Anna’s Thoughts on Flight 1380

Anna was watching a movie on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 when the engine blew out. The next twenty-two minutes were filled with sounds and experiences she will always remember. Anna is twenty-three years old and has a lot to teach all of us. If you had to consider the end of your life, and all that truly matters, who and what would you think about?

Anna’s mom, Linda, is in my Thursday Bible study and we have known each other for a lot of years. Our sons were in high school band together and played in their own band, The Review, for a couple of those years. Linda was our real estate agent, and blessing, when Jim and I bought our home. So, I was shocked when I saw the Facebook post about her youngest daughter, Anna, who was on the ill-fated Southwest Flight 1380.

Anna wrote an essay about her experience. What does a twenty-three-year old think about when she is wearing an oxygen mask on a plane that appears to be crashing? Her thoughts have a lot to say to all of us today. The things that matter most in those moments are the things that matter most right now. Here are Anna’s thoughts, in her words:

My mom’s face, and how she would cry when she found out I had died.
How my baby nephew wouldn’t remember Aunt Anna.
How my family would cope with the loss of their littlest.
If a plane crash would hurt, or have immediate effects.
If I would be received in Heaven with my God, or otherwise.
I thought of my friends attending my funeral.
If there was a chance someone could survive a plane crash.
If we could land on water somewhere, knowing we weren’t far from New York.
Young, young, we’re so young.
Take me to your glory, take me to your glory.

Family. Friends. Faith. Life. Eternal life.

The plane was surrounded by clouds for most of its descent and Anna said the “white noise” of the engines was deafening. But then came the moment when the plane cleared those clouds.  Anna described those moments like this:

Seeing the earth was a comfort. There was not a feeling of landing assurance really, but I think just getting to see your home one last time was somehow significant. Once we got closer to the ground, I looked out the window and saw water and started to cry. In my mind, we had reached a river and were going to land on it, Sully style. The flight attendants began screaming “Brace” and then a crew member came onto the overhead speaker, yelling “heads down, stay down” on repeat. I braced and braced and wondered if there was a better way I should be positioning my feet and if I should bend my legs or keep them straight or hold Connor’s hand or just keep looking at his feet. I didn’t feel a thing and then I heard cheers. When I looked up and saw that we had LANDED- ON THE GROUND- AT AN AIRPORT- I was absolutely overcome with the most blatant and undeserved gratitude and joy. There will never be a joy that will match that. I began sobbing very uncontrollably and unashamedly. I remember repeating over and over again “we don’t deserve it, we don’t deserve it”.

Anna and her friend Connor

I read Anna’s words with my own tears of gratitude. A woman lost her life on that flight and I would never want us to forget there is a family who is grieving today. At the same time, there are hundreds of families that are living with a new sense of gratitude for life.

A lot has been said about Tammie Jo Shults, the navy veteran pilot that landed the plane. She is being called a hero who walked the aisle of that plane after it landed, comforting the passengers with smiles and hugs. The crew keeps speaking about her “calm” in those moments. I’m waiting to read the article or book she will write someday. We know that after landing the plane she sent this text to her friend and fellow navy pilot: “God is good.”

God is good. He heard the cries of a twenty-three-year old girl who needed his promise of heaven. I imagine God listening to the prayers of the pilot who felt responsible for each of those lives on the plane and the prayers of other passengers of faith. And I know God was pleased with Anna’s priorities as the plane was descending. Family. Friends. Faith. Life. Eternal life. The matters that matter most.

None of us will probably ever experience what Anna and the others on that plane felt during those life-changing twenty-two minutes. But all of us will need to ask Anna’s question: Will we be received in heaven with God, or otherwise? There is no reason to live another day on earth without knowing your answer.

Romans 10:10 says, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”  Salvation is God’s gift of grace, purchased for us through the death of his Son, and available to anyone who chooses to receive it in faith.

Statistically, only a very small number of people will die in a plane crash and statistically, everyone will die someday. Statistically, not nearly enough of us understand what Anna understood as the plane was crashing. At the end of our lives we want to say, “Take me to your glory. Take me to your glory.”

The pilot texted, “God is good.” Anna wrote, “There is no way I could have found peace and calmness in what was destined to be a plane crash without knowing that I was a believer, and that I believed in Heaven, but even then, there was this real desperate sense of helplessness and doubt in myself. I felt disappointed in myself that I wasn’t more sure in that moment. I KNOW I am assured by God, but these minutes were fast and scary. It’s indescribable that I get a second chance at getting to know my God. NOBODY DESERVES LIFE, MUCH LESS A SECOND LIFE.”

Heaven is real and everyone should want to spend their eternity there. You can make the choice today by simply praying, “God in heaven. Thank you for loving me and for sending your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins. Forgive me for those sins and come into my life and my heart. I receive your gift of salvation with grateful praise. Thank you for your forgiveness, for saving my soul and for your gift of eternal life. May I live this life with your peace, purpose and priorities until I step into my eternity. In the name of Jesus, my Savior, Amen.”

God is good and able to save. Don’t live another moment of this life without the promise of heaven. Anna, Tammie Jo Shults and this blog writer want you to know the joy and assurance of your salvation today.

Barbara Bush’s Genuine Pearls

A New York Times article called Barbara Bush “soft power in fake pearls.” Many of our nation’s first ladies have worn pearls, but none as famously as Mrs. Bush. In fact, her famous three-strand necklace is still sold by Kenneth J. Lane on his website. (I provided the link in case you are in the market!) The former first lady once teased that if she removed her pearls “her head would fall off.” She was wearing those pearls on the evening I had the privilege of shaking her hand. That was a BIG moment for me!

I like the message her three-layered strand of faux pearls said about her personality and character. She wore them to the inaugural ball in 1989 with a designer dress and an old pair of comfortable, inexpensive shoes. Her “ensemble” was a picture of who she chose to be as a first lady and as a person. She was more interested in having values than owning valuables.

A lot of things have been said about Barbara Bush since her death. But I have been most impressed with the things she said while she was living. As I read various quotes attributed to her, I realized I was reading genuine pearls of wisdom. Jesus told a parable about living life on earth for the sake of heaven. He said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45–46). In the ancient world, a pearl and the mother-of-pearl from the shell were highly esteemed for ornaments and decoration. In addition, the word pearl also symbolized wisdom of great value.

King Solomon said, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (Proverbs 4:7). So, as a way of honoring the life of Barbara Bush, I wanted to share a few of Mrs. Bush’s “pearls of wisdom” and the biblical wisdom from her words.

Barbara Bush wanted to live life without regrets. She is most often quoted with these words: “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict and not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” Romans 12:9–10 says, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” In honor of Mrs. Bush, who could you spend some extra time with this week?

When Mrs. Bush lost her young daughter to leukemia, everything in her life gained a different perspective. She grew to understand more fully the blessings in life that matter most. She said, “When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family and friends.” We have been inordinately blessed, and we know that.” The apostle Paul was at the end of his life when he told Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:5–7). “Faith, family and friends” is a good list of the things that matter most.

At the end of her life, Barbara Bush said, “I know there is a great God, and I’m not worried.” Mrs. Bush had the gift of knowing that her life was coming to an end. I like to imagine her picking up her Bible to find strength, comfort, and encouragement for herself and her family. I imagine her reading Jesus’ words to his disciples when he said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1–3). Mrs. Bush knew God, knew Jesus was her salvation, and knew heaven was her promise.

You might wonder if the quotes above were simply parts of a speech that had been written for her. How do we know that Mrs. Bush truly believed in what she told others? I read an interesting article written by one of her former Secret Service agents, Jonathan Wackrow. The article told several stories about Mrs. Bush that described her life as consistent with her words. I think those things were summed up in the last piece of information he gave. Mr. Wackrow said, “The United States Secret Service code name for Barbara Bush was ‘Tranquility.’ It exemplified her demeanor and its calming, humanizing and gentle effect on those around her. She will be forever missed.”

If Barbara Bush could say one more thing to us today, I think she would want us to know her most recent joy. As she walked through those gates of pearl and saw her daughter again, and all those other people she has loved, she also saw Jesus. If she could leave one more pearl of wisdom for this world, I think she would repeat the words of Paul and Silas when they told their Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31).

That knowledge is the truth about God’s kingdom and the genuine pearl of wisdom that is worth everything we have.

A Modern Parable of Success

Dan munched on his chicken sandwich as he watched the long lines of people waiting outside. His anger welled as his neighbors continued to leave their money in the hands of the undeserving. No one carried his banner. No one shouted in protest. One by one, each neighbor filed in and left their support for the message and the mess. Dan finished his lunch, lost in his grief, alone in his anger. Another storefront, another success—another reason to wave his fist at the truth. He ordered a milk shake and some more waffle fries, then scowled at the cow who wished him a good day. He finished his milkshake on the subway, threw the evidence away, and thought, “Maybe my words will change some minds.”

A parable is a story designed to teach a truth or a moral lesson. Today’s parable is based on a story in the New Yorker magazine. “Dan” wrote an article that is making lots of headlines and helping Chick-fil-A make a lot of extra sandwiches.

Dan Piepenbring titled his recent article Chick-fil-A’s Creepy Infiltration of New York City. The reporter is angry at the company because, in his words, “New York has taken to Chick-fil-A. One of the Manhattan locations estimates that it sells a sandwich every six seconds, and the company has announced plans to open as many as a dozen more storefronts in the city. And yet the brand’s arrival here feels like an infiltration, in no small part because of its pervasive Christian traditionalism.”

Dan Piepenbring doesn’t like much about Dan Cathy’s company. He wrote about the Bible verses that “adorn” the headquarters and pans the statue in the courtyard of Jesus washing his disciple’s feet. He mentioned the company’s motto, “Treat every person with honor, dignity, and respect,” as flawed because of Cathy’s stand for Christian family values.

But, here is the real point of the parable. Dan’s article was inspired while he sat in the new Chick-fil-A, eating his lunch. It was opening day for the new twelve-thousand-square-foot franchise, and he was waiting to see his fellow New Yorker’s protest the establishment. He wrote, “When the first stand-alone New York location opened, in 2015, a throng of protesters appeared. When a location opened in a Queens mall, in 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a boycott. No such controversy greeted the opening of this newest outpost.” Dan had come to see his community protest Chick-fil-A and watched their support instead.

Here is what I hope the parable will mean to Christians. First, Chick-fil-A has stood for biblical values from the beginning. They have received a lot of criticism, a lot of protest, and suffered a lot of persecution from the anti-Christians in our culture. Now, they are one of the most successful fast-food chains in the country. What does their example say to all of God’s people about the power of God and his desire to bless a godly witness?

Second, as a Christian, how do you feel about Dan? I admit my first thoughts were not God’s. I felt victorious because Chick-fil-A was “winning.” I felt smug because Dan’s angry words didn’t stand up against the obvious success of the company’s expansion. And then I thought about Dan and went back to the parable to insert the sentence about him as “lost in his grief” and “alone in his anger.” That is the real point of the parable.

Chick-fil-A isn’t winning the war. It is simply a company doing its part to fight some battles. They are consistently providing the food people want even when those people disagree with their message. Is the same true for our lives?

It doesn’t matter that the “words” I write in this blog post are about God if the way I live my life in the world is not godly. Jesus said, “By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35 ESV).

Two chapters later, in John 15:18–21, Jesus teaches the real point of my parable. He said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”

People like Dan misunderstand the ways of God. They are lost and alone, separated from the God who sent Jesus. And Jesus sends us today. Our words aren’t enough. The power of God is unleashed through our works which give credibility to our words.

Chick-fil-A’s story is a parable to all of God’s people today. We need to notice people like Dan, sit down at their table, and bravely share God’s love with him. A lot of people are lost and alone because they don’t know “the one” who sent Jesus so they could be saved. Who is Jesus going to send you to this week? Christian success, blessing, and probably some persecution will come from saying, “Here I am. Send me.”

The point of the parable: We have great food. Are we working as hard as Chick-fil-A to provide it?