Encouragement

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The Reason
© 2009

by

Stephen A. Peterson


Air Force Captain Rodney Ricks’ plane landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 6:00 AM after serving as a serving as a surgeon for 19 months in Iraq. With a little bit of luck, he thought, he might rest up at an airport hotel before making a connecting flight that would fly him back to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Within minutes after landing, Captain Ricks learned from a member of the flight crew that a flight into Tulsa was made available as a result of a cancellation. He decided to take the flight. Now he could be home sooner. He could be with his wife, children and friends before he had planned to be. Great! As he completed a fast jog from one section of the airport to another and about to board the plane, a baggage handler grabbed his duffle bag and threw it on a transport vehicle headed towards the plane. “Come on soldier,” he shouted, “we’re ready to go. Hubba! Hubba!”

As luck would have it, Captain Ricks was assigned a seat next to a teenage girl to Tulsa as well. “It’s my first trip without my parents. Where are you going, soldier?”

“I’m sorry but I’m not a soldier. I’m really an Airman. I’m in the Air Force,” Captain Ricks said smiling. “I’m headed home to be with my wife and children following military duty in Iraq.”

“Oh, okay,” she responded.

The plane shortly lifted off of the ground. New York City seemed to disappear from the clouds that seemed to cover the city landscapes. “I’m sorry Mr. Air Force person and I don’t want to seem rude but I’m scared. I’m going back to Oklahoma to be picked up by relatives to be taken to the M. D. Anderson treatment hospital in Texas. I have cancer. They don’t know if it’s bad or not.”

Though he was very tired, Captain Ricks didn’t think that getting some rest before arriving in Tulsa was all that important at that moment. He turned his head to see a frightened young teenage girl holding tight onto a seat arm rest.

“Please, don’t be afraid. And don’t give up hope,” he urged her.

Still shaking, the teenager turned her head and looked into Captain Ricks’ eyes. Almost instantly, the fearful girl stopped shaking. “Would you please pray for me?” she asked.

“You bet! I most certainly will. I promise.” She reached over the arm rest and squeezed Captain Ricks’ hand. “Thank you so much!” as a tear flowed from her eyes. She then fell asleep until the plane landed in Tulsa.

“We’re in Tulsa, Air Force guys! I’m sorry I didn’t even ask you your name,” she said now smiling.

“Captain Ricks,” point to his name tag on his blue Air Force uniform.

“And your name ma’am?”

“My name is Sharon, Sharon Pearson. I hope you’re not angry with me ‘cause I bothered you during the flight. I was just so scared. But when you talked to me, my fear seemed to go away. It was like God made you say the words I needed to hear.”

“If what I said affected you positively, I sure God did do so. He does those things. Now may the Lord bless you and help you through this difficult time in your life and be with you all the days of your life!” Captain Ricks said with a confident smile.

As he de-planed, Captain Ricks thought to himself: “I probably would have been angry. But her terrified look changed my heart and response to her. Now I know I was put on that particular flight for a reason. That scared teen was the reason. Thanks, Lord for a chance to serve you one more time!”

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