Derailed, Delayed, Unraveled

...yet held.

Flying without children is a luxury season I’ve only just entered.

I watch the families with young children at the gate with great empathy. Sometimes I nod and give them the Katniss Everdeen symbol of solidarity: “I See You - You Are Not Forgotten.” Even as I sit in my seat alone, sipping on a latte in peace.

I remember those days. Especially the one that completely unraveled. One Christmas, we flew to Colorado to visit family. With all four kids under the age of 11, and one on portable oxygen, we were desperate to get home by the time we hit our Denver layover at 10:00 PM.

Then came the dreaded intercom announcement: our flight was delayed because “Hazmat is looking into a problem on board.”

Predictably, we missed our connection to Nashville. My husband devised a backup plan: fly to Little Rock, rent cars, and drive six hours home. Preparing for the trek, I chugged a virtual IV of caffeine.

We landed in Little Rock and spent an hour on the runway, since no one was awake to wave the plane in (the pilot says this is common at the Little Rock airport). This resulted in an arrival time after the rental place closed. The family slept on the airport floor while I remained upright, vibrating from the caffeine. The next morning, we scored a Suburban with leather seats, which our oldest threw up on all the way home.

Fun Fact: Hazmat was not called on to retrieve a biological weapon (I know, I’ve watched too much TV). My sanity-snapping moment was when the flight attendant casually explained the delay:

Hazmat was called for a diaper removal. It took an hour. When any number of moms in the terminal would’ve tossed it in a dumpster without blinking. My life was delayed by a dirty diaper.

Such is life. But the cause of the unraveling is usually worse than a diaper. It may be a miscarriage, an addiction, a prodigal, a divorce, a diagnosis…the list has no limit of derailing outcomes.

My guest on UnPerfect this week knows about grasping for breath—and hope—when life begins to unravel.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"There is room for loveliness in every single season, if we're simply willing to look for it, if we're willing to open our perspective just a little bit."

"He gently leads us to the place where we can hold the broken and the good at the same time."

“As the layers of my life were revealed... more and more people around me, instead of being put off by my authenticity, I found them drawing nearer. They wanted a seat at my table…I think if the devil can isolate us, then he has won.”

One practical thing I’m learning to do when life gets delayed, derailed, or unraveled is to lengthen my reaction time to assess the severity of the situation. Sometimes what feels like a huge deal gets a little smaller as I breathe, pray, and give the story time to play out and (God time to speak words and wisdom and comfort to my spirit).

How about you?

Shoot me a practice or promise that helps you navigate life’s unexpected twists, turns, and cliff-falls…

---