Ten Years

Many churches today, April 19th, 2009, celebrated Earth Day. That's great! I think it's awesome. Today at my church we commemorated the 10 years it has been since Columbine. It's funny. I don't have to say anything else and you know what I'm talking about. I don't have to mention that it was a tragic day or that innocent children were killed. I don't have to mention the impact it had on the way we live our lives or how we send our children to school. You KNOW what Columbine means. But do you know the victories that came out of that one tragic day in history? 

Patrick Ireland spoke at our church today. He was the young man known as 'the boy in the window'. He spoke at our church because that was the church of his family at the time. His life, after that one day, was forever changed and yet filled with quiet and assured victory. He went on to graduate magna-cum-laude from Colorado State University. He  is now  married and a field director for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Denver. He told us this morning that each day is a day that needs to be lived in victory and not defeat. 

It's not just Patrick who lives this way. Charlie Simmons. My buddy! Charlie is one of the most amazing men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was at Columbine that day and now hates the smell of freshly cut grass. They had just mowed the lawn that morning and the scent hung in the air along with the fear and terror. But, Charlie goes through life not wallowing in the events of Columbine, but he lives a life filled with vigor and a spark that is contagious. He serves those around him and even those in foreign lands. It's a good way to live. 

There are others such as Gretchen. A woman with the heart of an angel and a voice to match, a math teacher who took her students under her wings and led them to safety. 

Steve said in his sermon today that heaven and hell met that day. I believe that. And I'm pretty sure that heaven won.