Blessed to be a Blessing

….for they will be a people blessed by the Lord….Isa 65:23

I spent two weeks helping my sister pack up her 3000 sq ft house in preparation for her move to Spain. Unfortunately, the day too quickly came when I needed to pack up my two weeks' worth of belongings and head back across the country to my home. Now I am unsure if it is my age or the times we live in, but traveling is not as much fun as it used to be.

Nonetheless, after the check-in, security, and boarding lines, I finally ended up on the plane for the first leg of my journey eastward. As I sat in the plane, in my window seat, I watched the unending stream of people loading the luggage in the overhead compartments, waiting while trying to look patient and squeezing into their tiny little seats.

I felt more blessed than those across the aisle, as I was in a three-seat row and at the window. I was comfortable in Row 14, or at least I was right up until my "row partners" showed up. Men, and both of them, ah, shall we say, on the more "robust" side of the scale. The sighs started almost immediately as the "middle man" squeezed into his seat. Then, the 'aisle guy," who was not a small man either, plopped down on the aisle seat to yet another chorus of sighs from middle man. All I could think was that I was grateful this was the shorter part of my journey.

About halfway through the flight, as I tried to read or look out the window not to notice the never-ending sighs of discomfort seemingly screaming from a middle man on my row, I said a simple prayer of thanks that this flight was nearly done. I also included in that thanks-giving prayer that if God cleared the way for a little more space on the more extended trip still ahead of me, I would be very grateful. With that, we put our tray tables back, our seats in their upright positions, and landed, none too soon.

As my next plane began to fill up, I noticed it seemed it would be yet another full flight. I quickly grabbed my phone and book while I could still reach them and settled down for the last 3 hours of my flight time for this day. As we were rolling backward to get onto the flight line, I noticed every row was packed to capacity, every row that is except for mine! Again on row 14, mine was the only row in the plane, a three-seater row even, which was empty, except for me. Just me! And I don't know if you know this, but you can lift the chair arms between the seats on a plane and move them up out of the way! Cool! A full lounge chair for this flight! My gosh, don't you love answered prayer?

As I was smiling, I heard the young mother's voice in the row behind me, speaking to her baby, who may have been bordering between cranky and combustible! "I'm sorry," she said to the woman sitting in the row with her. "He might be a little noisy on this flight as we have been traveling for 22 hours." "That's ok," the woman responded, "I have children too." The young mother added, "It has been a very long day, and my husband and I haven't even had the chance to eat. Maybe we will all sleep if we get lucky."

Turning around, I looked at this little family stuck in row 15. Mom and baby on the aisle, Dad crunched into the middle, presumably to buffer the woman who sat in the window seat. "I think you should move up here," I said. "Really?" was the mom's hopeful reply. "Absolutely, but we'd better move quickly if you are interested," I responded. And with that, Mom, Dad, and baby boy were settling on Row 14, and I was on the aisle seat on row 15, nodding and smiling at my new row mate at the window.

Taking a break from reading my book about an hour into my trip, I looked up to see my little family (of course, they are my family now that we have had an experience together). There they were with the arms of all three chairs up, Daddy asleep with his head propped into the window, baby stretched out comfortably between Mommy and Daddy's laps, and Mommy sound asleep with her chair back. All was still, and it was good.

I suddenly remembered my little prayer on the flight before. And I realized God had blessed me with the only empty row on the plane. Still, He also allowed me the opportunity to bless someone else with "my" blessing. And as I looked around, I realized that I had more than enough room with one empty seat between myself and the other passenger on my new row.

I even had enough room to stretch and readjust my back when it began to pinch from an old injury. I didn't feel cramped or claustrophobic; what a blessing! But the more abundant blessing was up in front of me when I saw this little family sound asleep and comfortable. And at that moment, a familiar saying, "blessed to be a blessing," took on a whole new meaning to me.

We all too often confine blessings into the category of money. We feel blessed (some of us call it luck, shame on us) when the little good moments happen throughout our days. How often, though, do we stop long enough to consider sharing them? What more immense blessing do we miss when we let those pass-it-forward moments pass right on by? Simple comfort is a blessing. How wonderful to give some when we receive some. I love it when my Father offers me those simple, usually unexpected life lessons in my home, church, town, and even on a cramped airplane. What a blessing.

Copyright © 2023 Janice Hart. All Rights Reserved.