April 24, 2019

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It started out like just another day driving a school bus for Ponderosa Elementary. But that night, Kevin McKay would be hailed as "the bus driver from heaven." In between, came the most deadly wildfire in California's history.

On the morning of November 8, McKay had just dropped off his students when he saw the smoke. Ten minutes later, the evacuation order. Ultimately - and quickly - you know, the entire community would be consumed by flames. Most parents made it to the school to quickly pick up their child. But as the fire was, in McKay's words, "coming down in a thousand places," there were 22 children still left at the school.

April 17, 2019

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Each season in the U.S. seems to bring its beauty and its unique dangers. In the spring, think tornado, for example. In the summer and fall, some of us know what the word hurricane is all about. In the mountains in winter, it's important to be aware that that season's snowy beauty may also bring with it the danger of deadly avalanches. Every winter, we hear about some people who lose their lives as these massive chunks of snow suddenly break loose and roar down the mountain. But every once in a while, we hear about lives being saved. I remember a few years ago, the rescuers were there not long after an avalanche, and they immediately started digging for survivors. In minutes, they pulled out one skier who was not only grateful to be saved, but in remarkably good shape for what he had been through. And the news reported that after that man was rescued, he didn't just head for a warm place to recover. He actually joined the rescuers, working side by side with them to save other lives. And they did!

March 27, 2019

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My wife and her family were out for a swim in a nearby river. They had invited their pastor to go with them. He was pretty much a pool swimmer - a lake swimmer. He was unfamiliar with the river currents that can make swimming a little more challenging than usual. Pastor wasn't aware of the whirlpool in that water near the bluffs that overlooked the river. He got too close, and suddenly he got sucked into that swirling water. Their pastor was in serious trouble. And since everyone was swimming, they didn't immediately see the danger he was in. He'd already gone down twice when he finally managed to get off one yell for help. My father-in-law responded immediately and he went in for the rescue, and he saved his pastor's life that day.

March 20, 2019

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Our son had the privilege of playing on a state championship football team in high school. And that's a really big deal! They were the toast of the school, heroes of the town, for a while, until next year. Some of those heroes came back from college to visit the old alma mater, and you know what? They just weren't a big deal anymore. Some new guys were the ones wearing the jerseys now and getting all the attention. Sorry, guys! Last year's glory - yesterday's news. What do you bet those guys will still be looking for someone to tell about the big game when they're 70 years old?

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

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Bob was one senior who was a tremendous blessing to our ministry. He'd been the kind of volunteer who had been there for every kind of project you could imagine. His whole life-it seems like he's been a warrior for the Lord. But then, he had some illnesses and an accident that slowed him down-even to the point of walking with a cane and honestly looking a little more stooped than usual. We asked him if he could help oversee this important remodeling project at our Headquarters. Before we could finish the tour of the area that needed work, Bob was spouting out ideas about how it could be done. Later I actually saw Bob in the hallway-walking tall, walking fast, without his cane, like a man half his age!

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

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For many years, it was an inspiring book. Then it became a hit Broadway musical. Then it's been made into a movie several times. The story is Victor Hugo's classic, Lés Misérables. One of the many dramas in the book portrays the efforts of this group of valiant young men and women to fight to free their fellow Frenchmen from a tyrannical government. They make their stand against a massive French army at a makeshift wall they have constructed. They call it the "barricade of freedom." They fight bravely, but their cause is threatened by a major problem that develops. They begin to run out of ammunition. Well, this one little boy realizes that their fight for freedom can only continue if they can find more ammunition. So, he risks his own life to crawl across the battle zone, picking up bullets from wounded and dying French soldiers. Because you can't win the battle when you're running out of bullets.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

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My friend Bobby served as a Marine in Vietnam, and he told me something about his experience there that really got my attention. He said his assignment was doing electrical work on airplanes-which is not necessarily a front lines assignment. But there was a war going on all around them. So, when there was enemy activity, every soldier was trained to grab their weapon, take their position, and be prepared to fight. Their bottom line assignment was summed up in four words, "every Marine - a rifle."

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

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I used to tell our kids, "You don't have to go to a party. Carry the party inside you wherever you go!" Our five-year-old grandson never heard that, but I think he got the idea. He could find a way to enjoy himself in just about any situation, with friends or alone, with his toys, or better yet as far as he was concerned, with just like the everyday stuff he found. I remember he and I were in my study, a few rooms away from the living room where his three-year-old brother and his Mommy were. Little brother decided to check out what big brother and I were doing, and big brother had an idea. His brother could be a messenger. So our five-year-old started writing little messages to his mother, which he then rolled up and dispatched his little brother to deliver. Mommy got the idea, and so she would write back an answer to every message. The shuttle went back and forth three times, I think. Big brother then wrote another message, but this time the messenger didn't show up. He had clocked out. So the message never got delivered.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

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"Good morning, Mr. Phelps." If you were a fan of the old school classic TV series, "Mission: Impossible," you would know those words always began a riveting adventure. Jim Phelps was the head of all the Mission Impossible Force before all the big movies, you know. He would listen to this tape, outlining this assignment that seemed, well, impossible. Key word-seemed. And even in more modern times when it's not a tape anymore, and when it's Tom Cruise who's doing Mission: Impossible, it's still sort of the same idea. You begin building a team of specialists, you concoct this elaborate, perfectly-timed plan to do what couldn't be done, and every time they got it done.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

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There's a stretch of the Outer Banks of North Carolina that's known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because hundreds of ships have been lost there over the centuries. So it was there that something called the United States Life-Saving Service was born. They established these white frame buildings called life-saving stations like seven miles apart along the very treacherous parts of the coast. The Life-Saving Service was actually a spawning ground for heroes. In one case, for example, this ship was in distress with four men staying alive by just hanging onto this mast for dear life. Six of the seven men from the closest station went out into a storm that could very well consume them - after they left a verbal will with the man who was left running the station. Twenty-two hours without food or sleep. Well, they finally brought back those four stranded men, and then they collapsed on the beach in exhaustion. It was incredible heroism. I mean, that was the norm for the men of the life-saving stations.