Last week, I flew to Florida to visit my parents, who have escaped down south for the winter. After work on Friday, I got on the subway and headed for JFK airport. In just a few hours, I’d be in the Sunshine State!
Before that, though, I’d have to overcome a few obstacles. Starting with the subway, which was packed with about a billion New Yorkers in the puffiest winter coats imaginable. Myself included.
I spent the hour-long ride sandwiched between assorted bubble coats, trying to balance as the train zigzagged to JFK. From the subway, I hopped aboard the airport shuttle. I walked to my terminal and waited, waited, waited through security.
Then I journeyed to my gate, which was located far away in the Siberia of the airport. By the time I got there, I still had about two hours until my flight. So I waited some more. Finally my row, at the back of the plane, was called.
The fun wasn’t over just yet, though. For the next two hours, the lady next to me on the plane smacked her gum non-stop. I arrived in Florida a little after midnight, happy to see my parents, but fed up with traveling…and the inventor of chewing gum.
Thankfully the sunshine lifted my spirits. On Monday morning, before we headed to the beach, I was talking to my dad by his desk. I flipped through his page-a-day calendar–a gift I made for him this past Christmas. 365 days of Aydin family photos.
Every time my dad tears a page from the calendar, he writes a note on the back for my sisters and me. His way of documenting the year. Usually he’ll jot down a funny memory or recap his day. On one note, for example, he’d written about his dream of moving to the United States from Turkey back in 1965.
I paged through the rest of his little notes from January. When I got to January 19, I gasped.
“My dream from 1965 did come true, and I am blessed with more than I asked for,” the note said. “Amazing when I arrived in this country on July 15, 1965, the JFK airport looked like heaven. Walking in the airport, I saw opportunities, possibilities and so much hope. The years proved my hopes with God’s blessings!”
I couldn’t believe it! Just three days earlier, the same JFK my dad had referred to as airport heaven had totally tested my patience. I’d walked around the terminal, weighed down both by my luggage and frustrations at having to wait, wait, wait.
Everyone and everything had put me on edge. And yet, back in 1965, JFK had signified something completely different to my dad.
I reread the note, smiling at God’s little message to me.
Life’s all about perspective, isn’t it? You can walk into an airport and see security lines, long waits and gum chewing-challenged passengers.
Or, like my dad, you can see opportunities, a world of possibilities. Wonder just waiting to unfold.
Has God ever sent you a message or sign that changed up your perspective? Share your story below!
