Forty Seconds

So much has happened in the last several months that it's actually hard to compose it all or even to process it all. The Advent season was a blur in that it was spent in preparation for one event or another ~ the Live Nativity to leaving for Haiti left very little time for much else. Leaving for Haiti on December 28th was cause for confusion. After packing several suitcases we learned that only two were allowed and no more could be purchased either. That left us short on OTC that we planned to take along for clinics. But, it seems God knew that already and while in the country several clinics were rained out. In fact, we left behind a number of suture kits and antibiotics and a plethora of other items to be used at "some future time". They were... in a rescue operation ... days later.

Bringing in 2010 in Haiti was wonderful. Two full days of worship and singing and celebration for God's blessings in 2009 and expected blessings in 2010. The Haitian people have nothing but they sure have hope and faith that makes me feel little in comparison. Though I had some kind of foreshadow with this trip, I was never more glad to have gone. Still, we realized how much God works and how much suffering occurs in that Country while God performs miracle after miracle. Ask me about them sometime. Everyone wants to hear about the trip, but few want to believe the things we see or witness or well.. you know. Anything out of the ordinary makes us a tad uncomfortable and if it's out of the realm of normal, well... God help us in our unbelief!

Coming back was uneventful. So uneventful as to be strange. Five hours without a breakdown in rain! No blocked roads... nothing to prevent us from making our exit flight on time. Ahhh.. one can look back and wonder at all that.

Driving into Port au Prince we were in a traffic jam and stopped right in front of the UN compound gate for several minutes. Two soldiers were bargaining with a Haitian to buy one of his watches. That scene has played out in my mind a hundred times since January 11. We also were stopped for a minute or two in front of a technical school. I saw it on the news a few hours later as rubble, only the sign standing. The airport was in better shape than we had ever seen it! American Airlines had a beautiful portion of the terminal.. new... with air conditioning and no loading on the tarmac. It was super. "was" is operative here. An eye witness told me yesterday he wouldn't dream of entering that terminal now... He stood on the tarmac for 14 hours to get a C130 back to US soil.

When we landed in Miami one of my first orders of business was to call Carol Ann. She's always gone with us on our trips and this year her doctor forbade her to go and when she said she "just might go anyway" Henry and I told her she couldn't go because we wouldn't let her defy her doctor. I wanted her to be a part of our trip, so called her as soon as we hit US soil. She was on her way to Winchester Medical Center. She had found her husband slumped over the woodpile a little while before that. It was 4:12 p.m. I remember looking at my watch.

Again, the flight was uneventful as we flew into Dulles and was met by our dear friend and driver, Walter. We were no time at all getting out of the airport and as soon as we cleared the area, I sent Carol a text, "update?" It was 11:20 p.m. I was not prepared for her return text. Townsend had died ten minutes before. Do you know how many times I have realized how horrible it would have been if Carol Ann had been with us on the trip? God knows the future in so many ways. Life can change in an instant. An instant... A blood vessel bursts....

We got into bed somewhere around 3 a.m. and by noon the next day we were on our way to West Virginia. When we got there Carol was sleeping so I didn't bother her. We just took seats in the living room and watched CNN like everyone else. There was a house full.

Around 5:10 my world stopped for a few moments. Here I was 27.5 hours away from being "there" to learn that my second home had been rocked, literally by a massive earthquake. How many times looking over those mountains from planes and buses and wondered about their formation? How many people did I love that lived just near that epicenter? How many people did I love that lived within 70 miles of it? And here I was, at the home of another loved one already in mourning. A 40 second earthquake. Forty seconds and a city is in ruins. Forty seconds and family is decimated.

It took two days to hear of the status of my family there. Two days of tears and wringing of hands and hundreds of phone calls (or so it seemed). Many called me to make sure we'd gotten home. Others called to see what we had heard and I called many to check and check and check. Emails flew like the wind and hourly texts were sent. I am thankful that all whom I personally knew live. Many of those they personally knew did not. One church fallen, another badly damaged. Homes destroyed.

My next order of business was to see who we could get out. It turned out that four of our family had grabbed passports as they left their collapsing home and we were able to fly them out of Santiago. They spent three weeks with us and have now gone north to a brother's home to try to be able to stay here. They have no place to go... a pregnant mother with two small children. The father will return to Haiti where he can find work (he cannot by law work here) and he will sleep in his truck that was undamaged. He will help where he can and provide for his family if he can. He will try. Others sleep under tarps or have gone to the mountains where safety is a bit more sure... for now.

But what of others. These lives changed in 40 seconds! Carol's life changed in seconds.... our lives can be taken in 40 seconds or less. It put a whole new perspective on life for me. In forty seconds I can be safely here, safely Home in eternity or suffering in eternity. Some of that scenario is still my choice.... the 4o seconds is not. 275,000 people had 40 seconds or less.

Choice... Townsend's choice was Jesus. Others in Haiti made the choice for Jesus also ~ but there were/are those that don't, won't or..... Forty seconds.