Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Safe Landing

"I'm over there!  I'm over there!" I noticed a blonde girl gesturing from a seat across the aisle.  My husband and I had just located our airline seats, and I realized I was in "F," his seat instead of mine, "E," and I was trying to switch places with him in the narrow space.  I really would have preferred the window seat, but I hated for him to be squeezed in the middle.  It's a good thing, too, because the girl had seat "D" and was soon seated next to  me.

"Is this your first flight?" I asked her, after she pointed to the tray on the back of the seat and said, "What's that?"  At least in her late teens, since she was on the way to New Orleans to see her boyfriend, the girl was nervous and full of questions, since it was indeed her first flight.

"What does it feel like when we take off?" she asked.  I knew how she felt, remembering the first time I  flew on a jet.  She wanted to know how we would know when we were in the air, and I told her when we were going faster than she had ever gone on land before, we would become airborne.  I remembered the sensation of being pulled back against the seat on take-off and told her about it.

"Before you know it, we'll be in the clouds," I remarked, to which she exclaimed, "Oh, we get to see the clouds?"  She didn't see them much, though, since she donned sunglasses and said she didn't want to look out the window.  She said she would try to sleep, confiding she was on anxiety medicine as she pulled the bottle from her purse.

Just then, Howard nudged me, saying "Read this!  Read this!"  He had been absorbed in a book of scriptures called, "God's Promises," and pointed out Jude 24, 25, where I read, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  I took the book and read the verses to the uneasy passenger.

"See, it says God will keep us from falling!" I said to her.  She smiled tentatively and said wistfully, "I have a Bible with me, too, but it's in my suitcase. I'm taking it to my boyfriend."   Before long, my seatmate wanted to know how it would feel when we landed, and I told her it usually was pretty smooth, but when the plane touched down she yelled, "Ow!  You didn't tell me it would be so rough!"

"Well, every landing is different," I replied, although we'd actually had a smooth one, it was just that the initial bump caught her by surprise.  As we were getting off, my husband handed her one of the little cards he'd had printed with the heading KEEP THIS, and in small print below: "Suitable for Pocket or Purse, when the pressure gets on today, pull it out and READ IT!"

It was from Deuteronomy 31:6 and says, "Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, He it is that does go with you.  He will not fail thee nor forsake thee."  I trust the young girl will find comfort from the scripture that could guide her in finding life's Safe Landing.

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