An Unexpected Disaster

There has never been any doubt that the industry that I currently work in, and have for the past 18 years, is a dangerous one.  You can say that flying isn’t natural at all for us.  We aren’t birds, we don’t have wings…..but we have learned to fly.  Flying comes with inherent dangers that most are aware of.

As most of you have probably seen on the news by now, a Puerto Rico Air National Guard C-130 crashed today just after taking off from the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport.  (I warn you, if you get the chance to watch the video, don’t.  It’s rather terrifying thinking of what those on board were going through.)  What most of you may not know is that Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport is the location of my employer.  We share runways with the local Air National Guard Unit.

Around 11:30 this morning, during a normal workday, the lights flickered…and then half went out.  This has happened before, but mostly during bad weather.  We thought nothing of it until a few minutes later when people started coming in saying a plane had crashed.  We went outside……I saw black smoke rising into the sky.  We are probably 2 miles straight line distance from the sight, but there was no doubt that something very bad had happened.

I have so many different emotions going through me with this one…..the road in the picture…..depending on traffic flow, I will cross that exact spot multiple times a week.  I could have been under that plane under other circumstances.

But the first thing I thought of after I heard about the crash wasn’t anything about me, but was about the families of the crew on that aircraft.  I began praying intensely.  You see, I knew the exact chain of events that would and by now have already been put into motion.  And have most likely already taken place.

For the family members of those crewmen started their day like the rest of us.  Most likely getting ready for work, maybe getting children ready for school…..not knowing that today would change their lives forever.  Because at some point over the next 24 hours, if not already, someone in a dress uniform is going to knock on their front door and tell them the worst news of their life.  I know this because I have been that person in the dress uniform…..standing in the front yard of a set of parents as their lives changed forever.  It’s times like these I can still hear the screams.

I received a phone call from my Church “Boss” not too long before noon, checking on me to see if I was okay….not knowing the details of the crash that had taken place.  We talked a few minutes, then after hanging up a thought crossed my mind and I texted her this, “these things make you realize you don’t know when life can be taken away and are we really doing what we are called/want to do with our lives?”

Even Moses knew that our days were limited.  In Psalm 90 he writes, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.  So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:9-12).

No one knows what the next minute will hold.  Use every minute of every day for good…..because unfortunately, the next minute, you may be gone.  I don’t write this to depress you…..I write this in the hopes it encourages you to get up, step out, and do that thing that has been calling at you in the back of your mind.  Most likely it is God.  Most likely it is something great.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)

It is also in moments like these when I want to quit my job, take my kids to school, pick them up and serve whomever I can the few hours a day they are away from home.  I’ve heard so many sermons about being patient….that God does most of his work while we are “in the soil,” but what happens if we never sprout because time runs out?  I guess that is what faith truly is……believing and knowing that God is looking out for us and positioning us for His time and place.

Todays events were truly tragic.  You will never see the lives behind the scenes, the ways the families are affected.  All you will see is the carnage on the news.  The video that should never be played, especially before family members can be notified.  I will never understand why the news can’t just hold back certain things until a little later on, but I guess its like everything else in life these days.  If you aren’t first, you are last.  That is what Jesus said, right?  Oh wait, no He didn’t, it went more like, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first” (Matthew 19:30).

I will leave you with this for today, tonight as you get ready for bed, hug your children, hug your husband or wife. For we know not what tomorrow may bring.  Pray for the families of the fallen.  Their lives have changed forever.  These service members who died today were heroes that lost their lives doing a job that protects so many of us.  And use every second of every day for greatness.