Whine not

The last two days were some of the worst in my long illustrious traveling career. It started with a cancelled flight whereby I had to cancel my appointment near Memphis and fly to another city. They lost my luggage, so I filed a claim which amounted to an hour and a half of struggle. Next they did not have my rental car and they told me that I needed to setup my rental car “profile” which took another hour and a half. (I only travel constantly and use rental cars practically daily.) They finally found a car for me and I headed to my hotel only to find that I could not follow the directions as there are no signs in Mississippi. I found my hotel using instinct and only after taking the “scenic” route of Jackson Mississippi. My ill fated trip continued the next day. I worked on a proposal in my hotel room right up to the last minute prior to leaving for my appointment. When I got outside the hotel, I looked at my directions to my first appointment and it said go North .2 miles. Which way is North? I did not have a compass, so I took a guess. I could go left or right. I chose left I should have chosen right. Instinct did not serve me well! Turning left put me on a one way road which took me 17 miles out of the way before I could turn around. I arrived 2 minutes before I was supposed to be at my appointment wearing the same clothes I had worn the previous day because my luggage still had not been found. After my meeting I went to the airport and picked up my luggage which had finally arrived only to find that TSA had destroyed my suitcase rendering the zippers useless. I took the taped up bag to my room and changed clothes. I had to throw away the suitcase and stuff everything I owned into my computer bag and carry the rest out to the car “freehand”. I did all of this and arrived just in time to make my appointment with the Governors office. After the appointment as I was driving to the airport, I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that I had chocolate smeared on my mouth from my only meal of the day, a chocolate ice cream bar that I ate just prior to my meeting.
(I wonder if the chocolate smeared on my mouth impressed the Governor’s Chief of Staff?) I went to the airport only to find my plane into Atlanta was delayed over an hour which mean’t I would probably miss my Miami connection. I arrived in Atlanta, sprinted to my connection gate only to find that it was delayed for an hour because the crew had not arrived. I finally arrived in Miami and drove another hour to my home early this morning worn out…I had been up for 24 hours…



Now I was feeling really sorry for myself until I read an article on the plane about a guy in California. He had a great job, owned an $850K home, put three kids through college and was looking good for retirement. Then his world started coming apart. He lost his job, had to sell his home, and borrowed money up to his gills from his kids, friends, credit cards, banks, second mortgages, and anywhere else including pawning jewelry he inherited from his father. He was an older fellow and had a hard time getting a job. His wife cannot work because she has a catastrophic disease. After months of looking, he finally got a four month contract for a job. He started his new job and then his arm and hand went numb from a pinched nerve and now he needs back surgery to correct it. He is putting off surgery because he needs the work/money so badly. This morning I watched IMUS while I was getting dressed and a guy came on who had MS. Hearing what he goes through just to perform ordinary tasks made my woes pale into insignificance. Even IMUS who is cranky and earlier had been griping about the coffees situation in his studio and his headsets stated that he was ashamed of mentioning his paltry problems after hearing his guest’s riveting story..



I think we should look around when we get down or experience some trials. Count your blessings and see what God has done…My trivial problems are just a walk in the park and I feel bad that I felt sorry for myself. There are people out there with real problems…My whine is gone.



James 1:2

My brethren count it all joy

When you fall into various trials,

Knowing that the testing of your

Faith produces patience.









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