Packing Your Parachute
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Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.  After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.  Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.  He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.  He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You’re Plumb!  You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.  You were shot down!”

“How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.  “I packed your parachute,” the man replied.  Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.

The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!”  Plumb assured him, “It sure did.  If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Plum couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man.  Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bellbottom trousers.  I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.”

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who’s packing your parachute?”  Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory – he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.  He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.  We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.  As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

John

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:14-17)

John Voss

(minister@eaglewaychurchofchrist.net)

Education:

Columbia Academy

- Private school sponsored by the churches of Christ in Columbia, TN

- Attended CA from kindergarten through Graduation in 1996

- Freed-Hardeman University (Fall 1996 to Summer 2000 – B.S. degree in Bible)

Work:

Fairview church of Christ – Stockbridge, GA – June 2000 to September 2001

Ridge Avenue church of Christ – Tifton, GA – September 2001 to October 2008

Pottsville church of Christ – Hickory, KY – October 2008 to June 2012

Eagle Way church of Christ – Hopkinsville, KY – July 2012 to present

Family:

Married to Carrie (Hooks)

Emily

We are especially looking forward to the times when we can serve you. We know that there will be times when life will become difficult. Whether it is an impending surgery, the death of a loved one, or a spiritual need of someone you are close to, we want to be able to help you through these troubling times.

We also want to be there to help you celebrate the good times. Whether it is seeing someone baptized into Christ, the erring Christian return home, two young hearts being joined in marriage, the birth of your children, or any other joyous occasion, we want to be there to celebrate with you. It is our hope and prayer that you will use us as we try to serve you.

Of course, the major focus of our work is going to be in the teaching of the word of God. Whether it is through sermons, classes, or articles, it is our goal to strengthen the faith of one another. As we grow closer to one another by serving each other, we also grow closer to God by our study of His word. It is our prayer that we can all be faithful servants of His, and be dedicated to the word that He has given to us.