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California trip report

A few months ago, Luke and Lori asked me to officiate at their wedding in Nipomo, California May 19. They wanted a New Covenant wedding, and I was led to accept.

The night before we flew out there, I received a text message with a word from the Lord to expect the plane to be delayed. I wondered what that was about, but since there was nothing I could do about it, we just trusted that God would get us there on time. After all, we were leaving early (May 15), so we had no reason to believe that we would miss the wedding.

The flight out of Minneapolis was delayed by an hour, as the plane was delayed by a small mechanical problem. That caused us to miss our connecting flight out of Denver, but the airline rescheduled us on the next flight out, which was just an hour after the other flight.

No problem. We were flying to San Francisco, where we had a 4-hour layover anyway.

But then the Denver flight was delayed 2½ hours as well, because the weather conditions in San Francisco had forced the airport to allow fewer takeoffs and landings per hour. We arrived in San Francisco with only a few minutes to spare before our next flight to San Luis Obispo. We thought for sure we would miss that flight.

However, we discovered that our next flight was also delayed, due to the same weather problems. It was delayed for an hour, then another hour, and then the flight was cancelled altogether. So we had to spend the night in San Francisco.

The service desk was packed with people, all trying to reschedule flights or make hotel reservations. So I used their telephone number and rebooked a flight for the next day at 1 pm, but this flight would take us to Los Angeles and from there to San Luis Obispo. The service lady was having trouble with the computer, however, and could not confirm our new flight reservation. She said to check the next morning.

Meanwhile, she also booked us a reservation at the America’s Best Value Inn, which had the only room available out of all the hotels that she could see. It was a bit expensive, but we had no choice but to take it or spend the night at the airport. If I had been alone, I might have considered doing that, but I did not want to put Darla through that extra stress.

The hotel is located on 2160 Francisco Blvd. in Pacifica. The address got me thinking, of course, because Joshua’s name appears 216 times in Scripture, and 216 is a highly charged prophetic number associated with the Second Passover. Joshua, of course, is Yeshua (Jesus), and He is our true Passover Lamb.

Now the wedding was to be held on May 19, which is the 14^th day of the 2^nd month this year. That is the day specified in Numbers 9:11 when those keeping the Second Passover were to kill the lambs. By counting backward, I noted that May 15 was the tenth day of the second month—the day when the lamb would have been selected.

I realized then that we were in San Francisco to select the lamb for the Second Passover, and that this was why we had to spend the night at 2160 Francisco. We were to select the true Lamb at that time. Francisco is the same as Francis, which means “true.” (To be frank is to be truthful.) Also, years ago San Francisco was known as the Sheep Gate (of America).

The next day we returned to the airport only to discover that there was no record of our plane reservation that supposedly had been made the previous evening. The good news was that we were able to get a 2 pm flight direct to San Luis Obispo, rather than going first to Los Angeles.

Nonetheless, the flight was delayed for more than an hour, and we finally left about 3:15 pm, arriving in SLO about 4 pm.

So all three of our flights were delayed and one was cancelled altogether. That was how the word of the Lord was fulfilled. It’s always nice to get advance notice on such things, so we don’t become too disgusted with the airlines or stressed out at the inconvenience and uncertainty.

The Wedding

We arrived late afternoon on Thursday and the next day went to the County Clerk to register as the officiator of the wedding. I had to swear allegiance to the US Constitution and the Constitution for the State of California. I wish that the government officials of California would do the same—oh, wait, they do, but they just don’t take it seriously. I myself don’t have a problem with these Constitutions according to the intent of the founders, but I disagree with many judicial interpretations that have been handed down since then.

I was given the flattering title of Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriages for one day only.

On Friday, May 17, we had the outdoor wedding rehearsal at the Nursery, followed by the rehearsal dinner at the Clubhouse. The Nursery had lots of trees and flowers and a back yard where modest-sized weddings could be held. Here is a picture of Darla and me under a very large tree at the Nursery.

On the far end was a large tent where the reception would be held after the wedding the next day.

I took a few photos at the rehearsal. The Nursery had a friendly hen that roamed the grounds freely. She decided to oversee the rehearsal and apparently thought of herself as the forerunner of the bride.

The weather was beautiful for the rehearsal, although it had been raining all week. Rain this late in May is unusual, but we were glad that the rehearsal was held in sunny weather.

Two days later, May 19, was the wedding itself. It rained all morning and into the afternoon. The wedding was scheduled for 4 pm, and it poured rain until about 3:45. Luke’s brother, who was the Best Man, then prayed for the rain to stop, and it did. Just as the bride was ready to be escorted to the front, where I was standing, the sun came out and gave us blue skies throughout the entire ceremony. She walked down the grassy aisle to the music of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Somehow that seemed especially appropriate.
 

The weather continued to be beautiful while we were having the reception under the tent at the nursery. As we were leaving, we started to feel a few sprinkles of rain, and soon the rain resumed for the rest of the night.

Tourists for a Day

The next day (Monday) we spent with Jon and Jenny, who are long-time friends and blog readers. We met them many years ago at a conference but never really had the opportunity to spend quality time with them. They drove us up the coast of California along the Big Sur Highway overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

First, we stopped at an oceanside restaurant where we had a great brunch at a marina on Morro Bay. The food in California is really good.

The coastal scenery is also spectacular.

Traveling up the coast, we stopped along the way where we could look down at the beach that had been taken over by thousands of elephant seals.

We finally returned late in the afternoon and had dinner at another restaurant overlooking the ocean. Here we are with Jon and Jenny.

The Trip Home

We got up the next morning at 4:30 am and drove to the airport by 5:30, where we dropped off the rental car and boarded the plane at 7:00 am. The flight back to San Francisco was short and uneventful, and we again had a 4-hour layover. This gave us time to eat a late morning breakfast.

The plane left about a half hour late, but technically it was not a delayed flight. This flight took us to Chicago, where our connecting flight was just 35 minutes from the time our plane was supposed to arrive in Chicago. Unfortunately, because the SFO flight was a half hour late, we did not think we would make the connection. But somehow we made it. I think we were the last ones to board the plane, and it left a few minutes later, landing in Minneapolis about 9:00 pm.

It was a long day, and we were glad to get home safely.

The Meaning of Delay

In praying about other reasons for all of our delays, we found that it was first to select the true Lamb on the 15^th. Secondarily, it was to show us that there was a delay in the judgment upon the Deep State that is shortly to come—probably this coming weekend, May 24-26. We will see.