So I have to go to Phoenix today for some training (in fact, I’m writting this in the airport right now).  Yes. UPS is flying me to Phoenix for just the day (it doesn’t make sense….but they are paying for it….so I’ll go).  So, this means that I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn to catch my flight. 

I really don’t like getting up this early in the morning.  I’m just not a happy person.  Plus, all the errors with the airport seem to be amplified.  The security gaurd’s stupidity is stupider (as well is my spelling…maybe), the happy morning people are even more detestable, and the coffee tastes horrible.

Plus, you determine (once again) that you are only going to show up at the airport 30 min before your flight from now on.  Because you get here an hour and a half before your flight and get through security in five minutes (I’m not exgagerating).  But you know the one time that you do, you will miss your flight and go back to square one again (plus it gives you time to blog).

Maybe they still tell everyone to show up early because they have to make consideration for that one idiot that doesn’t realize he needs to empty his pockets of metal before going through the metal detector (He has his house keys, some loose change, and a lead pipe in his pockets and he can’t understand why it is beeping at him).  I mean it’s 5:30 in the morning and even in my sleep deprived coma, I can figure out how to empty my pockets.

They should just say, “pleas show up 45-60 minutes before your flight.  Unless you are an idiot…then please don’t fly.” I think life would be better for all of us.   They should do this for most places that have lines.  There should be a normal line and a “We’re forced to serve you…so please get in this line” line. 

Ohhh well.  I doubt it will ever happen.  All the good ideas eventually get stopped by government or the like (like Shannon’s idea to castrate any male that is disrespectful to a female….just didn’t seem to go over well).  But we can always dream.

Until then, I’ll just repent for being so angry at the guy that couldn’t empty his pockets. “Forgive me Jesus for being so angry at the guy that couldn’t empty his pockets….even though he was an idiot.”

We know that God works in mysterious ways. But sometimes I think His ways are more weird than anything. You see, Shannon and I have been wanting to get to know our neighbors. And by getting to know our neighbors I mean that we’ve been waiting for them to show up at our door with cookies. We’ve known that God wants us to reach out to our neighbors and not live in our own little bubble. We just haven’t acted on it. So God decided to do some action for us.

The other night Shannon and I were watching the last few minutes of Shark on TV when our door bell began to ring. Now this wasn’t your typical ding dong door bell ringing that most people do. This was a ding ding ding ding dong ding ding dong dong ding ding. You know that annoying kind of door bell ringing that your ADHD friend does when they show up at the door.

Expecting to open to the door and see one of my college friends or a very confused tricker treater, I was quite confused to see a vey scared women at my door step. “Help Me!….someone chasing me….Help Me!” she said between he deep breaths as she had obviously been running. I quickly invited into the house and locked the door behind her.

As I smelled the alcohol on her breath, I asked her if she wanted me to call the police. Still breathing heavily, she said, “Yes….yes…” As I get the phone the lady stood in the corner trying to catch her breath and kept looking around the room with this crazed look in her eyes.

I called 911 and gave her my information and explained the situation. At this point I expected the operator to ask me for a description of the ladies attacker. Instead the operator began to ask me to describe the lady in my house. A little odd, but I obliged. In fact after I gave her the description of the lady, the operator informed that she had dispatched an officer and they would be on there way. She then got off the phone with me.

So I’m standing in my living room with this lady who is huddled in the corner, with alcohol on her breath, and a crazed look in her eyes. At this point, I kinda realized that there isn’t anyone following this lady. I just got this feeling that she is on some kind of a drug induced state and this is all in her head.

As I’m coming to this realization, she turns, unlocks the door, and proceed to run out the door and down the street. At this point, I started to put on my shoes (was just wearing some blue jeans and t-shirt). Shannon asked me, “Are you going after her?”"No…I’m getting ready for the police.”So I got my shoes, jacket and bennie on and waited outside for the police (and kept my eye out for the lady or a possible attacker).

A few minutes later the lady came running back down the street in the opposite direction (At this point I’m pretty sure she is crazy.). She ran down the street and went to my neighbors house across the street and a few houses down and proceeded to do the same thing to them that she did to me. Right after she runs out of their house and bolts down the street, the police finally arrive and pick her up. Having dealt with the law in the past (as an RA) I knew they were going to want to talk to me.

So I started to walk down the street to where they were. At that time, I saw my neighbor come out of his house and walk over to the police (they only a house over from where he was). Before I could get to the police, my neighbor was walking back to his house. At this point I talked to my neighbor for the first time.

“Do they need to talk to us?”

“No they said they have it under control.” he responded and I stopped walking and compared stories with him in front of his house. As they put the lady inside the cruiser, I began to introduce my self to my neighbor and his wife for the first time. As we were talking, I began to realize that it took God sending a crazy lady that was being chased by and invisible man to my front door to get me to go meet my neighbors. It’s not as nice as a plate of cookies…but it worked.