Speaking of the heavens ... Dexter pastor fulfills lifetime ambition

Mike Williams can vividly recall summers as a child in eastern Iowa, playing Little League baseball and not being very good at it.

"I was the little kid in the outfield staring off into space. There was someone who used to fly one of those ultralights not far from the ball field, and he'd buzz around pretty close by. I spent most of my time in the outfield watching that ultralight fly."

And so began a fascination with aviation -- a fascination that would remain with him all of his adult life. For as long as Mike Williams can remember, he wanted to fly.

On Monday, Oct. 19, the minister's lifelong dream became a reality as he lifted off on his first solo flight from Dexter Municipal Airport. The 20 minute flight was 39 years in the making.

The reverend wears many hats. He has served as pastor of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for the past three years, having moved to the area with his wife, Lily, from Iowa. He is Captain (Chaplain) Mike Williams as an active member of the United States Air Force Reserve's 932 Airlift Wing at Scott AFB in Illinois. He is active in the American Legion, serves on the hospital's Community Advisory Board, the Stoddard County Gospel Mission Board, and is active in the Malden Airfield Museum. He serves as well in the local Ministerial Alliance, and in his role as minister, he is an educator, a counselor, a financial consultant and a business manager. And now -- he is a pilot.

It was the dream of Mike Williams to join the U.S. Air Force, to serve his country and to fly the skies. Poor vision, however, stopped him in his tracks.

"You have to have pretty much perfect vision to fly for the Air Force," he explains. "Nowadays, if you want it badly enough, you have the option of having lasix surgery to correct your vision, but that wasn't an option when I was younger."

Rather than give up on his dream, though, Williams elected to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. He attended Central Missouri State at Warrensburg, Mo. as an aviation major.

"In aviation, everything is based on flight hours. Had I stuck with that major, at the end of four years, I would have earned a bachelor's degree in aviation that would have allowed me to progress through the next steps to becoming a commercial pilot."

"I worked a summer for Delta Airlines, and I loved it," he notes. "It was in Omaha, Nebraska. I worked on the ramp loading and unloading luggage on the 727s and the 737s. It was awesome."

But, a change was in the wind for the lifelong aviation enthusiast.

"I loved flying, but I learned that there was something else I needed to be doing," Williams explains. "God was working on me and telling me that he had something different in mind for me. As a career, aviation was not where He was directing me."

Williams grew up as the son of a minister. He knew what that life entailed. He moved around frequently. He was born in Nebraska, spent part of his childhood in eastern Iowa and moved to southwest Iowa during his high school years. He knew well the demands on a minister's life, and yet he felt the calling to follow in his father's footsteps.

"When I sensed that God had something different in mind for me, I changed my focus and looked at several seminaries, finally deciding upon the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa."

Through an abroad exchange program, he would spend time with a host family in formerly Soviet Union-controlled Estonia.

"It was right after the fall of communism there, so it was a very interesting time," Williams notes. "It was an awesome experience."

He would complete an internship in Maryland during his time in the seminary and earned his degree in 2006. He then completed his residency in Delaware, which is where he met his wife-to-be, Lily.

"Lily was a member of the congregation," he recalls. "It was a surprise for both of us," he says with a smile.

All the while, Williams never lost his love of flight. His thirst for the skies in recent years has been somewhat quenched as a member of a local remote control flyers group.

"It's great fun, and I enjoy it a lot. It gives you a new perspective on flying to operate a plane from the ground."

Still, the need to get back into the cockpit remained. Finally, in late 2013, he made the move. He became acquainted with the local Stoddard County Flyers (formerly the Crowley Ridge Flyers), and after completing ground school in Cape Girardeau, he sought out a Poplar Bluff instructor, Dave Tharp, to complete his pilot's training, utilizing Dexter Municipal Airport.

Tharp officially "signed off" on Williams on Monday, Oct. 19, enabling him to embark on his first solo excursion above the airport skies.

"It's kind of like getting your driver's permit until that point," he explains. "You still have to have mom and dad around until your instructor signs off."

As soon as his instructor signed off, Pilot Mike Williams boarded the Stoddard County Flyers' own plane that is at the disposal of club members and housed in a hangar at the local airport.

"Dexter doesn't have a control tower, so we depend upon the radio for traffic. It was almost lunchtime at the Airways Cafe, and planes began to land.

"I really didn't want to take off with that lunch traffic coming in, so I taxied down and just sat in place for about 10 or 15 minutes till the skies were clear."

And then the moment that Mike Williams had anticipated for more than 30 years suddenly became a reality.

With the minister in control, the red and white Cessna 172 took to the skies over Dexter. He flew in the designated square pattern surrounding the airport -- the standard three takeoffs and three landings. It took all of about 20 minutes, and after a "not perfectly executed" but safe and satisfactory final landing, he stepped out of the small craft to the approval of the airport's board of directors, who just happened to be holding their monthly meeting in the nearby cafe.

As is customary with a first-time solo flyer, the shirt Williams was wearing was quickly removed, and the back was cut out to be hung with several others on the wall of the pilot's lounge at the airport.

"It's an aviation tradition, I've learned," the humble first time soloist says.

Williams has somewhat of his own tradition developing as he soars skyward. He recently lost his grandfather, who was his encourager and counselor throughout his life. He was also a pilot.

At Williams' side aboard every flight is the same black flight bag carried onboard by his grandfather throughout his flying years.

As a minister, Mike Williams often gazes skyward -- in prayer, in thanks, in anticipation and in hope. As a pilot, he says, he views things differently than from his usual post on the ground.

"While it's great fun and a personal challenge to learn how to deal with something so much larger than myself, it also forces me to look deeper into myself than I thought was possible."

"I see things on the ground differently when I'm flying. It's amazing, and looking at the earth below from that vantage point is unlike nothing else I've experienced. Learning to fly gives you a perspective to look at things in a very different way -- to realize how NOT in control we are. As much as anything, it's about being forced to look deeper into myself than I thought was possible."

Williams says he's discovered also a certain element of humility when he's among the clouds.

"You come to realize that while you're a part of this world, you're not really the center of it. It's a good way for me to be reminded of how much bigger God is."

Mike Williams encourages anyone with an interest in flying to pursue a "discovery flight." He also notes that there are a number of scholarships available to assist with the cost of instruction.