God as my Pilot

Recently, my son, Matthew, and I flew to NY. Matthew has flown almost (sighs, 2020) every year since he’s been born. But now that’s he’s (almost) 10, he’s at the stage where he’s becoming more aware of his surroundings. He no longer blindly trusts my opinion. He’s more informed. He asks more and better questions. He has a better understanding of how things work. He’s coming into his own.

So, this trip was unlike any other. My son was inherently aware that this massive aircraft was lifting into the sky with nothing below it. He knew if anything happened, I couldn’t save him. He knew our lives were in the hands of our pilot, a man we’d never met, or heck, even seen. And my poor baby was shook. The guy right behind us had a kid about Matthew’s age. As our plane accelerated down the runway, the little boy behind us blurted out, ‘I’m scared!’ In solidarity, my son responded, ‘Me too, my brother.’ (smiles)

I assured Matthew that getting through the clouds is the worst part, but the pilot was trained to navigate through them with ease. He was trained on how to react when parts of the plane malfunction. And I assured him that, should anything go wrong, a crash landing wasn’t our only option. I told him the pilot constantly communicates with air traffic control—the people monitoring the conditions of our skies. So, should weather or danger be up ahead, a lot of times they can spot it before us and provide alternate routes or direction.

Sure enough, once we ascended above the clouds, we laid eyes on God’s magnificent artistry. It was golden hour. The sun was setting and the sky was a blend of reds, oranges, pinks and blues. It was gorgeous. Matthew was still so scared that he didn’t want to look out of the window. In fact, he wanted me to lower the shade. I asked him if I could have just a couple of moments to enjoy the sunset (I LOVE sunrises and sunsets) and he agreed. And then, I turned to him and said, ‘Matthew, you’re so scared of flying that you’re missing the fact that you’re already off the ground and the ride is not only smooth, it’s beautiful!’ He was allowing the fear of what could potentially happen and the fear of not being in control of the situation to blind him to the fact that we were already soaring.

And then, I realized that he gets it from his mama! So often, I miss out on the beauty of the journey because I can’t fully let go and trust that God knows so much more than I do about the road ahead. And while it might be my first time experiencing a certain bump in the road, or horrible turbulence, this is what God does. He specializes in getting us from point A to point B…safely.

Matthew survived our flight. And though he was riddled with anxiety and fear, the journey was smooth and beautiful as can be. We made it. In fact, we arrived at our destination sooner than expected.