How to be Responsible in the Exit Row

Plane Exit © by TalAtlas

I flew home from Charlotte on Sunday. We had just finished a fabulous conference of which I will be posting about in the next few posts.  However, Sunday was not a great travel day. I went to She Speaks with my friend Nikol, and she was none too happy about the rearrangement to our schedule, so when the airline placed me in a window seat in the exit row, I did not complain. I needed to stay calm, cool, and collected about sitting in the exit aisle even though I wanted to flip a lid. At some point, I heard Nikol teasingly say something to the effect of I was going to sit in an exit aisle and LIKE it after the agent scanned my ticket and reminded me yet again that I was sitting in an exit seat.

Truthfully, I don’t normally react to anyone telling me how I am supposed to feel about anything very well.  If anybody else had said this to me on any other day, I would have burned or become unglued, but there was no time for worrying about myself in these moments.  This is not because I am some holier than thou saint, I was just trying to survive the day.  So, I boarded the plane and sat in the hot seat next to Nikol – she at the window, me beside her, the aisle on the other side of me, an empty seat, and then a man across the way next to the other window.

When the agent came over to ask us whether we were aware that we were in the aisle seat, I must have looked hesitant, because she made us say, “yes” out loud.  Begrudgingly, I did.  I looked over my responsibilities in the guide from the seat back.  I felt semi-sure that I could perform the required duties and then up and up and away we went.

As we landed, I was already thinking of sitting in the exit row on our next plane.  We were each window seats.  I told Nikol, “I am not going to be okay with sitting in the exit row if we are the only ones on our row.”  She thought I was crazy and asked me why I hated the exit row.  I responded, “I just don’t want to be responsible for all these people.”  My thought also being that if the exit row was needed, the likelihood of our survival seemed low in the first place.

We boarded the next plane, each sitting beside the windows, with two large fellows in between us.  I sucked in and assumed the work of the exit row seat.  I looked out the window as we took off, thought of God, my time at the conference, and the lovely details on the ground.  I saw the intricate designs that one cannot see on the ground.  I watched in awe of the handiwork from the air.

He reminded me that He has a big picture in mind of His plan and purpose for each one of us.  Most of the time, I do not get to see the big picture for me because I live in the midst of the details on the ground.  You too, right?

He reminded me He had indeed placed me on the window seat of this plane making me responsible.  While I don’t understand all of the big picture, He gave me a glimpse of the details and reminded me that He’d given me groups of people to be responsible for – you, my readers, being one of them!  The clay never tells the potter how to shape it or form it or for what use it will become.  It yields to the Hands shaping it.  I will be updating my blog in the next few weeks to reflect those people He’s given me as a trust and treasure!

We are responsible to give the gospel gift we’ve been freely given!

“Freely you have received, freely give.”  Matthew 10:8

How will you serve those you’ve been made responsible for, freely giving His gospel and grace?  Will you come willing and able or begrudge what He’s given you to do?

I’m linking with The Better Mom, Michelle for Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday, Laura at Playdates with God, Jen at Finding Heaven, Beauty in His Grip, Seedlings in Stone, and Just Write.