Remember when I missed the plane back home from San Francisco after the Foodbuzz Festival? Probably not, because I never got to telling the story. I was a bit distracted by other stuff…but I’m ready to share my story now. You might wonder why the heck you should care about something that happened 2 months ago, but it’s the best testimony I can think of that portrays the magnificent and practical effects of prayer.
When Maggie dropped me off at SFO, I was actually a few hours early. The boarding time for my flight was 3:40 pm, but I arrived just after 11 am. I checked in, but when I went to the departure gate, the line was craaaazy long like a twisted snake. Well, I didn’t have breakfast that morning, and my stomach was gnawing away at itself, so I decided to grab something to eat first, in the hope that by the time I’m ready to enter, the line would be shorter.
I had so much time left, so I wasn’t worried at all. I set up my laptop, sat down at the food court with a foot-long Subway sandwich and a cup of coffee, and started writing a recap blog post for the festival. I even snoozed a bit. And before I knew it, it was already 3:20 pm!
I hurriedly packed up my stuff and hobbled to the departure and security gate, but the line was as long as ever. I started panicking. The line inched along, painfully and exasperatingly slow. I thought I was going to piss in my pants, I was so anxious!
After I finally got through all the security and baggage check and everything, I was literally sprinting towards my gate. I didn’t even bother to put my shoes back on! When I finally arrived, I saw that my plane still had not departed. I breathed a sigh of relief. Until I saw that the boarding gate was shut.
“Sorry, you missed the flight,” the lady working at the boarding gate told me flatly.
“But the plane is still there!” I exclaimed, wringing my hands.
The lady stared coolly at me. “I gave your seat away. You were supposed to board at 3:40. It’s already 3:50. You missed it. Sorry.”
Oh my freaking God, oh my freaking GAWD. I was totally freaking out. I dropped all my stuff and just watched helplessly at the window as the plane took off…bye bye, plane, and now I’m dooooomed!! I turned to the lady and asked what the heck I should do now. She told me to shut up and wait for her to be done with her work first.
Finally, the bitch lady turned back to me. “Well,” she sniffed, “The next and only flight remaining for today is at 7:30pm. But it’s full, unless you want to be put on the stand-by list. But take note that there are already 27 people ahead of you on the stand-by list, so the chances that you’ll be able to catch the next flight is next to nothing. I recommend that you pay $200 for the flight tomorrow morning at 9 am.”
What to do? I not only had classes to attend the next day, but I had a test the following morning. Not to mention that I definitely cannot afford to pay for another ticket, or the hotel fees to spend the night. I thought I was going to hyperventilate. In fact, I kind of burst into tears. Okay, I was sobbing like a baby.
At that moment, I was desperate and helpless. And there was nothing I can do…except pray. Honestly, I had pretty much forgotten all about God because I was having way too much fun during the festival. But at that single moment, all I could think about was God, who was the only one who could help me right now.
At first, my prayer was pleading and desperate: “Dear God, save me, save me, save me! Help me this one time, and I swear, I will…never ever forget about you again. I’ll be forever grateful, if only you help me this one time!” But the more I prayed like this, the more anxious and fearful I felt. All I could think about was all the odds that were against me.
Then, I decided to change tactics. I took a deep breath. I thought over this situation more calmly, and I tried to look at this whole circumstances in a different perspective. First of all: I know I’m God’s child. I know God is with me. I know God loves me. I know nothing is a coincidence. Thus, I concluded that this was just a great opportunity to experience the power and miracle of God.
I then prayed: “Dear God, I know and believe that you’re gonna help me out. Please, use this opportunity to manifest to me how effective prayer is, and how powerful you are. But right now, please just grant me peace and faith inside.”
And at that instant, I was able to breathe again. I felt the tension in my shoulders loosen, my stomach unclench, and my tears dried up. I can only imagine what people thought of me: a hysterical girl suddenly halting her tears, smoothing her hair, and starting to smile.
I sat down and waited for the next flight, and waited for the miracle to begin:
At 7:30 pm, I was 28th on the stand-by list.
At 7:40 pm, 3 people missed their flight.
At 7:43 pm, the lady at the boarding gate called my name, despite the fact that there were still people on stand-by before me. Perhaps she’s not such a bitch after all. Or maybe she’s bad with numbers. Fact is…
At 7:50 pm, the plane took off to LAX, and I was safe and sound, filled with thanksgiving and renewed faith in prayer.
But you know what? That was not the real miracle of the prayer I did that day. The true answer to my prayer was when I lost my fear and unrest. Instead, I recovered a strange embrace of peace and comfort in the fact that no matter what, God will take care of me. And that, is the sign of the beginning of an answered prayer.
As I said in this post, prayer does not always have to be something grand and spectacular. The most important prayer is one that we do silently and constantly in our daily life. It’s about finding our inner peace each moment of the day, and viewing everything in God’s perspective. Prayer is practical and subtle, yet so incredibly powerful and penetrating. It is like breathing: unconsciously natural and continuous, but so painfully unnatural without it.
But of course, it is also like eating: necessary in life, but at the same time, extremely pleasing and enjoyable. And that brings us back to the subject of food. I know, thank heavens, right? Perhaps that’s an answer to your prayers. 
A week ago, I bought a tub of Japanese white miso, and I’ve been wondering how to use it. The obvious way is to make it into soup, but that’s just so…boring. So I put on my chef’s cap and decided to whip it into a miso-hummus.
Miso-Hummus:
Dump everything into a blender: Pizza-Pie with Apples, Smoked Ham, & Miso-Hummus Spread miso-hummus on pita. After that you can just throw the toppings on top however you fancy, but I had a little fun with mine. I placed the apple slices into a circular pattern on top, and then sliced the ham into strips. Then I patterned the ham like lattice over the apples. Finally I sprinkled on the cheeses: By the way, you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the birthday wishes to my dad. I’ll let him know that I’m not his only fan. Hee hee! Question of the day: How do you experience answer to your prayers? P.S. Did you notice? I added a Product Review and a Restaurant Review Page!
Blend, blend, blend until smooth. Taste and test as you go until it reaches your preference in taste and consistency. That’s pretty much it! 
And there you go: 
The best “hummus” ever. Now don’t shoot me for bastardizing your beloved hummus; I’m only calling it hummus because it’s with blended chickpeas. If it bothers you a lot, let’s just call it miso-chickpea dip. 
Now, how do you eat this hummus/dip? Well, anyway you eat your regular hummus, but here’s how I ate mine:
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, and voila~ 
Hello, beautiful! 
I love the several layers on this pizza-pie: the smooth hummus, the crunchy apples, the crispy ham, and creamy cheeses. 
I call it a pizza-pie because it is a pizza that is dressed up as a pie. I think it’s cute, heh heh.
The miso-hummus is out-of-the-world amazing. I think I like hummus now. In fact, I have been spreading this crack on everything. 
Another way I’ve been enjoying this hummus is to mix it with cottage cheese and cream cheese, and then spreading it on bread with tomato and ham. 
I gave a portion of my miso-hummus to Mimi, and she really loved it, too. Maybe you should pray that I live closer to you, tee hee. Okay, just kidding.
And, what is your favorite hummus, and ways to eat it?
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What a great story! I’d probably end up just freaking out the whole day and paying for the morning flight. God was definitely watching out for you!
Little miracles happen everyday if we’re open to seeing them–it’s great! By the way–your recipes keep getting more and more creative in every post. I don’t know how you do it!
Wow, that’s a dramatic story. And you waited a long time to tell it! I missed a flight earlier this year, too. Fortunately I was able to get on the next one, no problem. But it can be a little nerve wracking!