Little Prayers Answered

Sunday this week, Rachel, Michael, Joel (Nedley) and I went in to Sacramento for the annual Capitol City Airshow. This year's show featured the Thunderbirds (I actually prefer the Blue Angels!) and we got up super early, finally pulling out the gate just after 7 am. After parking in a free park-and-ride lot, we caught the Light Rail to the Mather Field stop, then boarded a shuttle bus for the last leg of the journey to the Mather Airport. The airshow takes place right on the airfield and you have to bring your own water, chair, snacks, etc. Despite the later-than-planned departure, we still managed to arive 30 minutes early so I sat comfortably in my foldable chair while we waited for them to open the "gates" and let us through. Some helpful people went up and down the lines of people telling us to take our chairs out of their storage bags, to toss water stored in camelbacks, and "if you have pepper spray, please dispose of it now." With strict security being enforced due to the airplanes being showcased that day, we dutifully did the necessary steps to ensure that we could go through the check as quickly as possible. Rachel and I drained our 1-litre REI bottles, Michael downed as much of his 3-litre camelback store as he could handle, and then I remembered. I had a cayenne pepper spray on my keychain. I groaned inwardly, because it was too late to go back to the car now, and if I tried to go through security with it, they would surely confiscate and toss it. After scanning our surroundings, I decided on a plan. I got up and sauntered slowly over to the nearby row of portable toilets, then got out my cell phone and pretended I was listening to someone. With my guise in place, I moved up to the fence and stopped for a moment. Still appearing to be deep in conversation, I leaned my right leg up against the metal post, held the black canister tight against my leg and slowly dropped the spray straight down between the metal stand. I carefully kicked it into place then headed back to our group.

It was an awesome show as we saw the F-22 raptor, the Globemaster, the Patriot Civilians, the 400 mph jet car, a paraplegic glider, and of course the Thunderbirds. After a full day we headed back to the shuttle bus and suddenly I remembered, "I wonder if my spray is still there?" We exited the show and I headed back to the chain link fence behind the portable toilets. I reached the spot where I had placed it, over 8 hours earlier, praying that if God wanted me to keep it that He would protect it. It was still there.