It was nothing short of miraculous.
That’s what’s being said about the pilot who landed a crippled Southwest Airlines plane after a blown engine sent shrapnel through one of the jet’s windows midflight.
In the cockpit, Capt. Tammie Jo Shults remained calm as she steadied the aircraft, Flight 1380.
“Southwest 1380 has an engine fire,” Captain Shults radioed to air traffic controllers, not a hint of alarm in her voice. “Descending.”
I was transfixed by the story – it continues to come to mind as I wonder in amazement at her courage and calmness.
Stories have that ability . . . they move us, they impact us and in the case of a recent story shared on a “Life Issues” radio program, they remind us that stories connect the past and present to the future.
As Brad Mattes was interviewed on VCY America Radio, the last caller shared that she’d conceived a child during a rape. She followed up with an email to Brad to share her story which he featured in a recent “Life Issues” broadcast:
“Even though her mother demanded she abort the baby, Patricia said no. She gave birth to a son and placed him for adoption. She said, “When I saw my son, I didn’t see the rapist. I saw my child, my own flesh and blood.” That’s what several women in her situation have told me. Seven months later, she met Wayne who she married, had three daughters, seven grandkids and six great grandkids. But Patricia never forgot her son and was eventually able to meet Bob and his family, as well as his adoptive mother.”
There is power in storytelling. People remember stories and often retell them . . . miraculous stories about lives saved.
And as believers in Christ, we have the most important life-saving story to tell.
