Women’s Wednesday–“Come Take a Ride with Me.”

As the helicopter lifted off the ground, the wind immediately began to rock the small transportation vehicle back and forth. All the hustle, rush, and fuss that commenced after the decision to transfer me had momentarily ceased. Now I had about an hour and a half to think, bundled up in a ‘burrito’ in a medical air transport vehicle during a brewing thunderstorm.

An EMT later told me it was one of the bumpiest rides she had ever experienced.

So, to say my time in the helicopter was scary would be an understatement. It shook me to my core and stirred up my mind and heart. I wasn’t thinking about the dirty dishes in the sink (thanks Vickie for taking care of those), the taxes I had just prepared, or the nursery that wasn’t quite finished. But rather, my heart was full of thoughts of my baby, my husband, and my Lord.

After convincing myself that my husband would be okay if anything happened to me (after all, I married an amazing faithful man of God whose strength is astonishing), my mind focused on the Lord. And what I remember thinking about the most during the moments of the turbulence of the helicopter ride was my ultimate goal here on this earth: “living my life & going to heaven and bringing as many people as I can with me”.

I thought about what I had done for God and what I could do better. I tried to think of ways to bring more people to Christ and things I could to do help make my relationship with Him even better. My heart ached at the thought of not being able to share the gospel with anyone ever again. I felt a passion that I hadn’t felt for awhile.

It shouldn’t haven taken a bumpy ride during a medical emergency to completely focus my mind on the ultimate prize. But, sadly, it’s easy to lose focus and zeal when dealing with the mundaneness of everyday life, not faced with the eminence of one’s own mortality.

As I write this, I’m on hospital bed rest for another two weeks. Things have settled down, and danger is hopefully not around the corner. It would be easy to put those thoughts I was thinking in the helicopter on the backburner. But, I’ve got to constantly remind myself of my mortality and of my ultimate goal: getting to heaven and bringing as many people as I can with me.

I don’t want to ever forget the terror I felt, accompanied by a renewed urgency to teach others and draw closer to God.

Will you take some time to think about this today as you go about your “normal life”?

Ask yourself what you’re doing to accomplish your ultimate goal each and every day! Not just on Sundays, or on scary days faced with emergencies – but, every day. Heed Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:16 to redeem your time wisely. For every day is a blessing and is here for us to serve our Lord, for remember He created us for HIS glory! (Isaiah 43:7)

~Martha Howell

(Last week I mentioned that we would look at scheduling, planning, and goal setting in this week’s article. But due to all the excitement in the past week, this article took precedence. Don’t worry, I’ll still give out tips to accomplish your goals soon. Just stay tuned to the ‘Christian Practice’!)