13, he is considered an adult and if they can't put 3 of us on a flight and only have room for 2 on each.......he might have to fly alone. Can I tell you that he handled this news much better than Mom? The thought of my BABY flying 2000 miles alone on a 3 hour flight was enough to give me heart failure.

We go through security when I am "randomly" selected for a more thorough check and because I have children with me they must also be checked. It doesnt matter that we have missed one flight and are racing to catch another......it REALLY doesnt. We have 5 carry-ons between the 4 of us and they must EACH be gone through systematically and the boys look at me with big round eyes as this stranger pats down their Mom the way they have only seen in the movies with criminals. As we hurry off to the gate I ask the boys to pray with me......I tell them just to pray that God makes the rest of our journey smooth.

You might have noticed I said 4 of us..........that's right. The airport security had an issue with Jeff's ID. They tell him that he will be detained and that he needs to go through "evaluation" that could take 20 or so minutes. They let him know this will be an FBI check. He settles in to wait........then comes the questioning......they know everything about him! They ask him about the make and model of our car to "test" him that he is who he says he is. When he says that it is parked at a hotel in Dallas they nod knowingly and say "yes we know". About that time the supervisor comes in to approve him getting on the flight. This man realizes they looked at the ID incorrectly and stopped him for no reason. He apologizes. Unfortunately since the process has been initiated and he was already detained, they must finish the check.

Can anyone guess the color of his face when he finally met us at the gate?

Guess what happened next? The gate attendant calls us up and tells us that she is very sorry........she can't seat us all together. WHAT? We are on the same flight? We will be home together? Sitting together is the least of my concerns as I give her a big hug and she laughs at the tears in my eyes. We have 2 seats together and 3 seperate. We decide one of us will sit with Davis since he is youngest and he picks Jeff......big shock! We get on the plane and I walk Michael back to his seat in the rear of the plane.....he is a little nervous but since he has a window seat I remind him just to look out the window and pretend he is all alone. I settle into my seat when the flight attendant taps the guy next to me on the shoulder and tells him about this WONderful seat in the rear of the plane with a window and lots of room and wouldnt he like to trade?......I then see Michael standing at his elbow and am overjoyed when the man says of course he would trade and Michael buckles in next to Mom. Our flight lands early..........our luggage all arrives..........we get a ride to the hotel and don't have to pay for the week we parked there as arranged.......we have an easy drive home and my parents have dinner waiting.

Don't tell me God doesnt answer prayers.........even if it does take his children a while to remember to ask him.

Next year? I'm also researching the flights after each of ours...........just in case.