Friday, March 25, 2011

LEST WE FORGET








"No greater love than this...that a man would lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13


Today, March 25, 2011, marks the one year anniversary of the death of three heroes...Misty Brogdon, Doug Phillips and Cindy Parker who lost their lives when their Hospital Wing helicopter crashed just after dawn while on a return flight from a Jackson, Tennessee hospital. 
To honor their memory and to pay tribute to them, I am posting a repeat of the blog I wrote in their memory last year.  May we never forget the sacrifice they made and let us lift up their families today as we remember them in our prayers. 


IN MEMORY

Death comes to all men at some point in time. Yet when it comes suddenly and unexpectedly, it shocks us and brings us to our knees. Moreover, when it comes to those who have put their lives on the line in the service of others, it shatters us in a totally different way.

So it has been to the Hospital Wing family of Memphis, Tennessee this week as three of their comrades lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Thursday in Brownsville, Tennessee.

Three lives dedicated to helping others, to SAVING lives.

Most of us come and go through our daily routine with little thought of those who are laying their lives on the line for us throughout the day. Policemen, firemen, paramedics and those who fly in their "aerial intensive care units". Yet when we are in trouble, when our lives are threatened by violence, by fire, by a life-threatening accident, they are the ones we want to see and see immediately!! We do not think of the danger they themselves may be putting themselves in to rescue us or help us. It is their job. They signed up for this. But oh how grateful we are that they did !!!!!!!

I have a special place in my heart for the Hospital Wing because my son-in-love works serves as a flight paramedic with them. It was his dream job and he was so thrilled when God opened the door for him to go to work there. You HAVE to love it to do this kind of work. You have to love helping others.

Doug Phillips, Misty Brogdon and Cindy Parker also loved their jobs and they gave their lives in the service of others.. They were just returning from delivering a patient to the hospital in Jackson, Tennessee when their chopper went down in bad weather.

How do you say thanks for a life given to help others? How do express to their grieving families that they did not die in vain? They were heroes. They did what they did not because they HAD to but because they CHOSE to, knowing that every time they stepped into that helicopter there was the potential for danger. They did not dwell on that fact but it was always there, in the back of their minds, yet the greater good was to be served...helping those in need.

As we remember these three today, let us be ever mindful of all of those who serve us daily.  In memory and in honor of Doug, Misty and Cindy, would you take the time today to bless a medic, a policeman or a fireman.  Tell them how much you appreciate their dedication and their service.  In some small way, I think that would be a blessing to the memory of these we honor today.



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