By Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

On a return flight from a recent writers’ conference, I arrived at the San Jose, California airport with lots more spare time than usual. Two other gals and I took an Uber to the airport, and their flights were much earlier than mine.

Perhaps my extended time at the gate enabled me to hear this strange announcement or maybe it was just a first for me. The lady at the desk shared this info after the pilots checked in and made their way down the jetway: “The pilot just told me we need to shuffle around some passengers for balance issues. If I call your name, please come to the podium for a new boarding pass.”

I wouldn’t call myself a frequent flyer like many business professionals, yet with recent writing adventures and my family’s previous military status, I’d certainly consider myself an experienced traveler. Yet, this announcement was new to me.

Having recently added a pound per book for an educational project I worked on with my husband, I felt fearful she’d call my name. I don’t want to take the walk of shame if she calls my name, I thought. I can just hear the mumblings now – “yep, she’s the cause of our balance issues.”

Well, as it turns out, she did not call my name (and most of the gentlemen who walked to the podium for a new boarding pass were quite thin, actually), and I didn’t really gain eighteen pounds while writing new books, but it sure feels like it.Maybe this is my wake-up announcement, my sign to get back to exercising now that the project is completed.

Upon boarding the plane, I realized the plane was nowhere close to capacity. Maybe only a third of the seats held passengers. The flight attendant announced the importance of occupying the seat listed on our boarding passes for a “weights and balances” issue. Although I couldn’t understand how the six names called to move from the front of the main cabin to the back of the place could truly re-distribute the weight, I understood the announcement a little better. I certainly didn’t want to take a nose-dive while flying. Besides, if my suitcase of books I used in my workshop shifted slightly in the cargo, surely the whole plane would bobble and wobble beyond the help of Dramamine!

I can’t remember a recent flight I’ve taken that wasn’t busting at seams with passengers. In fact, usually the desk workers beg flyers to give up their seats with a hefty reward due to overbooking.

I couldn’t help but think about days gone by when I was so overbooked I didn’t know if I was taking off or just landing. Now in my opinion, my crowded schedule contained only good bullet points – Eagle scout meetings for the oldest, horseback for the next one in line, baseball for the third child, dance lessons for the little one, writing conferences for me, deacons’ meetings and work for the hubby, frequent checks on elderly parents, volunteer time with the youth group … oh, and not to mention homeschool lessons for four kids!

Most of the time, my balancing act worked well. Plenty of times, it didn’t. And you know when those times happened? When I didn’t keep Christ in the cockpit.

When I shuffled Jesus to the back and tried to steer my own life, balance issues not only affected me, they threw off the stability of my entire family. We all suffered.

I don’t get it right all the time, but I do have a few verses that guide me in the right direction. Here are some of my favorite words from the Bible that keep my balance in check:

 – But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 ESV

– Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 ESV

– He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 NIV

– For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT

– And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 ESV

– Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 ESV

If your flight through life has taken a detour, veered off course, or seems off balance, make sure Jesus is in control of the flight pattern. Because after all, if you’re like me, you’d make a terrible pilot.

Julie Lavender worked on the computer for many nights until the wee hours of the morning to complete her newest book, Raising Good Sons: Christian Parenting Principles for Nurturing Boys of Faith and Characterthat releases the second week of April. Julie co-authored the book, published by Penguin Random House, with her hubby, David. It’s their first faith-based collaborative effort, though they’ve also recently written twenty-two books for the children’s educational market. Julie is also the author of A Gingerbread House, published by End Game Press.