"Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" Ephesians 4:26

7:45
We don't really like being in our apartment without each other...
8:27
She was supposed to be home at 6:00...
9:15
Connecting in Atlanta can be a nightmare...
10:00
buzz buzz: "be home in 30!"


At 10:30 my roommate, Virginia, came home to tell me that one of the engines on her plane had failed and the pilot had to make an emergency landing. Not one to over exaggerate or get shaken up easily, I could feel how scary this had been for her.

We sat on the couch with a scoop of Bluebell and she told me about it; how the man sitting next to her had his pilot's license and was ready to coordinate the slide exit, how the flight attendants were in a calm frenzy to make the passengers hang up on their families and put away their cell phones and how when the plane finally came to a stop on the runway, every passenger clapped as if the contact of wheels to land was the cue that everyone knew to wait for.

It's incredible how in a moment of crisis everyone seems to unite. This feeling of solidarity is what I love so much about this country but surprisingly wasn't the most poignant image I took from Virginia's story. Though everything ended up fine (if you are scared of flying this shouldn't heighten your fear...I did a little reading and commercial planes can be fine running without one engine working properly), there was a moment that Virginia described when she really didn't know what was going to happen and she felt...

peace

Overhearing the phone calls to husbands and moms and children around her, Virginia said she initially felt the same urge to place about 100 calls. After the instinctual moment of wondering, "who do I need to call?" she felt the comfort in knowing that honestly, it didn't really matter. Everyone she loved knew that she loved them. What could be more important to say than that? There was no anxiety in wishing that she hadn't hung up the phone that way, no unspoken apology that would remain silent forever. She felt the complete peace of knowing that she was right with everyone who she cared about and that if the worst did happen, she was satisfied with how her life had been. 

Life is hectic. Too often we put Band-Aids on problems we don't want to fix, we aren't intentional with out words and we let our anger get in the way of caring about the people we love. How calming to close your eyes at night knowing that everyone who matters knows that you love them. How nice to rest in the comfort that only that peace offers.