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February 7, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
MAYDAY!, by Lisa Mikitarian
Did you hear about the fourteen-year-old, Laura Montero, whose appendix
burst while she and her family vacationed on a cruise ship off the Baja
Coast? Because the ship was hundreds of miles from help, the crew sent
out a distress call looking for the nearest surgical unit. The USS
Ronald Reagan, which was about 500 miles away, answered the call.
Training exercises for the carrier with a 6000-person capacity came to
a halt. At 2.5 million dollars per each operational day, the ship
steamed 250 miles through the night to get within helicopter transport
range. Laura was airlifted on board and doctors performed the
life-saving surgery.
What a story! The first thing I thought was those are going to be some
hefty medical bills! No, I'm kidding. The first thing I thought was
this: maybe it isn't so difficult to understand, after all, the lengths
Christ went through to save each of us, individually, all by ourselves.
Sorry for the redundancy, but it can be a hard concept to understand --
our individual worth to the God who knows billions of human hearts.
I imagined how Laura felt upon awakening from the operation. Maybe she
experienced astonishment at so many, at such expense, acting to save
her life. Perhaps she felt sheepish: who am I to be the recipient of
such lavish thought and attention and resources? In her position, I
would feel those things. But, looking at it from the outside, what
happened seems natural.
Though the sailors aboard the naval carrier didn't know Laura, I would
venture saying that saving her life gave them a joy which they will
never forget, and will more than likely remain a highlight in their
lives. In fact, the recognition of the value of one life and the
willingness to take Herculean effort to preserve it is what makes this
whole event so noteworthy.
As followers of Jesus, we know the value of a single human being and
it's gratifying to see that concept unfold in "real" life among people
who may or may not be Christian, but nevertheless are created in His
image. Who among us in the Heartlight family, with the ability to help,
would not have answered the distress call to save Laura? Can we
possibly imagine our Lord, who knows us to the hairs on our heads,
would do less for us?
Laura's family was grateful for the speed of the USS Reagan's response
and for everything they did. Her mother told reporters: "It was beyond
words. It was like the whole world just lifted off my shoulders." This
is how many people describe the moment they come to Christ. As for me,
my goal is to redirect astonishment at His graciousness and my
sheepishness at not deserving it, to live with increased thankfulness.
There is a final connection this story brings to me. Our Compassion
Child, Satish, has expressed wonder and thankfulness of our sponsorship
of him. It humbles us. Helping him is relatively simple -- we don't
have to change the course of ships and spend millions. Satish reminds
us of the impact small gestures can make. There are many who reach
across wide waters to answer the distress calls of children in abject
poverty. Who among us with the ability to help, wouldn't answer?
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"It was beyond words."
Join us in "reaching across the distance" to help! Learn more about
sponsoring a child with Compassion by checking out:
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm
Find out more about the Uganda effort for children at the Compassion &
Uganda info page and follow along next week in Heartlight as we
document this historic trip.
Phil Ware, President of Heartlight.org, is going to Uganda with
Compassion along with a number of other bloggers and Internet types.
Please be part of the prayer team that prays for this trip. You can
sign up by going to the bottom of response list and leaving your name
and a prayer by going to this web address:
http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/?p=194#prayerteam
For more on the Uganda trip with Compassion International, check out
Phil's blog information:
http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/?page_id=193
Thanks!
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(c) 2008 Lisa Mikitarian <miks@shentel.net>
RELATED LINKS:
* Compassion at Christmas
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200712/20071211_compassionxmas.html
* What the Kids Pick Up
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200604/20060420_kidspickup.html
* 10 Things Dads Can Do to Look Like a Hero to the Their Kids
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200110/20011002_10things.html
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200802/20080207_mayday.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
easy-to-sing songs about God's faithfulness.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
ministry. Thanks SO MUCH for your help!
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