Sometimes it happens all at once

I believe we get senses sometimes – and I trust they come from the Lord – that life is about to change.
I got one of these Wednesday, Sept. 19, right before my wife checked to see if her own senses were right.
And they were.

(Photo of a subsequent test – not the first.)

We all gathered immediately to pray for the new child, with our minds racing about what this would mean in terms of changes.
One major change came a lot sooner than we planned.
For a few seconds, let’s back up to late spring 2004. At this time, Amanda and I were getting ready to retract our physical ties to Montgomery, Ala., my hometown.
We knew we needed to get a vehicle which would help us in a potential move and we made a trusting decision that we would need a vehicle which could carry a child.
We bought a 2000 Toyota Sienna that became our family vehicle, especially when Jadyn came along less than 18 months later.
At 5:37 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, I got a call from Amanda.
She was panicked and Jadyn was crying.
They’d been in an accident.
I gathered my stuff at work and moved rapidly toward the time clock and out the door. A police cruiser crossed in front of me as the officer headed for the scene.
I continued on my chosen path away from the main traffic arteries, got there soon enough and ran to the van. Yes, I said ran. Yes, at my size.
Yes, I was sore for a couple of days.
Of course, that doesn’t matter.
What did matter is that Jadyn and Amanda were OK overall.
Amanda got a bruised right shoulder and Jadyn received a minor scratch from where her car seat belt caught her.
We took friends’ advice and started shopping immediately for another car seat. We’ve been told you’re not supposed to reuse them after accidents. So, I marked up the old one with a red permanent marker saying that it had been in an accident and not to reuse. A city garbage crewman tossed it on the back of a garbage truck the next day, but as someone told me at the scene, the car seat had done its job.
Indeed it had.
Later the night of the accident, I could be seen yanking, tugging and generally giving a car seat a work-over in Wal-Mart. The lady working the baby section asked if I needed help.
I explained that a car seat spared my child serious injury in a wreck earlier that day and I wanted to make sure the next one we bought would do the same.
She left me to my yanking and tugging.
Later in the week, when we went to get a few things out of the van, Jadyn saw this:

And cried.
I got a sick feeling in my stomach – it was my first time to get a close look at the front too. I also realized this could have been much worse. And given the news that we've got another child on the way, I'm grateful the airbag didn't deploy.
This vehicle served us well, was our first real vehicle together as a family and we’re sorry to see it go.
We’re about to start looking for its replacement and we’re hoping to do it quickly.
Of course, we’re elated at the prospect of another child – praying regularly that he or she remains healthy as she grows – and mentally mapping out the things we’ll need to do to get ready for him or her.
If the last week is any indication, we’re in for quite a ride over the coming months as we head toward the projected due date of around Memorial Day.
We’ll do our best to take every turn in stride – no matter what lies ahead.

9-11 plus six

Today, I looked again at some video and thought about this day six years ago.
The memories and emotions came roaring back.
Some of the things I've come across either by viewing them in some form or thinking about them in my mind are:
The images of family and friends standing quietly behind Gov. George Pataki with fliers bearing their pictures and contact information.
The men and women who decided that jumping was better than burning alive.
The heroes and heroines who fought back on Flight 93 and somehow prevented what was sure to be more death and destruction.
The photo of a taxicab with a hole in its windshield from a light pole the aircraft flying in to the Pentagon knocked down.
I'm still left with the impression that acts like those we experienced on Sept. 11, 2001 can only be met with the sword.
I wish the Iraqi situation was a lot more clear and that an "exit strategy" was easy to achieve. I think we should redefine our goals in Iraq and begin a reasonable draw-down of forces, but in such a way as to not leave the impression that we consider the situation "lost."
Retreat from this fight should never be a motivation for reduction of forces - only that we've achieved a reasonable sense that we've done all we can to leave Iraq better off than we found it and our enemies in disarray and defeat.
We cannot back down from this fight. They've proven what they'll do when they see a moment of weakness.
We must remember this day for the rest of our lives and let it guide our nation's future actions as it relates to protecting its principles and most importantly, its people.