Won’t somebody help me!
"Won’t somebody help me!"
Janice Gravely was alone in the sky.
Her husband had slumped over in the pilot’s seat.
She was in a plane she didn’t know how to fly.
Somehow she kept it in the air for nearly two hours.
Yelling into the radio the entire time.
“Help! Help! My pilot is unconscious! Won’t somebody help me!”
Then the plane ran out of gas.
It crashed into the woods.
She was badly hurt.
Could hardly move.
But she crawled through the freezing cold anyway.
Looking for help.
She survived.
Her story made national news.
The Associated Press, UPI, and The New York Times.
Reader’s Digest and Guideposts too.
Years later she wrote her book Won’t Somebody Help Me!
People wanted to hear her story.
So she started speaking all over the United States.
Then around the world.
China, Africa, Russia, Europe, and the Middle East.
She shared how God brought her through.
But after years of traveling and speaking…
Her body started breaking down.
She felt tired all the time.
Pain.
Muscle cramps at night.
Stiff joints.
Bladder problems.
Hair loss.
Weak bones.
At 75, she felt old.
Then one day while speaking at a meeting in New Orleans…
A woman handed her a green drink.
That night, for the first time in years…
She went to bed and wasn’t even tired.
That was a few years before I met her.
My mother actually knew Mrs. Gravely first.
They both went to a monthly Christian women’s meeting in Rocky Mount.
Later, Mom stopped by Mrs. Gravely’s home from time to time.
One day I went with her.
That’s how I got to know Mrs. Gravely too.
Janice Gravely was not the kind of woman most people picture when they think about network marketing.
She graduated first in her class at UCLA.
Served as an officer in the Navy during World War II.
Her paintings were shown at the North Carolina Museum of Art.
She served on the Rocky Mount school board.
She had already lived a full life long before I ever met her.
But to me, she was always Mrs. Gravely.
Warm.
Thoughtful.
Easy to talk to.
Sometimes I would go by her house and sit with her in the den.
We talked about the Bible.
Christianity.
And the Holy Spirit.
I was hungry to learn.
And she was willing to teach me.
There were watercolor paintings around the house that she had painted herself.
Sometimes golf or tennis played quietly on the television.
One summer she invited me to spend a long weekend at the Gravely family mountain home.
It was in Roaring Gap, North Carolina.
Behind their house was a golf course.
One night I walked alone out into the middle of the fairway.
No city lights anywhere.
The stars were so bright they felt close enough to touch.
I remember standing there overwhelmed by the glory of God.
I've never forgotten that moment.
We also played a round of golf together at Roaring Gap Club.
She did not hit the ball especially long.
But she almost always hit the fairway.
Straight and true.
Like the way she lived her life.
One afternoon we had lunch at The Senator’s House.
Several friends of Mrs. Gravely were there too.
She was the kind of woman who always used the proper fork for her salad.
Toward the end of lunch, I was restless and ready to go.
I jokingly started to stack my plate.
I grinned and looked over at Mrs. Gravely.
She silently gave me “the look.”
That’s not proper.
It still makes me laugh thinking about it.
Sometimes people gathered at her home in Rocky Mount.
Mostly friends and family.
People liked being around her.
And if you watch the interview below, I think you'll see what I mean.
You can hear it in her voice.
The calmness.
The gratitude.
The faith.
Even after everything she went through.
Mrs. Gravely lived to be 99 years old.
Still engaged with life.
Still interested in people.
Still herself.
Mrs. Gravely was not gullible.
She was one of the smartest and most accomplished people I have ever known.
And yet she was still open-minded enough to try something new.