i was deprived as a child. okay, not really but kinda sorta. you see, before last november, i’d never stepped foot inside of an airplane much less flown. my first time flying was up to long island, new york for a football game. it was a charter plane with about 120 people or so on it. i sat on the aisle in the same row as two of our athletic trainers. we left after dark on both flights and since i was on the aisle, i couldn’t even look out the window to see the lights of the cities.

on thursday morning i jumped on an airplane with our women’s basketball team. it was a much smaller plane with only fifty seats on it. on one side of the aisle was a row with two seats and on the other side was just a single seat. i sat on the other side. i got an aisle seat and a window seat at the same time.

i was working on my computer on a video during our flight to kentucky. at one point during the flight i was stuck letting my computer render things so i had nothing to do but stare out the window.

you get a different view of god from 20,000 feet in the air.

a lot of you are reading this and thinking, “welcome to the party. you’re about fifteen years late.” well, yeah, maybe i am, but i still can’t get over that view.

i wrote back in july about sitting on an empty beach with nothing within a half mile of me and being in awe of god and his creation and all of that. i got that same feeling on that plane while looking out the window.

we flew right over the blue ridge mountains in western virginia and west virginia. most of the mountains were completely untouched. i could see the chains of peaks and valleys in a way that i’d never seen before. the fact that the same dude that made all of that made me slapped me right in the face.

right now, as i write this, we’re on the plane back to lynchburg. once again, i’ve got video rendering so i’m staring out of the window and listening to steve fee (i figure if i can’t be at brentwood, i might as well listen to what they’re probably playing). we just came through a patch of clouds and now it’s completely clear from here to the ground. we’re somewhere over west virginia. all i can see is a bunch of mountains with a few roads winding through them and trees. lots and lots of trees.

being up here makes my life seem so small and insignificant. i see the roads and can’t even see the cars that are driving down them. there are people down there that are carrying what feels like the weight of the world on their shoulders and i can’t even see where they might be. the amazing thing, and this sounds extremely churchy but get over it, is that god sees and knows every one of those people. he knows exactly what’s going on in every one of their lives.

stop and think about that for a minute.

from 20,000 feet, i can’t make out a car on a highway, but god knows the number of hairs that are on the driver of that car’s head.

from 20,000 feet, i can barely make out a few houses in the mountains, but god knows every single thing going on within every room there.

from 20,000 feet, i’m passing over towns and communities filled with drama and crime and all sorts of bad “stuff,” but jesus died for every single person in everyone of those communities.

i’m posting this on a monday morning. it’s the start of a new week. chances are the weather’s pretty nice outside or it will be at some time this week. if you’re at liberty, spring break just ended and it’s back to reality. with all that being said, take a chance today to just sit back and think about how freaking awesome this god that created us is. take a second and think about how even when we feel down and insignificant, god knows everything going on inside of us and is standing there with his arms open ready to wrap them around us like a giant snuggy. take a second and simply be thankful for all of that.

too often we get wrapped up in all of our own stuff that we can’t sit back and enjoy that god is god and he is good.

sometimes all we need is a reminder.

this is your reminder.

say your prayers and take your vitamins.

have a nice day.

-jonathan