Just a Thought

MAY GOD BLESS THIS AIRLINE CAPTAIN

He writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and said, "We have an H.R. on this flight."
(H.R. stands for human remains.) "Are they military?" I asked.

'Yes', she said.

'Is there an escort?' I asked.

'Yes, I already assigned him a seat'.

'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You can board him early," I said..

A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly
dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen
soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.

'My soldier is on his way back to Virginia ', he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but
offered no words on his own..

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the
toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our
fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck
to find his seat.

We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About
30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just found out
the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board', he said. He then proceeded to tell me that the
father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home.
The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before
we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the
connecting flight home to Virginia .

The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo
compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had
asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon
our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off
the airplane.. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when he asked me if there
was anything I could do.. 'I'm on it', I said. I told him that I would get back to him.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I
decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There
is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the
dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher.. I explained the situation I had on board with
the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to
me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I
needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the
return message from the dispatcher and this following is the text:

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to
check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team
will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a
secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the
terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When
the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the
remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans.
Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.'

I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and
gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very
thankful and told me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.'

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the
runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway.
It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we
entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being
held for us..

'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked like it was all coming
together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once
and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the copilot
to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the
passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said,
'Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a
special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His
Name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet
in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father,
mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their
seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple
of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying,
something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft
stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands.
Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God
Bless You', I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the family as they
made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to
finally be with their loved one.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received. '

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, ' This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them. ' I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing.' This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed. 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.
'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.'

'How does one acknowledge God's blessings? ' I asked.

'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, ' Thank you, Lord. '

'What blessings should they acknowledge? ' I asked.

'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world 's wealthy.'

'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity. '

'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.'

'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world. '

'If you can attend a place of worship without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.. '

'If your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare. '

'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm,   you're unique to all those in doubt and despair. '

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings,

ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.
'Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. '

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big 'F' at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... He is a joy to be around..'

His second grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.'

His third grade teacher wrote, 'His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.'

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.'

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, 'Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.'

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her 'teacher's pets..'

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, 'Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.'

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, 'Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.'

(For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

With appreciation to Shirley Winn via Carroll Blewster.

Whatever Your Cross

We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing us for
the dip in the road that God can see and we cannot.

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine, after the rain...
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;
But God's always ready, to answer your call....
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
a word from His lips, can calm every fear...
Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish, by dawn's early light...
The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,
to give you His grace, and send you His love.

May God fill your day with blessings!!

Be kinder than necessary,

for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle!