A Good Beginning

Mercy All the Way: France 2018

From the start, I knew that God would use the prayers of family and friends to supply all our needs and glorify himself to us and through us.

We left home on the morning of Sunday, July 29. After an uneventful flight from Austin to Charlotte, we boarded the big Airbus for our trans-Atlantic journey. I had missed my usual nap on the first plane, as expected, for I can almost never sleep sitting up. I prayed for the grace to sleep on the eight-hour trip to Paris, but had my doubts.

When I saw that the plane was not full, and that there were even a few rows of four seats across that had no passengers, I began to think that I might actually be able to recline during the night in the skies.

Having secured permission from the flight attendant not long after we finished our meal, I gathered my things and made a little bed on one of the unoccupied rows of seats.

Folks, in thirty years of trans-oceanic and trans-continental travel since we returned to the U.S. in 1988, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve had the luxury of lying down across four seats on a long flight. Almost always, I’ve struggled to get a few minutes, or perhaps a half an hour or, rarely, an hour, of fitful rest.

That’s why I dread these marathons. Not only do I arrive exhausted, but, on most of these crowded flights, for much of the time I experience significant discomfort.

This time, thanks also to a medicine that Dr. Roy gave me, I got a full five hours of uninterrupted sleep! I awoke refreshed and ready for our first day in Paris with a heart full of gratitude to God for his mercy.