Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.
He flew seventy five combat missions before his plane
was destroyed by a surface to air missile.
Plumb safely ejected and parachuted into enemy
territory. He was captured and spent 6 years in a
communist prison before his release and his return
to the United States.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were having a meal
in a resturant, a man came up to their table and said,
"You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from
the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute." The man replied.
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
The man pumped his hand and said,
"I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute
hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb could not sleep all that night, thinking about
that man.
"I kept wondering how many times I might have
seen him and not even said 'Good morning,
how are you?' because I was a fighter pilot and
he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the countless hours the man
had spent below deck standing at a long table,
carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks
of each parachute, holding in his hands the fate
of someone he didn't know.

So, who's packing your parachute?
Like Charles Plumb, everyone has someone who
provides what they need to make it through
the day: a physical parachute, mental parachute,
emotional parachute, or spiritual parachute.
Let us remember to say hello, please,
or thank you, to congratulate someone on
something wonderful that has happened to them,
give a complement, or just do something good
for someone else.

We have so many people who pack the daily
parachutes of our existence.
Recognize them and thank them.
Please also pray for them.