Saturday, April 30, 2005

Odds and Ends...

Late yesterday I finished cleaning out my closet...what a chore it has been. I knew it would be. Deep inside I knew it would take a couple of days. And it did. As I worked I was reminded of the little booklet called My Heart - Christ's Home. In it the person has asked Christ into his heart. And he is so excited about it. After a little while some changes begin to take place within different "rooms" as a result of Christ living there. Good changes that the Lord brings about. But, there is this one closet which is locked and the guy doesn't want to let Christ in there. He's ashamed of what he has stored in that closet but he doesn't know how to get rid of it. Eventually he unlocks and opens the door and the stench is just putrid. He is so ashamed. But Christ, ever so gently begins to clean out that closet making it fresh, new and clean. As I worked I took a mental evaluation of my own heart's closet. Why not? If I am cleaning out closets, why not let the Master Cleaner in to sweep out any debris that I may have been trying to cover up? Do you know what? It feels wonderful to be washed clean!!!

An update on our son. He did manage to do his first "dog fight." Intense, is the word I believe he used. So much to remember and do as you are trying to make those maneuvers, pulling those "g's". He loved it...I knew he would. It really goes without saying. I just want to reiterate: better he than me! The first time I ever flew in a small plane (really tiny plane) was after he got his private license and my teeth chattered the whole time. I didn't want him to make any fast turns or steep ones...I didn't even want him to go very high up...until we hit a thermal. Then I said to take it higher because we wouldn't have to deal with those pesky thermals. I did much better on my second flight with him. I was much more relaxed, no white knuckle grip on that flight. We went farther away and higher and I actually looked down when we made turns!

He actually got to fly twice on Friday which was great. There are only 9 more flights left and he will leave this particular aircraft. Pray for great weather this week because he wants to finish the formation flying so he can take his 'check ride' on Friday. That would then just leave his 2 low level flights where he "screams" along about 500' above the ground. Only 11 more days till we see him and only 13 more days till he finds out which 'track' he will take for his final 6 months of training! The countdown has begun! :)

We drove up to this little town close to where our son graduated from college today. There is a great restaurant located there and we met a young friend of ours there for dinner. She has been a missionary with Tentmakers to the mormon community up in Logan, UT for the past couple of years. A sweet gal who loves the Lord and has such a heart for the lost. She has been excepted at a Christian college in Kansas City to begin work on her Masters in Biblical Counseling. In just a few weeks she will be moving and getting set up before classes begin. We will miss her!

I hope each of you has a wonderful Lord's day tomorrow! May your worship lift Him up!

9 comments:

Saija said...

i wonder why we are so afraid of letting the Lord in those locked areas of our hearts? He knows what's in them anyway, we're not hiding anything from Him ... hmmm, just wondering outloud to myself, here at your blog ... !

your note re your son's dogfight ... yikes! ... i would be looking for that airsickness bag!!!!!!

blessings on your Sunday too Claire!

Andrea said...

Wow Claire - flying sounds so interesting. It's on my husband's list of things he'd like to do someday. Unless that happens it's pretty unlikely I'll ever experience the adventure of a tiny plane :-)

Anonymous said...

Claire, I really appreciated what you said about the closet. Your analysis was excellent. On the flying part, I don't know if you knew that in Korea I flew at 5oo ft, 600 mph. Of course, we flew about 100 ft or lower over the ridge lines to avoid being highlighted. Marsha didn't know this until we returned from Okinawa. Love your blog! Vic

Pilot Mom said...

She shared that with me yesterday, in fact, Vic! :) I think she used the term "cotton picking"... I;m thrilled that you left a comment! I hope you both will continue to do so! I can't wait till James reads about your Korea flying. On second thought...that just may fuel his desire that much more?! Regardless, he is in the Lord's hands, Amen? Amen!

Pilot Mom said...

Thank you, Sparrow.

Saija, we do make it more difficult on ourselves, don't we. You are absolutely correct...He already knows!

Andrea, small planes are okay but I could live without them! :)

Christa Blakey said...

Claire-
Thank you for inspiring my thoughts with this entry! I have been working on some Spring cleaning in my home too and closet spaces seem to be my tough spot! I loved how you refer to Christ as the "Master Cleaner". I was very convicted by your admission that we have debris we try to keep in our hearts hidden from the Lord, but it is so much better to be clean!

I liked hearing about your friend that you met for dinner. I too, have a degree in Biblical Counseling and am going back to study for my Masters degree soon. That's neat that she has this opportunity.
Blessings-
Christa

G~ said...

PTL about your son's flight. *whew* Loved the clost analogy.

Have a wonderful week!

~hugs~

Kim said...

Another fan of the closet analogy here. I'm pretty fussy about my closets.

I wonder if when your son flies he feels like he's soaring right up to God.

Pilot Mom said...

Kim, I would think so, but I'll ask him for his own personal take on it! :) How about it James?