Bumpy Ride

It looked like the deal of the century, $125 for a round trip ticket to Washington DC from ATL. As I boarded the plane my thoughts were about how good a decision this was on my part. Then...........


I found out the normally complimentary beverages were at least $2, the beautiful TV screen in front of me stopped showing ESPN and had a message that said insert card for further use as we took off.  About half way through the flight the captain comes on the intercom and says, "Folks we are about to hit some mild turbulence so please remain seated".  No problem for me, mild turbulence is minor compared to what has transpired in my life to this point, or so I thought.


Suddenly the plane starts rocking, it feels like the wind is turning the plane sideways, then we go into what feels like a dive and the stewardess next to me bends down to sit on the floor of the plane and grabs my arm to hold on. Women begin to scream mildly, I put my other arm over the stewardess and tell her with complete calm, "Everything is going to be okay". Meanwhile I am making peace in my heart with God and thinking, we are going down. She turns to the other passengers and says "He's got me" as if in the middle of all this a sense of peace takes place.


Since I am writing this you know we are safe, but this was the first plane ride that I took where the passengers all cheered when we landed. A number of passengers remarked to me how kind my actions were and yet they did not realize that inside I was thinking I am going to one funeral, let's not make it more. It goes without saying that I can't wait for the bargain flight home tonight.


All of this to say that in the often bumpy ride of life, we need to remember that "He has got us", not Glenn but Him. No question the ride will be bumpy but as I have spent most of my time in DC renewing relationships with my first family and see all the healing and forgiveness that we have within this group, I see that the thread of redemption has to be present for our lives to make sense. 


At the end of each bumpy ride there is standing there a loving God with his arms wide open to hold us up, calm the turbulence and give us the wisdom to see what has just transpired and how we apply the lesson. Everything is going to be okay, really it is, he told us so.


My $125 bargain is nothing compared to the deal He gave me, a free flight to heaven. Only one thing Lord, can I make it back to ATL without such a bumpy ride?


Glenn