Spring break is here and I have BIG plans! While I’m not going to spend my break with my toes dug in the sand on some beach in Florida, I am spending my break doing something I love… FLYING!

My plan for spring break is to get my Multi-Engine Rating. This will allow me to fly any airplane that weighs less than 12,500 pounds and has more than one engine. There are a few more restrictions than that, but we will keep it simple. Ask me if you want to know more.

(<--- that's the airplane I'm flying)

The place where I am working on my rating is a small, family owned business at a small airport that sits among some houses, apartments and a few other residential type structures. The people there are very much like a family. It’s fairly tight nit, and everyone knows everyone. I have now spent about four days at this airport. Some of this time has been studying while other times have been with my flight instructor. One thing that I noticed was that there is a lot of unwholesome talk that comes out of the mouths of people that hang around the airport.

Yesterday I was sitting on a couch waiting for my instructor to get back from his flight with another student. The owner of this operation, a man who is probably in his mid 60’s sat down and just started to “hanger talk” with me. Hanger talk is basically two pilots sitting around sharing stories and talking. This turned into being a small group of four or five guys sitting around talking airplanes. Throughout this whole conversation there was talk coming from the other pilots that was tainted with curse words and crude and sexual jokes. When you are surrounded by this, it can be difficult to not fall into the ways of the world and let the best become of you with your language and your actions.

Later in the day I was talking with my instructor and explaining to him about my love for flying, as well as my passion for Campus Ministry. He got a little grin on his face and said lets go for a walk. We ended up walking down to one of the maintenance hangers, there I met Paul. Paul is a mechanic who is a Christian. Even more, he is preparing to be a missionary Pilot in Guatemala. Of course our conversation was graced with talk of airplanes. What I found to be even more encouraging than that was how Paul talked about being the only Christian in a predominantly non-Christian/anti-Christian work place. This was made obvious by the “quick” exit by a couple of the other pilots in the room when we started talking about Christianity. Paul and I talked for almost an hour. We talked about the way he felt called by God to return to the airport. He felt God’s calling saying come and be a light there. Paul works daily in a place that is a challenge.

I was encouraged by what Paul was talking about. He talked about some of the opportunities he has been able to talk about Christ with some of the flight instructors, as well as some of the mechanics that he works with. He talked about his struggles that he has by working in a place that can be so negative towards Christianity.

What I really appreciated the most about this hour long conversation was Paul’s openness of his Faith even in a place that is not supportive of his beliefs. Paul, the mechanic, was an example of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae in Colossians 4:2.

Paul, the mechanic, used his situation at the airport to do ministry on his own field. In what ways is GOD calling you to reach out and do ministry in your field? What may be stopping you?

I encourage you to pray about what it may be.

Let me start out by having a small disclaimer here. My intentions for this blog are not to make it depressing, sad, or even a tear jerker. The reality of it, it very well may be a blog that does just that. I mean, who wants depressing news the week of Christmas right? Not me, but this is something that is Amber and I are dealing with, and I would like to share it with you, not for sympathy, but for encouragement.

Back in August, the week before school started, Amber and her family learned that her grandfather’s cancer had returned. Not only had it returned, it had spread and become much worse than it was before. This news came to a shock for the family as about a month earlier he was helping set up for a wedding!

Questions run through your head as to why, how long, what’s next.

The following months turned into being a bit of a roller coaster as well. Some ER visit’s that turned to be somewhat scary and frightening, as well as the frequent treatments for the cancer.

Thoughts ran through my mind as well as Amber’s. Things like, Will Grandpa be at our wedding? Will he be around for the holidays? What happens when the time comes? One thing we knew for sure, grandpa was dying.

No one likes death. No one finds pleasure in death. There is a tendency to be very selfish when death is upon us, selfish in terms that our loved one is leaving us and we are stuck here and we don’t like it. Now we have the hope that one day we will rejoice with them in Heaven, and that brings some light to a very dark time.

Now we are a week before Christmas, and grandpa is still with us. Now we find ourselves thinking about what if he goes now. The rest of our lives we remember Christmas as the time of year we lost grandpa. Again your mind becomes filled with thoughts.

While these last four months have been a very long hard four months, I have to say; I am extremely encouraged by Amber’s Grandpa. We express that we are sad that he won’t be at our wedding, but he reminds us that he will, and he will have the best seat in the house. We talk about how sad it is to see him dying, and he reminds us that it’s ok, this is the transition period to new life.

These last four months he has been an encouragement to me in many ways. He has simply reminded me and the family that he is going home. He even says that he is ready to go home, be with his mom.

It is a huge comfort knowing that a man of God is at peace with his death, and is even embracing it. The way he has embraced his death, the way that he looks forward to rejoicing in heave with us someday, all of that is extremely encouraging!

Finally, I find comfort knowing that I have a God who loves and comforts me. I find comfort in the fact that when Grandpa’s time comes, he will leave the physical earth, he will transition into new life.

Revelation 21:1-7 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among themt,4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

Flying is who I am. It’s one of the things I do. A while back I was chatting with an old flight instructor of mine and we got to talking about air traffic controllers. For simplicity reasons, let’s just say that we have two types of airspace in the world of flying, controlled airspace, and uncontrolled.

In controlled airspace, you often have an air traffic controller who is monitoring your heading, altitude, and route of flight. In uncontrolled, you do not have an air traffic controller following your every move.

Several years ago I was on a flight with this flight instructor. We were on our last leg of a three leg flight. We had flown from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Evansville, Indiana and then down the river to Louisville, Kentucky. We were supposed to be heading north on our flight back to Terre Haute. We were also on an Instrument Flight, meaning were flying the airplane by reference to the instruments on the panel, not by looking out the window. This type of flying is complex, and it can be difficult, and very challenging depending on the weather.

We had filed for 6,000 feet on our departure from Louisville. Once we had departed we were given a right turn to heading 270, or due west and were instructed to climb to an altitude of 3,000 feet, not what we had filed our flight plan for. This was normal though as they wanted to keep smaller and slower airplanes out of the way of larger faster airplanes.

We seemed to fly on heading 270 for what seemed like hour, and when you are cruising at 105 mph, you are moving pretty quick. We were getting a little impatient as we had yet to be given our on course heading, and we were going west when we needed to be going north. As pilots we were getting impatient.

We asked air traffic control if we could get on course and up to our filed altitude. I recall he replied, and it was pretty hostile, that if we were to turn on course and climb now, we would be on a direct path for a collision with a large UPS jet that was inbound to Louisville. That’s not exactly where I wanted to be.

The moral of this story, we as pilots in our little Cessna 172 could not see the big picture. The controller could see the picture, he was watching out for us, even when it took us way out of our way.

God is a lot like our “air traffic controller” isn’t he? He guides us, and gives us directions. He cares for us, and he knows what’s best for us, even when it’s not what we want. He can see the big picture when we cant.

I leave you today with a favorite verse from Proverbs.

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Have you ever thought about friends? Ever thought about how they are people who can lift you up, be someone to have serious, deep, meaningful conversations with? Someone that can tell you that you are wrong and do it in a tactful way?

I was thinking about relationships the other day, specifically friendships. I have a few friends that it is clear when I need to just spend some time with. My mood changes because I have bottled up something and just need to get it out. They are guys that I can bounce idea's off of, talk to, and really be transparent with. These are guys that I can share anything with, and I know that they will be joining me in prayer, as well as the battle for what ever the issue may be.

When I think of friends, I am reminded of the relationship the Apostle Paul had with Timothy. Paul refers to Timothy as his dear brother in his letter to the church at Colossae. Their relationship in the New Testament indicates how intimate their relationship was. It is clear that Paul mentored and discipled Timothy.

As you start off your school year, let me encourage you to seek out Godly friendships and relationships. Ones that honor God. As you build these relationships, don't be afraid to let God in.

I pray that you will find relationships during your school year that will be meaningful conversations. Ones with guys (or gals) that will be beneficial to you.

After coming out of a very busy semester where it seemed like our pace was a dead sprint, I found myself tired and a little worn out. I’m happy to say that the summer pace has slowed down considerably! We are not at a walking pace or at a running pace, but rather a pace that is steady. So far I have found summer to be a great chance to rest and catch up on some work that I let slide during the last semester. In the internship we are required to read eight books a year. Last year I let that slide off because of other things. I did not do a good job at keeping up with my readings. This summer I have found it to be very relaxing to sit back and read for an afternoon. I’ve had my nose in several books. I find myself reading Union in Truth, a book about the restoration movement as well as The Shack and various CS Lewis books. This has been a great change in pace that I have embraced rather well. I have also spent some time this summer ‘hanging out’ with God. That is one perk to the solitude that summer offers. You have ample time to sit and talk with God as well as to listen to exactly what he is saying. I won’t address the fact that summer is half way over. I don’t want anyone to become depressed. As for the rest of the summer, I plan to use it has a chance to get ahead on work as well as catch up on rest. How are you using your summer break?