Off Course ...
Off Course
Good Marriages that are growing, and flourishing are like that perfect plane ride. The day of no wind, and no clouds: just smooth beautiful scenery, and calm times together.
Being a pilots wife, and owning an airplane with my husband. We have the joy of going flying on days we're wanting just to be together, and enjoy new things; a restaurant far from home, a hiking trail, or just a airport we've never seen. Some days we take off to experience the beautiful creation God has given us. Those days we wait for perfect weather, no wind, no clouds, no ice, no storms. Keith will fly and I will enjoy the trip. But what happens when your perfect day becomes bumpy and rough out of no where?
Two months ago Keith and I went flying from Wichita Kansas back home to Iowa, it was a perfect day all was going great and enjoyable, until; Keith decided it was time I learned about stalls, along with how to overcome them. My perfect flight turned into terror, I knew what it meant to stall the airplane, and now I had to rely not on Keith any longer but an airplane. When an airplane is stalled it kills the engine, and you start gliding (not falling) downward from the sky. I was happy in my perfect day of flying, I was happy with the smooth air, in an instant it all changed for a teaching experience. I cried, begged, pleaded, and in the end Keith stalled the airplane, and guess what? It was a blast, and a teaching experience.If anything happened I knew the plane didn't just crash from the sky, it glided with enough time to restart the engine without worry. It was the unknown that I was terrified about. The change.
Good marriages are like that perfect plane ride, we get comfortable in our routines, and in our normal calm lives; we begin to fear those things that we believe can make us come gliding down. We believe that marriages come with little turbulence, or weather. We believe that making sure all the instruments are working correctly, means there is no issues ahead. As a pilots wife I'm here to tell you, turbulence hits from no where; and it's like a roller coaster. Weather shows up expectantly, and you have to change your flight plan to go around the weather; sometimes an hour off of what you plan. Instruments can go crazy at anytime, and you have to know how to navigate without them. Marriages drift off course when we're not paying attention, marriages end up in turbulence if we’re not constantly aware of the weather that is before us. Marriages end up in trouble when panic sets in when a stall has happened, and all we see is the ground, instead of understanding God is the pilot, he is there to restart the plane, and stop us from falling. We have to trust God enough to fully give him control of our marriage, through the smooth, and through the storms. Small course directions through the weather can change your marriage. Proverbs 4:25-26 states: "Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways."
A few weeks ago Keith and I flew to Arkansas to see my Father in law for the week, again perfect flying on a day that was suppose to give us some turbulence. I was overjoyed, there was no rollercoaster riding which was expected. An hour into the trip back home, Keith gave me the controls so he could eat some nuts and relax. I took the controls with no hesitation this time, Keith stated to look ahead and not to give to much pressure to the yolk. If I gave to much pressure it would take me off course or make us lose or gain altitude. so with one hand on the bottom of the yolk I flew the air plane. When I didn't look where Keith told me, I would get off course, when I put to much pressure we would lose or gain altitude. I can say it has been the best flying I've done. When I trusted Keith and his instructions, and fully listened along with following through. I flew the plane more on course then I ever have ( with Keith's help, his foot was on the pedals). Marriages take time, easy touch, and a lot of staying the course that God has placed before us. When we begin to look to the left within our marriages at other men, women, or pornography. or right at money, jobs, and extracurricular. We begin to take focus off of our direction and end up way off course. Does it mean it's over, and we're completely lost? NO! it means we need to listen to God and allow him to put us back on the flight path we should be on.
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