By Dennis Rainey
A few months ago Barbara and I were returning to our home in Little Rock, Ark., after visiting our daughter Laura and her family. My phone rang, and the screen said only that it was coming from Houston. For some reason I answered it, and then a voice came through loud and clear: “Hey Dennis, this is Butch.”
I hesitated because I know a few guys named Butch, so he spoke up again: “This is Commander Butch Wilmore calling from the International Space Station.”
That’s not a call you receive every day!
I’ve known Butch for years, and we interviewed him several times on FamilyLife Today; he was one of my favorite interviews. He is a committed and articulate follower of Christ. And he’s traveled to outer space five times!
Butch and another astronaut arrived at the space station last June for what was meant to be an eight-day visit. But problems with the spacecraft meant they couldn’t return, and they are up there still ... current plans have them returning later this month.
During our conversation I told Butch about the new content we were creating on “Inspiring Courageous Faith.” He said he’d love to do a video podcast with us, so with great help from him and from NASA we arranged for a video interview, and we just released it on the Inspiring Courageous Faith YouTube channel. Click here to watch it.
By the way, this video probably has the best visuals we’ll ever offer as Butch takes us on a tour of the space station and shows us a few glimpses of planet earth.
You never have any problem steering the conversation to spiritual topics when you talk with Butch. I asked him how he’s been handling this “interruption”—at the time we talked he had been in space for eight months longer than the eight days originally planned. You know his extended stay has been difficult on his family; he mentioned that he’s missed nearly all of his youngest daughter’s senior year of high school.
He said he was content, but “content doesn’t always mean easy, right?”
He went on: “I’m completely content and in the Lord and Lord's plan and His purpose as it plays out in our lives. ... Content means I'm satisfied with where the Lord has me, wherever that is.”
Another part of the interview that fascinated me was when he described their training.
For example, even though they weren’t scheduled to do a spacewalk during the original eight days they planned to be on the space station, they trained for it anyway ... just in case. And when their stay was extended they ended up doing a spacewalk.
Butch compared their extensive training with a Christian’s need to train for the inevitable hardships we face in life. He said, “If you're not preparing for the difficulties, if you're not preparing for those times when you're ridiculed for your beliefs, if you're not preparing now, you're not going to be ready.”
You don’t win a football game, he said, but just going out and playing. “You win a game by preparing to play. And it goes all the way back to ... winter workouts when you're hitting the weights and doing those things, preparing yourself physically for the game that's not going to happen until, you know, until September. So it all starts in preparation. You don't win on the field of play. You win in the preparation. And it's the same thing in the Christian walk, in the Christian life.”
I know you will enjoy the interview. This is one you’ll want to share with your kids, grandkids, with your extended family, and with friends. And we hope to arrange for another interview with Butch soon, before he returns to earth. Stay tuned and SUBSCRIBE to “Inspiring Courageous Faith” so you won’t miss it!
Oh, and be sure to listen for Butch’s answer to my question, “What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?” His answer may surprise you!
If you want to hear more from Astronaut Butch Wilmore, check out the series we did a few years ago on FamilyLife Today.
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