These are not words you want to hear from the captain when you are flying over the ocean. I love flying as a way of travel, and never had a fear that anything would go wrong while in flight. However, this was my longest flight to date. I had flown from Winnipeg to Vancouver, Canada, then the long 15-hour flight to Sydney Australia, where I would again change to a short flight to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
I looked around and thought: ”Well, we are all in this together, and nobody around me seems concerned, or else they were hiding it very well. The flight attendants were super, so professional, and kept everybody talking and drinking. The pilot kept reassuring us that the turbulence would soon pass. Well, that lasted about an hour, and then it was smooth sailing again. Wrong term. We were soaring like eagles right through the storm. Coffee and drinks were on the trollies in no time, and it was quickly forgotten.
I really enjoyed the rest of that flight. Everyone who was on it was going home to Australia or a few like me were visiting family. I enjoyed visiting with everyone on that plane. I caught glimpses of their life, and it was so interesting. I knew I probably would never meet them again, but for that little while we exchanged so many details about ourselves.
I’m very secure in my little Lakeside town and have travelled a lot throughout the States and everything, but I never realized it as much as flying over the ocean to the other side of the world. When we landed the rush began as we all grabbed our luggage and went our own ways.
I had my month on the Sunshine Coast and it changed my life forever. The hospitality was unending, no matter where I went. Rock climbing in the rainforest, the markets, making new friends at the outdoor café, and learning about their culture. I drank it all in. I was so aware of the big picture and how we are placed all over this Earth with different lifestyles, but somehow the common ground is that we’re very similar. Especially concerning our families, faith, willingness for friendships, shopping & looking for bargains, going out for coffee with friends and trying different restaurants, then hanging out at the favorite. I could go on and on about all the exciting ways in which no two of us the same; meanwhile I discovered that we are all still very much alike.
I believe that is how it is going to be when we are with the Lord one day. We will all be in communion, and the Bible says we will recognize each other but there will be no longing for any other travels for holidays. We won’t be wanting to go anywhere else because we will have everything that is beyond what we can imagine. And it’ll be like that for eternity. God tells us that all these things of Earth will pass away and grow scarcely dim. So, my thrilling trip to Australia was just a drop in the bucket as to what is ahead for us. That is our hope and that is God‘s promise, and it is all brought together through faith.
Some of the times are rough and we must work on that faith, but I believe we are all glad to have it. I know I am. I don’t know how people go through the struggles in life without it. I would never have made it this far.
Dear Reader, please don’t give up if you’re feeling alone or discouraged, because the Lord told us that we will have times of worry, trials, and tribulations. We are not living in a rose garden world. But He has promised us that we will have that garden one day.
Blessings today, Dear Readers. No matter where or how far we travel, we are usually thankful to come back home. I think we have all realized that it is a small world after all when we realize as earthly humans, we have in so many of the same things in common.
- Marlane.
Excerpted from the book "101 Roads" by Marlane Lillian Mazur.
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