12 January 2011

I just remembered that it was Dave White's birthday yesterday. I need to call him.

We started out in FLL where we had the morning off. I did my devotions and then headed out to the pool to pray and read. Hey, I figure that as long as I'm praying I may as well do it in the sun by the pool for some added vitamin D therapy. It WAS a gorgeous pool with a waterfall. One of my goals for this year is to be more consistent in prayer for the Graham church family. Thanks to Johnny Schlaack I have a nice 2011 Graham church prayer guide that I've been using and so far (less than a week), I've been consistent.

We flew up to JFK, landed there an hour before sunset, hung around for a couple of hours, then flew back down to TPA. One of the things that struck me—and I'm not sure why it struck me yesterday—was that, as we flew back into Florida, I said to myself, "I just left here. Another day is gone. Tempus fugit."

Time flies. It was a day of my life that I will not get back. Kind of a sobering thought. One of the things I need to do is live more purposefully and realize that time is as valuable a commodity as there is. What is behind you isn't coming back. See it as precious.
Treat it as precious. Use it wisely.

Nothing I didn't already know, but a good reminder.

4 January, 2011

A new year, my 51st on this earth, and tempus fugit.

I just finished 5 days of flying (2 different trips, I got to be home for 12 hours in between). I've been on the road all but three days between 24 December and today which is par for the course for me. Such is the life of a junior A320 captain around the holidays.

I did manage to fly a charter. We flew the Philadelphia Flyers from Detroit to Philly after they beat us 3-2, Commies! We then flew an empty plane from Philly to MSP, arriving at 2 am. The plane was empty except for the pilots, 2 flight attendants, and the charter coordinator. Those are fun, relaxing flights and there weren't too many other aircraft in the sky late on a Sunday night. The night was mostly clear (except over Michigan naturally) so, even though we were tired, it was fun to be up flying. We feasted on the charter leftovers all the way to Minneapolis.

I flew a Milwaukee turn out of Minneapolis and then a deadhead leg from MSP to DTW to finish the trip. They replaced the expected aircraft with an A330 so there was a lot of empty seats available. I got to sit in a pair by myself which was nice because we had to deice in MSP and that took an extra 3o or 40 minutes.

Off until Sunday. We have an Elder/Deacon retreat Thurs-Sat and then I'm on call again Sunday, so I have time off....sort of. My gorgeous bride is coming in from DFW today at 1 pm. Matt will stay in Dallas for awhile with Badger and Kristen.

28 Nov 2010

Last day of a 5 day trip over the Thanksgiving day holiday encompassing the two busiest flying days of the year (Wed and Sun). I'm typing this at 2.35 am having woken up at 1am, ugh.

I was able to get on the train up to see Mom an Dad on Wed in San Diego which was a great blessing from God. Due to strong headwinds and just missing the van to the hotel, I was late, late, late and literally the last one on the train.

We ate lunch at Polly's pies and then chatted away until I had to take the train back to SAN. Tempus fugit and there will come a day when we will say our last goodbyes on this earth, my parents and I. The thought makes me melancholy and directs my longing to eternity with Christ. How empty life would be; how short; how meaningless apart from Him!

Do thou, Lord, teach me to number my days and give to me a heart of wisdom.

Location:George Washington Memorial Pkwy,Arlington,United States

Thoughts on DG 2010

Just back from Desiring God 2010. It was a great blessing. Highlights:

1. Spending time with Phil, PJ, and Jon. It was great to see them and get to hang out.

2. Kevin DeYoung on the mission of the church. Mr. DeYoung has a knack for clarifying what you already knew, and he did just that in his workshop Friday afternoon on the mission of the church. The bottom line is that, if we are not proclaiming the gospel, if we are not doing the ministry of the word, then we are missing the point of the church no matter how many acts of mercy we are doing. Yes, we should be doing acts of mercy, but no, they should not replace our proclamation of the gospel that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

3. Being present to see the book of essays in honor of John Piper, presented to Piper as a surprise by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Quite a moment. I bought two copies. Cheap! I'm enjoying it so far.

4. Being super-challenged by Francis Chan to love those around me as Jesus loved them. If there is one thing I took out of the conference from the standpoint of something to work on, this would be it. We can think all we want, but if our thinking is not grounded in the love of Christ, then we are wasting our time. Something I need to pray about and give attention to - a lot! Thanks, Mr. Chan.

5. Spending time with Cherie. Really fun to get to hang out with Cherie alone for a whole weekend. There's a reason she's my bestie...oh, and my wife too.

6. Rick Warren via video. Mr. Warren had family emergencies—yes, emergencies—and could not make it, but he challenged us by video. The man is a whirling dervish of energy and ideas. Remarkable. Probably the thing I took away from him the most was the importance of vision in the work that we do. Mr. Warren is also an aphorism machine, not to mention having a gift of humor as well.

DEN - ATL (delay) - DTW

Flew DEN - ATL - DTW yesterday. Naturally, we were delayed in ATL due to weather and a late inbound aircraft so we returned to DTW about 1.20 late. I've got some stuff to accomplish around here today—a little study mostly and packing—then I'm off to MSP for CQ. After that is over, then DG conference! Yahoo! Should be fun. Phil, Jon, and PJ Davis are going to be there as well.

Sunday Morning, 26 September 2010

I woke up early—ugh—because I could not stay awake last night, having woken up at 5 am in Laingsburg. It's a vicious cycle. Flew to DEN and then a layover down town. I took my binos and went walking to a park in the middle of town. Saw some grackles and pigeons before finding my way to a beautiful flower garden and running into a new (for me) species of sparrow. They are called Brewer's Sparrows and they only live in the Western U. S. so had I not been in DEN, I wouldn't have seen them. They seemed to enjoy the dirt, like they were taking a dirt bath, and then were kind enough to perch on tall stalks of bushes in the bright sunshine, only a few feet away so I could study them with my binoculars. Very friendly.

Off to ATL then DTW today, then to training tomorrow evening. I'll be gone a week with the Desiring God national conference going in MSP on Friday through Sunday.

Great Egrets on the Move!

We saw a flock of great egrets hanging out in a swampy pond just off of Alward Rd., when we drove by yesterday. They were still there when we came back from Lansing, so I jumped on my mountain bike, and rode in a (howling) wind to check them out. They were real beauties, and so patient as they waded around the pond fishing. I just wish I would have had a spotting scope so I could have seen them better. Egrets only pass through our area on migration south, so it was a real treat to see them.