An exhausted new mother was struggling to stay awake on a United Airlines flight when her infant started slipping from her lap. Thankfully a watchful Republic Airways flight attendant stepped in to catch the child and her kind response touched thousands of people.
I was moved reading about this beautiful moment on that September 2 flight from Newark to Grand Rapids. The mother had been through so much before taking this flight. She had delivered her baby while on vacation in Colombia two and a half months ago and got stuck on a no fly list.
This Republic Airways flight was her first trip back home to finally show the baby to her family. She was completely worn out and slowly fell asleep with the infant in her lap. The baby started to slip and my heart skipped a beat just thinking about how scary that could have been.
Monique Harris, a flight attendant working that flight sprang into action and caught the child. She held the little one so the mom could finally get some rest. When the mother woke up startled and embarrassed, the flight attendant was so gentle with her.
Harris told the young mom not to be embarrassed because she was a first time mom. She reminded her that needing a little help is perfectly okay. She even wrote her a sweet note saying she was doing a great job and was stronger than she felt.
A passenger named John Frehse who has flown over two million miles with United saw the whole thing happen. He took a photo and posted it online tagging United CEO Scott Kirby. He called her an “A+ employee” and said she was the greatest flight attendant he experienced in 30 years of flying.
People everywhere started sharing the photo. But what really touched my spirit was how the flight attendant responded to all the praise. She immediately pointed straight to our Lord.
Harris wrote online “I’m in tears. I appreciate all of the love and acknowledgments. To God be all the glory!!! God is my witness I never do anything for recognition.”
She also explained perfectly how we should see this whole situation. She wrote “What I see that actually went viral is a display of God’s love. And He used this moment and 1 picture to gather all of our attention so we could all focus on ‘love and unity.'”
I was so moved to see how she responded to all the praise and fame. Many people would credit their own good character or their upbringing but she credited God. That is the true response of a person who lives in Christ. It is not through our name or our reputation that people should identify us but through the character of Christ in us.
We should always strive to reach that kind of spiritual maturity in our Christian lives. As John the Baptist said in John 3:30 (NKJV) “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This is the thought a child of God should always have.
When we humble ourselves the Holy Spirit will take control of our hearts and the fruit of that Spirit will reflect in our talk in the way we act and in everything we do. Let us be fruitful in every good work and show His love to everyone around us.
WATCH: Kindhearted Flight Attendant Steps In When Exhausted Mother Falls Asleep With Newborn
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