Yesterday, I had kind of a different experience. I took Alexis, Shane and a couple of kids from our church to the bowling alley. Nothing special about that (except we had a really good time!) ... until I stepped outside to get reception on my cell phone to call Greg. I noticed an MP (Military Police) at the end of the road stopping traffic. Before I even had a chance to investigate what was going on, I heard this tremendous sound and looked up to see a Chinook landing in the field right across the street from where I was standing!!! I was trying to leave a message on Greg's cell phone ... but it was so loud I couldn't even hear myself talking and my hair felt like it was going to blow off my head! It was pretty exciting. A crowd was starting to gather outside the bowling alley (including my wide-eyed son) as two Blackhawk helicopters landed beside the Chinook.
Now, why this made such a great impression on me is hard to understand. I mean, I guess it is not every day that those kind of planes land across the street from the family-friendly bowling alley. But I think it has something to do with the fact that this is how my husband traveled for more than a year of his life ... kind of in the same way you and I jump in the car! He never stayed at his "home base" for more than a couple of weeks at a time before he would be off again, flying around Afghanistan to different smaller bases to minister to soldiers. And he had lots of really interesting experiences while flying, including "going down" in a Chinook that had some mechanical problems (thankfully, they landed in the sand, no one was hurt -- not even a scratch) ... flying through tremendous rain and wind storms ... and times when the gunner in the plane had to do his thing in defense of our country and this war against terror.
So, while I watched these massive machines reach the ground, I guess I was just struck with the reality of what continues on in Afghanistan ... and the fact that my husband was a part of it. I was instantly grateful to the Lord for HIS protection over Greg's life. No matter how big and strong those "war planes" are ... GOD is bigger and stronger!
Pretty cool day at the bowling alley, huh??? Made up for the fact that I had to share all of my bowling turns with my 3 year old ... he probably did better than I would have done anyway!
(The pictures were an aftersight ... just to prove what I saw!!! Wish I could have snapped a pic when those big ol' things were still in the air coming down. It was pretty amazing!)
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