This week is our Network meeting. In the Free Methodist Church in Canada, a network is a cluster of pastors of churches roughly the same size and in roughly the same phase of life who meet quarterly. Our church (West Springs Free Methodist Church) is larger than our other FM churches here in Alberta so we've been placed in a nework with some churches in Saskatchewan. We're meeting this week in the Regina area--St. Michael's Retreat center. I'm supposed to be there but I'm not. The airport is about 24 kilometers from our place. My flight was scheduled for departure at 8:50am with boarding taking place around 8:20am. I left our house at 7:30am. I thought I gave myself plenty of time to get there. I didn't. I missed my flight. The airline couldnt' guarantee me a next flight so I cancelled my trip. I was pretty bummed on the ride home (which, by the way, took only 40 minutes--even with a stop at Tim Horton's.) It's okay, though. I made the decision that I will join the Alberta network. It's my home province. I have a colleague here in Calgary. I won't have to fly to our meetings nor pay for lodging, which is cheaper by far. In the event that I do have to travel I can bring the family. It's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned. In the very least it's a good plan.
While at the ticket booth waiting to hear the inevitable, I caught the conversation going on beside me. Two guys were flying home (I think to Quebec.) They were skiers and were discussing with the agent about bringing all their gear with them. Apparently they couldn't. They didn't know why and the agent couldn't help them understand. There seemed to be a discrepancy between what the skiers thought they would have to pay and what the agent was telling them they had to pay. Near as I can figure, they weren't able to put two pairs of skies in one bag, or maybe they had two bags of skies and were only allowed to bring one. At one point in the conversation the agent said in exasperation that they couldn't simply put what they wanted on the plane because, "that would be free!" Apparently that would be bad.
You don't really get much for free today, do you? Certainly neither goods nor services. Nothing's for free. Or is it? Here I am with Allia. She's playing. Rolling over. Staring at me and making hissing noises. She's getting so strong. I think she'll be crawling before too long. I'm watching her and rejoicing that God gave her to us. Her older sister, Mattea, is upstairs. She's not sleeping like she's supposed to. Es made the mistake today of telling her they'd make cupcakes after her nap. Mattea got so excited she can't sleep. Frequently she and I play together. All of that is free. Walks are free. Dances are free. Smiles are free. Hugs are free. Kisses are free. Questions and discoveries are free.
So "undisclosed airline," you can have your stipulations and standards, you can charge for extra luggage, you can increase the price and reduce the service, you can add tax after tax and claim that your hands are tied, but I can still take pleasure in the beautiful things in life. What's the difference? At the end of the day you just have more money, but I've made memories. I think I'm richer.