Well we made it to Atlanta around 11:15 p.m. last night and made our way down to the rental car counter.  Now usually when you fly in late in the evening there aren’t a whole lot of people waiting for rental cars…but tonight was very different.  As we were passing the rental car counters I noticed that there were 30-50 people in line with maybe 1or 2 representatives working behind the counter at each major car rental place.  I got to our rental car counter and there were only 21 people in line with 2 joyful, helpful, caring individuals waiting to help each and every customer with a smile on their faces. (Just kidding) I don’t know if these two just got released from prison or their favorite “David” didn’t win American Idol but they were in no mood to be helpful or fast.  After waiting for some time, we finally made it to the shuttle that would take us to get our car.  When we got to the lot there was another long line of people waiting for help to get a car.  By this time I knew something was going on.  So I asked the representative what was up with all the people coming in so late.  He informed me that not only it was Memorial weekend but there was so much severe weather that many flights that were supposed to be in a 7 p.m. had just made it in.  Needless to say we were happy to get our transportation and so I fired up the GPS to help us on our 45 minute drive through Atlanta and handed it off to Sarah to navigate.  We came out of the parking lot took a right and then Sarah said that we should go straight at the next intersection so I did. Then we heard the pleasant sound of “off route”!  So to recap, we travelled in this car for a total of 300 ft and already made a wrong turn!  But we turned around in the middle of the road and everyone around us was waving at us…or at least I thought they were waving at us and headed up to North Atlanta. We made it to our hotel without missing another turn.  Way to go, Sarah!  But this is not the end of the story. 

We got to the motel around 12:30 a.m. and the front door was locked so I pushed the intercom button and waited for several minutes but no one came.  I tried again; no one came.  So I knocked on the glass and still no one was in sight anywhere.  So I began wondering if something happened to the clerk?  Could there a robbery in progress?  Did the clerk have a heart attack?  Should I bust the window and check it out or call the police?  I finally decided to take my keys and bang on the door as loud as I could without breaking it. That did it. A man came from the back office and said he was doing the night audit and evidently the intercom is broken.  He gave me a free bottle of water (which you know that is worth $4 in a motel) and said he was sorry about 10 times.  I told him I wasn’t mad but concerned that maybe something had happened to him and maybe I should have called the police.  He was kind of taken back by that and told me a few days ago the same thing happened but when the customer came in, he verbally attacked the clerk, accused him of sleeping on the job and threatened to call his manager.  He asked what I was doing in town so I told him and I invited him to visit North Point Church any time he is not working.  He thanked me and said he might just do that. 

Sometimes God gives us opportunities to share His love with others in the most unique ways.