We had been delayed in Baltimore due to stormy weather. Some of our group were supposed to be on earlier flights, but were still sitting there waiting with us. Finally, they said we could board the next flight and it had enough seats for us all. All 10 of us.
We had been attending our denomination’s conference at Sandy Cove Conference Center in Northeast, Maryland all week long. We were ready to get home. But it wasn’t happening very fast.
The group consisted of two associate pastors and their wives, one retired missionary lady, a pastor and his wife from another church, my son-in-law, my wife, and myself. We packed into the plane and hoped to get back to Tampa as quickly as possible.
The rows in the plane were offset and I noticed a woman sitting across and slightly ahead of me. She looked, like most of us probably, anxious to get to her destination. I didn’t have the opportunity to say anything to her. But I could tell she was not traveling with the people seated next to her. I guessed she was traveling all alone.
As we approached Tampa the plane began circling. There was some turbulence, and even though it was dark, I noticed the clouds passing by the windows seemed to just keep passing by, but it didn’t feel like we were descending. The pilot then came on the sound system and told us there was a bad storm over the Tampa airport and it wouldn’t move. Because the storm was so bad, they decided not to land until it passed. However, he also said we couldn’t continue to circle the airport or we would run out of fuel. That pilot must be like me … “We don’t need gas right now. There’ll be a gas station along the way.” It was decided that we would land in Orlando, refuel,and then when it was safe return to Tampa.
I thought … Not me. There was no telling how long we’d be sitting in Orlando. We had been sitting for hours in BWI and now on the airplane. I quickly suggested to our group that we rent a couple of cars in Orlando and drive to Tampa where our cars were waiting. By the time we had landed and taxied to the airport, my son-in-law had priced two rental cars. If I remember correctly, it was $20 per person. Everyone agreed to get off the plane, rent the cars and drive to Tampa, except the retired missionary. She was content just sitting on the plane waiting.
It was announced that anyone who wanted to get off the plane could do so, but not to go too far because they were not sure when they’d be able to depart for Tampa. There were several people who got up and walked into the airport. The nine of us said goodbye to the missionary and got off the plane. When we got into the airport, we were able to quickly finalize our car rentals. We told someone with the airline what we were doing. They told us it wouldn’t be a problem and to just give the person at the door to the jetway our names and let him know we would NOT be flying to Tampa.
We ran to him and informed him of our decision. As I began to hurry away toward the rental cars, I saw the woman who was seated across from me on the plane standing there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I could tell she was frustrated and I just knew she was wishing there could be an alternative plan. I rushed over to her and told her we were renting cars, driving to the Tampa airport and that we had room for one more person. It would be $20 bucks a person. I ended with the question, “Do you want to go with us?”
Now, pause right there and give this some thought.
Why would a woman, traveling alone, take a chance and get into a car with a group of strangers? That question went through my mind immediately after asking her if she wanted to go with us. So, I quickly followed up my question by saying, “We’re not dangerous. We’re a group of pastors and wives.” Why would she believe that? I don’t think we necessarily look like the pictures of pastors that people have in mind. In any case, anyone could make up that story just to lure an innocent woman into a car. So, of course, using her natural sense of self preservation, she immediately said, “YES! I wanna go with you!” I told her she had to inform the man at the jetway and then we needed to hurry.
You see, if we didn’t hurry, there could be a chance the plane would leave and beat us to the Tampa airport, and we would look like a bunch of idiots. I like to avoid looking like an idiot. We speed-walked to the rental cars. On the way, I asked our new friend if she preferred to ride with me or the guy with all the tattoos. She preferred riding with me. We hopped into the cars and began racing to Tampa. We introduced ourselves with our first names and found out that Kim had flown from Maryland to see her daughter who lives in Tampa.
At this point she decided to call her daughter and tell her what was happening and how far she was from the Tampa airport. We couldn’t hear her daughter’s response, but we knew her decision to ride with us left her daughter extremely alarmed. Kim was saying things like “It’s no problem. Everything is fine. I’ll call as soon as we get there.” She hung up and said that her daughter reminded her that she had told her and her siblings their entire lives not to get in cars with strangers. We were all laughing.
Soon Kim’s phone rang. We could tell it was her husband. “No, honey, I’m fine. These are nice people. Everything is going to be ok. I’ll call you when I get to Tampa.” When she finally got him off the phone, she informed us that her husband said she was never traveling alone again. We were all laughing so hard, it turned out to be a great relief after a miserable traveling day.
I told her to tell her husband he had nothing to worry about. I said, “We’re just one big happy family. Our last name is Manson.” We all roared with laughter. Then Kim’s phone rang again. “I’m ok. Don’t worry. I’m with the Manson family. They’re very nice people.” When she hung up, she told us that was her sister and that her husband had called her in a panic. At this point, I was going to be surprised if there wasn’t an APB out for us and we would soon get introduced to the state police.
Our plane from Orlando landed in Tampa the same time we arrived at the airport. You might think we were crazy paying for the rental cars, but the fact is, we would have never met Kim. We jumped out of the two cars and got a group picture at Kim’s request. She said she needed to send it to her family and say “See, I made it ok.”
By the time we arrived in Tampa we were worn out from laughing and we were all Facebook friends with Kim. And the best part was finding out that Kim is a Christian. She asked us about churches we could recommend to her daughter in Tampa, and we were able to give her a few suggestions of some solid churches near her daughter’s location.
Sometime later, Deb and I were collecting our luggage at the baggage claim in Midway airport in Chicago. There, above the luggage belt is a large sign we’d never seen before in airports. In big letters it says, IF A STRANGER OFFERS YOU A RIDE, DO NOT ACCEPT. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it and posting it on Kim’s wall.
Maybe this should be added to that sign: UNLESS IT’S A GROUP OF PASTORS AND WIVES.
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
