Fasten Your Seatbelt

Have you ever had something happen to you that was so powerful you can remember everything about it? Every little detail, every action you took, and every thought you thought? Well I have. About three years ago my parents and I went on a trip to see Niagara Falls in New York. It was the first time that we had ever flown and I was pretty scared. When we went to check in for our first flight my dad mentioned to the lady that it was our first time flying. I didn’t think anything would come of it but then she said that there where three seats open in first class and that she would put us there for the same price. It calmed my fears for a little bit to know that we would be taken care of. We ended up sitting in the very first row and were treated very, very well. We landed in Atlanta and then got on a connecting flight to New York. Our trip went smoothly and Niagara Falls was probably the most amazing sight I have ever seen in my life.

It was a Monday when we flew back and we again had to fly to Georgia and then to Wichita. I got on that flight from New York to Georgia with not an ounce of fear in my body. I had already flown twice so I thought I was a pro, I actually thought I was going to like flying. The plane took off fine and everything was going well until the pilot came on and said that we needed to fasten our seatbelts because we were experiencing a little turbulence. I absolutely hated hearing that. I know people say that it’s more dangerous to drive than it is to fly but I just don’t see it. When you are driving you are rolling along on the ground and it doesn’t seem as dangerous, you don’t think that anything that bad could happen to you, but when you are thousands of feet in the air, just floating, that scares me for some reason. Just the idea of plunging, all of a sudden, to the ground sends chills up my spine.

So I fastened my seatbelt and prayed that we were going to be ok. I don’t remember how much turbulence we actually encountered so that part must not have been so bad but the next thing I remember is when we were trying to land. Our trip was during the hurricane Katrina and living in Kansas my whole life I didn’t know what a hurricane was capable of doing. The scariest part of flying, for me, is probably landing, but when you’re landing in one hundred miles an hour winds or even more, with rain and lightning, landing becomes a whole lot worse.

The pilot spoke on the intercom and said that we were in a storm and that we had been circling the airport for about thirty minutes because the runways were backed up. Therefore planes had to make emergency landing because it was not safe to fly through the storm. Finally it was our turn to land and I remember not being able to see anything but raindrops on the plane windows. That was the scariest feeling ever being unable to see out and have the feeling that the pilot probably can’t see any better than you can. The plane was jolted in every possible direction, and I squeezed my mom’s hand as hard as I could and tried to fight back the tears. I prayed the whole time that God would somehow get us safely to the