Mike and I flew today. It has been a few years since we got on a plane together. Our last air adventure was not at all fun...turbulent weather sent him into motion sickness and the whole of Chicago O'Hare air port stopped to make sure he was going to live! He did and so here we are again traveling by plane to see our good friend Buck Hill in the Dakotas to talk church planing with him and a young couple who are seeking to reach North Dakota with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am a people watcher and an Observer of Life. Especially when on a new adventure such as today. It is the mundane ordinary everyday that keeps me tethered to my small space in the world. But today....well, I was FULL ON in Observation Mode!
I saw Pink Hair Lady at the GSP airport...who was also on our flight at 6:00 AM. That is right. A M! in the morning even! Her pink hair was not working or her....and I like unusual hair styles and color! Hers (on closer inspection from the seat behind and aisle over) was overly processed and about to break off her head...that kind of BAD...but she seemed ok with it...
I noticed a guy in a track suit hurry-ing somewhere in the terminal....he was wearing an earring..a stud. It did not make him look like a stud. You just have to have a certain "look" to pull that off...he didn't.
I saw a guy who reminded me of Dave Ramsey, but it was not. He has what looked like a whole in his ear lobe from a gauge ear ring thing-y. That was not what I pictured this business man looking guy to have as part of his past (recent or no).
Mike...well, he gets motion sickness easily and so I insisted he take Dramamine Less Drowsy formula before we took off on this adventure. He has been drowsy all day! This was a conflict for me because, as an observer of life, I also wanted to TALK!!! and the 6:00 am flight was not conductive for a talkative church planters wife...so I read the Bible. I know...spiritual right?
To the point.
While on the tarmac at O'Hare air port, I watched other planes take off. Oh, this was an amazing thing! Our plane (an Express, small one! oh, my!) was in line for take off and so I was able to watch several planes in front of ours take off before us.
It seemed so effortless. I watched as the plane began to move forward on the runway at a smoothly increasing speed....the nose of the plane raised up...the tail followed and off she went...up, up....and away!
I watched a couple more planes do the same thing. It seemed to be no big deal to take a huge air plane up into the air. It was effortless...to my vantage point of the window seat.
Realistically, I know that there is a combination of LIFT and THRUST that must happen. The pilot must accelerate at a precise speed and operate the engines in order to adjust the wings, the propellors, the whatever else!
While my view point made it seemed effortless, the reality is that there are certain mechanical, internal functions that are guided by a pilot and the tower to accomplish flight.
I began to think of how often I observe others lives and feel that success and accomplishments that seem to come easily and with out effort on their part. You know. Watching the lives of those who find their calling and walk in it and seem to soar in their God-given abilities and gifts...I looks easy from my vantage point. So easy that it makes me wonder "why not me? can I do that too?" I don't want to do their "Thing". I would just like to figure out what My Thing is and Do IT...soar, be successful, vibrant.
Do you wonder that too? When you observe someone else's life? Do you feel jealous, intimidated...left out?...what? For me, I don't feel jealous or envious..I just want that too. Soar in my purpose.
Here is what the Lord whispered to me as I observed the lift off and flight of those (planes) in front of me...
"It seems easy to the observer...but the ability to rise up and take flight, to soar....comes from the internal workings of my Spirit within you. The seemingly effortlessness that others observe is what brings me glory, what makes others say, 'WOW...I want that too.' "
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
~Isaiah 40:31 NKJV
I am a people watcher and an Observer of Life. Especially when on a new adventure such as today. It is the mundane ordinary everyday that keeps me tethered to my small space in the world. But today....well, I was FULL ON in Observation Mode!
I saw Pink Hair Lady at the GSP airport...who was also on our flight at 6:00 AM. That is right. A M! in the morning even! Her pink hair was not working or her....and I like unusual hair styles and color! Hers (on closer inspection from the seat behind and aisle over) was overly processed and about to break off her head...that kind of BAD...but she seemed ok with it...
I noticed a guy in a track suit hurry-ing somewhere in the terminal....he was wearing an earring..a stud. It did not make him look like a stud. You just have to have a certain "look" to pull that off...he didn't.
I saw a guy who reminded me of Dave Ramsey, but it was not. He has what looked like a whole in his ear lobe from a gauge ear ring thing-y. That was not what I pictured this business man looking guy to have as part of his past (recent or no).
Mike...well, he gets motion sickness easily and so I insisted he take Dramamine Less Drowsy formula before we took off on this adventure. He has been drowsy all day! This was a conflict for me because, as an observer of life, I also wanted to TALK!!! and the 6:00 am flight was not conductive for a talkative church planters wife...so I read the Bible. I know...spiritual right?
To the point.
While on the tarmac at O'Hare air port, I watched other planes take off. Oh, this was an amazing thing! Our plane (an Express, small one! oh, my!) was in line for take off and so I was able to watch several planes in front of ours take off before us.
It seemed so effortless. I watched as the plane began to move forward on the runway at a smoothly increasing speed....the nose of the plane raised up...the tail followed and off she went...up, up....and away!
Fascinating.
I watched a couple more planes do the same thing. It seemed to be no big deal to take a huge air plane up into the air. It was effortless...to my vantage point of the window seat.
Seemingly. Effortless.
Realistically, I know that there is a combination of LIFT and THRUST that must happen. The pilot must accelerate at a precise speed and operate the engines in order to adjust the wings, the propellors, the whatever else!
While my view point made it seemed effortless, the reality is that there are certain mechanical, internal functions that are guided by a pilot and the tower to accomplish flight.
Internal. Workings.
I began to think of how often I observe others lives and feel that success and accomplishments that seem to come easily and with out effort on their part. You know. Watching the lives of those who find their calling and walk in it and seem to soar in their God-given abilities and gifts...I looks easy from my vantage point. So easy that it makes me wonder "why not me? can I do that too?" I don't want to do their "Thing". I would just like to figure out what My Thing is and Do IT...soar, be successful, vibrant.
Do you wonder that too? When you observe someone else's life? Do you feel jealous, intimidated...left out?...what? For me, I don't feel jealous or envious..I just want that too. Soar in my purpose.
Here is what the Lord whispered to me as I observed the lift off and flight of those (planes) in front of me...
"It seems easy to the observer...but the ability to rise up and take flight, to soar....comes from the internal workings of my Spirit within you. The seemingly effortlessness that others observe is what brings me glory, what makes others say, 'WOW...I want that too.' "
The Seemingly Effortless Ability to Soar
is a RESULT of the
INTERNAL WORKINGS of the
Holy Spirit at Work in the LIFE of a Believer who is WILLING
to do the WORK.
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
~Isaiah 40:31 NKJV
The Word. Word. Prayer. These are my ROOTS.
My father used to tell me something like:
ReplyDelete"The heights that great men have achieved
Were not attained by sudden flight
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."
That probably means toiling in prayer as much as anything.