Help! I Need a Course Correction!

I travel the highways to Austin and Tulsa often and rarely do I need directions. But, when I am on the phone or in Lala Land while driving, I just might take a wrong turn. One time, I took the wrong exit to Dallas coming home from Tulsa and ended up on some backwoods roads. I thought "Since I'm this far into it, I'll just stay on this road and see where it comes out. After all, I'm going southwest so it will eventually get me where I need to go." It did, but it was a 45-minute longer drive. I should have course-corrected, turned around to get back back on the right road. Then it would have only been a 20-minute longer drive.

What you may not know about me is that I’m a Private Pilot. Haven't flown since my husband when to heaven, but once a pilot, always a pilot. We had a single engine, 4-passenger, Cessna 182 like the one pictured here – a sweet ride. We logged many hours flying across this great country. I remember some crucially important things that ensured landing where, and when, we intended. Wind speed and wind direction requires course corrections throughout the flight. A strong wind can certainly take you off course. Constant “tweaking” is necessary. All it takes is to be off just a few degrees and you can end up in Timbuktu, instead of the intended destination.

And those course corrections while driving and flying are true in our own day-to-day living. Our emotions, our bodies, and our spirits may get off course by “negative winds” that we’ve let come in. They may have come in by the company we keep, some unhealthy habits, some unwise decisions we make without consulting our Heavenly Father first, maybe some compromising of our ethics and integrity, or literally missing the mark.

Perhaps, it’s time for some tweaking and correcting our course. The winds can certainly slow us down, and take us completely off course -- not to mention keep us from receiving the blessings that could have been ours if we were on track. Here we are in the season of Lent when we deliberately focus our attention on getting it right – getting our hearts right. It’s the perfect time to make course corrections – where we make the adjustments necessary to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. I promise you….this is the stuff that helps us drive further -- faster and fly higher than we’ve EVER flown before. I'm quite sure I can use some tweaking!

Eating Humble Pie a Slice at a Time

Yesterday was a big day for Lexi and I as we were flying to Orlando to meet up with her Mom, Dad and Payton who had been in Charlotte, NC for the weekend. On the way to the airport, we were boasting about being such seasoned travelers – that to fly in an airplane was as common to us as riding in a car. Me, being a private pilot, as well as both Lexi and I having flown commercial so many times that we’ve lost count, we talked about how some of our friends are so nervous about flying that they work themselves into a frenzy just at the notion of flying. So, of course, we knew the ropes….right? Wrong!

We were delighted that we were approved for the TSA Pre-Check line so we knew that we didn’t have to take our shoes off, jackets off or even my computer out of my bag. When we sent our bags through security to be scanned, Lexi realized she had left her boarding pass in the bin. The TSA agent said, “Sorry, then I’m going to have to get you to take your shoes off and put them through the scanner, and you’ll have to go through the x-ray scanner. At the other end, the TSA agent stopped her because her purse was held for inspection. She had left her water bottle in her purse, and when they swabbed her purse out, the scanner read out “explosives detected”! Oh me! And if that weren’t enough, she had a large size sun screen bottle in her carry-on bag that had to be thrown away, which meant her suitcase had to then be swabbed. At this point, the female agent did a full pat-down on her from head to toe.

And, even with TSA Pre-Check, they held up my bag because I left the computer in the bag. Oh, indeed, we were highly sophisticated, experienced travelers. Apparently, NOT! Twenty minutes later, we were finally through the security check. Oh, but it doesn’t end there. We boarded a 767 that was full to overflowing and we walked through in the middle of the crowd only to walk too far to the back. Of course, seats 13 A & B were toward the front of the aircraft, not after row 20, so then we had to swim upstream to get back to our seats. And to make matters worse, our bags were too large for the bins, but alas, a sweet flight attendant saved the day for these two “seasoned” travelers.

Both Lexi and I agreed, God was giving us a gentle lesson in humility that tasted just like Humble Pie. We got the message, loud and clear, because we never want why or what we do, to bring praise to ourselves, but to THE ONE who deserves ALL PRAISE.

To be humble is to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord -- to understand that we have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous. Jesus is our greatest example of humility. While on this earth, He always acknowledged that His strength came because of His dependence on His Father. He said: “I can of mine own self do nothing. … I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father Who has sent me” John 5:30. James taught: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” James 4:6,10.

The reminder is to keep a watch out for those times when pride sneaks up on us and we get full of ourselves. How awesome is God in the ways He brings us back to the reality of the taste of Humble Pie. "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:5-7.

Okay, I've confessed, and now I've finished my "Humble Pie". I think I'll avoid that dessert from now on, and I'll keep my eyes and heart open, in case it looks like God needs to offer me another slice!