The other day, the kids and I flew from Portland to Las Vegas, and back to Portland… just for the heck of it.

Kind of.

Not really.

We were planning to connect in Las Vegas and fly the rest of the way to Oklahoma City…. but Sometimes you need to take a step backward in order to move forward. Or, in our case, you need to fly back home in order to fly to your final destination.

When we arrived in Vegas, we shuffled ourselves from one gate to the next, anticipating a short layover, with time for a quick bite to eat and onto our second flight. We arrived at our gate and were greeted with a longer delay. UGH.

Our original arrival time was already crossing into the middle of the night, and I did not want my parents to have to pick us up further into the night. SO….. I made a split second decision with a thousand thoughts running thru my mind…..

The kids were crying, missing daddy. We had no desire to stay and watch people play slots in the Vegas airport.  Could we hop on the next flight back to Portland? Try this again tomorrow? Was there another flight back to Portland? Does this even make any sense?!?

Yes. Sometimes going backwards makes sense.

I spoke with the airline agent and worked thru the details. We could fly back to Portland, sleep in our own beds, be with our church family in the morning, and catch the next afternoon flight back to Oklahoma City. Makes sense? Not really. Done.

We were excited to be at church the next morning to participate in sharing testimonies from our missions trip to Mexico the week before… yep. We had just returned 3 days prior from a 2,500 mile journey to Mexico and California. So, after I made the split second decision to go back to Portland, which turned into a 15 minute discussion, explaining my brilliant idea to my mom, Adam and the kids….. I spoke with the gate agent who told me – it was too late. The Portland flight was about to leave. Panic. Okay. Kids crying. Again.

Still with a thousand thoughts swirling in around my mind – I felt strongly this was the right decision. Mixed with the questions every human being has when they go on a plane – will we die on this plane? or that plane? or either??? Why am I thinking about dying anyway??? Geez THE PRESSURE!!!

Now the ordeal of a flight delay turned into a bigger ordeal I had complicated with my brilliant idea and now the whole deal was a big ordeal.

I sat down and talked with the kids, who had calmed down, drinking their jamba juice smoothie… and I looked at the flight screen. <> Well. Wha-do-ya know? The Portland flight had been delayed and we would have time to catch that plane.

So we did.  

We had enough time to grab dinner at Pei Wei, laugh at the irony of the fortune cookie quotes, fly back home to sleep in our own beds, in a muggy 89 degrees in our un-airconditioned house, which reeked of a skunk who a just sprayed our whole street, go to church, share in the beautiful Mexico testimonies with our church family, and fly again… this time thru Phoenix… this time with no delays.

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord… the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps…” and flights… 😉

My hearts desire is to please my heavenly Father in everything I do. Every decision I make. Every step -and flight- I take. We made it to Oklahoma City in the not – as – late time of night. Greeted by my parents, we have enjoyed a sweet visit with my family this week. This time together has been such a gift. Making the decision to go back to Portland was chaotic, but it was the right step in the backward direction. Yes. Sometimes going backwards makes sense.

…and in a few days, we fly again. This time to Columbus… allowing us the gift of seeing the old and new converge.

Follow the blog and Join us on the journey… the stories are only half written.

In Him, Leslie