DEVOTION
I found this moving story and wanted to share it.
Charles Plum, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter 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 six years in a Communist prisoner- of-war camp. He was released years later, following his repatriation, Plumb continued his Navy flying career in Reserve Squadron. He retired from the United States Navy with the rank of captain after 31 years of service.
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You’re Plumber! 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 was shocked with 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.”
Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform – a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wondered how many times I might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk. I wondered 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 on 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.
In many of the letters in the Bible, the Apostles took the time to be thankful and express gratitude to those who were helping them and the church in the work.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus”. – Philippians 1:3-6 (NASB 2020) Who’s packing your parachute? A family member? A neighbor? Co-worker? The person in the vehicle across the intersection from you? Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.
Take time out to encourage and thank the people who provide the parachutes in your life.
Blan Chrane is the Minister with the Northcrest Church of Christ You can listen to his morning devotionals “The Minister Minute” on KNES 99.1 Monday through Friday at 6 a.m.
Most Popular
Comments / 0