Flying High with the Angels

I have posted several times over the years in this blog how I do not like flying in airplanes...there was in point in my life where fear made me REFUSE to get on an airplane. But now I will get on a plane, but I still can't say that I totally relax and ENJOY it as I would like to be able to.

This week at the last minute, I accepted my friend Jacquie's request to come and help her out with her computers in her new budding business. Jacquie lives in Virginia Beach. I did not want to drive, as I absolutely ABHOR the traffic jams on the way there...but unless I were to grow my own personal wings overnight, that only left one solution for me to be able to get there and back QUICKLY...an airplane!! SIGH!!!

On my way to Virginia, this older gentleman named Richard M. sat down next to me and regalled me with stories of his youth as a professional musician in New York. His nickname in one of the bands he traveled with was "Polka dot" later affectionately shortened to "Polk" because he was the only white member in an all black band! At another time in his musical career, he played with a Spanish band too, and was the only non-Spanish person in that band because at the auditions he was the only trumpet player who could read new music on the spot, and play it flawlessly.

At one point in his career as bandleader and trumpet player, he even entertained the troops in WWII. He told me about a raid on Hitler's bunker, and how he found Hitler's top hat. He even showed me a picture of him as a young man posing with this top hat. This particular hat has been on display in museums! This guy spoke with such clarity and detail, that it was if I were watching a video of his stories on the spot! I was there!

Richard was headed to Virginia Beach for a reunion of his musician friends from that era. He was a bit concerned that a lot of his buddies had passed, or their health would not allow the to make the trip. He said he had mastered the trumpet, and was playing professionally at age 17, which was much younger than all of the other musicians.

He said his wife had encouraged him to go on this trip to the reunion. He was a little reluctant because he was now 81 years old, but his friends would have been much older than he...and he was hoping to recapture some of the memories of his youth with the ones he made them with...if they were still alive and well enough to travel.

His eyes crinkled merrily when he chuckled as I pulled the window shade down when I just could not bear to look out the window when we were at maximum altitude...but before I knew it, we were at my favorite part of any flight...we were landing! Yaay!

One my way back to my hometown, a young, clean cut family man named Brian P. sat down next to me. He greets me with a big smile, and immediately starts telling me about himself, and asks about me. He was very proud of his family--a 4 year old daughter, and a 10 month old son.

When we get the green light to unbuckle, he pulls out his laptop, and shows me lots of pictures of his lovely wife and adorable children. He told me all about his stay in Virginia Beach, how his trip was a business trip, (he was in the wine business) but his wife left the children with her parents, and flew in to have time alone with him without the kids. I asked why she was not on our flight, and he explained that she had already flown home to Kentucky earlier in the day, because he had to continue his business trip, and fly on to a further northern state.

He too, smiled and chuckled, when I lowered the shade when we were in the fog--ugh! It was just too much nothingness...give me the little dots for houses and trees, and square patches of fields! At one point when the turbulence was getting to be a bit much for me, in his calming southern drawl, he reassured me that it actually was not that bad....and he was right. And before I knew it, again, we were at my favorite part of any flight...we were landing! Yaay!

My friend Jacquie had pointed out to me at the airport, before I boarded the flight on my way back home that I always get a "talker" next to me, and now that I think about it, she is right. Every time single time I choose to fly instead of driving, God sends the right person to come and sit down next to me, and just talk me through the entire flight. I had been prepared to work my way through my anxiety on my own with such distractions as music cds, my bible, and even a dvd about worship that I like, but God sent angels my way to help me instead.

I don't know why I am still struggling with this anxiety...I know Whose I am, and Who is in charge, yet, I still wrestle with not being able to look out the window at all times, and not being able to fight or control the flipping and turning stomach everytime we experience turbulence...sigh!

But I am thankful that God is patient with me, and is helping me through this, as I continue to fly and continue to place my faith and trust in solely in Him.

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"What do you want on your Tombstone?"

What do you want on your Tombstone?," the executioner asks a condemned man. "Cheese and pepperoni," the man replies in a memorable television commercial for Tombstone Pizza, the fastest-growing frozen pizza manufacturer in the United States.

Hmmm...I am sure not too many of us have considered at this point in our lives what we'd want on our tombstones... I know I never did...and now that I think about it, I don't care what it says!

To me, what matters MOST is what God thinks about my heart. God knows my heart, and He knows that my heart's truest desire is to live Him, breathe Him, and drink Him in every second of my life.

Consider the words of David:

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." Psalm 63:1-8, Psalm 27:4

That is how I'd want to be remembered in how I lived my life! I'd want my funeral to be a gathering of family, friends, and acquaintances CELEBRATING God in a Praise Fest! There has to be music, food and festivity! No open casket, because then people would be focusing on my shell...it is not me! My spirit has returned to The most High.

No tears of sadness for me...I am with the Father! I'd want folks to openly share stories of how God used me to encourage them, pray with them, lay hands on them, or how I led them to Christ. That would be my eulogy...true words of how I allowed myself to be led by the Holy Spirit to reach outside of myself as an extension of God to help others. This also would serve as an encouragement for others to crawl out of their comfort zones to take on the serious commission that we were given as ministers of the Word. People have to step out in faith and allow God to use them outside of their comfort zones.

I'd want a compelling altar call to be presented, so that if there are any in attendance that do not know Christ as their Savior, that they make the decision for Christ right then and there. I'd want prayer counselors on hand to answer their questions, and have plenty of Bibles (NIV) on hand to hand out to those who need a bible.

And then after the funeral/celebration, I'd want this challenge issued: For people to seriously consider how they could turn their everyday lives into a true life of worship....and act upon it....remember--you are as close to God as you want to be!

So now that I've thought about it, I do know what I want on my tombstone, for the sake of my sons:

"She loved God with ALL of her heart, and she loved her neighbor as herself."

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