The Joys of Traveling

So I'm sitting in the Amarillo airport waiting for my flight to take off and I'm tired. It's a good tired, though. I mean, it stinks that my flight was delayed 3 hours and I'll make it to Phoenix at 3:15 PM instead of 11:25 as per the original plan, but that's not my fault and I can't do anything about it. Apparently, there has been lots of bad weather in Houston and our flight crew got into Amarillo way late last night which has pushed our departure time back to 11:00 instead of 8:00 (which is part of why I'm so tired). I got here in time to catch an 8:00 flight but, since I have no transportation and it's really way too early in the morning to call a friend for breakfast...and they wouldn't want to drive all the way out to the airport, I'm just sitting here, a little bored and a lot frustrated. I don't guess I'm so much frustrated about arriving so early, or even about my flight being late. I'm frustrated because the Enemy has it out for me...especially when I travel. I have been on more trips that have gone wrong than I care to remember and the majority have been within the last year.

It all started with Japan. We had just returned to Nashville (on a Monday night) from my second trip with Acappella. We left our equipment trailer in a church parking lot since we didn't have an adequate place to store it at the time. That Wednesday was our next scheduled rehearsal day. When we showed up at the alotted time, the trailer was gone. All of our sound and lighting equipment, some clothing, some personal items (Zac's backpack) and our "livelyhood" had been taken away from us by a "theif in the night." Needless to say, we were all pretty bummed. We had to scramble to purchase enough equipment to take to Japan by Thursday of the next week (thanks for all your hard work, dedication, know-how, and faith, Gary!). That was just the beginning of my problems.
I came home to Texas that weekend to pick up a lot of my stuff and take it back to Nashville. What a surprise it was when I arrived in Canyon that Saturday night expecting to find my passport and, instead, finding a letter from the passport agency stating that I had overpaid and that I would need to send two more forms of identification as well as another check for the correct amount. (One would think that they would send the passport with a refund check, wouldn't one? As I found out, one would be wrong.) Oh boy, scramble time! That Monday, I spent virtually all day getting the right information together, putting an overnight mail package together (including an overnight envelope addressed to my Nashville address), making phone calls, begging and pleading for my passport to be processed and sent to me so I could leave for Japan that Thursday. I drove back to Nashville on Tuesday, on the phone the majority of the 14 hour trip...with people and with God! We had at least half a dozen federal officials involved, including Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas and Bill Frist from Tennessee, yet the results were consistent. "There is no way we can get your passport to you in time. You're going to have to miss your trip. I'm sorry." All day Wednesday was the same thing. Same conversations, same results, same frustration, same faith. We kept praying and praying and praying.
Thursday morning we left for the airport. I was going with the guys so I could take the van back to the studio and look for a job over the next two weeks. Just for fun, I called the passport agency and asked about the status of my passport, thinking I might be able to catch a later flight and still do most of the concerts. (This is the cool part.)

"Hi. I'd like to find out about the status of my passport application..."
"What's your name?"
"Robin Brannon."
"...It looks like it was processed at 3:09 yesterday afternoon and put in the mail at
8:00 PM."
"...Uh...what?"
"It should arrive at the Goodlettsville post office at 8:30 this morning."
"...Uh...what?"
"It should arrive at the Goodlettsville post office at 8:30 this morning."
"Wow...um...wow...what time is it now?"
"8:15."
"DUDE! PULL OVER! I HAVE TO GO BACK AND GET MY PASSPORT! I'M GOING TO
JAPAN RIGHT NOW!!!!"

God is pretty cool, huh?

There are many other stories I want to share, and I will later. I don't want to give it all away right now. I won't have anything left if I do...okay, maybe I will. Anyway, I said all that to say "I've had worse."

It's almost time for me to head toward the gate. Peace, love, and big Chocolate blessings to you and yours today and always!

Oh, did I mention that our international flight left at 10:30?