God, First Lady, and a Helicopter...

Well, maybe I am at least down to cloud 3 so that I can talk a little about my helicopter experience yesterday. First of all you will have to understand that I have never flown in anything. I have never even ridden so much as a roller coaster. I have always been a rather cautious person I suppose. Always walking around the edge of the pool persay but never diving in. So, when that helicopter left the ground yesterday, it was the very first time my feet had left the ground too. And at 11:00 on a brisk and cool Sunday morning in November, my heart left the ground along with so many fears that I had been battling for it seems a lifetime. Now, I suppose you are wondering why I was not in church but I was in church. It was our Pastor Appreciation Day and my husband somehow had talked to a friend and had gotten two helicopters to come and pick up Pastor and First Lady from their house and after a short tour in the air, fly them to church where they would land on the front lawn where everyone would be outside to welcome them. Well, so happens that two people could ride to their house in the copters so that their cars could be taken to the church so they could get home afterwards. I have been so afraid of flying but something inside me jumped up and said "I want to!". I thought to myself, now who said that, sure wasn't me, hush!...lol. And believe me, I was nervous and scared, but I went on anyway. Then when I get there, this copter is about the size of half a small car and about 150 degrees it felt like on the inside, but I strapped in anyway. Then here we go! In about two seconds flat we were about 5oo feet above the trees and I thought "UH OH, there is no turning back now!". Aside from a few fleeting moments of absolute fear, it was the most exhilarating thing I have ever experienced. I didn't want it to end and I would do it again today if I could and since he offered to take me up anytime I wanted to go, I probably most likely will. I learned two things yesterday. Number one, you CAN do all things through Christ. He showed me in living color yesterday that if I will just put one foot forward in faith that He will meet me there, He will show up and take care of the rest. He showed me that even though it may feel even up to the very last second even as you are taking off in the air that He is nowhere around, suddenly He rolls up on the scene and everything changes. He showed me that there is no fear that you cannot conquer with Him. I was strapping in my seat belt in the cockpit and was still not sure if I could do it. He showed me that I could. He showed me that He cannot take the first step for me. That it is my job to step out in faith. But that when I do, I open the door wide open for Him to come along for the ride which is why right now I am going to take a moment to say thank you to the Holy Spirit for taking that helicopter ride with me. I couldn't have done it without Him, without His strength, His grace and I give Him all the honor and glory that is due Him for the miracle in me He has done. Thank You Lord!!! Now, my only question is "What adventure is next for You have got me hooked?" The second thing I learned is that there is always a driving force behind the attempt. I know that without something driving me to conquer this fear, I never would have. But let me stop right here and interject that still no matter how much I am driven or no matter how badly I may want to conquer something, without Him there would be no way. I know what was behind my determination to fly in his helicopter. I guess I should say someone was behind. We all have someone in our lives that drive us to conquer and to be better than we ever could on our own. There is always that sandpaper that polishes or that person that influences us to make them proud. First Lady would have to be that person in my life. For six years she has been. No one in my life has ever driven me more to want to get better, to be better, to be all I can be than she has, her life has. I doubt she even knows that she has had that great impact on my life but because of her influence, I have been determined to be all that God wants me to be. There are many times she should have left our friendship and never looked back because believe me, I was messed up good! She may have backed off, but she never left because she saw something greater in me than the enemy would allow me to see in myself. She has pushed and pushed and pushed me towards this great God that I would have never known so deeply without her constantly driving me forward. And most of the time the greatest push that would make me fall on my knees and seek Him harder than ever before and make me work double time to find out what needed fixing in me next was when she never said anything at all. So when I found out I had the opportunity to ride a helicopter, something in me drove me that was greater than my fear. Before I knew it my feet were walking towards the helicopter without me and my hiny was in the seat and strapped in before I could say no. And when that thing landed and I stepped out on solid ground, the first words out of my mouth were "I CAN do anything!!!". And at that moment for the first time in my entire life, I felt like I could. I felt like I had just climbed Mt. Everest or won the Superbowl! It was the best feeling I have ever known. And now all I want is more of the same. It has opened up a door in my life that has always been shut. And I was so absolutely humbled beyond words that I got the chance to share this experience with her. I will never forget it. So, thank you Lord for the ability, the strength, the grace, the love that helped me do something I will never forget for a lifetime. Thank You Lord, for victory! Thank You for helping me conquer Mt. Everest. Thank You for never letting me go and for coming along for the ride all my life. There is no one like You in my life and it is my one desire to get to know the One who is behind all these changes in me and all this love and all this wonderful exciting adventure more than I ever have known You and as deeply as I can.
And thank you First Lady. I know you may never read this, but somehow may you know that I thank you for all those years of pushing and for all those years of that wonderful sandpaper that has been shaping me and making me beautiful all along even though it was hard to see. Thank you for your friendship that has been more of an impact on me, on my growth, on my life, my destiny than you will ever ever ever know. My heart cannot contain all the gratitude that I have. Thank you for never leaving and hanging in there. Thank you for your patience with me that I still find amazing!! Thank you for your love that for the better part of 6 years I couldn't see or understand because of my own selfish desires and my own agenda. This has been an adventure and a journey that I am so glad you were willing to take with me and I wouldn't have wanted to take it with anyone else and I am honored. My heart can't even begin to find the words to say thank you properly. Pam called me that evening to ask how I liked the ride and she made the statement, "Well, we all discovered one thing today, that you will do absolutely anything for First Lady". And she and Chris both agreed that you could get me to do things that no one else on the face of this earth could ever ever get me to do, guaranteed! And I guess in a way they are both right because there is just something in you that makes me think I can do anything and makes me want to try to. There is just something in you that makes me want to know who I really am in Him and makes me want to know why you are the way you are and how you got to be that way. There is just something in you that makes me desire to sit at your feet and learn the worship that you give and why you give it. There is something in you that makes me want to know Him in ways that I cannot even explain because every time I think of you, of your life, I think of Him. There is just something in you that draws me to God. There has just always been something in you. And you and God have driven me to fly! There was something driving me that was greater than my fear and I hope my feet never touch the ground again. Silently you pushed, First Lady. Silently I received. I hope that on Sunday November 19th 2008 at 11:00am I made both you and He very proud of me. I hope that your reward is great on account of what you have done for and put up with in me...and don't stop pushing me and I will never stop pressing forward... we must keep going forward... And my wonderful Savior and King, it is only by Your great love that I can do anything at all...without You I am nothing at all....I love You more than my next breath...Now, on to the next great adventure, Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And First Lady, I'll fly with you anywhere and at anytime... :0) I hope our great adventures have just begun!!!