I’m going to start a new category on my blog called “Uniformity Stories.” These will be stories of times in my life when I recognized that God is taking care of me. I’m calling them “Uniformity Stories” because I thought of doing this while I was listening to Uniformity with God’s Will by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori. I’m hoping they will inspire in me greater trust in God and confidence that God wills my good.

I was going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I felt much anxiety the week leading up to it, with all the packing and preparing to leave my six children home with my husband. It wasn’t often that I traveled without them. Never for ten days!

Whenever I travel, I get anxious about being late for the airplane departure. What if my alarm doesn’t go off and I miss the whole trip? In this case, I was meeting approximately 35 strangers in Detroit. What if I miss the connection and I have to find a way to the Holy Land without the others, and I have to find them in Tel Aviv? I can’t remember anymore the details or the extent of my worries; I just know that they were much greater than usual. I had been researching and thinking about preparations for weeks. It was time to take the leap. This is what happened.

I woke up on time. Bobby dropped me off at the airport. I went through security without any problems. I think I got to my gate an hour before my flight. Sitting in the airport chair, with no people around me, I decided to pray. I don’t remember what I said, but I imagine I thanked God for getting me there on time, and I probably asked for help in trusting Him. I did truly want to get closer to Him on this pilgrimage.

Suddenly, I heard an announcement asking if anyone who was going to Detroit wanted to get on a plane that was leaving right now. It surprised me. I didn’t know airlines did that sort of thing. I walked over to the woman at the desk and asked about the announcement. She took my ticket, and in a few minutes, I was seated on an empty plane, going to Detroit an hour before I had planned. I didn’t need to sit near anyone else, which is my preference, and I got a window seat. I was so excited! I was really gushing praise for God. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. You always take care of me. Thank you so much for doing this and helping me to get there early. But that was not all.

During this short flight to Detroit, I saw the sunrise. And it was beautiful. And I wouldn’t have seen the sunrise if I had been on my purchased flight. I thought that God was saying to me: Do not worry, put your trust in me and see what I can do.

I got to Detroit an hour early, and met some women going on the pilgrimage. We had breakfast together. Many more amazing things took place during those ten days. God is good!