1:30 a.m.

Our return flight home departed Canada at 6:00 a.m., so I called the front desk to ask how early I should arrive at the airport to plan accordingly. They suggested we arrive three hours early for an international flight, which meant getting there by 3 a.m. We knew we had to catch the hotel shuttle that left on the half hour and, not knowing how long that would take, we decided to catch the one leaving at 2:30 a.m. Since I knew I wanted to shower and we would need to finish packing, I set my phone alarm for 1:30 a.m.

Because of how God made me, I was awake by 1:00 a.m. I had caught a head cold and it was slowing me down a little. However, we got ready early and caught the 2:00 a.m. shuttle, thus, arriving at the airport at 2:15 a.m.

What the front desk failed to tell me, however, was that the airlines would not have anyone manning the desk to check us in until 3:45 a.m. Sitting outside the airline desk in a foreign airport with very little open is not fun. Regardless, we had over an hour to wait.

As it got closer to 3:45 a.m., we could see passengers starting to move toward the airline check-in lines. What seemed like a sparsely populated airport suddenly had people scurrying like cockroaches trying to get in line before too many people got in front of them. We finally moseyed over to the line at 3:40 a.m.

This airport was unique in that after you went through the airline check-in line, you had to shlep your luggage to a different line and wait for your turn to throw it on a conveyor belt. Then, you had to go to the security line and wait to empty your pockets and go through the metal detector. I passed through with no problem, but my wife had to be hand-wanded. Then, because we were flying to the U.S., we had to go through customs. This line ended with our picture (facial recognition) being taken under the “Welcome to the USA” sign. (I thought it was very practical to have the customs part before the people made their way to a flight to many different U.S. destinations.)

We finally made it to our gate at 5:15 a.m. with a 5:30 a.m. boarding start time. They (the airline, TSA, the airport and Canadian customs) had a very efficient process that required lots of waiting in lines.

Remember, I was starting to feel yucky and coughing a little. At our connecting stop, I got up to get our carry-on bags and waited for the nod to get off the plane. A guy on the opposite side of our aisle made an audible comment about my coughing and getting up to leave before him. The steward pointed out that our seats were A & C, while theirs were D & F, so legitimately, we should have gotten off before them.

“If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.” - Ezekiel 18:5-9 ESV

My point is that even though I wasn’t feeling well, I was trying to be polite and kind in a patience-testing environment. I thanked the people who served us beverages, etc. It must have been noticed because the steward jumped in to defend me (I barely heard the passive-aggressive comment and ignored it myself).

Being kind and polite is noticed. Maybe not by everybody and maybe not reciprocated by everyone, but it is noticed. God asks us to be light and salt. See the connection?

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:13-16