Turbulence

I'm in Nashville, and we had the wonderful privilege of flying. (And for all of you jokesters out there - No, my arms aren't tired - we flew on an airplane.)

Anyway, it was an interesting flight. And quite a turbulent one to boot. Add a screaming toddler a few rows back, and it became an adventure.

Let's just say that when the flight attendant gets on her little speaker thingy (RUNS to her speaker thingy is a better choice of words) and says, "All right everyone, the captain has illuminated the fasten seat belt sign, and you'd better make sure it's tight!" You should know at that point, that it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Now, we've had lots of practice with turbulence. Landing anywhere in Alaska proves to be turbulent, no matter where you are going in the beautiful state - and that's on the big planes. We had to fly on a 1939 WWII Grumman Goose to get to the island we lived on for a couple of years. Now THAT was turbulence.

Today reminded me of that turbulence, only we were in a large plane. There were several people who gasped, even squealed, when we dropped who knows how many feet. (And on a sidenote - When your rear end no longer touches the seat below you, you know it's a substantial drop.)

Don't forget the screaming toddler. This child screamed almost the entire trip. Now, I'm going to get up on my soapbox here -- children need training. Training takes consistency, discipline, and patience. Flying on an airplane can be scary, it can be no fun when your ears don't pop, and add in the crazy turbulence - it can be downright miserable. This parent was not doing anything to help the child. The parent wasn't even trying. That's the part that is disheartening.

Note: I am NOT saying that screaming children are horrible. And I'm not saying that if your child screams, you are a terrible parent. I love kids. I have worked with kids of different abilities for a long time, and my own children are precious. But this particular child needed help - he needed to be prepared for the journey.

You're probably wondering where I'm headed - well, most of you know that I do a lot of speaking. And most of it has to do with parenting and our story. I'm also in the process of writing a "personal parenting encouragement" book. Why? Because I've been asked by so many people to do it. Not from an expert (because I am NOT one), but from an ordinary mom with an unusual story.

Life is not easy. Parenting is REALLY not easy. But - you can do it. A child will face a lot of "turbulence" in life, and if he is untrained and unprepared, he will kick, scream and whine his way through.

These are tough questions, but these are only on the surface - they're not the truly tough questions. In today's society - morals and respect and common courtesy are a rare find. Selfishness and pride seem to reign supreme, and it scares me to think where that will lead.

Are you prepared for turbulence? Are you preparing and training your children for turbulence?
I'd like you to go look up James 1:2-4 (yes, again) - and read the first chapter of I Peter. Look specifically at what it says about trials and joy.

We'll pick up here in a few days... Look for "Turbulence... Continued"
God Bless You All and I'm praying for you...