Patty and I are now in Oahu, Hawaii, with our youngest daughter Sally, her husband Aaron, and their three wonderful kids, our grandkids. The middle one had his birthday yesterday; he was 11 years old and named Rocky. He and I are going fishing today.

Yesterday, we got up at 4:30 am and spent much time in airports and on airplanes. One of the things Patty and I do on a day like yesterday is to watch and listen to people; there were lots of them.

One of the observations is that most people don’t seem very happy. They look like they are under stress, upset about something, and in a hurry.

It isn’t always true when I fly, but yesterday we had wonderful stewardess. They smiled a lot, were very friendly in their conversations, and their goal appeared to make people as happy as possible.

When we landed in Honolulu, it was crowded; people were going in every direction, and there were two different luggage area signs and directions. I had no clue which one to go to. I asked several official-looking people, and they didn’t know either. I now became one of those who looked unhappy and stressed out. I told Patty, let’s go to one, and when we get there, and it is the wrong one, we will go to the other. It will only take us 15 minutes longer if we choose wrong, and the exercise will do us good.

Patty and I both walk like old people now, and I was carrying her carry-on bag as well as mine, and they were heavy, especially hers. A fellow driving a golf cart asked where we were going; I confidently responded that we had no clue. He asked what airline we had come in on, and when I told him, he said, I know right where you need to be. He grabbed our bags, loaded them on the back, and told us to get in, and off we went. We were headed in the wrong direction, and it took him just a few minutes to reach our destination.

I don’t know if it was good training by Alaska Airlines or it was their personality, but those people were very good at their jobs of helping people and, in the process, giving joy. I thought to myself, I need to make that one of my goals in life. I also thought that every Christian ought to make that a goal, and Christianity would be very attractive.