Connecticut Trip—God Was in every Detail

Sometimes the best trips aren’t the ones that go exactly as planned—they’re the ones where you can clearly see God weaving His plans into yours.

Our adventure started with everything falling into place. My incredible neighbor Lindsay was taking care of Booty J. (our cat) and my son Josh was dropping Roxy (our dog) off at the kennel. With everything settled, Ray and I headed to the Jacksonville airport, excited for our New England trip.

Our flight out of Jacksonville was smooth, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. But during our second leg out of Charlotte, the unexpected happened.

We started circling—and circling—and circling.

Bad weather had us in a holding pattern until we were nearly out of fuel. Instead of continuing on, we had to return to Charlotte.
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What could have been a major disappointment quickly turned into one of God’s first provisions.

Thanks to Ray’s flight miles—and the kindness of an American Airlines employee in the Admirals Club—we somehow got the last two available seats on the next day’s flight. Even better, they were together in an exit row.

I don’t know how many times I’ve connected through Charlotte over the years, but the only overnight stay I could remember was sleeping on the airport floor! This time we decided to make the best of our unexpected delay and booked a room at the Embassy Suites near the airport.

When we arrived, I noticed a woman wearing a T-shirt about teaching. I told her how much I loved it and mentioned that I was a retired teacher.

Later that evening, we came downstairs for the Embassy Suites happy hour and hors d’oeuvres. Sitting there was my new teacher friend, Bridgette.

We spent time talking, and I quickly discovered she was a beautiful Christian woman. Before the evening ended, I was able to pray for her and the students she would soon be teaching. We also met her husband, Joe, a Navy chaplain. As we talked, we discovered we had many things in common. It was one of those conversations where you walk away knowing God orchestrated the meeting.

Afterward we decided to try a local restaurant called State of Confusion, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal.

But the day wasn’t finished.

On the Uber ride back to the hotel, our driver received a FaceTime call from a teenager. They were speaking another language, so I wasn’t sure what they were talking about. After he hung up, he told us it was his 13-year-old son.

He shared something that really touched me—whenever he isn’t home at bedtime, his son calls him so they can pray together. He also told us he was saving money to take his family to Israel because his son wanted to be baptized there. Before we got out of the car, I asked if we could pray with him—and together we prayed for him and his son.

The next morning we were finally on our way to New England.

Our flight attendant looked just like Shemar Moore! Since we were sitting in the exit row, his jump seat was directly across from us, giving us plenty of time to talk. He turned out to be another strong Christian.

He shared that he and one cousin were the only members of his family who had avoided prison and felony convictions. He was determined to change the direction of his family’s future. Ironically, although he was 6’4”, his nickname growing up was “Midget” because he was the shortest boy in the family!

Before we landed, I told him I would be praying that God would continue using him to break his family’s cycle and leave a different legacy.

Sitting beside us was another unforgettable person--Brian Dansereau from the Indianapolis Clowns of the Banana Ball league. He was absolutely hilarious! We learned all about Banana Ball and how he had played professional baseball before joining the team. He definitely made the flight entertaining.

Then, just when we thought we were about to land, our plane suddenly pulled back up into the sky. The landing had been aborted. I knew something wasn’t right when “Midget” suddenly looked concerned and got on the phone to find out what had happened. We were later told it had something to do with wind and weather conditions, although neither of us really felt anything unusual.

Thankfully, we landed safely on the second attempt and picked up our rental car, a Gator Blue Jeep. As we drove toward our destination, Ray pointed ahead.

“There’s our hotel.”

The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, was enormous. While Ray checked us in, I stood speechless trying to take in everything around me.

Then he casually said, “They upgraded us.” 

The receptionist smiled and simply said, “It’s a nice room.”

Nice? When we opened the door, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It wasn’t just a room. It was the Sycamore Suite—the Presidential Suite on the 36th floor. It was larger than our house!

The view out the wall to wall windows looked out on the Thames River and Connecticut countryside. There was a living room, dining room, kitchen, two massive bedrooms, and bathrooms larger than my bedroom at home. African Anigre wood-paneled walls, beautiful mahogany doors, giant Jacuzzi tubs, heated toilet seats, a bidet, remote-controlled curtains, dimmer switches, buttons on the wall to request service—and it even had a front doorbell.

I just stood there in complete amazement.

Our stay was incredible.

We enjoyed dinner at Michael Jordan’s Steak House and Todd English’s Tuscany restaurant, attended a concert at the Wolf Den, and spent a wonderful day exploring the recreated whaling village at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.

I actually cried when it was time to leave.

The trip home brought one final series of unexpected moments.

Our first flight was uneventful, but half way down the runway in Washington, D.C., we had to turn around because of mechanical problems. Eventually everyone deplaned.

While waiting in the terminal, I met a sweet young woman who had been stranded in the airport since six that morning. By then it was almost six in the evening. Her flight had been delayed over and over again, and before we left, it was delayed once more. I was thankful for the opportunity to pray with her.

​By God’s grace, we were eventually placed on another flight.

As we prepared to get off the plane, I noticed the man sitting beside us had on what looked like a black-and-white shirt. Then I realized the “white” wasn’t a pattern at all. It was tiny print. His entire shirt was covered with the words of Psalm 91.

One more reminder of God’s presence.

Finally, after all the delays, conversations, answered prayers, and unexpected blessings, we pulled into the Panda Express drive-thru to grab dinner before heading home. And who was in line right in front of us? Our son Justin and his family! We jumped out of the car and got the sweetest ending to our trip—a big hug from Miss Noa Mae.

Looking back, what stands out most isn’t the delays, the flights, or even the incredible hotel—It’s how often God made Himself known. He was in the delays. He was in the conversations. He was in the prayers. He was in the people. He was in the unexpected blessings. Every interruption became an opportunity to see Him at work.
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This trip to Connecticut reminded me that when God changes our itinerary, He often has divine appointments waiting that we never would have experienced otherwise. I’m so grateful we didn’t just travel to New England. We traveled with the Lord, and He faithfully revealed Himself every step of the way.