Stretch Your Wings
No bird soars without wind.
The principle of flight simply states: resistance causes lift, sustained resistance causes flight. Isaac Newton put it this way: air deflecting below an object (a wing) will cause it to rise. Bernoulli, another scientist, said: when the pressure below a wing is greater than the pressure above the wing, an object will fly. Interestingly, both Newton and Bernoulli lived way before planes were invented, centuries before the Wright Brothers took flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
What I want you to realize is that pressure and stress can either ground you or help you soar. It’s a life principle: things will not always go our way. The wind will not always be at our back. We learn to fly best when we are faced with a headwind. When the wind pushes us backward, we are forced to reassess our course and find new ways.
Sometimes, our objective is not met by going forward. In the most severe gales, it’s simply to hold our position as the wind rushes by. We can observe this phenomenon by watching a seagull at the beach. You’ve done it, because I’ve watched you watch them. Riding high on a gust above the ocean, these birds seem to be frozen in mid-‐air. But look closely: seagulls are using this wind-‐stream to their advantage. Their eyes are locked on the water below as they search for a fish. Here’s what they teach us: when the wind blows against you, don’t fight it, use it. Make it work for you. Learn from it. Our most trying times in life will seem like hurricanes that blow us backward. Never forget that you were built to fly in these great winds. You can soar above these storms; see things that you have never seen before.
Use the wind to your advantage. Believe it or not, God really did give you wings. Stretch them. Test them. They will take you farther than you ever imagined. I’m proud of you! Love dad
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