My trip home

fair warning: long post ahead

Okay folks here is the scoop! I was debating about whether to post about my plane trip today or wait so that you'll keep coming! :) I am putting into practice what I learned in Micca's session about creating tension in the beginning of your "talk" so the "audience" is on the edge of their seats.

Hmmm...do I want to fill you in now or not?! :) I also don't want to build this up so big that you're like, well that wasn't worth coming back! But we're friends right?! So here's the story.

Also - since it is Tuesday - I'm going to incorporate Tuesday's Blend here as well. But for now, just read on.

I left She Speaks feeling inspired and motivated to go home and pursue this dream of speaking that God has confirmed in my heart. I was also anxious to see my family and especially my dear hubby, Clint! Our plane was delayed due to weather but we finally began boarding.

As I walked past row 9 to find my seat in row 10 I noticed a older man with disheveled hair. He was talking to a cute young women who obviously was uncomfortable with him. But I didn't think much more about it and sat down in my seat - which was diagonal from his. I was very tired and looking forward to a short 1 1/2 snooze.

Our plane taxied for probably a 1/2 hour and during this time this man became more and more agitated. He seemed nervous and frustrated. By this time, the aunt of the young women had switched places with her niece. I became nervous when I saw the aunt lean into the aisle and tell the man sitting next to her "This guy scares me."

That did it for me...my snooze was not going to happen - I began to pray. My heart rate increased when I saw this man lean down and rummage through his belongings and then slam back into his seat. Then again - he leaned down, muttering and looking through his items and again slammed back into his seat. Seriously - I was thinking he's hooking up a bomb or something.

Then he calmed down and I thought now he's resigned himself to die with us all. Please remember - I was VERY tired and obviously not thinking clearly but I was feeling quite tense. At this point the plane had not even left the ground. This was going to be a very long flight indeed.

After we had been in the air for some time, I mentioned my fears to Megan - not the specifics just the fact that he made me very nervous, etc. I noticed the guy next to me seemed to be aware of the situation a bit and I wondered if I should ask him.

Then I thought - there is a good chance this guy is clueless because men are not usually quite as observant as us ladies, right?! (that's not completely true of course, but since my readers are mostly female - I'm saying it!)

So my thoughts are spinning, I'm freaking out a bit but praying FERVANTLY for safety. "Please Lord, bring us home safely - soften this man's heart if he has evil intentions - I just learned so much this weekend, is it really my time to go? - How will my husband manage...."

I also questioned whether or not I should mention something to the flight attendant like - "This may be nothing but this man is acting strange...just watch him." But then I worried that they might ground the plane and everyone would hate me.

I'm trying to say Yes to God in every situation, small or big. So I'm thinking - "Lord are you telling me to ask? Maybe this is a big time. Maybe because of my actions, this whole plane will be saved!"

I'm laughing now as I write down everything I was thinking...did I mention I was tired?!

I decided to lean over and ask the man next to me if he was noticing anything strange. When I did, he just kind of chuckled at me and was like, "I think he was just frustrated about being late."

So maybe he wasn't scared, but I still wasn't convinced. I went to the bathroom and on my way back snuck a look at the "scary" man. Then I looked at the "chuckling" man next to me and saw that again, he was - well, chuckling. Then he went to the bathroom and on his way back he looked too. So maybe he wasn't 100% comfortable.

As the flight went on I actually felt a bit more peaceful about it all and then something very strange happened. The lady next to the "scary" man was asleep, head on her tray table. She was seated on the aisle.

I looked up and saw a foot - attached to the leg of Mr. Scary as he was literally CLIMBING OVER the sleeping women! He looked at us and said - "She's asleep, I don't want to wake her."

So he just climbed right over her!! I laughed so hard after he left - I could not believe it. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. It was then that we (the chuckling man and I) noticed that the light on the outside saying "bathroom occupied" or whatever it says never turned on meaning he never locked the door - meaning he was using the facilities in the dark!

I mentioned to my chuckling friend that we should wake her up so he doesn't climb back over her again. He said, "Oh I'd kind of like to watch and see what happens!" So we did! "Scary" man came back. You could tell he was thinking about how to get back in. He looked at the seat, looked at us, and then kind of shrugged and lifted a leg to climb over her once again.

The man across the aisle from her told "Scary" to tap her and wake her up. To which "scary" replied, "She's not mine and I'm not hers so I'm not going to do that." Fortunately, she did wake up and moved for him to walk in normally. And her eyes got really big when she found out how he had gotten out in the first place!

That kind of turned a corner for me and I felt a little more comfortable that he probably wasn't up to anything evil. I think he probably just had a little too much fun before he boarded the plane. Later someone told me they saw him trying to give himself a sobriety test.

It all ended when we safely returned to the ground, the "scary" man was the first one out of his seat. He was about to leave when the lady who had been sitting by him said, "Hey" you forgot your luggage carrier. He's like, "I do NOT have a luggage carrier." She's like yes you do, here it is." To which he replied, "Oh yea, I guess I need that."

Needless to say, it was an eventfully-uneventfull flight and I'm so glad to be home! :)

For Tuesday's Blend - I'd love to hear some of your funny, scary, or just strange plane ride stories.

I can't easily put up Mr. Linky right now so just leave them in the comments. This computer is also not letting me get my "Tuesday's Blend" picture up so we'll just do it like this.