--- id: ff06_michigan_caravan_ten_percent title: FLYINGFREE - Michigan Caravan at Ten Percent category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: reduced-salary-landing-zone sentiment: Pastoral emotions: - Pastoral - Hopeful - Reflective keypoints: - After nearly a year they drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan in December - Smiled about snow after a sunny Texas home - Furniture in two rented trucks; family caravan with dog - Only job offered in nearly two years — salary exactly ten percent of prior taxable income - Things once wanted in Texas became less important; turmoil moved to the rearview summary: > Nearly a year after the free-fall facts, Dean’s family caravan drives north to Grand Rapids in December snow — the only job in nearly two years, at ten percent of prior income — Michigan as the safe place to land. tags: - flying-free - chapter-6 - michigan - grand-rapids - caravan - ten-percent - safe-place-to-land - dean-rush - book-excerpt - biblical-counsel sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 9 entropy: 2 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: flyingfree created: '2010-01-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: FLYINGFREE prefix: FLYINGFREE enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: FLYINGFREE_06_michigan-caravan-ten-percent.md source_kind: book_excerpt proposed_topic: FlyingFree lane: FlyingFree voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: FlyingFree content_status: active date: '2010-01-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md source_url: https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md site_category: Flying Free book_title: Flying Free book_chapter: 6 book_chapter_title: Look for a Safe Place to Land – When Things Are Bad, Use Faith source_file: flyingfree/flying-free-06-look-for-a-safe-place-to-land.md description: > Chapter 6 — December caravan to Grand Rapids; only job offer; salary at ten percent; Michigan as safe landing zone. --- # Michigan Caravan at Ten Percent **Author:** Dean Rush **Book:** *Flying Free* · **Chapter 6:** Look for a Safe Place to Land – When Things Are Bad, Use Faith **Full book:** [deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md](https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md) ## Context for the Reader This chapter demonstrates the **third emergency procedure** in action: when you cannot stay in the air, you must find a **safe place to land** — even if that landing zone is far from where you originally planned to go. Here the landing zone becomes concrete: **Michigan** — Grand Rapids, December snow, a little family caravan, and a salary that is only ten percent of the income from the year he got sick. Reduced, distant, and still the place that eventually led to greater purpose. This lesson is the drive itself: rented trucks, family and dog, only offer in nearly two years, wants from Texas fading as they head north. > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's excerpt** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) God often lands His people in unexpected geography at reduced scale. Scripture honors sojourning, family on the move, and releasing former treasures when the Lord redirects. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | A long season ends in a deliberate move | By faith Abraham obeyed and went (Hebrews 11:8); the Lord said, “Go” (Genesis 12:1) | | Family travels together under hard providence | He settles the solitary in a home (Psalm 68:6); as for me and my house (Joshua 24:15) | | Only offer; drastically reduced provision still provision | Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11); I have learned to be content (Philippians 4:11–12) | | Former wants lose weight on the road | Where your treasure is, there your heart is (Matthew 6:21); forgetting what lies behind (Philippians 3:13–14) | | Turmoil begins to sit in the rearview | You have turned my mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11); a time to every purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:1) | --- ## Dean's excerpt ### December caravan north It was after nearly a year of living with the facts I have just described that we found ourselves driving to Grand Rapids, Michigan on that cold day in December, smiling about becoming reacquainted with snow after our sunny Texas home. Our furniture was jammed in the two rented trucks. I drove one with Vickie, our daughter the other, and our son followed in the family sedan with our trusty dog. We were on the way to taking the only job I had been offered in nearly two years, at a salary which, ironically, equated to exactly ten percent of my taxable income the year I had gotten sick. One by one all those things I had wanted and worked for in the business we left in Texas became less important as we drove northward with our little caravan. The whole scenario seemed to make no sense, but in a very strange way, I realized all the turmoil we had experienced over the last year and a half was in the rearview mirror. > **Scholar sidebar — Landing zone at ten percent** > Hebrews 11:8 and Genesis 12:1 frame obedient relocation without full map. Matthew 6:11 and Philippians 4:11–12 allow reduced salary as real provision. Matthew 6:21 and Philippians 3:13–14 underwrite wants fading on the road. Psalm 30:11 and Ecclesiastes 3:1 touch rearview on turmoil. Michigan is the chapter’s named safe place to land — keep the ten-percent irony and caravan details intact. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Nearly a year later.** The free-fall facts had been lived before the wheels turned north. 2. **December Grand Rapids.** Cold, snow after Texas sun — smile mixed with severity. 3. **Little caravan.** Two trucks, sedan, family, dog — the household moved together. 4. **Only offer; ten percent.** Nearly two years of search; salary a tenth of the sick-year income. 5. **Texas wants fade.** Business prizes lost weight; turmoil began to sit in the rearview. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? After nearly a year of crisis, his family caravan drove to Grand Rapids in December for the only job offered in nearly two years — at ten percent of prior income — as old Texas wants faded and turmoil moved toward the rearview. ### Why is Michigan the “safe place to land”? Because the third emergency procedure allows a landing zone far from the original plan: reduced pay, new climate, rented trucks — still the strip that lets the aircraft stop free-falling. ### Key verses to read with this lesson - **Hebrews 11:8** — Abraham went without knowing where. - **Genesis 12:1** — Go to the land I will show you. - **Matthew 6:11** — Daily bread. - **Philippians 4:11–12** — Content in little and much. - **Matthew 6:21** — Treasure and heart. - **Philippians 3:13–14** — Forgetting what lies behind. - **Psalm 30:11** — Mourning into dancing. ### A simple practice If you are in a “ten percent” season, write what the landing zone actually is (place, role, provision) without comparing it to the old altitude for one full day. Thank God for the strip under the wheels. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for: *Where did Dean move? What was the salary compared to before? Who was in the caravan?* Keep the December drive paragraph primary.