Freaking Out path two

So you want to be a Jesus Freak, then you have to work in the supernatural. You are probably asking what do you mean Working in the Supernatural? God is creator of the universe and everything He does is supernatural. Most of us do not work in the realm of the supernatural or spiritual. It scares us a little and we tend not to want to think about it too much. Let me give you an example. Several years ago I was part of a 14 member team heading to Brazil on a mission trip. It was the night before the trip when I looked at my visa and noticed it was expired. You don't go to Brazil with an expired visa since they won't let you on the plane. I woke up the next morning and flew to Houston on a wing and a prayer hoping somehow I would be able to get a visa. Now it takes 2 weeks minimum to secure a visa from the Brazilian Consulate. And they rarely make exceptions. I stepped into the building where I needed to be and low and behold there was a gentleman, very polite who asked me what I was looking for that day. I explained to him the sorted story of my ignorance and the fact that I was part of a larger group heading to Brazil including my two daughters. Within 30 minutes I had a signed 5 year visa and was off to the airport to rendezvous with the team at our departure point in Dallas. Wonderful story isn't it but that was the beginning of the supernatural.

Well I get on the plane (Houston to Dallas) but a freak thing happens. A tornado forms on the runway in a severe thunderstorm and delays all flights out 3 hours. Our departing flight is 6:30 from Dallas and my flight is still on the ground in Houston at 5:30 so there is no way I am making the flight. To make matters worse our team leader calls and tells me that 5 of our team has visas that are no longer valid and will not be allowed to leave the country on the Dallas flight. Normally Brazil issued 5 year visas but the year before changed to a 90 day version. It was very hard to notice and the change was in response to US regulation changes after 911. My flight was leaving Houston and we did not know whether 5 of the 13 would get on their flight, wow this is turning out to be a total mess. Remember the supernatural!

I arrived in Dallas and called the team to see if anyone didn't get to leave on the original flight. First one ring then two finally after 8 rings the phone is answered by one of the team. Five of them didn't make it so now what do we do? Oh to make matters much worse, the World Cup of Soccer was under way and that meant flights were at a premium. Brazilians are huge soccer fans and flights in and out of Brazil were at a premium. We had no guarantee we would even get on a flight for several days, but we would cross that bridge when we came to it.

We hopped into a rental car headed back down to Houston arriving early in the morning. We secured photos for the visa and headed to the consulate (the same consulate where the first supernatural event took place). Now I was with a group of 5 other people and the chances that we make it were very low in man's eyes. We walk up to the counter and the same polite man was tending a customer but he was reading the riot act to the individual in front of us for expecting to get a visa in an hour. I stepped up and he said "What are you still doing here?" I explained the sorted details one more time and he grumbled and said in a low voice "come back at lunch and we will have them ready. Now I am thinking "this is unreal what a blessing". So we went down to the break room and started to have breakfast since it was about 10:00 am. All the sudden it was my travel agent and she had good/bad news. Good news was that the 5 people that missed the flight in Dallas the night before were going to have a chance to get on a flight at 4:00pm but this was the only chance for several days basically ending the trip if we didn't make it. By the way I never considered my flight because my team leader said he arranged for me to be on that very same flight. The problem we faced now was that the polite Brazilian man told us to come back at noon and it was 10:15am. If we waited till noon we could never drive back to Dallas and catch the flight. I once again approach the man with a sheepish grin looking for one more miracle. After a bit of paperwork wrangling we were out of there with 5 new visas (5 year visas) by 10:45am.

Now I won't speak of the drive or the traffic or the angst of whether or not we would be part of this mission trip. We all felt God has His hand on us from the beginning. God used my ignorance due to not checking for my visa originally to establish a contact at the consulate. My plane was delayed so that I could meet the group on the ground and drive them back to Houston. Miracle after miracle but it doesn't end there. We make it to DFW Airport and get to the ticket counter with about 10 minutes to spare (just ten minutes). All the team are checked in and we are just elated to be there knowing the trip is on. Since I was the lead guy, I went last and finally I step up to the counter. To my shock the lady in a snide voice says "you are not getting on this flight since your ticket is a stand by ticket and there was no room. I could hardly believe my ears. I was thinking "God there no way that this could be since You had brought us through so much to get us here". I called my travel agent and told her what had happened. It so happened that the owner of this travel agency worked for many years as manager of the American Airlines Terminal in Dallas. He had a whole lot of pull. After a minute my travel agent told me to tell the lady working the ticket counter "take a look at the bottom of your screen". The ticket agent said "sir you are not getting on this flight. Sorry!" Before I could say anything my travel agent told me again "Tell her to look at the bottom of her screen". To my amazement she did and immediately printed out my boarding passes. The owner of the travel agency must have called in a favor. God is in control my friends! HE IS SUPERNATURAL! We all made that flight and participated in a mission trip where over 1200 people prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.

My friends to be a freak is to believe God is who He said He is (Supernatural, all Powerful, Omnipotent, and loving). Casual Christianity is not for those who will pick up their cross and follow Him daily. Live your Christianity out. God is working these miracle out in your life today. He is just waiting for you to have faith. Become what your faith says you are to be. Become a Jesus Freak!

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