Where chaos meets beauty!

 

We are on our way! Boston Bound! We are fulfilling a dream…my dream anyway.  Mike is just the most amazing husband and supporter of my dreams.  He is so gracious to listen to me talk and babble on and on about my dreams…especially this one. BOSTON!

Today has lived up to be a Tragic Trish kind of day! For those of you that don’t know, a couple of my many nicknames are Tragic Trish and Queen of Chaos.  I call it living by faith.  Others call it chaos. 🙂  But for starters, I took the day off to spend with my precious new granddaughter and daughter at the hospital.  We had no idea Camdynn would come so quickly, so I planned to have today to be there just in case.  God was orchestrating it all. He knew how chaotic today would seem to us and He knew we needed the whole day to prepare. So here is how it all worked out…His perfect plan!

 

Mike went turkey hunting. I slept in.  (Boy, I needed the rest!) Once I got up, I started preparing for the trip. While clothes were washing, I blogged.  I slowly…remember the word slowly…started packing.  I also started to finish printing out our travel documents.  Mike came home and started mowing the lawn.  I kept packing, charging electronics and making mental notes for weekend.

 

Finally, I decided I could probably check-in for our flight.  So, I went to Delta’s website to do so.  This is when things went from slow to really fast!  On the itinerary it said our flights had been changed and we would miss our connecting flight to Boston.  Now understand, we were supposed to land at 10:10 am on Saturday and be at hotel by 11:00 am for our first team meeting and brunch.  No time to miss our flight!!!

 

Panic mode sets in.  I call Delta. Mike walks in.  I tell him you might want to start washing clothes.  He says why? I say we may be leaving tonight. Aaaaahhhhhh!!! So, we zip it into overdrive.  Delta changes our flight to Friday night at 636 pm.  Now, we have to change the hotel.  Thankfully, that was a piece of cake!! So, hotel booked, flight changed, we are ready to go.  Well, almost.

 

We still have to go hold our precious granddaughter.  We have to say bye to our daughter.  We have to go to the bank.  We have to say bye to our son.  Oh my! We have to eat lunch.  Very important…lunch! Off we go.

 

I can say we finally calmed down a bit once we got all this done.  Though, I still hadn’t eaten my Wendy’s chili for my lunch.  It was cooling down in my bag. I did eat a wrap and was waiting on my chili.  We headed to the airport.  We arrived at 5:00 pm.  Our flight was to take off at 6:36 pm.  I would have plenty of time for the chili. Right? Wrong!

 

We tried to use the self check-in and it would not allow us to.  Why? Because our flight had been delayed and we were going to miss yet another connection. Yes, patience was wearing thin by this point.  I had just told Mike, we both need to remember who we were representing this weekend….God! At this point, I quoted Romans 8:28 out loud.  I needed my own words quickly!! Thank you, Lord!

 

Earlier when we were trying to book the 6:36 pm flight there was a 5:35 pm flight as well. Remember, it is 5:00 pm now.  I then ask if there is a possibility of getting on the 5:35 pm flight.  She says if we can get my checked bag on the airplane.  Thankfully the baggage guy had just left and was able to turn around and come right back.  So, we made it on the 5:35 pm flight.  We literally rushed through security, putting things back on as we rushed to the gate.  And, my chili made it through.  Did I have time to eat it? No. Flight was only 31 minutes long to Atlanta.

 

We took off. We landed, chili in tow.  We made it from Concourse C to Concourse A in Atlanta in record time. We bought Mike dinner…because I still had my chili.  We boarded the plane and we waited.  We waited long enough on the tarmac to eat our dinner…chili and a sandwich.  🙂  (Can you believe after buying the chili in Soddy Daisy, driving to Women’s East in Chattanooga and flying to Atlanta…my chili wasn’t cold.)  🙂 The simple things in life!

 

We are now in the air. We are headed to Boston.  It is a beautiful evening to fly.  We have met several well-wishers and Boston natives along the way.  All of them being very nice and wishing me well.  The chaos has turned into calm.  God made a way unlike our way.  His plans are so much better than ours.  We will arrive a little after nine. We will get to the hotel at a decent hour. We will get a good night’s rest.  Then we will wake up and hit the ground running again. 🙂 God’s perfect timing once again!

Oh, and how could I forget…my special surprise.  Actually, I had two of them today amongst the chaos.  First, my husband’s birthday surprise arrived. My official Boston Marathon jacket.  It is with me and will be worn once I complete the race.  Woo hoo! He was so excited as was I!!! Love that guy!

 

Second, I received an envelope from the Bayside Run for God group last night. I had the privilege of running with them one last time before my trip.  They have strengthened me and encouraged me in so many ways. I was instructed not to open it until I was Boston bound.  I followed my instructions.  As we took off from Chattanooga, I opened my envelope.

 

ghost writer! : ) Ha Ha…I let Mike hold the computer for a minute.

 

Once I opened my envelope, I pulled out a booklet of letters and pictures. They were so thoughtfully put together to encourage me and sharpen me as iron sharpens iron…Proverbs 27.17.  I am SOOO glad I brought tissue on the plane.  🙂  I cried my way through the most amazing set of letters and pictures ever. God is so good! So amazing! He has blessed me beyond words with my running angels.  Thank you Bayside Run For God! I will make you proud on marathon Monday! I am running for HIM with your scriptures, words of encouragement and prayers in my every thought and with every step!!

 

God has this all thought out. He is already there. He wanted us in Boston early so we would not stress on that end of the journey.  Our stress is over and we are chilling with water, Diet coke, peanuts and cookies. Life is good!

 

 

 

Running Blessed (and tragically chaotic at times),

Trish 🙂