9 Jul, 2008
Flying in lawn chair is relaxing, til balloons pop
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Soaring over Eastern Oregon at 15,000 feet in a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch felt like he was relaxing in his backyard – serene and peaceful – except when a balloon would pop unexpectedly.
“First it would make a noise like a gunshot, then it would shake the whole chair,” Couch said Monday from his home in Bend, safely back on the ground after flying 235 miles in nine hours from his gas station in Bend to a farm field in Idaho. “Every time it happened, even though it happened about 15 times during the whole trip, I'd just reach for the handles of the chair.”
But Couch had plenty of balloons to keep himself aloft: more than 150 of them.
After just two hours of sleep and a breakfast sandwich of egg and bacon on a biscuit from his gas station convenience store, Couch took off at dawn on Saturday. Dozens of volunteers helped him inflate and rig the balloons and hundreds of onlookers cheered as he safely cleared light poles and buildings.
“We thought we were having a hard time getting off the ground, but there was a guy behind me hanging onto a tow rope who wasn't letting go,” said the 48-year-old Couch. “Then when he did let me go, I shot up fast.”
So fast that a chase plane and helicopter couldn't keep up. They waved as he flew by.
Cruising at 15,000 feet, Couch flew over the Strawberry Mountains, the town of John Day, past the community of Halfway, and across the Snake River marking the Idaho border.
“It's different than looking out from an airplane. It was like looking with God's eyes down there. Not to take anything away from God. It was like being outside the Earth looking in.”
Couch said his main worry was clouds – pilots had warned him about the turbulence – but found nearly all of them parted to let him through.
Even passing through one, he never got the childhood feeling he was looking for of floating on a cloud. Instead, he said it was “just like sitting in your back yard in your lawn chair.”
Couch kept busy during the flight: using his Red Rider BB gun to pop balloons to control his elevation, checking his oxygen level, “or looking at the view.”
At times he got a “sensation of just pure peace. Kind of a tranquil or serenity feeling, looking at what God created down there.”
photo & story courtesy signonsandiego.com, 7/7/08
Up...up...and away!
Take a ride in the clouds? God does.
Psalm 68:4 (NLT)
Sing praises to God and to his name!Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.His name is the Lord—rejoice in his presence!
What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about worship?
Tyndale's LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE notes provide us with this insight:
68:3-6 With shouts of praise and the sound of trumpets, David and his people took the holy Ark toward Mount Zion. It was a time to sing praises to the Lord, whose presence brings great joy...If you are lonely or disadvantaged, join David in praise, and discover great joy from loving and praising God...David was praising God for his protection and provision...It should also be our song of faith. We must continue to trust God because, in time, he will fulfill all his promises.
It's often said that we shouldn't have our head in the clouds because that means we aren't dealing with reality.
But as we often face the reality of walking a difficult path, we will find hope in remembering God's presence as we look at the clouds that He created and rides.
Let's worship our Lord! He is in control and will renew our dreams.
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
- Memorize today's verse and let the Lord use it to remember His presence in your life and to trust Him to give you His perspective.
- Make a written list (how about a weekly Top Ten?) of how you see or experience God's presence in your life.
- Once a week, go for a walk and worship the Lord as you enjoy a ride with Him in His clouds!
How can we connect today's story and God's Story scripture and our story to others?
Use today's story about the lawn chair guy riding the clouds with balloons as a conversation starter with others to learn their story and discover an opportunity to share your story and talk about God's Story. You could ask questions like: If this guy offered you a ride in his balloon chair, would you take it? His childhood dream had been to fly in the sky with helium balloons....what are your dreams for the future? I learned this verse in Psalm 68:4 that talks about God riding the clouds...do you ever picture God with that kind of a description? May I tell you what I'm learning about this?
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