A friend called that morning and said, "You should turn on the TV. An airplane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers." There was no file folder in my heart for what I was about to see. I quickly found a news channel. From that moment on, I didn't turn it off.

My wife and I - recently relocated after years in the New York area, friends with so many who work in Manhattan, occasional visitors to the observation deck atop the Trade Center - watched one horrific event after another unfold before our eyes. And when the towers collapsed in that killer cloud of dust, we couldn't contain the tears. Neither could the TV reporters who, for those gut-wrenching moments, lost their journalist's detachment and melted with all of us into stunned shock and disbelief.

As Hurricane Irene took aim on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I flashed back to an old white frame building there. And to the story I heard there that has followed me ever since.

Our family vacation took us to those beautiful Hatteras beaches - and to the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. That's where I heard about - and saw demonstrated by re-enactors - the heroism of the United States Life-Saving Service.

I keep thinking they're talking about my grandmother storming up the East Coast. But it's a hurricane by the same name. Irene. And I know what that name means - it literally means peace. How ironic. A hurricane named peace.

It wasn't just another day with the family at the beach. The lifeguards at Ocean City, N.J. made everyone get out of the water - fast! I was thinking "Jaws" - so I was very cooperative. Instead, it was all about two children who they had to plunge in and rescue.

Wow, talk about so near and yet so far. Poor Desmond Bishop. He missed what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - to go to the White House and meet the President of the United States!

My children love roller coasters. They didn't get it from me. When my dad took me on the big "thrills and chills" coaster at our city amusement park, I needed counseling for years to come!

Of course, you don't have to buy a ticket these days to get a wild ride. Just invest in the stock market. Talk about ups and downs! And Wall Street's wild rides are only a mirror of a world that seems to be off-the-charts financially. Questions about America's credit rating aren't helping - especially when our future rating may depend on how well Washington budget negotiations go in the next few months. Hang on tight.

I thought I might have to live to 100 to see the widening of a major highway in our area ever finished. It took years to finally get it done, but now the trip north is a breeze.

I know why it took so long. Mountains. Yup, they were trying to put a road where there were hills and mountains. Those don't move easily - after all, they've been there for a long time. But they did move. Because even a mountain was no match for explosives like dynamite.

Friends, the 2012 Summer of Hope is underway at Warrior Leadership Summit. From the hundreds of Native American young people here, a few dozen will head out in a week to begin this year's On Eagles' Wings trip, traveling across the United States, sharing God's Word and the hope of Jesus to other young Native people.

Here are Ron's thoughts from the end of last year's OEW trip - be praying that we will see another amazing harvest this year. Thank you for your prayer and support.

This summer is looking more and more exciting all the time. Just think, you'll be able to drink your Coke out of a can with surfboards and flip-flops all over it. When your allergies attack your nose, you can get your Kleenex out of a box that looks like a waffle cone. (They're hoping you won't miss last summer's watermelon wedge box.) And when the Cookie Monster in you needs to be fed, your Chips Ahoy will have - fasten your seat belt - red, white and blue chips in them...and come from a package covered with picnic-ready checkered tablecloths.

I just can't get this little four-year-old girl out of my mind. Even as I'm writing this, her story hits my heart again.

She and her family only had moments to prepare before that F5 tornado hit Joplin, Missouri last month. Mom and Dad battled fierce winds as they shepherded everyone into the safest corner of the house. Well, not quite everyone. Somehow their little four-year-old got separated from them - and the rushing winds made looking for her impossible. They huddled together as the tornado made a direct hit on their house, leveling it almost instantly.