My Weekly Inspirations 28: How to Prepare for a Safe Flight

Message: This week, my family travelled out of town. Every of our moves is preceded by prayer to ensure our safety, security and success. I was reminded of the importance of confirming one’s identity prior to boarding an aircraft. I remember sometime ago when we travelled and how it became a challenge because I did not have the correct identification. This caused unnecessary delays. 

We live in a world in which many people don’t know who they are – their identities are buried in things, people and objects. Who are you? Not where you come from, not who your parents or siblings are, not the job that you do, not your career, WHO ARE YOU? Who you are is your core, the very foundation, what you as an individual are made of – not a product of you.

For me, I became knowledgeable of who I am when I gave my life to Jesus Christ some years ago. Before then, I had an identity crisis – not knowing who I was or where I fit in society. But through Jesus I have found my identity. Through Jesus I have an understanding of who I am in this world. 

As children of God, people who have acknowledged their sins, confessed it, have been forgiven and are now living a pure life, the bible says in 1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Having trouble with finding who you are? You can discover that in Jesus. Come to the family of God! You are always welcome.

Jesus Christ is my identity and what a wonderful identity that is! He is unchanging, true, and trustworthy. Through Jesus Christ I am a chosen generation – I am seen and specially selected and privileged by God in the world. I am a royal priesthood – I belong to the royal family of God, I am a co-heir of the inheritance of heaven. I am a holy nation: I have been cleansed of my sins and been made holy by the grace of God. I am peculiar – I am unique in every way. The grace and gifts of God are abundant in my life. As I recognize the aforementioned qualities of who I am in Christ, my responsibility is to show forth the praise, goodness, love, kindness of God who has called me out of darkness and into his marvelous light – I must allow the beautiful light of God to shine through me and all I do. 

My identity is not in earthly things that fleet away – my identity is not in my hair, face, or body. My identity is inside of me; my identity is in Jesus Christ the eternal and everlasting King, who was and is and is to come!

Who are you?

Modesty: since we will go through security at the airport, I usually ensure that I keep my outfits simple – a dress or a skirt and a top. I avoid wearing a sleeveless top with a blazer or a jacket. I prefer tops with sleeves reaching the elbows and beyond. There was a time I wore a light jacket of some sort and was asked to remove it during security checkpoint and I thought if I had on a sleeveless top, I would have felt very uncomfortable. I like to also carry a larger handbag in which I can put extra supplies like a scarf for when the plane is chilly among other things.

Marriage: my husband is an excellent care taker especially during travels! Since we got married we’ve travelled by air a number of times. I have noticed how intently he leads and takes care of us. He makes sure that we have all that we need and willingly carry all the bags! As a single lady I booked all my flights, ensured my terminal, gate number, inflight seat number etc. These days, I don’t even know what all of that information is until it is needed – thanks to my husband.

There was a time we were at the airpot and the security checkpoint line was so long! Pressed for time we wondered what to do – suddenly my husband was pulling me along a different route – “where are we going,” I thought. Unbeknownst to me, he had received a signal that there was another security checkpoint elsewhere and there we went and thankfully there were much less people and we got through and made our flight. I am learning the importance of trusting his leadership even in this area. I am learning to not ask too many questions in the process and to continually pray for him to be guided and led by the Lord.

Motherhood: when my daughter was just a few months old, we flew with her for the first time. Prior to then I did a lot of research about how to safely travel with a baby. I learnt a lot and shared tips in this video. Now as a mother of two, traveling together as a family is a bit different. Here are some tips that were helpful:

1. Prepare ahead of time: preparation ahead of time can never be overemphasized. Planning clothing and packing bags even weeks ahead of a trip is a very good idea. Early preparation will prevent forgetting important items needed for the trip
2. Pack extra clothing: pre plan outfits for key events of the trip and bring a few extra clothing just in case – maybe two. On this trip I took extra clothing for the kids that we actually did not use but I would rather have it than not.
3. Plan to entertain children/toddler: this time we had an infant and a toddler – she had her own seat for the first time. Bring along activities of things that the toddler enjoys and that is also educative and engaging to keep them from being too bored. Remember that they will be taken out their normal routine so some fussiness, and tiredness is expected so plan how to handle their ‘loud’ emotions. The trip itself was so entertaining to our toddler – there was a lot of movement from car to plane to bus to train; we used it as a way to educate her on the sights seen as well and she enjoyed it. She of course had some emotional outbursts as well and she managed it by setting expectations and provided comfort and love.
4. Plan to nurse baby before takeoff and during landing: usually flying in an airplane creates some discomfort in the ears due to the air pressure, the swallowing effect of nursing the baby helps them to feel less uncomfortable. Our son slept soon after being nursed as we took off – for his first flight he did very well. I like to use a nursing cover and you will some in my baby favorite’s link below.
5. Plead for your family to sit together in the aircraft: after booking the flight our seats had been a bit dispersed. Of course as a family it is ideal for us to sit together. We pray for favor and then ask if other passengers are willing to switch with us. Some people are so gracious and willing! The flight attendants are also good at ensuring that we sit together and will reassign a passenger to a different seat. As the scripture says, ask and it shall be given to you! (Matthew 7:7)
6. Request for car seat and booster seat: we had to rent a vehicle upon arrival to our destination for ease of movement. Since we were not home, it was important to still prioritize safety for our children particularly our toddler – we requested for a booster seat for her in the vehicle, our request was granted and made our trip that much more safe.

Links:
My favorite baby items
My favorite nurse supplies
My favorite modest finds
My favorite products for natural hair
My hair care line
I hope that you’re inspired by the 
4 M’s this week! 
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With love, 
Mrs. Charity Umar