Faith, Patience, and Gratitude

This past Friday, after carefully making arrangements for the younger kids to be taken care of and attend their activities on the weekend, Mike and I jetted off to Abbotsford so we could see the opening of Emily's show "The Fantasticks"! We had been waiting for this day since the moment she learned she would be in the show - especially because we have not really had the opportunity to spend any time with her in the past few months. It is incredible how much you can miss someone - and I can say quite honestly that I shed a few tears when I was finally able to wrap my arms around her in the airport.

We had a lovely dinner, then headed to the show - which was so incredible. Even though I have seen her perform many times, I am always amazed and awestruck when I see her onstage - sharing her wonderful gifts with a group of strangers and absolutely loving every minute of it. 

Because she had two shows Saturday, and our flight was due to leave early Sunday afternoon, our time with her was limited. Words cannot even begin to describe how heavy my heart was that morning as we shared brunch together, knowing it would be a while before seeing her again and wishing that somehow the weekend had not flown by so fast. 

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that our flight home had been cancelled! This put a major glitch in our plans - especially because Ben, Elizabeth, and Zachary were back home terrorizing Grandma & Grandpa - and Marshall the dog too! Mike was due to fly back to work on Monday morning as well. 

After working with a terrific ticket agent, we were able to get on to a flight the following day. Not the best case scenario, but here's how I look at things . . .

1. Faith. Obviously, WestJet knew something about that plane that we did not. I'm quite certain the company would not have cancelled the flight unless they had a good reason. I for one, prefer not to experience a crash landing in the mountains if at all possible.

2. Patience. The ticket agents were working very hard to get people home as quickly as possible. They can't magically create seats on a plane so of course it will take longer to get home. Getting angry and abusive won't open up a seat - but it will certainly make those around you hope and pray that you are not sitting beside them on the next flight!

3. Gratitude. We were blessed to be able to spend the entire day and following morning (well, late morning haha) with our beautiful daughter, and my sister and her family. The reality is, we needed this time with Emily - and she needed it with us. We were also grateful to Mike's Mom & Dad, and our good friend Raelene, for keeping our kids an extra day - especially when they all had much to do already, and probably could have used a good nights sleep!

Sometimes, things happen that put a monkey wrench into our carefully organized plans; however if we remember to have faith, practice patience, and be grateful, the situation can be a lot less stressful. 


And sometimes, just sometimes, weekends can be made to last a little longer ;)