What is up!When we all woke up on Friday, March 2, 2007 we heard a lot of bad news. First, of all, devastating storms had moved through the SE and 20 people had died. Eight HS students died in Alabama. Then, you hear of a Charter bus just shooting over a bridge overpass, in Atlanta of all places. Six people die (now seven), including 4 baseball players and the bus driver and his wife. I am often grateful of how good I have it. A Great God, wonderful family, all the necessities of life. Very rarely do we have something happen to us which throws our world into a spin. We might even finding ourselves saying "I'm glad I wasn't in that Tornado or I'm glad I wasn't in that bus." Christopher Reeve said the same thing before his accident in 1995 when he was researching a role in which he was going to play a paraplegic. Only to later in his life to live out as a quadraplegic. I know the scripture reminds us that the Lord only gives us what we can handle and I wonder, after being thankful for the Lord's protection, would I be able to handle a situation like these two. I pray for the Lord's strength and sustinance. But...I regress. Another thought on these two situations. I was attracted to the bus crash because of the complexity of why the bus driver took this off ramp and because it invovled a baseball team. For those who know me, know I love sports and couldn't help but think of these guys as athletes. There is no way, they could have imagined being a baseball player would eventually take their lives. But God, chose these people because He needed them. Pray for their families and those who experienced the crash and survived. I got the opportunity to spend a few days in Americus, GA as the Incident Commander for TSA relief there. Americus, was hit as hard as the town in AL but for some reason, the national media gave it very little attention. But, let me tell you, the destruction was phenomenal. There was a half a mile wide stretch for as far as you could see with every tree in the path being snapped halfway up. The hospital was "covered" in trees. Complete buildings gutted with only the four corners left standing. (I'll post some pictures soon) All throughout town, people kept saying to me, "Thank you for what you are doing." Canteen workers would tell us how polite the people were and how thankful they were. As I heard this, my mind again went back to scripture, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in (Matt. 25:35)." I even find this convicting because in our line of work, we can become numb to always being asked for help. But, thank the Lord, He puts me in situations to learn from and experience. Well, just a simpleton's ramblings on recent events. I will have a story for you soon on another situation the Lord is using to test me and teach me. We have an Officer friend here in GA who is needing some prayer right now, remember them in your prayers. The Lord knows. For now, that's all folks...
