"Christ Jesus...made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness."
Philippians 2:6-8
being made in human likeness."
Philippians 2:6-8
One specific highlight for me this holiday season just passed, was a two-day trip with my daughter who is a flight attendant. She had a long layover in Texas so she invited me to tag along, calling it “take your mom to work day.” So on New Year’s Eve morning, my husband dropped me off at the airport, and I flew to Dallas where I met up with her later that afternoon. She and I then had a wonderful New Year’s Eve together—just the two of us. We enjoyed dinner at PF Chang’s, spent the night in a beautiful hotel—staying up half the night talking—and then on New Year’s Day we explored the old historical downtown of Fort Worth.
That evening, we made our way back to the airport with the hope that I would get on her flight back home. But that was not to be. The airport was a zoo. There were long lines with frustrated people with tempers ready to flare. In fact, some did! In the midst of it all, her flight quickly became overbooked, and I was rolled over to the next flight, which left an hour later. While I was waiting for my new boarding pass, a woman approached me and introduced herself as an off-duty flight attendant. Somehow she knew who I was, and since she too had been rolled over, she offered to help me find my new gate, and as we walked, she filled me in on her frustrations.
She had been on a vacation in Europe and had flown into Dallas that morning hoping to get a quick flight home. She hadn’t slept in a couple of days and couldn’t wait to get back to California. But once we got to the new gate, received our seat assignments and were waiting to board, she turned to me and said: “It’s actually good for me to be one of the passengers—to feel their frustration and tension—for it gives me more compassion for them. Tonight, I’m just one of them.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when my thoughts turned to Jesus. For that’s what He did. He became one of us. He became human. No wonder He has such compassion for us. He understands our disappointments, our frustrations, and whatever else makes our hearts hurt. He knows what it's like when tension fills the air. He feels what we feel. Right there, in the midst of a busy, crowded airport, God reminded me of this truth. And He did so through the voice of an unsuspecting off-duty flight attendant, right at the end of a wonderful "take your mom to work day."
And what's more? Jesus became like us so we could become like Him!
Blessings and love,
Judy Rose Grubaugh
That evening, we made our way back to the airport with the hope that I would get on her flight back home. But that was not to be. The airport was a zoo. There were long lines with frustrated people with tempers ready to flare. In fact, some did! In the midst of it all, her flight quickly became overbooked, and I was rolled over to the next flight, which left an hour later. While I was waiting for my new boarding pass, a woman approached me and introduced herself as an off-duty flight attendant. Somehow she knew who I was, and since she too had been rolled over, she offered to help me find my new gate, and as we walked, she filled me in on her frustrations.
She had been on a vacation in Europe and had flown into Dallas that morning hoping to get a quick flight home. She hadn’t slept in a couple of days and couldn’t wait to get back to California. But once we got to the new gate, received our seat assignments and were waiting to board, she turned to me and said: “It’s actually good for me to be one of the passengers—to feel their frustration and tension—for it gives me more compassion for them. Tonight, I’m just one of them.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when my thoughts turned to Jesus. For that’s what He did. He became one of us. He became human. No wonder He has such compassion for us. He understands our disappointments, our frustrations, and whatever else makes our hearts hurt. He knows what it's like when tension fills the air. He feels what we feel. Right there, in the midst of a busy, crowded airport, God reminded me of this truth. And He did so through the voice of an unsuspecting off-duty flight attendant, right at the end of a wonderful "take your mom to work day."
And what's more? Jesus became like us so we could become like Him!
Blessings and love,
Judy Rose Grubaugh