Nicole’s e-Pistle
October 22, 2025
Greetings, Friends!
The Jiskoots are back, and all is well! We surprised the kids with their first-ever plane ride, using the “excuse” of Layfe’s birthday to justify a quick trip to Florida to see the grandparents. I will say that less than 3 hours on a round-trip flight beats a 24-hour round-trip drive any day! Still, once we told the kids the plan, they were less than enthusiastic at first. Many of you can probably relate to fear of flying or at least have some amount of anxiety. Still, after some coaching about what to expect and a whole lot of enthusiasm from me (flying is one of my all-time favorite things), I think they are open to the idea of doing it again someday!
This may sound cliché, but one of things I love most about flying is seeing the earth, water and sky from new perspectives. When my feet are on the ground, I love to look up at cloud patterns and stars, and the way God paints light across the dome of sky above me. When I’m in the air, I feel like I’m dancing among those clouds, and sometimes, if I’m very lucky, I get to chase rainbows.
On my flight home from Little Rock a few weeks ago, I got to see a rainbow that was in the shape of a complete circle of rings. There was a large, solid red dot in the middle, followed by rings of orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. I’m not a scientist, but I think it would be very hard to see that kind of naturally occurring rainbow from the ground. I have only ever seen arcs that span sections of the horizon. The colorful anomaly followed me through several clusters of puffy white clouds before we turned slightly in our flight pattern, and I lost sight of it. Oh, how I wish the kids had been there to see that!
Theologically… even just plain logically… I know that I am no closer to God on a plane 30,000 feet above sea level than I would be at the bottom of Mammoth Cave, but it feels like I could catch a glimmer of his face if I concentrate hard enough. I’m not advocating for the “old-man-in-the-sky” image of God, but seeing the earth and all the activity of cars and trucks on interstates and rural highways, patches of multi-colored green and yellow farms, and bustling city high-rises that look smaller than Lego pieces gives me an idea of what God might see when he looks down from Heaven.
I’ll tell you – it’s easy to pretend we don’t have the problems we have when looking at cities and towns and countrysides from so high up. Instead, all I see is beauty as far as my eyesight can reach.
Of course, even in the air, there are sometimes storms and turbulence. Years ago, on my way home from a teaching conference, our flight to Tampa took us over the Gulf of Mexico, just west of a thunderstorm that stretched from Bradenton all the way past Clearwater. As we approached the dark wall of thunderclouds, massive lightning bolts joined the heavens and the earth, lighting up the night and reflecting off the choppy waters of the Gulf. Knowing we would have to fly through the storm in order to land should have given me cause for concern – even the captain came over the speaker to warn us of the turbulence ahead (not that we needed his confirmation). However, I was enthralled by the sheer force of the storm and my changing position in it. Having grown up in Florida, I was well-acquainted with storms of all magnitudes. Instead of feeling afraid, I was in awe.
That moment, just before I flew directly into that massive storm, is the closest thing I can think of to matching the feeling we should have when the Bible talks about “fearing God.” It isn’t the same as a fear of spiders or of losing a loved one. It is the kind of feeling you get when being amid something truly magnificent, and yes, potentially dangerous. As Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy in the movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when speaking of Aslan, “…after all, He’s not a tame lion,” to which Lucy replies, “No, but He is good.”
Friends, as I settle back into the routines and realities of life on the ground, it helps me to know that we worship a God that is both powerful and merciful, both mighty and good. May we all find ways to love God with enthusiasm and abandon, knowing that we are loved in ways we could not possibly imagine.
Blessings and Peace,
