Of Airplane Flights and Friends

Come Saturday, if the Lord is willing, I’m going to fly in a WWII airplane. It’s a Christmas gift from my loving wife. It’s going to be exciting, doing aerobatic maneuvers in a 65-year-old airplane, but it’s not the most frightening thing I’ve ever done in my life. That would be riding in a car with Loyd Collier.
It was during the late 80s, and Loyd was wearing out cars (and wrecking them) while he drove all over the country raising funds for mission work and recruiting missionaries. Loyd had served as a missionary to Germany for twenty-five years, coming home in 1972 to preach in Arkansas and Oklahoma. After a mishap when he climbed a curb on an Interstate on-ramp, Loyd usually asked me to drive when we went together.
The man had no “Park” or stop gear. He was forever set in “drive.” After serving as a preacher and missions recruiter, he finally settled down to serve as an elder. There’s a job that will wear you out. Loyd would have it no other way. He’d rather have worn out than rusted out.
I learned many lessons from Loyd. One was, “always try to bring some kind of a gift when you visit someone’s home.” Loyd used to raise bees, so his gift was often honey. It was fitting: Loyd, Sarah and Linda coming to your house with a jar of honey. Sweetness personified. Loyd taught that souls were important. I don’t know how many people he baptized in Germany and the States. God only knows.
The greatest lesson I learned from Loyd was to develop an indomitable spirit. Nothing could stop him. When his daughter was nearly killed in a car crash and emerged permanently disabled, he bore a father’s burden with love. And a sense of humor. He often teased her as he drove her to therapy, by closing his right eye as he was driving and pretending to fall asleep.
Eighty-six years of living and loving will put some scars on you.You’d never know it; Loyd seldom complained. He was the perpetual encourager, forever smiling and seeing the sunny side of life. A favorite story told by one of Loyd’s friends, Doug Lawyer, was of the two of them, with some other Harding students, driving through California in Loyd’s Model A Ford, preaching in small towns during summers. Loyd picked up some figs in a paper bag along the way, and had them in his lap. The figs got messy and Loyd bore the embarrassment of fig juice on his pants. At a border stop, the agent stuck his head in the window and asked if they were carrying any fruit across the border. Loyd, seizing the opportunity, grinned broadly and asked the agent if he would like any fresh figs? As he held the bag up, the bottom fell out. Doug said Loyd continued to smile through it all.
And that’s just what he did. Live and love life that way, and you, too can develop a spirit like Loyd’s. Loyd finally put it in Park on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007. No telling what he’s doing in heaven. God wouldn’t keep such an indomitable spirit idle. I just hope he’s not driving any chariots in the sky while I’m flying.

A postscript: I finally did get to fly the T-6 February 18. Will post pics as soon as I figure out how.