Usually in September there is a fighter-jet flyover for the opening games of the University of Washington Huskies football season. Without fail, hubby and I will be hanging out around the house and … “Whooooosh!!” … there go two fighter jets overhead!
That’s the coolest thing ever! Low and slow … jet engines roaring!
Then about 7 or 8 minutes later … “Whooooosh!!” … there they go again!
7 or 8 minutes later .. “Whooooosh!!” … there they go again!
It’s highly entertaining! The airspace over where we live is designated as some sort of special airspace where small prop planes regularly practice flight lessons, where bi-planes practice loop-de-loops every now and then … and where fighter jets circle in a holding pattern as they wait for their flyover!
Ever since hubby and I moved into our house in the woods several years ago I have wondered about the airplanes going past overhead. The flight traffic coming into SeaTac crosses at a southwest diagonal over our backyard. We can sit on our back deck and watch the planes going over, one after the other, spaced the exact same distance apart.
Where are they coming from? Where are they going? I know there are websites which will tell you these types of things, but I don’t know what they are.
My questions were answered at this year’s 2nd Annual Labor Day Party which our son and daughter-in-law host at their home each year. My daughter-in-law’s family is big into aeronautics. Her dad got his pilot’s license when he was young and worked his entire career at Boeing. Her cousin just recently got his pilot’s license. The whole family regularly follows airplanes in the sky just for fun. They were the perfect ones to ask how I could get on a website to learn about the airplanes flying over my home.
www.adsbexchange.com … that’s the answer to all my questions!
Whoo Hoo! Now when hubby and I take a walk together to get the mail after dinner … and I see an airplane way up high on its diagonal trajectory headed towards SeaTac, I stop everything and open up my new flight-tracking tab on my phone.
Whoa!!! That plane is coming from London Heathrow! Whoa … that’s the coolest thing ever! Who knew that metal tube way up there in the sky has just come all the way from the other side of the world!
Oh check it out! That one there is from Spokane. That’s not too far away.
Oh, and that one there is from Montana.
Oh whoa! That one there is from Munich Germany! Oh those poor people on board! They must be so bleary with jetlag!
You can only imagine how long it takes me and hubby to get back from checking the mail. (Haha!)
So there hubby and I were, minding our own business on Saturday when … “Whooooosh!!” … there went the two fighter jets overhead!
“Ah ha!” I’m prepared this time! I immediately opened up my “adsb-exhange” tab on my phone!
Voila! There were the beautiful orange circles where the fighter jets were circling in their holding pattern! I was elated!
I stood there watching the little orange plane-icon on my phone as it made its loop around. It’s almost back. Here it comes!
And … “Whooooosh!!” … there they went overhead!
That’s got to be the greatest entertainment I’ve had in ages! You can just imagine how long I stood there in my front yard watching the little orange plane-icon loop around on my phone.
Then … it didn’t loop anymore. Off it headed due west! It’s time for the flyover! I was about as excited as if I had been in the stadium myself.
There it goes! Directly over top of Husky Stadium!
Have you ever wondered where the fighter jets for the fly-over come from? And where they go after the fly-over? I now had the power to find the answers to these questions.
I watched the little orange plane-icon on my phone as the fighter jets flew way out over the Puget Sound … getting out of the way of all the regular air traffic coming into SeaTac from the north. Then they looped back around and landed at Boeing Field (which is just south of downtown Seattle).
Where had they originally taken off from??
I was able to trace their flight path backwards … and lo and behold, they had taken off from the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island (which is up north). Whoa! That’s the coolest thing ever!
Watching the airplanes in the sky made me think that you never know who is watching your life.
The airplane flying in from London Heathrow across my backyard had no idea that little bitty me way down here on the ground was watching it … that I knew where it had come from … that I knew what time it had left … that I could watch its groundspeed in real time, etc. …
This is the way it is when it comes to life. We might be going about our business doing whatever it is we need to do each day … and a little bitty someone far away is watching! And we have no idea!
Nobody knew I was watching the fighter jets as they were circling in their holding pattern. In the same way, we have no idea who might be watching our life as we likewise “circle in a holding pattern” (so to speak) in life, waiting for that thing that we are waiting for.
Nobody knew I was watching the fighter jets after their epic flyover! So also, in the same way we have epic moments in life! We have no idea who might be watching our life after the epic event. We have no idea who is watching in real time where we go with our life after the “mountaintop” experience.
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” – Philippians 1:27
The Apostle Paul had never been to the city of Colossae. He had never met any of the people there. Yet, from the far side of the Mediterranean, imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote this to the people of Colossae:
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints.” – Colossians 1:3-4
You never know who is watching your life.
If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, is your faith evident to those who are watching? … as it was with the Jesus-followers of Colossae.
If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, is your love for others evident to those who are watching? … as it was with the Jesus-followers of Colossae.
When people watch your life, what do they see?
