the flight of death... or near death

Normally, a few dips here and there won't bother me. So when the first few sways occurred, the roller coaster girl in me was actually enjoying it. I've been on enough flights to know a little turbulence is expected. But when the bumps continued on, that's when I started getting a little nervous. And then the next sixty minutes were the longest and scariest sixty minutes of my life...

The plane dipped and jolted and swayed from side to side viciously. I kept my eyes shut. If I opened them, I'll only get motion sickness. The guy beside me, the guy behind me AND the guy in front of me were all throwing up. The stench of vomit around me was overpowering. I almost lost it too except there was no vomit bag in the seat pocket in front of me. Great, just my luck. So I held it all in. I shouldn't have eaten those pretz. A number of things came to mind as I sat there with my arms folded tightly across my chest. The first thing was "Wow, this is it. Jesus, here I come!"

I felt my body all tensed so I loosen up a bit. If the plane is going to crash, it's going to crash. No use getting all worked up about it. I hope I pass out before we hit something. But it might also be kinda cool to see everything explode. I'm glad my whole family came to see me off. Good thing I gave them a hug before I boarded.

There were so many of us on this plane. I wondered how Ames was doing up front. I wished she was sitting beside me. I also wondered how Sung Hon and Ian were doing. They were probably talking over this to calm each other down. And Lawrence was sitting in the very front row... man, if we nose dive... There's also that Phil guy from UT... it's only five but that's still a lot of friends to lose...

I looked out the window. The flickering lights of the plane showed flashes of the wing as we jolted from side to side through the clouds. I could see the left wing teetering. Don't look. Surprisingly the baby in the seat over the aisle is fast asleep but the dad next to me continues to vomit. Eww... don't look.

A sudden drop. I felt myself lifted off my seat for a split second. I tensed up again.

OMG, this is it.
Father, I hope I lived a life worthy of you, a life that glorified you. Forgive me if it wasn't.

I loosen up. Instead of my life flashing before my eyes, it was more of a reflection over the past few days. I'm glad I got to see some friends and family over the holidays. I didn't tell them that I loved them though. I hope they know. Actually, before I packed up my stuff, I did shoot off one email to a friend telling her that I love her. I remember thinking as I was reviewing the short little email that it almost sounded like I was never going to see her again. Ha ha. Oh, the irony of it all. And I remember thinking when I was on the plane, Oh my goodness, what if it was a premonition? maybe that's why I was compelled to write that email. If I don't make it out of this alive, those would have been my last few words! man, I should have written more...

More dips and jolts. Morbid thoughts continued to pass through my mind. My hands were clenched in a fist. The captain said one more hour before we land, he will try to get us to a lower altitude w/ less bumps. He also said to remain seated. Ah! How much longer? I have to pee! I shouldn't have asked for that third cup of water...

I tried to relax. I know the plane is in God's hands. So I opened up my fists and folded my hands instead.

For what seemed like an eternity at the moment, I spent praying for all the friends and family who came to mind and thanked God for a wonderfully blessed life. It has been a truly blessed life. A truly blessed year.

As it turned out, we landed safely in Seattle! =) Whew! That was a close one! Thank you Lord!
I guess it's not my time yet...

So here's looking forward to a new year of exciting adventures, of new friendships and deepening existing ones, of learning to love and trust better, of growth in knowing God and anything else that comes my way.