Living the Story We're In

Written on the flight to Yap 6/18/16:

We were enjoying our lunch at the Pacific Star, when we heard a military chopper flying overhead. We expected to hear it fade and watch it fly off into the sapphire blue horizon, but instead, the chopper thundered louder, closer...and we watched it hover and land on the roof just outside our window! Two guys in military uniform burst out, jumped from the roof to the patio and into our dining area.

"Wolcott and Keele! Is there a Wolcott and Keele here?" They called out, looking around the room with sharp eyes.

Karen and I looked at each other and timidly raised our hands.

"You ladies have 10 minutes to get your stuff in our chopper if you want to make it to Yap in time for that graduation. Are you coming?" The man raised an eyebrow over his aviators.

Ten minutes later, Karen and I stumbled back into the dining area (which by now was quite crowded with onlookers), out of breath but ready for our adventure. The muscled military men grabbed our suitcases and tossed them into a compartment, then helped us in, gave us our headphones, showed us how to strap in, and we were off!

As we watched Guam grow smaller in the distance, the pilot explained to us that he wasn't allowed to land in Yap. So...

About two hours later, we spotted an aircraft carrier. We circled until permission was granted, then lower, lower until we gently landed on the carrier. Two more uniformed officers met us almost immediately, grabbed our bags, and ushered us to a stairwell. We followed down several flights of stairs until we reached an opening on a deck near the water. Actually, it was a sealed porthole, but big enough to duck through when opened. That spit us out on a little deck, where we descended a small ladder onto a cutter. The crew cheered as we boarded, and asked our story as they stowed away our bags. 

Another hour later, wind-blown, salty, and slightly sea sick, we docked at the lagoon in Yap. A church member met us, loaded our bags, and whisked us away to the school. When we arrived, the 8th graders were just lining up! We dumped our bags in the administration building, then quickly changed and made it to the back of the line-up just as pomp and circumstance started playing! We made it to Yap just in time!

So...that could have happened, but it didn't. It just a happened in our imagination when Karen's FBI friend said she would check with some connections who had military connections in Guam to see if they could get us there by Thursday night so we could make it to grad in time. That would have been so cool.

But God is creative in His miracles. Instead, He postponed graduation, and even gave us a little time to snorkel and hike and enjoy old and new friends in Guam. We are content to live the story we're in.

Writing this as we are landing in Yap. Thank you, Jesus!!