I Almost Died

Well, that's an exaggeration, but what's a story without a little bit of truth stretching? And it sure felt like I could have died. Let me tell you, flying through a thunderstorm in a small plane is not an enjoyable experience. It is however, a somewhat enlightening experience.

I'd been blessed with a trip to New Orleans to visit the home and friends I had left behind three years ago. The two weeks passed too quickly, as they are apt to doing when one is in good company, and it was time to fly back to good ol' Virginia. My trip home wasn't nearly as good as my trip down, though.

To start with, I was stuck in an airport for ages. My plane was delayed, and when I finally got to DC, my other plane was delayed. I had been expecting a long lay-over but was still more than a little aggravated at this turn of events. My computer refused to hook-up to the wi-fi, I was all alone, and the airport was freakin' crowded. Yeah, yeah, first world problems, I know.

Still, I was grateful my flight wasn't cancelled like many others were. Mostly. Because I was then required to wait forever on both a shuttle bus and a runway. Finally, though, we took off. There had to be "rerouting" because of a storm in the area (which is why we took so long on the runway). I didn't think much of it. I turned on my iPod when I could and went to blissfully daydreaming (even though daylight was long gone).

I didn't think much of it either, when the flight attendant announced that there was going to be some turbulence and that he was going to sit down again. I didn't think much when we bumped along a little. I'd dealt with turbulence (and I'd be lying if I said it didn't freak me out a little bit each and every time) before and simply switched my iPod over to Matt Maher. Then I saw the lightning. And that? That I thought much about. Because right then, we hit really bad turbulence. I could see the storm from the window across the seat from me before the girl closed it.

It was around this time that I reached for my Bible. I can't normally read on planes, but I like to have my Bible with me, just in case (a habit I should get into anyway, but, at the moment, I don't have one small enough to carry around with me). The turbulence was so bad at this point that I even dropped my backpack while getting my Bible out.

Once out though, I flipped it open randomly, landed smack dab in the middle of Psalms, on Psalm 62 to be exact. And in Psalm 62, I found the following verse: "God alone is my rock and my salvation/my secure height; I shall not fall."

Well, considering my main fear here was the plane falling and dooming everyone inside, this was an immense comfort. Not long after that, we were smooth sailing (er, flying) again. Just goes to show that, just like in the Gospels, God is always there to comfort us and keep us safe in the midst of our storms.