Best this way--Another day worked out

Just last night at 10:30, the thought occurred to me that I ought to fly to Hal’s this morning; “fly to church”. So at 9:50 this morning, Daniil and I jumped in and took off. In the air, i looked at my cellphone and saw my message light blinking. So i looked at my list of missed calls and saw that Daisy had just called me three minutes ago. I checked her message, but being unable to hear every bit, I picked up only “try...call you...to...” So I assumed the worst, you know. ‘Oh no; she can’t stop and see me after all.’ I sank into mild heartache, as my hope to see Daisy for the last time seemed near to getting disappointed. For as the Proverb sys, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” It turned my cares to my flying. “At leas I get to fly today”, i thought. The first item of business after parking the plane at Hal’s was to really listen to that voice message. Turns out, Daisy is just coming back earlier and wants to meet me for lunch. A plan materialized instantly, and I called her back and proposed it to her.

After church, I played the piano for half an hour, then went downstairs for the church potluck. Seeing no seats available near my own friends, I spotted a certain blonde who I had been eyeing for many Sundays and walked over to sit next to her. I had in mind to talk to her, but as soon as I sat down, she walked away.

Coincidence or cause?

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Oh-that reminds me of an epiphany I had in church. I was thinking about the way God proves Himself – his existence, His love, His involvement – to us. And a proof that I am amazed by is His Word. It’s available to us in different translations and versions and in almost innumerable numbers. The Word of God was not allowed to be infected, immobilized or unfinished (Psalm 19) at any point in history. It is consisted all throgh and remained in self-agreement throughout the thousands of years of its revelation. That would be impossbibly by human efforts alone because every human has his own greedy agenda and opinions and feelings of the universe. Humans alone could not have written the Bible. The Spirit of God, however, who exhibits a singular wisdom and agenda was he who spoke through men to compose the Word of God. Undeniable.

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Continuing on in the day...After my little rejection, I did finally find an unused chair to take over to Daniil and Hal’s table, and I sat with them, silent, as I pondered and wrote down these notes:

Outward beauty attracts the eyes

Inward beauty attracts the heart.

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Train student pilots to turn using rudder first, then bring in rolling with ailerons. Way Navy trains their pilots.

Walk behind a wheel barrow to simulate feeling of slips and skids and coordinated turns.

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I’m a bush pilot in the same respect that I’m a concert pianist. I’ve been in both experiences enough to taste and tell what they are like. But I’m skipping all the challenges that can be thrown into those environments.

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Daisy arrived at church with her roommate Erica after the potluck. Hal and Daniil and I followed them to Long Rifle Lodge, where we talked a bit and I ordered apple pie with Moose Tracks ice cream A-la-mode. In the menu, it said next to the pie item “ALA.” Daisy asked, “Where do you see A-la mode?” I pointed to the place and told her, “Where it says ‘ALA,’ that’s ‘A-la mode’, not the god.”

I got a smile out of that one :-)

Daisy and I took a picture together out on the porch, with the Matanuska Glacier as our background. She gave me the winter hat she made for me – actually the second one she made for me. This one was attempt #2 at making a non-girly hat for me, but as she handed it over she gave me the disclaimer that this one is “girly” too. I believe her opinion above my own, and she did recommend that I give it to my “sister or somebody.” As much as I love the way it feels and looks, I must concur that it’s more feminine than is appropriate for me. I think Daisy would be flattered if I gave it away to someone very important. Hmm-wonder if mom would like it. Nevertheless, the thought counts the most. And she has given me much thought, and I am blessed for it. I wrote the following reflection after flying home this afternoon:

“The good news is I’m better for the time we spent together, but the bad news is you’re gone.”

This song by Diamond Rio repeated in my mind as I left behind a significant monent this afternoon. My last minutes in the presence of Daisy Delay have come and gone, in the way I did not expect to but in reflection, the best way. Be it the company of Hal and Daniil and her friend Erica or not, Daisy seemed quite remote from and half-interested in me and the fact that this time together may be the last we get. Circumstances work to bring people together or to split them apart, and God is the orchestrator of our circumstances. I know in the past that He met our lives together for a reason, and He did so y matching our individual circumstances.

Blessings entered my life through Daisy’s friendship, and that is clearly a mark of a true friend. Our good-bye was not the sweetest of the summer– Angela’s and mine was – but it was for the best. I did not feel my heart reaching back in longing to be with her again. I realized at a point in our brief conversation that she was not the right match for me. As good as she is, she is not as close to Perfect I once was enchanted to believe.

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I talked with Angela for half an hour! Conversations with her are always a highlight of the day.

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Mike Rhoub requested that I give a testimony at Chickaloon church about my summer, so I had to condense my contemplations of this summer into four minutes’ time. I prayed over my speech and wrote some notes as a guide, and by the time my big moment came, I had something accurate, concise and that made sense to share. In essence, I said the KAC is the identity of people who come together to receive three principal things: exposure, enrichment and experience. I elaborated briefly on each point then. A woman named Diane prayed for me during the prayer time, then talked with me after the service and said she’d continue praying for me. A guy named Charlie game me some caribou sausage, and that was good.

Mike Rhoub talked about his ministering strategy in tonight’s sermon. My mind wandered off to thinking about my teaching strategy that I found, in my time here, works. That is, to establish first a relationship with students and to make that the most important item of our agenda. That creates the environment where the student and CFI trust each other and are real with each other, and that’s when the best of both people are free to come out. Both student and instructor can benefit each other most effectively in this scenario. I am reminded of the whole bit between Angela and me. No progress could be made so long as our relationship was crumbling. I have to be all about the individual in our training and not just the goal. We will reach the goal the best if we do it together.

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Now I am reminded of some othe rspiritual admonishment I bring from this summer. Success: what does it mean for me? We can quantify what makes up success by outlining what our kids become or what airplanes we own or what job we retire from. But all that is so...temporal. Do I really want for my success to be defined by something that will pass away in time? No; success is my entrance into the very presence of God. Everything going on right now is just a step, a graduation, an ascent toward that Day when I see success. It only adds to my heavenly longing to know my success will not come to me in this world.

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So now that I am finally de-Daisyd, I recall the times when I wondered when, at the pinnacle of my infatuation for her, how ever I was living happily without her before. I felt so real, the world seemed so vivid, and life seemed so beautiful with her. When she was gone, all that crashed. I suffered the crashing down three times. I’m finally recovered and awaiting the next turn of my heart towards another fantastic woman. Then I will wonder, again, just how ever I was living happily without her before.

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Isaiah 45