When I first heard that Al was praying about going to a leadership conference at Holy Trinity Brompton (“HTB”) in London (the church that created the Alpha course, the Marriage Course, the Marriage Prep Course and St. Paul’s Theological Centre, among other things), I thought “Al is going all the way to London to get ideas on leadership???”  On top of that, Brenda Georgi told me that Al had asked her to come along and she was praying about it. I thought “Is that REALLY the best use of Brenda’s time?  Who will do her job while she’s gone?”   Since they were praying about it, I knew that I should let God take the lead, but I was privately skeptical about the benefit of such a trip.

Then Brenda’s husband’s health emergency occurred and within one week of the departure date for the trip, Al called me and asked me to go in Brenda’s place.  Al explained that he felt it was critical to have lay leadership there with whom to brainstorm as we were fed ideas by the conference.  Al asked me to pray about it and to seriously consider going on the trip.  He gave me the full description of the conference, including the breakout sessions.  It looked great and I could understand why he thought it would be a benefit not only to him as our Rector, but to Brenda, our Chief of Administration.  But for me to pick up at the last minute and go to London for 7 days (including travel time), that was another thing.  Our parish weekend was 3 days before we would leave and I was attending the Diocesan Convention in Beaufort within 3 days of our return.  Plus I had important meetings the night before we had to leave and the night we would return.  I checked airfares. The prices had gone up since they first booked their flights.  It would be expensive, despite the fact that Jeanine had found a hotel near HTB which cost $100 per night AND actually had ensuite bathrooms.  I prayed about it.  For various reasons I kept thinking it was crazy to go.  I had had some minor health issues that were affecting my energy level, and I couldn’t imagine how I would keep up with Energizer Bunny Al and the other things I was committed to immediately before and after the trip.  Finally, on Thursday before our parish weekend I told Al that I just couldn’t go.

I thought it was over.  It was a little bit of a letdown, but I thought it really was for the best.  Then at 5:30 a.m. the next day (technically Al’s day off and the day we were leaving for Kanuga) Al e-mailed me saying that he had been in deep prayer about it and he felt prompted to ask me to reconsider.  We would talk further at Kanuga.

During the wonderful parish weekend at Kanuga I continued to pray and ask God for direction about the London trip.  Finally, on Sunday morning, during one of the presentations, the thought came into my mind: “Just go. Do not worry about all of the details.  Just go.”  Then I felt a feeling of peace.  It seemed so simple.  I felt like God was telling me to rely totally on Him and quit trying to do everything in my own strength.  I saw Al after that session and told him in passing that I was leaning toward going.  I would have to check out the flights again.

On our drive back to Charleston from Kanuga, I got a call from Jeanine telling me that I had 2 hours to make a decision because she had to cancel the room reservation or pay a penalty.  I started accessing the internet from my phone in the car and tried to check the flight prices again.  I was having some trouble so I called my computer expert brother and asked him to check on flights for me.  The prices had gone up even more!  Then Fred (my husband) suggested this:  “Why don’t we stop at the airport on our way into town and you go to the United Airlines ticket counter and tell them the problem.  If God is in this, maybe a miracle will happen.  Then you will know.”  This is not something I would normally do because I would assume it would be a complete waste of time.  It was something Fred would do.  People respond better to him than to me.  But Fred said he wouldn’t do it for me; I had to do it myself.  I knew it was the only thing left to do because the ticket prices made the trip out of the question.

Fred dropped me off and waited for me in the cell phone waiting area at the airport.  I approached the ticket counter.  The flight that was supposed to be leaving soon had been substantially delayed, so after the agents had dealt with a few remaining passengers who needed to be re-routed, I was there alone with no line behind me.  I went up to the counter and told the agent the whole story.  There was a leadership conference that 3 people were going to in London, and one person had to cancel due to an emergency and I needed to go in her place.  I wasn’t looking for a refund of her non-refundable ticket; I was simply trying to find a reasonably priced ticket.  He asked me the name of the person who had cancelled.  He then began typing a lot on his terminal without saying a word.  I wondered what he was doing but knew that I shouldn’t badger him with questions.  The next thing I knew he had booked me on Brenda’s flight without any additional payment.  I quickly told him that I needed to change the return flight to arrive around 6 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. because I had to get to a meeting at 7 p.m. that night.  He found a flight and booked me on it without any further question.  I walked out of the airport booked on the best possible fights, at the cheapest fare with no additional fees or charges and with seat assignments next to Al and Capers Barr.  I was going to London.
To be continued . . .