Two losses in one week...

Last week, pretty much a week ago, our industry lost 2 teams.  Six members of our HEMS community lost their lives in crashes, one in Ohio and one in Alaska.  I didn't know any of them personally, but had mutual friends with at least one of the crews.  A former pilot at my program now flies with the company that lost a 407 in Ohio, I was relieved that it wasn't him piloting the aircraft.  There is a great sense of loss industry wide over these losses.  Speculation is rampant about who/what was at fault for the tragedies, but you know what, in the end, it really doesn't matter who was at fault, at least not in my book. Eventually the FAA crash investigators will figure out what happened to make the 407 crash in Ohio.  At the writing of this blog there has been little to no evidence of the crash of the King Air 200 in Alaska.

Loss is very odd, I know I should feel something, but I really don't have any overpowering emotions about the crashes.  Not that I don't think they are sad or that they are tragedies or that we feel a loss in the industry, but I guess its something that we know going into this field, we know that there is an outlying chance that we can crash for many numbers of reasons and be killed in the operation of our jobs.  We do everything that we can to minimize those risks, but they are still there.  On some level we have all come to terms with those risks and have internalized them.

I know that if or when this happens to someone closer to me, I'll have a different view on the subject, but for the time being I don't.

Ronald Regan had a quote that he used in his address after the space shuttle Challenger blew up

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

I don't believe that they are now in heaven or that they are actually touching the face of God, however I do believe (assuming that they were right with God) that the next image they will see is Jesus at his second coming and the shattered bodies that they knew or didn't fully know on this earth will be changed and at that time they will touch the face of God.

Ben

It's now been approx. 1 month since Ben was tragically taken from us.  I've had a lot of lonely hours to contemplate his untimely death.  I wish I could say that I'm ok with him being gone, but there will always be a Ben shaped hole in my heart, just like there is a Bandit shaped hole as well.  I'm not sure you ever completely get over losing a dog, we had to put Bandit down over 5 years ago.  I think what Bandit became and what Ben will become as well is a smile I can't tell anyone about and a tear that no one will completely understand.  I shared some very special moments with my two mutts (Ironically neither were mutts, both were pure breed).  The thing I think some will understand and some won't is that they are both very much alive, they are alive in my mind, where all my memories lay, so even though I won't get to enjoy their presence anymore, I get to enjoy every memory with them.

I'm coming home

There is a famous song that contains the following lyrics:

"I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world I'm coming home, let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday and though my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes, I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world I'm coming home"

I've always liked the imagery of this song, it seems like it has some spiritual applications, but there are flaws in the song.  The song makes it sound like it's all about me, I'm the one doing it, but thats not the truth.  We as humans like to think its all about us, we like to think that we have something to do with the getting there part of it, but we don't.  The bible speaks pretty strongly about this.  It says:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty." Zachariah 4:6

There are other verses, they aren't coming to me right now.  Minus that little part, I really love the imagery of the song.  Seems like a song that God could sing, but with the following changes:

"You're  coming home, You're coming home, tell the world you're coming home, let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday and though my kingdom awaits and I've forgiven your mistakes, you're coming home, you're coming home, tell the world you're coming home"

The West

Nothing seems to emphasize the west more than this picture that I took this morning.

 

I'm going on an adventure

This very famous line penned by J. R. R. Tolkin in his book the Hobbit shows the gayety of an adventure, what I’m feeling right now is the tiredness of the adventure.  My morning started Tuesday morning at 0830EST, and has gone pretty much non-stop since then, with the exception of a few fitful hours of shuteye, I’ve been up since then, this is now pushing 36hr’s, and by the time I actually get into another bed, it will be closer to 42 or so hours. 

That is not to say this hasn’t been an adventure, it has.  I took a bus, a people mover and some long hallways to get to lunch today. LAX is doing some major renovations and their concourses don’t connect anymore, so…they are being connected by bus.  Who knew, runways weren’t only for airplanes, they are for vehicle traffic as well.  They have painted in lines and there is a 4 lane highway going on.  There are signs that I wish I could get a picture of, but they say yield for airplanes.  As if that had to be something you had to actually say.  

The airplane that I’m taking on my last leg is a little commuter airplane that you have to walk out on the tarmac to board, this isn’t the first time, probably won’t be the last either, but its sure not the norm in this tech savvy nation.  

A Year For God

I remember when I started this blog.  I was told that I really needed to have a blog, because communications with the outside world were going to be more difficult.  I started this blog in  May of 2008, the reason?  I was about to embark on a grand adventure, an adventure that would lead me nearly 6400 miles away from everything I loved and held dear…with the exception of God.  I started this blog to chronicle my year in the Marshall Islands, to tell the story of how a “know-it-all” senior in college was going to teach kids, the story of how a “know-it-all” kid learned more about trusting God.  

I look back on this and realize maybe I haven’t come as far as I think I have.  I have broken down many places, literally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  The first year of this blog showed immense growth with huge mountain top experiences and subterranean valleys not unlike the trench that Majuro was just off (if you don’t understand that reference, look up Challenger Deep).  

When I think about how apropos the title of this blog is, it makes me smile.  The only better name would have been “one day at a time” or “one day for God.”  I’ve just realized over the course of time that we are finite, we have to have beginnings and ends, the only thing is God is infinite, He doesn’t see this as a repeated year, He sees it as a fluid continuum of time.  This time will always have its mountain top experiences and its trench experiences as well, but one thing I have learned is that since time means nothing to him, the ups and downs don’t mean anything to him either.  What matters is the direction, continually, step by step, closer to Him.  

Over the next month I’m going to try and do better about keeping this updated.  

Fellowship

Today is Saturday, a day that "normal" SDA's go to church.  Lorraine and I are NOT normal.  Its not that I don't enjoy church, its not that I don't feel close to God there, its that sometimes there are far more important things to do.  Today is one of those days.

Lorraine and I volunteer at a fire department, we spend a considerable amount of time at the department, we feel this is our calling.  Today we didn't go to church, it was camp meeting and thats not something we enjoy.  So...we decided we'd stand by at the station in case there were any calls.  Since the station is a volunteer station, its not always staffed, when we got here today, there was only on person here.

A while after arriving Tim (Mr. Johnson) and his two amazing daughters got here.  I have grown to really appreciate them, they are so well behaved, its a testament to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's following God's leading, but I digress.  We talked with another FF James Clack and Sammy for a few hours until Lorraine woke up.  About the time that Lorraine woke up, Mrs. Johnson arrived.  Now everyone is talking and enjoying time.  Conversation's are ranging from FD topics to nursing to life in general.

This is a fellowship, this is a group of people that enjoy each other's company and enjoy time spent with them.  This is a time rejuvenation, a time of healing, a time of refreshment.