Wings

Tidying up this morning, I saw something on the china cabinet ledge that I at first thought was a twig.  On closer inspection, I realized that the dull, gold-brass colored object was one of our grandchildren's  plastic wings! The ones they received on the airplane on their trip here. I think I remember seeing Anne-Marie lay them there, so they were probably hers.

She had gotten her wings! No, I didn't hear a tinkling bell, and she isn't an angel, but close!  I'm not sure if 2 1/2 year old Isaac received his wings; they may have thought he would stick himself with the pin. And 7-year-old Maddie probably got home with hers. I put the tiny wings up in a safe place as a sweet remembrance of their visit.

Nine-year-old Anne-Marie was excited about her church's Kids' Camp she would attend when she got home.  This would be the first time she was eligible to go, and they were getting to stay OVER NIGHT! Turns out Mom is going too, as a sponsor, so no worries!

Our son Jamie said Isaac did well on the flight, bravely sitting in a seat beside him.  But during a few moments of turbulence, Isaac wanted Daddy to hold him. He calls a plane a "harepane."  I can see his fascination with "harepanes" when he plays with the small, sturdy wood airplanes I got him for Christmas.  He loves to race them on the glass-top coffee table at home.  I often watch on Face Time as he pulls backward on the toy, revving it up then letting it go for a zip along the glass runway.

In one of  the photos of their time here, Jamie and the kids were in our son Greg's canoe on the beautiful body of water at his place. Looking at the picture, I noticed there was something different about the boat. Greg had attached something to it that looked like a pipe running lengthwise, fastened by braces attached to the boat, giving it the look of an outrigger canoe.  I knew it provided stability, especially when I saw little Isaac standing in the boat and no wobbles!

Just as Anne-Marie needed the security of her mother's presence when sleeping at camp, and Isaac needed his dad to hold him during a turbulent time, and a stabilizer bar on the boat promoted a safe ride, we can look to our Heavenly Father for those things.  Sometimes we just need the Lord to hold us tight and to feel His presence.  Our boat may feel a bit unsteady on life's rocky seas, but Jesus in our lives provides stability. On making our heavenly flight safely, we won't be awarded wings, but a crown of life!