Great For That!

Let me preface my remarks today with this little anecdote that Ammon related recently in a Sacrament meeting talk. I can't quote it word for word, but it is something like this:

Ammon and Abby's little Audrey has come up with a little addendum to things that happen to her that their family could easily use as a family motto. As I understand it, Audrey was sitting on a stool eating at the counter. She almost fell and in doing so she dropped the food in her hand. She said, "well at least I didn't fall. Great for that!" Now they can look for the good in a bad situation and say "great for that!" With that, I have a rather long story to relate about my travel experience yesterday.

Today I am at Andrew's house in California. I flew here yesterday to spend a week with Melissa and the boys while Andrew is in the Netherlands for a conference. I arrived safely following an adventure I hope to not repeat.

Abby was gracious enough to drive me to the airport yet again. She is always so willing to help me when I go on a trip. She arrived two minutes early and I had my luggage sitting by the front door. I grabbed my suitcase and she closed the door behind me as she said, "Is that everything?" I said yes as I loaded the suitcase and we took off. It was a pleasant drive to the airport and we missed the General Conference traffic so we made good time. We arrived at 9:35 which gave me about an hour to check my luggage and get to the gate by boarding time. I got my suitcase out of the car and asked Abby, "where did you put my laptop?" I could tell she was totally surprised by this question. She must have been fairly amazed that I was able to get all of my belongings and my laptop all into one suitcase, and now she realized, as I did, that I had walked off without my laptop thinking that she got it and she thought I had it packed in my suitcase. The smiles were erased from our faces as we realized the impact of this oversight. I could not survive for a week without my laptop. I made a quick assessment and realized that I risked missing my plane if we drove home and back again. She promised she would go home and mail it to me immediately so that I would hopefully not miss out on too much work. I realized that I would most likely miss out on Monday and possibly Tuesday's work and at what expense. I agreed and we parted with a hug and a sigh.

I checked my luggage and made it through security with ease. Now I had about 40 minutes before they invited passengers to begin boarding, or a little over an hour until take- off, and I had nothing more to do but contemplate my grave error. Then a thought occurred to me--maybe Abby and I couldn't drive home and back in time, but if someone at home could take off right away, the time would be cut in half. It might cost more but maybe not--but which would be less trouble for Abby. Perhaps if I asked if Ammon could stop what he was doing on his day off and run my laptop to the airport for me that would be easiest for Abby. This was definitely not the course that would give Ammon the least stressful Saturday, but it was worth a try; so I called Abby and she called Ammon. Don't ask me why I didn't just call Ammon myself. I wasn't thinking rationally at this moment. My mind was racing with the possibilities and I just had to try and get that laptop if at all possible. As is his disposition, Ammon abandoned what he was doing to serve his family that day and chose to serve me instead. He ran and got my laptop, jumped in my car and raced to the airport. We kept up a phone dialogue to assess our situation. Meanwhile I made a trial run to gate B18 and found that it would take me a full 5 minutes to trot to the gate near the very end of Terminal 1 gate B, walking beside two "moving sidewalks" (because I could walk faster than they would carry me if I had to stop for others who were letting the sidewalk do all the work), then down a corridor and down the stairs and down another corridor to gate B18. I talked to the Delta personnel at Gate 18 and told them I was hoping to be on that flight WITH my laptop. They said they would close the plane door at 11:05, but they wished me luck and told me I may save time if I met Ammon at Terminal 1 Security instead of Terminal 2 Security because it was much closer. If all else failed, they said they may be able to get me on the 3:00 flight to Orange County. With this reassurance, I called Ammon and told him of the change in plans to meet at Terminal 1 instead of Terminal 2. He was then about 15 minutes away by his calculations. I think this is going to work, I sighed.

Hoping it would only take me 5 minutes to get through security and 5 more to get to the gate, I determined I could wait for Ammon until 10:55. Then I would have to decide, do I catch this plane or wait and try to get on the 3:00 plane.

Wow! Weeks seem to fly by when I am enjoying myself visiting my children, but what a slow 15 minutes followed! Then it was still a few minutes more before Ammon pulled up beside me--but not before we had a couple more misunderstandings that took him on an extra loop of the airport to finally find me at the passenger drop-off point. I just wanted to give him a great big hug and kiss but time was of the essence so I said an inadequate thank you across the front seat and ran toward Security. The Spirit whispered, whatever happens, it is okay. Then I thought, maybe I am not supposed to be on this flight. Maybe the airplane is going to have problems. Maybe it is going to crash! Should I run or not? Well, I ran anyway because I always try to give things my best shot. Now it was 10:55 and I had to go back through security and get to the gate by 11:05 at the latest. The line at Security was very short and I only had to hope that I did not get someone who questioned the odd equipment that I was carrying in my laptop case for my transcription work, thinking the pedal was a bomb device or something. I thought of the trip I took where the security guard took the pedal out of my bag and asked me to explain what it was before I could pass through, and I held my breath. There was no time for this today! The laptop passed inspection. I was soon on my way half walking, half running toward Gate B18. It was with mixed relief and a prayer of gratitude for both Abby and Ammon that I showed my boarding pass to the gate person at 11:05 and hurried to the plane. At least I didn't miss my plane. Great for that!!

Seriously, why do I relate this story? It is a reminder to me of the way the Lord helps us in times of need. We can pray for help when we have a need and the Lord will help us, but first He expects us to ponder and think things out in our minds. Then we must act on the impressions we receive and do everything in our power to do what we need to do. Finally, it is usually through others that the Lord answers our prayers. Do not deny help from others by saying, "no thank you, I can do this. I have prayed for help." And never forget, you may at times be the answer to another's prayer so always be willing to serve others when the opportunity arises. Thank you, Ammon and Abby, who were the answer to my prayer this time.