The best laid plans

Yesterday was packing day, the day everyone was flying off into the sunset(or rain clouds as the case may be), some in different directions. The departure of the dc3 was/is weather dependent so due to rain, and the fact that closing up a fifth wheel takes longer then anyone plans or remembers we arrived at Bell Aviation, where the DC3 has been all week, and is the second home for kingdom air in South Carolina, for departure around 11. There were various friends there to see it off and they did one last test ride over the city with a group of passengers. Due to their late start Carolyn and I took off for the airport around 1:10 before they had returned from this warm up trip to check in for our flight to Oregon (leaving at 2:20) to visit the Kings daughter. We got checked in and headed back to sit at our gate after running the gauntlet of TSA. About 10 minutes after we got back to our gate I got a call from Dwayne that they couldn't find the certificate of registration anywhere. Now you must understand this is an oversized postcard but you can't fly without it. We had gotten it via express mail earlier in the week and we had talked about how we couldn't lose it then we proceeded to pack up everything we owned and now the question was where was it. I had no memory of putting it in a box or briefcase though we had several boxes of papers and paperwork.

        We were talking though all the boxes it could be in when I thought of the "safe place" I have often been keeping things in my laptop sleeve. Sure enough there it was with me through, security, and flight boarding in 10 minutes. So one of the guys from bell jumped in his car raced around the airport to meet me at TSA and have a security agent carry that one piece of paper that I had almost taken off with in my carry on. 

It is amazing how important in our world a single piece of paper can be the difference between grounding a plane and taking off. After running back up to the gate and sitting down I just kept thinking what might have happened if I had got on that plane with that sibgle piece of paper. 

It is plain that "a man may plan his way but the Lord directs his steps". We had the details worked out for today to the nth degree but it still could have been grounded by the absence of one piece of paper, so too without God's hand in my life I cannot accomplish anything. 

On another note we all made it safely to the destination of the day, Carolyn and I to Oregon and Dwayne and the crew made it to Thier stop on the Tennesse/ Kentucky line.

The DC-3 Arrives

The Thundering bird

Dwayne & his baby

       

Our 1944 DC3 with some friend's 1937 Cadillac. Pictured Left to right are Brian Lites (mechanic), Ian Hengst (Pilot) Anne & Chuck, and Dwayne

Jesus, Others & You

"Therefore pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another".                                                                                                                                   Romans 14:19

       How many times in my life do I desire something simply because I want it?
      Often I fear. Not that everything I want is bad and needs to be disregarded, but too often I see I value my liberty & choices above the thoughts and feelings those around me. I have discovered it is easy to have an opinion on everything, in fact it is a universal human reaction that in any situation each person will have an opinion. And I tend to think my opinion is important. But I have learned that really most of the time my opinion is not important, and having an opinion doesn't make me more like Christ.
       I have come to realize that in Christian living my personal liberty (to do, say or think certain things) shouldn't be importance. God has not called me to live for myself but rather to die to myself. "For we are constantly being delivered over to death (to self) for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus might also be manifested in our mortal flesh" II Corinthians 4:11. I am called to die to self so that I can live to Christ, and the way that I know I am living to Christ is when I am living a life pursing the things which make for peace and building up of others. A Christ like focus and motivation is that of unity and encouragement which gives God the glory. God has given me the grace and liberty to do an infinite amount of things but a godly focus would be on the things of peace rather then on my own desires.

A day in the life

One of these days I will get my act together and do a photo blog of a day in the life but for now I will just write about today as it seems to be a mostly "typical" Saturday and include a few pictures.

8:15  Head over to "the farm" from the Bell's house (Pastor friends of Kings where I am staying) -- "the farm" is the Bell's hanger & airstrip and home for Dwayne & Carolyn

8:30    Arrived at "the farm"; Dwayne was up flying with a student and when he sees the car he starts texting me some to do's & to call's for the morning. This morning there was 2 phone calls and a trip to the store for batteries.
8:45   Make a pot of Coffee & Check in with Carolyn before heading down to IGA to get Batteries and lunch supplies
9:00   On the drive to IGA make a couple phone calls (taking on the cell phone while driving is legal in S.C. and I have decided should be everywhere)
9:30 Get back from IGA and reply to some emails from KAC summer students & various people on DC-3 trip logistics.
10:00 Help Carolyn with some online financial issues. Another student arrives and start preflighting one of the planes.

11:00 Start lunch prep
12:00 3 Visitors fly in from Tennessee (a couple headed to Alaska as missionaries & their pilot friend) to talk to Dwayne over lunch about Missions in rural Alaska.
12:30-2:00 Lunch for 8 (3 from TN, 2 Students, Dwayne, Carolyn & I)
2:00-4:00  Visitors from Tennessee fly out and a second instructor arrives to fly with students. I clean up lunch and work on some more correspondence and a few typing projects.

4:00-5:30    Everyone lands for a break and the 1940's Biplane goes out for a spin, more visitors and helpers come and go.

6:00-7:15 Don Bell, one of the pilots, his wife and I go up for a hot air balloon ride(this was a first and not something I normally do though it seems to happen from time to time)

7:15- 8:00 Land, pack up and chat with the people whose yard we landed in. They were thrilled we landed there. It made their day and they loved the "Jesus is Lord" message. After we were all packed up we headed back to farm. Don told us about the lessons ballooning has taught him about faith, we have to make the step of faith into the basket but where we go is in the hands of God and we have to trust Him.

8:00-9:00 Eat dinner with Dwayne & Carolyn do some correspondence and talk over thing that need to be done the next day
9:00 - Load the plane for the trip to a church we are flying over to tomorrow then head home to the Bells.

Well looking back it wasn't quite a "typical" day but it was not an atypical day here. Anyway just a peek at all that is going on here.

First day on the job

So first full day on the job included my first airplane ride "to the office". It had been awhile since I have been in a little plane. In a little plane you really do feel like a bird and you just soar on the air with its ups and downs.

 It's actually quite hard to take decent picture out a plane window but I know I will get lots of practice.

Seeing things from the air really gives you an appreciation of contrast and shadows. Even an excavator shadow looks artistic from above.

"Then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father For the mouth of Lord has spoken." Isaiah 58:14

"Getting Out"

"Get out from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you" Genesis 12:1

When God said these words to Abraham I sometimes forget that this was real. This was new. This was something Abraham had never done before and there wasn't a Bible in sight to find any "be strong and courageous" verses to get him through, or affirm to him that this is normal.

Sometimes I forget what a big deal "getting out" is. The idea of getting out can be refreshing, a new start, an adventure, an escape from ritual and routine. "Getting out" as a possibility seems like a good option; but when one really "gets out" it means that stepping out of the role of self-proclaimed director of my own life and trusting and acknowledging that God is King, and is sovereign in the decisions and actions in life. "Getting out" means change based not on my desires but on God's.

 

"I (God) will make you (Abraham) a great nation, and I will bless you and make our name great;  and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Genesis 12:2-3

Abraham was given a promise to go along with the command, a clause not to soften the blow, but to tell him what the "getting out" was all about. God wasn't just seeing if Abraham would listen, but God wanted to set Abraham apart for a special purpose, representing Him to the nations of the world. Abraham was called to be an ambassador.

Just so in my life when God is King my position in Christ may be that of God's child but my role too is that of ambassador. God doesn't tell us to "get out" for the adventure but God tells us to get out because we cannot be a representative of God until we get realize that life isn't about us it is about Him. It's about His plan, a plan we cannot always understand but we know is best because it is all about His glory.

So tomorrow when I get on a plane going to "the land which I will show you" though it will be day 1 in a new adventure, it is really day 1 in my new post as ambassador for Jesus Christ.

"Therefor, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal though us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." II Corinthians 5:20

Long time no write

So i am settling into my new local, and new tasks here. I will put up a few pictures here so you can see what's new here.

Here is a picture of the new local

If you can find it you can see some of the wildlife I see on a fairly regular basis, by the way it's a bobcat.

What' I've been cooking lately:

Chocolate box with berries and cream

6 1 2 4 1-1/2 1/3 2 1 2 2

1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate tbsp. shortening 3 oz. packages cream cheese, softened tbsp. butter (1/2 stick), softened (do not use margarine) c. powdered sugar c. unsweetened cocoa tbsp. milk tsp. vanilla c. heavy or whipping cream pints strawberries (or any other fresh berries) Mint Leaves for garnish (optional)

Line 8-inch square pan with foil; press out wrinkles so chocolate box will come off foil smoothly. In heavy 1-quart saucepan over low heat, heat semisweet chocolate and shortening, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Pour melted chocolate mixture into foil-lined pan and swirl around sides and bottom, keeping edges as even as possible. Refrigerate 1 minute, then swirl chocolate mixture around inside of pan a second time, to reinforce sides of chocolate box. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare filling. In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat 1-1/2 cups of heavy or whipping cream until stiff peaks form. With rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

Carefully remove foil-lined chocolate box from pan, then gently peel foil from sides and bottom. Place chocolate box on platter. Spread cream cheese filling evenly in chocolate box. Refrigerate until filling is well chilled and firm, about 2 hours.

In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat remaining 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Spoon into decorating bag with large rosette tip. Pipe cream in a 1-inch wide border on filling around edge of chocolate box. Cut larger strawberries in half and arrange over entire top of cream cheese filling. (Garnish with mint leaves optional).

Yield: 8 servings