A Wing and a Prayer
Small northern communities are tight knit. It’s not that everybody knows everybody else’s business, but everybody is conscious who has not come back from the trap line come dark, whose boats are out on the lake on a windy day, and what flying conditions are like as they listen for that unmistakable drone of a returning Otter or Beaver. Often people will gather and go out to wistfully search the horizon for comforting signs of their loved ones. Such was the case one heavily overcast evening. The Otter was late …show more content…
It is an entirely different thing to cry out from the heart in desperation for a miracle to bring those you love safely home. We were facing, humanly speaking, a helpless situation. We called out to the Lord on behalf of our brothers circling above us. “Lord, show them the way home!” “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come!” “Lord do it! Let it be done as you have promised!” As we interceded with hands lifted toward the sky and toward the lake, a small split formed in the clouds to the west. A red beam from the setting sun reflected off the surface of the lake marking a clear approach between the islands and protruding rocks as the Otter passed directly over top. The pilot banked the plane into a steep side slip and leveled out over the water, touching down perfectly in the middle of the red sun beam! What a breathtakingly-beautiful sight as the white plane touched the water, sending up a spray of water and creating mini rainbows in an otherwise completely black drop back! It was like the Lord was signing His signature before our very eyes! The moment the plane had settled safely into the water and the engine was cut back the clouds closed in never to open again that evening. A gentle rain began to fall, and we just stood there with thankful hearts in the afterglow of what had just happened and the humor of two pilots …show more content…
As the plane sped by us, my pilot friend was crying out. “No, No, No, you idiot!” (italics is my interpretation) I was crying out, “Lord, lift; Lord, lift; Lord, lift!” The plane relentlessly headed for the rock cliff and, with only a couple hundred yards to go, was no more than 10 to 15 feet in the air. The pilot realizing he was going to crash, turned the plane sharply toward the north trying to make one last ditch attempt to climb out over the ice. However, the pilot was already into the curvature of the bay and now there were trees all around him. The wing dipped low toward the ice and the plane seemed to lose its speed and go into a stall, momentarily suspended in mid- air waiting to fall backward into the lake. “NO!” “LIFT, LORD!” And then
Small northern communities are tight knit. It’s not that everybody knows everybody else’s business, but everybody is conscious who has not come back from the trap line come dark, whose boats are out on the lake on a windy day, and what flying conditions are like as they listen for that unmistakable drone of a returning Otter or Beaver. Often people will gather and go out to wistfully search the horizon for comforting signs of their loved ones. Such was the case one heavily overcast evening. The Otter was late …show more content…
It is an entirely different thing to cry out from the heart in desperation for a miracle to bring those you love safely home. We were facing, humanly speaking, a helpless situation. We called out to the Lord on behalf of our brothers circling above us. “Lord, show them the way home!” “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come!” “Lord do it! Let it be done as you have promised!” As we interceded with hands lifted toward the sky and toward the lake, a small split formed in the clouds to the west. A red beam from the setting sun reflected off the surface of the lake marking a clear approach between the islands and protruding rocks as the Otter passed directly over top. The pilot banked the plane into a steep side slip and leveled out over the water, touching down perfectly in the middle of the red sun beam! What a breathtakingly-beautiful sight as the white plane touched the water, sending up a spray of water and creating mini rainbows in an otherwise completely black drop back! It was like the Lord was signing His signature before our very eyes! The moment the plane had settled safely into the water and the engine was cut back the clouds closed in never to open again that evening. A gentle rain began to fall, and we just stood there with thankful hearts in the afterglow of what had just happened and the humor of two pilots …show more content…
As the plane sped by us, my pilot friend was crying out. “No, No, No, you idiot!” (italics is my interpretation) I was crying out, “Lord, lift; Lord, lift; Lord, lift!” The plane relentlessly headed for the rock cliff and, with only a couple hundred yards to go, was no more than 10 to 15 feet in the air. The pilot realizing he was going to crash, turned the plane sharply toward the north trying to make one last ditch attempt to climb out over the ice. However, the pilot was already into the curvature of the bay and now there were trees all around him. The wing dipped low toward the ice and the plane seemed to lose its speed and go into a stall, momentarily suspended in mid- air waiting to fall backward into the lake. “NO!” “LIFT, LORD!” And then