Traveling is always stressful, and even more so when you add kids in the mix. I knew today would be a long day of traveling, so I prepared myself as much as I could asking God to please layer me with an extra dose of patience. What does God do? Just like the old adage says, “when you ask for patience he gives you plenty of opportunities to work on it.

The beginning of my day did not disappoint in the stress area. Here’s a quick run down: woke up at 4, left house in Beaumont by 5 with a very sleepy 7 and emotional 7 year old, arrived at airport by 6:30, missed my terminal exit, almost caused a wreck, couldn’t find a park, hustled to check in to print boarding passes (only to find out the kiosk I was using was out of paper), keeping up with bags, overly protective of my child, and answering his 1,000 questions.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT).

It almost happened! I almost screamed! I almost lost it! I almost gave up! But, in that moment, I realized how much there is to be learned through this experience. I asked God, “what are you teaching me in this moment?” When I stopped and looked at how much of a big ‘ol classroom life is my entire perspective shifted.

While traveling, my son is learning about people. Some he observed were friendly while others were not. As we sat in the terminal, it was so neat to watch him take in the melting pot of culture, ethnicities, and languages.

He was able to try gelato for the first time and discovered it wasn’t for him. He learned how to distinguish between recycled trash cans, he learned how to listen for our flight. He learned the importance of personal space and at airports it’s rare you get any.

I’m thankful for this new perspective! Today, I learned to let go a little more, live in the moment, and allow the day to unfold just the way it was intended, and more importantly, I’m thankful for the realization that life is a Big ‘ol classroom.

Reborn. Renewed. Recolored.