Hi everybody, what you
are about to see is something
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unexpected that happen one
Sunday afternoon while I was
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in Illinois making some
new Grandma's House programs.
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It was the crew's day
off, so we had nothing planned
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for the day, but I got wind
there was a Festival of Boats
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and Balloons going
on in a little town
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about 70 miles away.
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So I grabbed Brad and
Valerie and Tyler and Tiara and
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away we sped to
get in on the action.
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And in a minute you are
going to see what happened next.
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Right now we are over
here at the pond watching
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a cardboard boat race.
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The kids built their boats
out of cardboard and plastic
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and duct tape,
and it's exciting.
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There they go, oh my.
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Well some of them
go down just right way.
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Go, go. Paddle, paddle come on.
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Go, go, go.
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Ought oh! the kid in
the green there capsized.
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Go kids!
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(Grandma clapping)
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Come on kids, go, go!
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Yeah he is way out in the lead.
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Look at him he
is without a paddle.
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That one's second, good for him.
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Whoa, yeah.
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That guy has fallen
behind without a paddle.
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Oh, that one guy is
going to make it I think.
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The girl is coming up fast.
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Come on sweetie, catch that boy.
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Yeah, get in there.
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It was really fun to
watch those kids trying to float
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their homemade cardboard boats.
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But as soon as that was
over, Valerie, the kids and
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I crossed the field to
watch the crew's getting their
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balloons ready for the flight.
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Then we found out that one
balloon was selling rides to
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anybody who wanted to go
and boy did we ever want to go.
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So we bought our
tickets and climbed aboard.
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Watch this.
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He who could go to a
balloon festival without
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going up in a balloon?
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Tyler and Tiara we're
going, come on lets go.
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Whew, here we go.
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Hey, wave to daddy.
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Tiara wave big.
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Finally it was time for
the race to begin and oh they
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were all so pretty and
I wanted to go so badly.
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So you know me, I actually
found two pilots willing to
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take Brad and me
up in their balloons.
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Watch this.
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All right, hi kids!
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Oh how fun, that roaring
noise you hear once in a while
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is the propane, is
that how you power this?
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Yes the burners -
that's the burners.
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Oh, this is just too cool.
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Oh this is a
fantastic view from up here.
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Whoa.
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This is the view you never
get to see down on the ground.
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Hi, Hi down there!
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We are looking at the top
part of the balloon and they
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opened it up and to let
all the gas out and the wind is
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trying to refill it
as we're letting it out.
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We are pulling with
all our might, aren't we?
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Sometimes we are making
progress, sometimes we're not.
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Can you smell it,
can you smell the propane
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when it comes
out? Oh there it goes.
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Whoops there
comes the wind again.
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We are tying it together so
we can fit it back in that bag.
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Back in that little tiny bag.
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They have promised it will fit.
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Oh boy, here it goes.
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Let's put the flap on it
and get all the air out of it.
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Watch your hands
and don't bang heads.
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Squish it, squish it.
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The balloons are done
for the day and it has been
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so much fun, I just wonder
if you wouldn't like to write
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to me and tell me what
you think about all this?
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I'd love to hear from
you, you know I would.
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So get out your paper
and your pencil and get ready
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to write down my address,
I'm just dying to hear from you.
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Alright, are you
ready? Here it is!
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Hey kids Graham Joyce
would love to hear from you.
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So why not sit down
and write her a letter?
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Like every grandma
she loves to get pictures,
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drawings or
anything else you send her.
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Just write to:
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So what are you
waiting for? Write her today.
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You know, we have traveled
around this season by lots
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of different vehicles.
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There were sailboats, a
steam train, an antique car,
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we have hiked by foot,
ridden in a horse-drawn wagon,
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zoomed in and out over
the waves of a jet ski, but
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floating along in the
atmosphere, just skipping from
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treetop to treetop has
got to be my all-time favorite
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way of getting around.
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You know I don't know if
you can tell it, but Brad and
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I got separated during the race.
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The balloon he was in caught
a better gust of wind then
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mine did, and off he soared.
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Faster and faster, higher
and higher and farther away
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he sailed until we
lost sight of each other.
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Towards the end of the
race I didn't even know where he
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was, or where he might land.
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Anyway as it was getting
dusk, the lead balloon set
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down in a field, and all
the others tried to get as close
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to his landing
spot as they could.
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Well our pilot could see
that other balloons were landing
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closer and sooner than we could.
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So he picked out a nice
little pasture for our landing
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site, but when we were
just a couple of feet from the
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ground there was a gentle
updraft that kept pushing us
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up a little bit
while he kept trying to set
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the balloon down gently.
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So, instead of hitting
our mark like we planned,
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our balloon bounced up
and down and skidded across
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and the field was
coming nearer and nearer
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to the end of the field
and the beginning of a cemetery
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full of tall
headstones and monuments.
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When our pilot realized
that he couldn't set the balloon
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down in time he quickly
fired up the jets to lift us
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high enough not to hit
the trees at the edge of the
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cemetery and to not run
into any of the grave markers.
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Eek, we aren't going to make it.
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The ground crew were running
around after us as fast as
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they could, trying to grab
the ropes and pull us down.
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We in the basket were holding
on for dear life and bumping
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along the ruts in the ground.
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Finally, somebody held on
tight to the rope and dug in
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his heals so he
wouldn't be pulled along too.
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Our basket tipped to one
side and hit the dirt, and it
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rolled over spilling
out passengers as it went.
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Well, all except for me, I
was caught under the bars that
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the fuel tanks were fastened to.
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I had been knocked down
to the floor of the basket
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when we tipped
and now I was trapped.
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Ah, I thought about the
fact that the burners were very
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hot and that we still
had lots of propane on board.
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Now the whole thing was on
its side and the fuel might
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start leaking.
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Somebody was yelling, we've
killed grandma, we've killed
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grandma, while others ran
to help me find my way out
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of the basket and through
the headstones on the graves.
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Well as soon as my feet
were free from the ropes and
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other paraphernalia, I
couldn't help but burst into
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laughter at how funny it was.
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I think I'm probably the
only grandma in the whole world
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who has crash landed a hot
air balloon into a cemetery.
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Ha, ha, it was the best
rip snorting good time I've had
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in years, but it sure set
me to thinking about following
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Jesus I mean.
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When we first get to know
about Him, it's kind of like
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watching the lead
balloon lifting off the ground.
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We know Jesus lifted up
from the earth and went back to
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heaven soon after
He died and rose again.
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He didn't need a hot
air balloon to do it either.
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In our imaginations we
can picture Him lifting higher
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and higher until He
disappears from our sight.
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We love Him so much we
want to go where He goes.
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We want to follow Him, so
we hopped in our own balloons
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with the best pilot we can
find and off we go into the
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wild blue yonder.
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We do our best to keep up
with Him but sometimes the winds
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blow us off course, or
we can't find just the right
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altitude that will
take us in His direction.
00:12:58.61\00:13:01.31
Pretty soon all of us, in
our different balloons, are
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separated from Him and
each other and are spread out
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all over the sky.
00:13:08.44\00:13:10.31
You know the pilot we've
chosen could be a Pastor or a
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teacher who loves Jesus
very much and wants to follow
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Him too, and they do their
very best to guide us on our
00:13:16.83\00:13:20.49
journey, but they are
only human and sometimes they
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make mistakes and our balloons
end up somewhere we didn't
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plan on at all.
00:13:27.62\00:13:29.49
Like the cemetery. The
only way to be absolutely,
00:13:29.52\00:13:34.11
positively sure you end
up where Jesus is, is to get
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into His balloon and
let Him be your pilot.
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Then you will win the
race every time and always be
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with Him. That
is what I want too.
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And I know you want that
too, so until the next time
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keep your eyes fixed on
Jesus, He is the best pilot
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there is, bye!
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