Participants: Joyce Neal
Series Code: GH
Program Code: GH000023
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00:01 Hi everybody, what you are about to see is something
00:04 unexpected that happen one Sunday afternoon while I was 00:07 in Illinois making some new Grandma's House programs. 00:10 It was the crew's day off, so we had nothing planned 00:14 for the day, but I got wind there was a Festival of Boats 00:17 and Balloons going on in a little town 00:19 about 70 miles away. 00:21 So I grabbed Brad and Valerie and Tyler and Tiara and 00:26 away we sped to get in on the action. 00:28 And in a minute you are going to see what happened next. 00:51 Right now we are over here at the pond watching 00:53 a cardboard boat race. 00:55 The kids built their boats out of cardboard and plastic 00:58 and duct tape, and it's exciting. 01:02 There they go, oh my. 01:05 Well some of them go down just right way. 01:09 Go, go. Paddle, paddle come on. 01:15 Go, go, go. 01:20 Ought oh! the kid in the green there capsized. 01:30 Go kids! 01:38 (Grandma clapping) 01:43 Come on kids, go, go! 01:49 Yeah he is way out in the lead. 01:56 Look at him he is without a paddle. 02:00 That one's second, good for him. 02:09 Whoa, yeah. 02:18 That guy has fallen behind without a paddle. 02:22 Oh, that one guy is going to make it I think. 02:24 The girl is coming up fast. 02:26 Come on sweetie, catch that boy. 02:36 Yeah, get in there. 02:50 It was really fun to watch those kids trying to float 02:53 their homemade cardboard boats. 02:56 But as soon as that was over, Valerie, the kids and 02:59 I crossed the field to watch the crew's getting their 03:01 balloons ready for the flight. 03:34 Then we found out that one balloon was selling rides to 03:37 anybody who wanted to go and boy did we ever want to go. 03:41 So we bought our tickets and climbed aboard. 03:43 Watch this. 03:45 He who could go to a balloon festival without 03:47 going up in a balloon? 03:49 Tyler and Tiara we're going, come on lets go. 04:00 Whew, here we go. 04:05 Hey, wave to daddy. 04:10 Tiara wave big. 04:32 Finally it was time for the race to begin and oh they 04:36 were all so pretty and I wanted to go so badly. 04:38 So you know me, I actually found two pilots willing to 04:43 take Brad and me up in their balloons. 04:45 Watch this. 04:47 All right, hi kids! 04:52 Oh how fun, that roaring noise you hear once in a while 04:56 is the propane, is that how you power this? 04:59 Yes the burners - that's the burners. 05:06 Oh, this is just too cool. 05:14 Oh this is a fantastic view from up here. 05:18 Whoa. 05:21 This is the view you never get to see down on the ground. 05:48 Hi, Hi down there! 06:16 We are looking at the top part of the balloon and they 06:19 opened it up and to let all the gas out and the wind is 06:23 trying to refill it as we're letting it out. 06:26 We are pulling with all our might, aren't we? 06:29 Sometimes we are making progress, sometimes we're not. 06:35 Can you smell it, can you smell the propane 06:38 when it comes out? Oh there it goes. 06:41 Whoops there comes the wind again. 06:44 We are tying it together so we can fit it back in that bag. 06:51 Back in that little tiny bag. 06:56 They have promised it will fit. 07:09 Oh boy, here it goes. 07:15 Let's put the flap on it and get all the air out of it. 07:21 Watch your hands and don't bang heads. 07:25 Squish it, squish it. 07:56 The balloons are done for the day and it has been 08:00 so much fun, I just wonder if you wouldn't like to write 08:03 to me and tell me what you think about all this? 08:05 I'd love to hear from you, you know I would. 08:08 So get out your paper and your pencil and get ready 08:10 to write down my address, I'm just dying to hear from you. 08:13 Alright, are you ready? Here it is! 08:19 Hey kids Graham Joyce would love to hear from you. 08:22 So why not sit down and write her a letter? 08:25 Like every grandma she loves to get pictures, 08:27 drawings or anything else you send her. 08:30 Just write to: 08:42 So what are you waiting for? Write her today. 08:49 You know, we have traveled around this season by lots 08:53 of different vehicles. 08:55 There were sailboats, a steam train, an antique car, 08:59 we have hiked by foot, ridden in a horse-drawn wagon, 09:02 zoomed in and out over the waves of a jet ski, but 09:06 floating along in the atmosphere, just skipping from 09:10 treetop to treetop has got to be my all-time favorite 09:13 way of getting around. 09:15 You know I don't know if you can tell it, but Brad and 09:18 I got separated during the race. 09:21 The balloon he was in caught a better gust of wind then 09:24 mine did, and off he soared. 09:26 Faster and faster, higher and higher and farther away 09:30 he sailed until we lost sight of each other. 09:33 Towards the end of the race I didn't even know where he 09:36 was, or where he might land. 09:39 Anyway as it was getting dusk, the lead balloon set 09:43 down in a field, and all the others tried to get as close 09:46 to his landing spot as they could. 09:49 Well our pilot could see that other balloons were landing 09:52 closer and sooner than we could. 09:54 So he picked out a nice little pasture for our landing 09:57 site, but when we were just a couple of feet from the 10:00 ground there was a gentle updraft that kept pushing us 10:04 up a little bit while he kept trying to set 10:06 the balloon down gently. 10:08 So, instead of hitting our mark like we planned, 10:12 our balloon bounced up and down and skidded across 10:15 and the field was coming nearer and nearer 10:19 to the end of the field and the beginning of a cemetery 10:24 full of tall headstones and monuments. 10:27 When our pilot realized that he couldn't set the balloon 10:31 down in time he quickly fired up the jets to lift us 10:34 high enough not to hit the trees at the edge of the 10:37 cemetery and to not run into any of the grave markers. 10:41 Eek, we aren't going to make it. 10:44 The ground crew were running around after us as fast as 10:48 they could, trying to grab the ropes and pull us down. 10:52 We in the basket were holding on for dear life and bumping 10:56 along the ruts in the ground. 10:57 Finally, somebody held on tight to the rope and dug in 11:02 his heals so he wouldn't be pulled along too. 11:05 Our basket tipped to one side and hit the dirt, and it 11:10 rolled over spilling out passengers as it went. 11:12 Well, all except for me, I was caught under the bars that 11:18 the fuel tanks were fastened to. 11:20 I had been knocked down to the floor of the basket 11:23 when we tipped and now I was trapped. 11:26 Ah, I thought about the fact that the burners were very 11:29 hot and that we still had lots of propane on board. 11:34 Now the whole thing was on its side and the fuel might 11:38 start leaking. 11:40 Somebody was yelling, we've killed grandma, we've killed 11:43 grandma, while others ran to help me find my way out 11:46 of the basket and through the headstones on the graves. 11:50 Well as soon as my feet were free from the ropes and 11:53 other paraphernalia, I couldn't help but burst into 11:56 laughter at how funny it was. 11:59 I think I'm probably the only grandma in the whole world 12:03 who has crash landed a hot air balloon into a cemetery. 12:07 Ha, ha, it was the best rip snorting good time I've had 12:11 in years, but it sure set me to thinking about following 12:15 Jesus I mean. 12:16 When we first get to know about Him, it's kind of like 12:19 watching the lead balloon lifting off the ground. 12:22 We know Jesus lifted up from the earth and went back to 12:25 heaven soon after He died and rose again. 12:28 He didn't need a hot air balloon to do it either. 12:31 In our imaginations we can picture Him lifting higher 12:35 and higher until He disappears from our sight. 12:38 We love Him so much we want to go where He goes. 12:42 We want to follow Him, so we hopped in our own balloons 12:45 with the best pilot we can find and off we go into the 12:49 wild blue yonder. 12:51 We do our best to keep up with Him but sometimes the winds 12:55 blow us off course, or we can't find just the right 12:58 altitude that will take us in His direction. 13:01 Pretty soon all of us, in our different balloons, are 13:04 separated from Him and each other and are spread out 13:08 all over the sky. 13:10 You know the pilot we've chosen could be a Pastor or a 13:13 teacher who loves Jesus very much and wants to follow 13:16 Him too, and they do their very best to guide us on our 13:20 journey, but they are only human and sometimes they 13:24 make mistakes and our balloons end up somewhere we didn't 13:27 plan on at all. 13:29 Like the cemetery. The only way to be absolutely, 13:34 positively sure you end up where Jesus is, is to get 13:38 into His balloon and let Him be your pilot. 13:41 Then you will win the race every time and always be 13:44 with Him. That is what I want too. 13:47 And I know you want that too, so until the next time 13:52 keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, He is the best pilot 13:57 there is, bye! |
Revised 2014-12-17