-The Light of
Navigation-
GOD, DELTA
AIRLINES and BOTH ESCORTS
It was 10:30 am
when I arrived at the Mobile Alabama airport and I was headed home
for Tulsa Oklahoma. The previous week was spent laying my son
Randall to rest in Pensacola Florida. It was now time to turn in my
rental car at the airport by the 11:00 am deadline. Unfortunately, my
scheduled flight was not until 5:30 pm. that evening. The prospect
of walking around the airport grief stricken for the next 6 hours
felt like more than I could bear. My sister Mary had already flown
home the day before. I was alone.
At Delta
airline's ticket counter, I used my credit card to pay a $50.00 fee
to be placed on stand by. With a brief prayer under my breath as I
walked away I said, “Lord, I am so tired. I'm grieving so much for
my son. Instead of leaving here at 5:30 pm. would You bring me home
to Tulsa by then?”
In the terminal
waiting area I approached Delta's gate desk to speak to the airline
agent. “Were there any possible openings on any flights to Tulsa
earlier than 5:30 that evening?” I asked. “No,” she said, and
the pilot for the 11:00 am. flight this morning is mysteriously late,
and we can't locate him.”
As I sat in the
airport cafeteria, I thought about the arrangements made at the
funeral home a few days before. The question of the availability of
a police escort for the hearse and funeral procession to the cemetery
after the funeral services was discussed. We were told there would
be no escort. There were too many funerals in the area that weekend,
and no police officers were available for my son's funeral. The
funeral director, to his credit, had called twice and was turned down
both times.
The lack of
the police escort was hurtful. It is one last gesture of honor to
the deceased and their family as they drive to the local cemetery and
final resting place. God had made me feel like I was a daughter of
a King, and my son, one of His beloved sons with His divine
interventions on our behalf throughout the entire week. Every detail
came together supernaturally, and not one need was left unmet. I
remembered thinking that God would handle things His way, and no
escort was ok.
As the funeral
service concluded that Saturday afternoon, the funeral director came
up to the front of the chapel and made an announcement. His voice
boomed out loudly in front of the gathered crowd across the chapel
room as he spoke. He said, “Mrs. Woodall, I don't know what
friends you have in high places, but you now have your
funeral escort.”
I was informed
later that it was a retired sheriff's organization who volunteer as
funeral escorts for V.I.P.s and
dignitaries only.
As I reflected
on this memory at the sandwich bar, a Delta airline representative
approached my table thirty minutes later. I was handed airline
passes thru to Tulsa with the arrival time of 5:30 that evening. It
was the rescheduled flight of the pilot who had been mysteriously
late and could not be found. It felt like a second escort home, just
for me......
Unlike the
pilot who was eventually found that day, something else never
was.
The charge on
my credit card for the standby fee.
My
Father loves his daughter and her son, and I am humbled that He
honored me.....
