Faith and flight blog
Welcome to our journey of renewed spirit and mechanical rebirth. Follow along as the restoration of a 1943 Taylorcraft L2M World War II aircraft mirrors the rebuilding of faith, sharing messages of God's love, hope, and grace through written words, audio devotionals, and video updates. We warmly invite you to leave a comment and share in this uplifting journey.
Week Zero: Introduction
Welcome to the Flying Cross blog. My name is Pastor Bren and I am a Police and Fire Chaplain in Waterford Wisconsin. I'm really glad that you are here. This is going to be a weekly blog that will focus on the theme of restoration in the physical, spiritual and emotional sense. It will chronicle the restoration of a 1943 Taylorcraft L2M liaison plane from World War Two as well as a personal restoration of our relationship with God. It is going to be an adventure filled with frustrations and celebrations but more importantly it's going to be filled with the message of God's love. I do hope that you will join me and walk this road of restoration.
Weeks One & Two: Assessment and Inventory
Welcome back to the Flying Cross blog. this post will cover weeks one and two of our journey restoring the Taylorcraft L2M and our personal relationship with God. Has there ever been a time in your life when you've looked around and taken an inventory of where you are, the things you've done or failed to do? In those moments of self-reflection it’s easy to buy into the lie that you are too broken, sinful and distant from God and therefore you must no longer be wanted by God. I know I have.
What if I were to tell you that no matter the condition you're in, the things that you've done or failed to do, or how sinful you feel, there is never a time in your life that God will ever look at you and say “I'm done with you; you are not worth restoring.” In fact the opposite is true. When God looks at you He sees a child that He created in His image and likeness. He sees a child that He loves and desires a deep, personal relationship with. God sees a child worth restoring.
After I purchased the L2M and went to pick up the pieces, and I do mean pieces, I found myself looking at all of the damage. I saw the ripped fabric, broken wood and the bent frame. I was looking at something that had been damaged and could no longer fulfill the purpose that it was created for. While some people may have looked at the L2M and saw a plane too far gone to restore and destined for the scrap metal pile, I looked at it and saw a beautiful plane and piece of history that was created for a worthy purpose and deserved to be restored and returned to the sky where it was meant to be.
The way I looked at the L2M the day I picked it up has not changed and God looks at you the exact same way. What we're talking about is restoration and as I work to restore the L2M, I am finding a lot of parallels to the restoration of our relationship with God.The first thing I did after briefly feeling overwhelmed by all the boxes and pieces in my garage was to take an inventory of all the parts and pieces. After the inventory, I obtained a copy of the manual for the L2M so I could learn where the gauges went, how the wings are built and how the fabric is supposed to be applied. The manual is my “one-stop shop” that will tell me everything I need to know in order to restore the L2M. As Christians we have a similar resource, the Bible.
Throughout the Bible, God shows us how all our pieces fit; how we were made, what we were created for, and most importantly how much He loves us. Just like I obtained the manual to help me restore the L2M, the Bible is our manual that will help us restore our relationship with God.
The reason the Bible is important to restoring or deepening our relationship with God is because it’s one way that God speaks to us and tells us how important we are to Him. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we are told that God created us in His image and likeness. We're told that God loves each of us despite our brokenness and the wounds we carry from this life. In the Gospel of John we are told that God loves us so much that He sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins,
God looks at us with love, compassion and empathy. It doesn’t matter where you are, what you have done or how you feel about your faith. Whether you have a strong prayer life and belief in God, if you struggle with your faith, or if you don't believe in God; restoration is still possible and probable. The first step is to find your manual, the Bible, open it up and read it. You can read little bits at a time or large chunks at a time. However you choose to read it, God will be speaking directly to you with words of love, acceptance and encouragement.
Just like I look at my plane with love adoration and excitement, God is looking at you with the same love adoration and excitement. You are fearfully and wonderfully made and God loves you. Until next week, may God bless you and keep you.
Week Three: The Cleaning
This week was difficult for me because as I began the process of cleaning all of the parts that came in boxes I realized how much the restoration of the L2M was emblematic of my own life and journey of restoring my relationship with God.
As I cleaned the fuselage, wings, elevators, rudder and cockpit I felt a profound connection to the act of cleaning away all of the external grime that I have accumulated throughout my life. As I scrubbed each surface, what was occurring within me was a spiritual scrubbing away of all the negative secular messaging that told me I wasn’t enough and highlighted my brokenness.
The messaging that cut the deepest was, your divorce means you failed in the sacrament of marriage. You don’t make enough money to live a life of opulence and luxury so you are financially and socially insignificant. Finally, the one that cut me the deepest, your body is so broken from your military service and worn out from your autoimmune disease that you are only a shell of the man you used to be.
All of these messages, while hurtful, are nothing more than lies that Satan wants me to believe about myself and hold onto because they cast doubt and create a layer of filth between myself and God; but only if I hold onto them. With each pass of my hand over the plane and the parts I was at the same time prayerfully cleaning off and letting go of this negative messaging.
Saint Augustine of Hippo gave an excellent analogy of this spiritual cleansing in his homily number four on the first epistle of Saint John. He said that after emptying a vessel of its contents you must scour it to remove any residue and impediments before refilling it because even the smallest contaminants will cause spoiling.
It is the same with ourselves. We must work to scour away the negative messages of this world and the lies that Satan tells us. In doing so we remove the layers of filth that have created a barrier between us and God. While I could only use a very diluted dawn soap and water solution to clean the L2M, God has given us the most powerful cleaning solution imaginable, His grace, love and forgiveness.
After a week of elbow grease and sweat the L2M is now clean and a little bit closer to returning to the sky. As for myself, I found that every bead of sweat was matched with tears of spiritual healing. With tear stained cheeks and a great full heart I know that I have been scoured clean by the blood of Jesus. Like the L2M, I am one step closer to being restored to the purpose for which God created me; a purpose that can only be fulfilled with a restored relationship with God.
Until next week, always remember that God loves you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God bless!
Called toward higher skies
Every restored instrument and repaired wing rib points toward the day this historic Taylorcraft takes flight once more. Our hope is that these stories inspire you to experience God's boundless love in your own life. Be sure to leave a comment on our posts to share your thoughts, reflections, or personal journey of faith.