Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday, where gratitude remains the sole expression of my writing at the start of every week, which for today is for meeting Pastor Troy Budreau of the Faith Baptist Church in Ray, Michigan, a man who was randomly assigned the seat next to me on a plane ride home recently, in a row I hadn’t originally intended to be in.
Just over a week ago now, I returned from a five-day visit to the Washington, DC region after catching up and connecting with some dear friends (Love you Peter, Sammy, Sterling, Lee, and Darrell!). I was flying Delta and had picked my seat months prior at the time the flight got booked. I usually choose the same seats whenever I fly, generally near back of the plane because I have the unfortunate tendency of always needing to go the restroom more than once during every flight. That being said, at the time of my check in, 24 hours before flight time, I noticed my seat had been changed from 18C, the one that I had booked, to 12C, which was the aisle seat of an emergency exit row. I was surprised because typically those aren’t assigned till the day of the flight and only by the gate agents. Nevertheless, shortly after boarding the plane on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, a sharply dressed gentleman in a full business suit pointed to the only seat next to me indicating that he would be sitting by the window. While I had planned to watch an episode of The Orville during my flight that I had downloaded prior to getting to the airport, for some reason I decided to ask this man what the occasion was for his fancy attire. That was ironic in itself because in recent years with all my chronic pain issues, I tend to tune out any passengers sitting next to me because quite often most conversations with random passengers are usually superficial in nature and feel awkward to me. I was pleasantly surprised though that what transpired for the rest of the flight after I asked that question was an amazing conversation with a humble man who was able to lift my spirits quite incredibly.
I believe everyone has a story that’s worth listening to and Pastor Troy Budreau definitely has one of those. While it’s not my intention to share any of that for the subject of this article in gratitude today, it is my intention to say that Troy is a very kind soul, who I honestly believe was meant to sit next to me. I don’t think there are any accidents because not once during the flight did I want our conversation to end. I felt God was very present in our entire conversation, as Troy talked about the pain of his journey and the many learning lessons he’s had along the way, even sharing with me a story or two about the ups and downs of being a pastor. In turn, he intently listened to much of the pain of my own journey in life, never once judging me for any of it, never once bringing any admonishment upon me whatsoever, something that so many religious people often do to me whenever I converse with them. What Troy did instead was hold space, as I did for him, where two souls were able to embrace with Light for the approximate hour and a half flight.
As I’ve spoken about so many times before, the common response when an individual shares about the pain being endured in their life is usually to be offered some piece of advice, something I loathe and detest more than anything now. When it comes to many Christians I’ve come across and shared some of my painful journey with, that is frequently what I’m given, the result of which is me feeling more down than up. I am thankful that Troy didn’t do this at all. Troy instead carried the love of Christ in a way I haven’t experienced through much of my life, especially as of late. For those brief moments our paths crossed randomly above 10,000 feet, I truly felt as if Christ himself was embracing me gently through Troy’s kind and loving words.
So, on this Grateful Heart Monday, I dedicate my sole piece of gratitude to you Pastor Troy Budreau, for carrying the love of Christ in a way that left me feeling uplifted and renewed. I hope our paths may cross again one day, but until then, may God bless you, my friend.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
Oh, and P.S. – Just before I left the plane, I learned Troy too had been placed in the seat next to me at the last minute, when he got to the gate! Now if that’s not God working, then I don’t know what is!
