Airport Adventures...and Kelsey and Tom!

Well, I'm currently sitting in Seattle on the morning of Kelsey and Tom's wedding day! I'm up a little earlier than the others due to my midwestern biological clock. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting here either. Yesterday Christy (my flying companion) and I arrived at the airport in what we thought was an ample hour and a half early. As we pulled up, we saw curbside check-in was swamped, so we walked into the airport and tried to get in line. First, we noticed that the chutes-and-ladders/amusement park style cordoned-off line was filled to overflow and began walking towards where we thought the end of the line was. Well, that end of the line kept going all the way to one end of the terminal, took a right down a hallway, and then took another right down an even smaller and more official-looking hallway before we found the end of this tortuous and snaking line. Things were not looking good.

So, about 40 minutes later we have are bags checked and hurry to security only to find another swarming sea of humanity. When we finally got through the x-ray machines and metal detectors, we sprinted down to our gate (don't worry, it was the furthest possible gate from where we entered) only to see the plane backing away from the gate. Strike one. So, huffing and puffing (Christy caught her breath somewhere over Montana) we headed up to the desk to see our options. The next flight was at 10ish, so we got on stand-by and went to have some breakfast.

Here our story took a short turn for the better when we ran into Austin and Ashley Bailey who were coming in to town for vacation. It was a great surprise to see them and be able to catch up a little. When they headed off, we went back to the desk and found out that we would not make this flight either. Strike two. Beginning to despair, I heard over the PA, "A Christian worship non-denominational worship service will be held in 15 minutes at the chapel on the mezzanine level." Well, if we had to wait, I at least had to see what an airport chapel service looked like. You only live once, right? The chapel was a conference room size with a drop ceiling and wooden chairs set up in rows. There was a communion table, a cross standing crookedly in the corner,  a small pulpit, and a kneeler in front of the tabernacle (where Catholics keep the leftover consecrated eucharist). 

We were two of four (a nun and a girl going to a Christian basketball camp) plus the pastor for a half-hour of interesting worship. We read out of the English Standard Version (a version one of my professors called "sinful"), prayed (in which the pastor mixed up the names and prayed that Kelsey and Tom would return to the faith rather than for their upcoming marriage), sang "Amazing Grace" acapella, and heard a very evangelical sermon that included a prayer of salvation at the end. I'm pretty sure he was trying to save Christy and me because one woman was obviously a nun (wearing a habit) and the other gave a prayer request in which she mentioned that she was going to serve at a Christian basketball camp. We were the only possible heathens left in the room. So, it was indeed an interesting experience.

Finally, we did make the 1:30 plane, arrived at 3:30 PST, and got to the rehearsal dinner an hour and a half late (I hope I won't miss any music cues this afternoon!). The rest of the evening was spent celebrating Kelsey and Tom, who will be married in about 10 hours! Congratulations to two of my favorite (Matt, Elsa, and Elise obviously included) pinochle companions. May your lives together be filled with more than a simple marriage, but also pairs of jacks of diamonds and queens of spades, double runs (nerdy pinochle jokes), and all sorts of adventures and blessings.

Now, I'm going to go for a run and then maybe find a church to attend in the neighborhood I'm staying in. Let's celebrate!