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The Best Seat in the House

The Captain’s Corner

Whether you fly as a pilot or as a passenger, the view from the airplane is not only beautiful; it is also fascinating. Throughout my flying career, such panoramas gripped my attention, and I loved every second of the show.

Ground patterns, colors, vistas, clouds, mountains, rivers, cities, fields, lakes, and oceans—all provided thrilling and unique visual displays. No flight was “routine.” Even though the sights changed constantly, I never got tired of the scenery.

One sight was the seemingly continuous sunset as I flew westbound from the East Coast. Likewise, the morning star, ushering in the dawn of the day (after I had flown most of the night across the North Atlantic), would capture my attention and imagination. Clouds presented tantalizing shapes as they grew to a height that far exceeded our cruising altitude. Flying over a flat cloud layer would sometimes allow me to see “the pilot’s glory”—a beautiful rainbow ring around the shadow of the airplane, reflecting on the cloud layer. Night flying provided the appearance of “jewels on black velvet,” with the pinpoint appearance of lights from cities and towns sparkling upward from within the dark landscape. Moonlight, along with starlight, had a distinct beauty.

I gratefully observed all of this from what pilot’s often call “the best seat in the house”: the pilot’s seat. The psalmist, in Psalm 19:1 (KJV), gives credit to God for the beauty of His creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

Psalm 104:24 (NKJV) speaks of the magnitude of the scope of this creation: “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions.”

Don’t wait until your next flight to observe this creation and to praise the Creator! Praise Him now! He is worthy!

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By Petals from the Basket | April 7, 2018 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes, The Captain's Corner |

Lord, please be with….

This post may shake up your thinking a little. It may even change the way you pray. I hope it will do both.

As Christians, we can tend to react to current trends in Christendom with extremes. For example, if a group tends to strongly overemphasize the work of the Holy Spirit, we may avoid spending too much time talking about the Holy Spirit—almost “downplaying” His work, if you will. We don’t want to appear as “extreme” as “those people,” so we go to the opposite extreme.

Another increasingly popular teaching involves the seemingly extreme focus on receiving blessings from God based on calling out to Him with a “name it and claim it” thought process. In reacting to this “prosperity gospel” approach, we may avoid teachings about exercising our faith in order to accept the limitless blessings of God. We try so hard to avoid the one because of our belief that even “unanswered prayer” (i.e., a different answer from what we prayed for) is a gift from God, so we focus on that element of prayer rather than approaching the “scary zone” that our God is exceedingly able!

Yet I believe that both of these examples illustrate that the evil ick (the devil) often has us right where he wants us.

He wants us to be intimidated by the thought of calling out to the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, comfort us. He wants us to avoid acknowledging that the Holy Spirit indwells us, empowers us, and teaches us. He wants us to be silent because we fear becoming “too extreme.”

Additionally, the evil one wants us to place a border on what we feel we can ask God to do. After all, if we truly believe God can do anything (see Jeremiah 32:17) and provide “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (see Ephesians 3:20), people may think we’re teaching extremist thoughts on God’s blessings and the prosperity of His provisions.

But we can’t let Satan win. God is greater.

Yet despite what we know to be right, we continue to let the evil one hold our faith at bay. We give in to his whispers about what others may or may not think. We care too much and forfeit the victory too quickly.

I am more and more convinced of this as I hear my fellow believers pray. Our words are “if-y.” We give God an “out” in case our prayer is not answered as we prayed. Yes, Christ taught us that we are to pray for God’s will to be done, acknowledging (with no timidity involved) that it’s up to God to do as He chooses and to uphold His promises to care for us, to love us, and to never leave us or forsake us.

However, while speaking in prayer of our faith in His ability to provide, to hear, and to answer, we continue to use words like “be with” on a regular basis: “Lord, be with the speaker today”; “Lord, be with my kids while they’re in school”; “Father, please be with my friend who is having surgery today.”

If faith is trusting God to keep His Word (and it is), then we must believe Him when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, ESV). This verse tells us that we have no need to ask Him the specific request to, “Be with….” He has already promised that He’s there! Our faith is too small.

Additionally, Jesus Himself spoke the words, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2, NASB). Sweet faith-friend, ask. Ask for His will to be done. Ask believing that He is already there. But ask.

Don’t let the evil ick hinder your prayers, minimize your faith, or keep you from receiving the bounty of God’s blessings simply out of fear of becoming “too extreme!”

God is greater. God is able. God is already there.

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By Petals from the Basket | March 26, 2018 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time |

The Navigational Compass

The Captain’s Corner

Flying involves working with several areas of knowledge—for example, weather, the physics of flight, navigation, and federal air regulations. Perhaps my favorite of these is navigation, which is the art and science of drawing a line on a map, figuring wind direction and speed, and finding where to point the nose of the airplane in order to get from origin to destination.

All cockpits contain a compass. Yes, computers and global satellite positioning systems do the majority of the work, but if these should fail, the compass is there, ready to give direction and guidance for where you wish to go. The compass’s alignment is governed by the magnetic field in God’s masterfully created earth.

Indeed, Scripture declares that God “set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:27, KJV). The security and sufficiency of the compass remind me of God’s abiding presence.

Psalm 139:7–10 (NKJV) wonderfully declares that God is always there:

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

You can’t hide from God.

You can’t run from God.

He is near and available to guide you in the direction that you should go.

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Image courtesy of voraorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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By Petals from the Basket | March 6, 2018 | The Captain's Corner |

This Moment

We had planned one “outing” or event for each weekday of the full week that my mother and brother would be here to visit us. We toured Widow’s Jar Ministries; went antiquing at Second Stories in McCordsville, IN (a delightful shop I can’t wait to tell you more about); enjoyed an amazing tour of the national headquarters of the American Legion; and much more! We savored the remainder of each day just sitting by the fire, talking, playing games, and having our bodies and spirits refreshed with a restful visit.

It was during one of these “restful” moments that I sat down on the bench beside my mom and apologized for basically just “sitting around” that afternoon. I’m not really a shopper (and by that I mean that I literally hate to shop), but knowing that my mom likes to leisurely look at what’s in the stores, I asked if she wanted to go to some of the shops we have in Indianapolis that she doesn’t have readily accessible in Northern Indiana. She stated that she was enjoying just being by the fire and drinking a hot mug of cappuccino. Then we both just gazed at the beauty of the fire, talked about life in general, and sipped our beverages in a wonderfully unhurried way. Then she spoke these words:

“This is the moment I’ll remember. Not shopping. Not buying or looking at more stuff. This moment.”

Her words were a gift, a blessing, and a poignant reminder of what matters.

We run around, attempting to be busier today than we were yesterday—sometimes because we think it’s expected of us, sometimes in an effort to fulfill the outrageous expectations we put on ourselves, sometimes merely to attempt to complete the many tasks to which we have overcommitted ourselves.

We often buy because we can, think we can, or think we should.

We speak merely to fill the silence rather than be silent to soak in the moment and learn the lessons that God, in the quietness—in this moment—is longing to teach us.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7, NASB).

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By Petals from the Basket | March 2, 2018 | Ask Grandma, Family, Ideas, Life Changes |

Contrails in the Sky

The Captain’s Corner

Last week, Brenda and I saw this spectacular display of contrails (short for “condensation trails”). Covering the winter-morning sky were several crisscrossing white vapor trails that extended great distances.

These “fingers in the sky” are formed when the water vapor from the jet engine exhaust of airplanes at high altitudes instantly freezes. These thin streams of vapor sometimes can extend for miles behind the airplane.

On a smaller scale, think of the visible water vapor formed by your breath on a cold day or from a car exhaust in cold weather. It’s a very similar concept.

As I saw these contrails, I was quickly reminded of God’s Word describing life as “a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14, NASB). Additionally, Proverbs 27:1 (NKJV) states: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

I encourage you today to take your focus off of that which “vanishes away.” Instead, take a moment to pray the words of Psalm 90:12 (KJV): “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

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By Petals from the Basket | February 19, 2018 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, The Captain's Corner |