It was now Nine-Forty Five and they were  
already a half an hour late because his wife  
hadn't finished packing the night before.

They had PURCHASED two round-trip tickets  
to fly from their home all the way to Germany.  
Their flight was scheduled to leave in less than  
an hour!  It was going to take a  MIRACLE  for
them not to miss their flight.

They felt they had both  SACRIFICED  so much
in order to afford such a vacation as this.  They  
felt they had each  SUFFERED  in order to have
saved so much money over the last two years.  
This vacation was to be their first together
since they'd gotten married, five years ago.

They both felt they deserved this vacation, for
they'd had to  ENDURE  long hours at work,
at each of their jobs.  There hadn't been much
time for recreation or for sitting around on  
weekends and just relaxing.  There had never
been a Bible in their home and neither of the
two had ever even mentioned God or spoken
about Him.  

They had never been to church together.  
They'd put all of their  FAITH  in the status
of their jobs and how much money each of  
them made.  This carefully planned trip was  
to  UPLIFT  and  CLEANSE  them from all  
of the stress they'd been experiencing.  
Stress caused  from working too many hours  
and stress from worrying all the time about
what they wanted to buy but still couldn't
afford.

Constant worry about what each of them  
thought they wanted and needed in their lives
to bring them happiness.

They finally arrived at the Airport, and were
lucky in finding an empty parking space. They  
practically ran to their Boarding Gate to get
boarding passes.  But they were too late.  Their  
plane had already taken off.  Their hearts sank.

It was now Ten Forty-Five and they slowly  
walked back through the Airport, out into
the parking lot, and back to where their car
was parked.  They were crushed!  Both felt  
EMPTY  and  LOST.  Both were full of  
self-pity.  They both dreaded the long drive
back home.  In the car there was complete
silence between them.  But each knew what the
other was thinking.

- What had they ever done to deserve such a  
bad break?  

Hadn't they both  PAID  THE  PRICE  
and worked many long and hard hours for
this vacation?  It just wasn't fair.  The husband  
turned on the car radio.  There was a Preacher
on the radio station and he was talking  
about  JESUS.

They were still a good thirty miles from home
when the husband noticed the church.  It was
really hard to miss, because it looked as if it
had just been freshly painted - a  WHITE  AS  
SNOW  color.  Outside the church were rows  
and rows of colorful flowers.  Flowers of many  
different colors.  Some were  WHITE  and
others were as  RED AS BLOOD.

They both commented aloud that this was
a rather odd location for a church, it being
so close to the Airport.  But what was really
hard to miss was the very large and tall  
Church Bill-Board which was standing right
next to the parking lot of this church.  It had
a message painted on it, in large bold letters.

The husband pulled the car over in front
of the church and they both began reading
the Billboard sign.  It would be true to say,  
it had definitely gotten their attention.

"FREE  AIR  TRAVEL."  

It seemed almost ironic, as they had  
just missed their flight at the Airport.  
The husband and his wife sat in their car  
and began to read the BillBoard sign.

This is what the church BillBoard Sign said::::::

JOIN  US  THIS  SUNDAY !

FIND  OUT  ABOUT  YOUR  FREE  AIR  TRAVEL !

TIRED  OF  MISSING  FLIGHTS ?

THIS  ONE'S  OFFERED  FREELY !

NO  LUGGAGE  NEEDED !

NO  BOARDING  PASSES  NEEDED !

GUARANTEED  SAFE  ARRIVAL !

YOU  CAN  COME  JUST  AS  YOU  ARE !

YOU  PAY  NOTHING !

PRICE  HAS  ALREADY  BEEN  PAID !

PAID  WITH:  JESUS'S   SHED  BLOOD

PAID  BY:  JESUS  CHRIST !

INCLUDED  IN  PRICE:  PAYMENT  FOR  YOUR  SINS !

WHERE?  AT  CALVARY  ON  A  CROSS !

WHY?  BECAUSE GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

After reading the last line of the message,  
the husband and his wife sat in the front seat  
of their car, speechless.  They just sat there
looking at each other.  Well, they certainly  
had no reason to hurry home now, since they'd
already missed their flight.  They decided to  
go inside the church because they wanted  
to find out what this was all about!  

The man told his wife that they'd only be  
staying for a few minutes.  

They walked into the church and chose to sit
on the very last row.  They certainly didn't
want to draw any attention to themselves.

It was now Eleven Fifteen.  The husband and  
his wife sat and listened as the Pastor of the  
church talked about Jesus.  He read from God's
Holy Word, the Bible, about how Jesus was
the one who had SUFFERED for our sins.
About how Jesus was the one who had PAID
THE PRICE, so that all mankind could be
SAVED.

He spoke of how JESUS was the one who
had done all of the SACRIFICING and had
ENDURED hours of agony while nailed  
upon a cross.  

The Pastor read from the Bible how  
JESUS was the one who PAID for all our sins.  
He spoke of how JESUS was the one in whom  
we should put ALL of our FAITH. He spoke
of the many MIRACLES that JESUS had  
performed.

The husband didn't want to look at his wife  
who was sitting next to him.  He was ashamed.
Ashamed of everything- his life, his greed, of  
everything he'd placed his FAITH in......which
had been EVERYONE  and  EVERYTHING....
except JESUS CHRIST.  He had more than just a  
few tears in his eyes now.  He was sobbing.

SOBBING his heart out right there as he
sat in the last row in that church.  But he
didn't care anymore if anyone saw him.  
He didn't even care if his wife might be
embarraced for him.

He looked over at her.  She didn't seem  
embarraced at all.  She wasn't staring at
him or nudging him to stop.  For she was
crying too, and she looking at him...looking
at him in a way that she had never looked
at him before.

As if she too now realized what had been  
missing in her life.  WHO had been missing
in her life.  They both knew now, for God's  
Holy Spirit had touched their hearts.  The  
husband took hold of his wife's hand and  
together they walked down that church aisle
and straight up to the altar.

It was now Eleven Forty Five.  Together,  
they got down on their knees, -right there in  
front of the whole church, in front of God.
They both now knew that they were LOST.  

They  CONFESSED  to  JESUS,  for  the  
first time in their lives, that they were lost  
sinners.  They invited JESUS to come and
live in their hearts.  They asked
FORGIVENESS  for all of their  SINS.  
They believed that Jesus had died for them
and was buried and resurrected three  
days later.  They asked JESUS to Save them
and to take control of their lives.  They
asked JESUS to be the PILOT of  
their lives, forever.

It was now Ten Forty-Five, and Five years
later.  The same man, sitting NOT on the  
LAST row in the church, but standing in
FRONT of the church.  He was standing
behind the Pulpit about to begin his sermon,
for the Lord had called him to become a  
Preacher.

He looked over at his wife who was sitting
on the front row, and he smiled at her.  He'd
been looking forward to this Sunday at
church because it was going to be  
"Testimony Day".

He already knew what his Testimony  
would be about.  It would be about the day  
that he and his wife had driven to the  
Airport to catch a flight.  But they had missed
that flight.  Not a day goes by that he and  
his wife aren't thankful for missing that  
flight!  For just by the Grace of God, he and
his wife could look forward together, of
one day meeting with the Lord in the sky. He
knew the TRUTH in his heart.....

The last flight he and his wife would  
be taking would be one flight he KNEW  
they would NOT be missing.