Thursday, February 22, 2007

traveling by myself . . .


I'm enjoying a lengthy layover at the Denver airport right now, enroute to Anchorage, Alaska.
Flying from Portland, Oregon to Denver in order to get to Alaska makes about as much sense as the flock of sparrows I'm watching right now.
A flock of sparrows, mind you, not just one or two, swooping madly about Concourse B, looking for crumbs to devour. After I made sure no one was watching me, I tossed a handful of trail mix on the carpet in front of me. The head sparrow--I know this to be true because it's bigger than the others and had a black head--hops boldly toward my offering and examines a pumpkin seed with its wee, beady eyes.
He hops back to his gang, obviously disappointed in my all-natural fare. The half-eaten Burger King bun allures them all to the gate next to mine.
I try to pretend I didn't make the mess in front of me . . .

I don't really like traveling alone, but I try to stay alert to any grand adventures the Lord might have for me. Before I left this morning, I read a really cool Beth Moore story about a divine encounter she once had at an airport--and it made me even more hopeful that I'd have some great tale to tell before the day was done.
I was all ready to "be Jesus" to the guy who sat next to me on the plane--until I read his T-shirt. It rendered me temporarily speechless. It advised:
"Shut up and drink your beer. There are sober children in India."
I momentarily thought about telling him about my daughter, Candyce, who leaves in just a few weeks to go care for desitute and dying children of India. I might have, if he'd seemed just the tiniest bit interested in chatting with me, which he wasn't. After several pathetic attempts at small talk, I just gave up an prayed for him.
I'm trusting that the unspoken word is sometimes more powerful than the spoken.
So, other than Mr. Tacky T-Shirt and the renegade band of sparrows, the day has been pretty uneventful.

(Except I just found out my flight is and hour and a half delayed. Ugh!)
But the trip's not over yet . . .

1 comments:

Rod and Lynda said...

Shawn, will you be back in time to see the creature in full costume make his appearance? I hear you don't want to miss it!

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