AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE

The day began as any other except for the fact that I was due to fly back home after an extended stay after caring for my father in Auburn.
I was unusually quiet as the Jeep Cherokee pulled up to the airport drop off.  I gave my son a quick hug as he pulled out my luggage and then drove away.
I continued my walk toward the terminal to check in.  The smell of jet fuel permeated the air as I made my way into the building to join a long line at the security check point.
I was randomly selected for a more thorough search of my bag and pulled aside.  The excitement and anticipation of my flight home was dampened a tad by that small event as I heard the whir of wheels on the long concourse by all the others making their way to their flights.
Making my way to the waiting area, a glance out the windows informed me that the skies were beginning to darken. It was obvious it was about to rain.
I made my way to a seat facing the large window to await my flight.  I watched as the planes came in and were then prepared for their next flight.
As I ate a snack I continued to watch the activity down below on the tarmac until our flight was called and joined the line to board.
As we were boarding, torrents of rain ran down the sides of the windows. 
 As I searched for my close to window seat, the skies grew even darker.  It never came to mind that perhaps it was an unsafe time to fly. 

 The others seemed not to really care or perhaps had been to busy trying to situate themselves in their seats and search for empty spots in the over head luggage compartments that they perhaps had not taken notice of the outside conditions.  Upon settling into their seats they appeared to be lost in thought.
As I looked out the small window, we began to taxi out to the runway.  The flight attendant gave her standard pre flight procedure lecture to which most appear to be bored, perhaps with the familiarity of many previous flights. 
 The seat next to me remained empty and the young girl in the next seat engrossed in a book.
In a few minutes we found ourselves at the end of the runway prepared for take off.
The skies continued to darken and the rain was pummeling the plane.
As the plane took off it propelled us further into that storm.  A few minutes in the air and before cruising altitude an extraordinary thing happened.
As I was intently looking out the window to my right and over the wing, I watched a bolt of lightening shoot straight at me across the wing.  I sat there, motionless just as
the zig of the bolt zagged striking the wing just before it reached me. Bang! The plane shuttered.  I was awe-struck at seeing that bolt of lightening diverted, striking the wing, leaving a large blackened mark where it had struck.
  Surprisingly I was not frightened, I, thought at that moment that I would be in Heaven in the next few seconds, and the comfort it gave me was surreal, as the feeling of morphine kicking in for the first time ever.
A few minutes later, the pilot calmly confirmed that we had been struck by lightening and had been advised to continue on to Burbank.
 That day I was reminded of God's loving protection over me during that storm and through all storms of life.