Who's Packing Your Parachute?

We all rely upon people to help us get our work done. Whether assistants, vendors, clients, or suppliers, without their help we would be lost. Many of them we will never meet, but they still are crucial to our success. The assistant at the Title office can be your greatest asset or biggest hindrance all depending on how he/she perceives you. You might not know them, but they probably know and recognize you.

Following is an email that was sent to me by the leader of our church's business ministry

Never let loyalty and kindness get away from you! Wear them like a necklace; write them deep within your heart. (Proverbs 3:3)

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk; you were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb...

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

"Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"

Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.

He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

God Bless,

City Bible Church

Business Ministry

used by permission

Larry Morris is a loan Officer with Equipoint Financial Network in Newberg, Oregon. He specializes in relocations and Sherwood, Oregon neighborhoods. He can be reached at larry.morris@equipoint.com. His website is www.PDX-Mortgage.com.

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