by Sandy Kirby Quandt

The first year I attended the Iditarod Sled Dog Race Conference for Teachers in Anchorage, Alaska, the first Teacher on the Trail, Finney,  told of an airplane ride she and several of the Iditarod dogs took with the Iditarod Air Force from a remote check-point to Anchorage, Alaska.

Seems the dogs were rather boisterous, and the pilot wished to quiet their howling. Without a word, he pulled the plane’s engine and the airplane dropped like a boulder. (If you’ve ever experienced a turbulent plane ride, you get the idea.)

Finney related how not one peep was heard for the remainder of the flight from any passenger. Four-footed, or two.

For those of us seated in the room the story was rather humorous. We could laugh because we weren’t the ones in that airplane when it dropped altitude flying over the remote frozen expanse of western Alaska.

When I recalled this story, it caused me to think about the times God pulls the engine in our lives, and it feels like the bottom of our world has fallen out from under us. We plunge into a free-fall, auguring in, not knowing when, or if, we will land safely.

And if we do make it through the landing, where will we be, and in what kind of condition?

That Iditarod Pilot needed to get the dogs’ attention during the flight. He needed them to hush up, quit complaining, and trust him to deliver them safely back to Anchorage into the care of those waiting for them.

He knew explaining things to the dogs was useless. He knew he had to do something that would grab their immediate attention…and it appears he knew exactly how to do that.

When you consider it, don’t you believe maybe that’s what God does with us sometimes when he wants to get our attention, get us to quit our complaining, and trust he’ll take care of us and deliver us safely to the other side?

Perhaps, like me, you’ve had the engine pulled many times. Do you think if we quit our howling, sit back and let God be the Pilot in Command, things might go smoother for us?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this please share it through the social media buttons.

 O God my Strength! I will sing your praises, for you are my place of safety. Psalm 59:9 (TLB)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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