Achievement is a Family Affair (Another Day at Sea)

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Enjoy these photos Charlene sent me yesterday. ~ Bonnie

Painting the sunset with the art kit my friend Nancy gave me for our trip

Blue skies over the beautiful blue Pacific

Yes, we are relaxing. What a blessing.

From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 113:3

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Today’s vintage post includes a reference to one of the main reasons that Ray and I decided to sail to Hawaii instead of flying. I think the story in this post is an inspiring one for homeschooling families. I hope you find it so, too.

By this time in our cruise, we will likely have a better understanding of the old sendoff: “Smooth Sailing.” Back at home, I’ll have to let you know if it was. I shared this passage not long ago in relation to my Uncle Preston’s young love for my Aunt Dot. Today I’m sharing it because of its message to our voyage.

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the sky,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
And the way of a man with a maid.
Proverbs 30:18-19

And now for a post from 2015:

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Achievement is a Family Affair
A Vintage Post from ​June 23, 2015

I know it probably seems silly, but Ray and I really prefer to stay on the ground. We are thankful for the times we have flown and what flying has made possible for us, but, truth be known, we like cars, boats, and trains more than planes.

Just because we like to stay on the ground doesn’t mean that we don’t like to learn about people who get off the ground. Their stories are fascinating. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean when he flew from New York to Paris. In 1941 the Tuskegee Airmen became the first African Americans to fly for the U.S. military. In 1947 Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

But none of those firsts would have been possible without the first achieved by Orville and Wilbur Wright on the Kill Devil Hills along the coast of North Carolina on December 17, 1903. That is the day that these two brothers realized a dream they had been working on together for years with the encouragement of their father and sister, having been inspired as boys by the mechanical talents of their mother who had learned her mechanical skills from her father.

The invention of the airplane was a family affair. So was the redemption of the world — our Heavenly Father and His Holy and Only Son worked together to achieve the greatest achievement in the history of the world.

Jesus and His Father always agreed. The same was not true for the Wright brothers but they stuck it out together and the world has not been the same since.

In 2013 Ray and I drove — on the ground in a car — to the outer banks of North Carolina. While we were there, we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial. We asked someone who was traveling with a group of motorcyclists — they traveled on the ground, too — to snap this silly photo — taken on the ground — for a book I was putting together for our grandchildren.

We saw the hut where the two brothers lived together winter after winter from 1900-1903 as they perfected their invention. We heard about the coin toss that decided who would pilot their aircraft first on that bitter December day — Orville won the toss. We walked to the spots where their four flights took them that day. We saw the American flag flying there in the breeze. We felt proud and patriotic.

But undergirding all of that were the atmosphere and all its qualities that God created, two intellects He created in His image, the family that stood behind two brothers, and the citizens of Kill Devil Hills who lent a hand to two dreamers. It was one of those citizen volunteers who had never before taken a photograph in his life who snapped this famous picture.

Later that day the brothers walked four miles to Kitty Hawk to send a telegram to their father. They told him of their success, told him to tell the press, and told him they would be home for Christmas.

One quote in a museum at the Wright Brothers National Memorial caught my eye:

“Isn’t it astonishing that all these secrets
have been preserved for so many years
just so that we could discover them!!” — Orville Wright

It was no surprise when Ray gave me a suggestion for a present for his recent birthday. If historian David McCullough writes it, Ray wants to read it. McCullough’s latest work of history is The Wright Brothers. Ray already has the audio version on hold for me through the Tennessee library system so I can listen to it when I get slightly off the ground on my rebounder. When I signed Ray’s copy, I noticed an almost blank page at the front. It read simply:

“No bird soars in a calm.” — Wilbur Wright

I agree with Wilbur Wright. God wants us to soar too much to give us calm all the time. And, if we ever win tickets to, say . . . the Great Wall of China or somewhere. . . . Hey, we’ll probably reconsider how we feel about flying for about . . . say, a half a minute — and soar on an airplane, too!

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:38-41

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