Planes "Disappearing" & the Fear of Flying

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I was so extremely sad last night to read about the Malaysia Airlines flight disappearing. I was praying this morning that maybe just maybe, that the Lord could make it possible that they are just floating on the blow up rafts somewhere in the China Sea, waiting to be rescued. That would be a good ending to the story, wouldn't it? I've thought about those people often since reading the article online. What must they have been feeling or thinking when the plane was going down? Who were they thinking about? Probably the very same people that are thinking about and praying for them now at home. Missing them and longing for their rescue.  Jesus. We need Jesus. That's what tragedies remind me of. He's just everything. If my plane crashes, and I am plunged to the bottom of the sea, I'll still have Jesus.  But anyways, I wasn't writing this post to be so so serious. So, on to my original point. I want to talk about this a little. First off, can we just talk about a whole plane "disappearing"?! What the heck? How does that even happen? Why was there no distress signals? Or at least something? It just was cut off completely. Aliens people. Is that a possibility? Or the Island of Lost. What is that island called anyway? 

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Also, the plot thickens today. Did you see that 2 of the people on board were using stolen passports? Crazy. But I think, especially in these poorer countries, stolen passports are not all that surprising. People long for a better life, and sometimes do anything to get it. But I'm not sure how flying to China would be better...? So I don't know. The stolen passport thing just adds to the mystery. I read online that the deepest the China Southern Sea reaches in the area that they were flying is 200 ft. Is that true? Googling. Okay, now that I'm thinking about it 200 ft is really shallow. It was dumb for me to believe that, stupid forums. It has a mean depth of 4,000 feet. Still shallower than the 16,000 ft trench the Air France flight sank down into. 

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I just read online that one of the Americans on board, Phillip Wood, worked for IBM and lived in North Texas with his family before he moved to East Asia. His ex-wife and kids live in the Dallas area.   I read that there were 20 other IBM employees on the plane. That's crazy. It makes it feel closer to home, doesn't it?   As an expat, I think reading about a plane crash is just the worst. I mean, come on. We live overseas!! Lord willing, we are going to take a flight again, and again and again.  But, listen to this Reader. You know what my clever brain thought to do this morning? Look up flights from China to Malaysia. I mean we have a few days vacation coming up,  I wouldn't mind a little impromptu trip to Malaysia. And, this clever brain over here, thought, "Wow, well maybe just maybe, those flights will now be discounted!" They're still $400+ from Qingdao, $600+ from Beijing Reader. In case you were thinking that you might want to jump in on that action, too.

So now here I am thinking, "Wow.(there must be a lot of Wow's going on in my brain) If I hear of a plane crash, and then some time later check flights on that very same trajectory & airlines, to see if I might get some travel in and get it with the now cheaper tickets (is that insensitive? I don't mean it to be insensitive!), does that mean, Reader, that I am more a traveller/expat/trusting in the Lord kind of person, than I think I am? Does that mean that maybe I'm getting over this whole fear of flying thing?!" Also, I thought/processed through this questions this morning. Does this make me fear flying more? And, crazily, my answer was no. It doesn't. I'm not saying that I won't think about it when I'm up there at 30,000 feet, just like I've thought a few times about the people on the Air France flight and what they must have been feeling, but I am saying that I don't feel more afraid. I still feel what I've been feeling this past year, and that is, my life is in God's hands. My days are already numbered by Him. And I just trust Him with that. And that, Reader, feels good.

source And you know, I'm hoping & praying that there were people on that flight that felt that, too. I hope they all felt that. I hope they lived good lives, full lives, and that things are okay. Even in death. Even in a plane crash.  Anyways, ya. I guess this was a little serious. You can always count on me to blog post-world tragedies. I'm a verbal processor, you know. Love you Reader. Wishing you safe travels always. Let's not fear. Let's just trust and continue longing to see more of this beautiful world and the people God's made in it!  Praying for Flight MH370 , the people on board, and their loved ones back home.