How Anyone Can Build a pipeline Of

Roundtrip Ticket 
to Italy 

 
Roundtrip Ticket 
to Italy 

 

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101 
building a pipeline of blessings that has flowed 
freely into our lives.” 
Coming Full Circle 
Paul stared at his cousin in stunned silence. Then 
he reached over and held both of Bruce’s hands 
firmly in his. “I only have one request,” Paul said 
quietly. “Can you change the departure date from 
next week to tomorrow?” 
# # # 
Two weeks later… 
The airport in Rome was packed. Paul and Bruce 
were returning to the states after two wonderful 
weeks in Italy. They’d walked the streets of their 
forefathers. And dined in the homes of dozens of 
long-lost relatives. 
It was the trip of a lifetime, and both men felt 
renewed and reconnected by the visit. They sat side 
by side in the terminal, reading copies of the same 
book. Every now and then one of the men would 
lean over to his friend and point out a passage from 
the book. 
“Uh-h-h-h, NO! – not again”
cried a man across the 
aisle.
“My flight has been canceled – AGAIN! I’ll 
never get out of here!” 
“That’s our flight, too,” said Paul motioning to the 
monitor suspended above them. “Canceled. Now 
what?” 
Paul looked over to his old friend. Bruce returned 
the look – and then they just smiled. 
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” grinned Paul. 

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102 
“Looks like we’ve got to stay another week!”
they 
shouted in unison as they jumped out of their seats 
to high five each other. 
The man across the aisle gawked at the two friends 
as if they were aliens. 
“What are you guys so happy about?” he asked 
incredulously. “I’ve been stuck in this airport for 
two days. I missed my daughter’s birthday party for 
the second year in a row. I’ve been in so many time 
zones during the past month that I don’t know what 
day it is. If that’s not enough, I’m going to miss my 
numbers for the year because my client got greedy 
and refused to settle.” 
“We’re sorry,” said Bruce. “We can sympathize.
We used to react the same way, didn’t we Paul?” 
“Sure did,” said Paul. “Stressed out. Tapped out.
Burned out. Worn out. You think of an ‘out,’ and 
we had experienced it. That was way back in the 
pre-pipeline days, right Bruce?” 
“What do you mean, ‘pre-pipeline days?” asked the 
stressed out stranger. “What’s that all about?” 
“Love to explain,” Paul said happily. “But my 
fiend and I have to scoot over to the car rental desk.
Give me your business card, and one of us will call 
you when we get back to the states.” 
The stressed stranger handed Paul his business card.
In exchange, Paul handed him his book. 
“Here, read this while you’re waiting for your 
flight,” Paul said. “When I call you, the book will 
give us something to talk about.” 
Paul patted Bruce on the back and steered him 
toward the rental car desk. He paused long enough 
to read the stressed stranger’s business card. 

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