Southbound

I am sure all of you are aware of how your life can change in an instant by such things as a visitor or a phone call.  Sometimes it is tragic and sometimes it is exciting.  

A few years after I began working for Ozark they opened a new Reservation Office in Orlando, Florida on the Disney Lake Buena Vista property.  As I would make my way from the employee parking lot into the the airport in the middle of winter, I would dream of working in Orlando.  Many times I would slip in the snow or just get blown over from the wind coming off the the runway.  But the Orlando jobs were sought after and the office there was small so with my low seniority, it remained just a dream.  One of my best friends at work had transferred down there and so we took the boys to Disney and went to visit Vicki for a few days. 

I remember in the early 80's both my brothers lived in other states.  Rod was in Texas with his family, Randy was in Kansas City, Mo. with his and my little sister was about to get married and move to Pennsylvania with her new husband. We would joke around with mom and dad about us being the only ones left near by. 

It was the night of my sister Mindy's rehearsal and dinner.  I had forgotten my camera at mom and dad's so I sent Glen back to their house to get it.  While he was there the phone rang.  It was my friend Vicki and she said "Tell Cyndi to pack her bags.  She is being transferred to Orlando and has two weeks to report to work."

A few months before this, Glen had been laid off from Caterpillar along with thousands of others and no one would hire him.  Everyone in that area knew if Caterpillar called you back you would go but the chances of getting called back were slim to none.  So the timing could not have been better for that reason.  All I could think about was how I was going to tell my parents that we were leaving too.  It was hard to get too excited.  The fact that we could fly home and they could fly down helped to cushion the news a little. 

God is always in control and He had a plan for us and it involved us being in Florida.  It's amazing how He perfectly orchestrates our lives if we let Him. We wouldn't be here in this sweet little house with a million dollar view on a mountain in Tennessee if He had it not moved us to Florida first.  So my advice for you today is to let go and let God.  He has a mountain top for you too.