The Mabuhay Fellowship prayed for me and my international trip during its February 2010 Sunday at Five.

The Wednesday before, the body of Westminster Presbyterian Church also did. So did my choir at its last rehearsal. But what happened on the day I left for my trip showed me the power of cumulative prayer and God’s hand in our lives.

God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes he blesses us directly, sometimes he uses us to bless others. May we be always sensitive to these times in our lives, and always be thankful that we are a part of His work on earth!

I got to the DFW airport an hour late for the usual 2 hour check-in time for international flights. But the clerk who weighed my luggages had a smile for me. She asked me if I would volunteer to take a later flight. I agreed, and this is when she announced that because of that, she is giving me a $500 travel voucher, good for any future American Airline flights. She was also not charging me for my $100 overweight baggage fee, and was also giving me a $10 lunch voucher so I won’t get hungry. I felt blessed.

I ate a hearty brunch, but still had $5 left over on the voucher which had to be used that day, so I bought a bagel and cream cheese to snack on later in the plane. I sat by gate 36, then got on the phone to my daughter in the Philippines. By 1140 I heard my name paged to go to gate 39. I did, and then realized that I was sitting at the wrong gate. My flight was leaving from gate 39 and not 36. They changed gates and I did not hear the announcement. I would have missed my flight. God brought me to the right gate.

I approached the lady at the counter who looked me over. This one did not have a smile for me and looked very serious. I thought I was going to get bumped off as I was late for boarding. She looked over my passport then took out another voucher. “Sign here.”, she said. “The price went up!”. It was for an additional $300 travel voucher. I received a total of $800 in travel vouchers, and since I spent $1200 total for my ticket, I felt very blessed at that time indeed.

I followed the thinning queue to stand in line for boarding. Behind me, two young Filipina students were talking in Tagalog. One of them was in tears and said she was very hungry. I heard that they left Mexico at 5 am, thinking they could eat breakfast in Dallas, except that when they got here, they did not have the right currency to buy food. Now it was almost 12 noon and they were both very hungry.  The paper bag I was holding seemed to rattle its contents, reminding me of the bagel and cream cheese in it. So I turned around and handed them the bag. “Here’s your breakfast!” I said. They both looked at me in shock, but took the food, with gratitude in their eyes. They did not have to thank me, because I realized then and there that the food was really for them. That was also the last time I ever saw them…. not on the plane, not in Narita, not in Manila.

God works in mysterious ways! Thank You Lord, for your gifts of abundance. Thank You for your grace and love. Thank You for letting me understand that the extra blessings You have given me were meant to be shared and passed on to others, that they may in turn be blessed by You. Truly, You have made me understand through this experience that all great things come from You.  Amen.