Pray for Oklahoma State University

Today has been an emotional one. This morning I received a breaking news email from our local CBS station that my beloved Oklahoma State University had yet again lost members of the athletic department in a horrific plane crash but this time in Arkansas instead of Colorado. We lost our OSU Cowgirls Head Coach-Kurt Budke and Assistant Coach Miranda Serna plus a former Oklahoma state senator Olin Branstetter and his wife Paula who were piloting the small plane. It was only back in January that the OSU family remembered the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed ten men connected with the Oklahoma State men's basketball which included players, media personnel, basketball operations, trainers and the two pilots. I will never forget how I felt that cold January evening as the 6:00 p.m. news came on and heard the words. Our favorite sportscaster had also been killed in that crash. It was devastating!

I can't put into words exactly how it feels to have been a part of this wonderful school in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Everyone always has fond feelings of their special school or college experience but there is truly something uniquely special about Stillwater and Oklahoma State University. I noticed it right off on a high school visit back in 1978. I could not believe how everyone on the sidewalks that day would speak to us, stop and ask if we needed assistance, or wave and give us a friendly smile! I thought to myself, "Wow! This is where I want to be!" I was sold from that moment on.

Please pray for all of those involved and who have been touched personally by this tragedy. My heart is heavy tonight. I can't imagine how all those directly affected at O-State feel. Personally, I think right now prayer is the best thing to begin to heal hearts. This article pretty much sums it what a lot of people are thinking.

I am so glad the Church is not a building but its People

Today around 4 p.m. a dear friend called and told me that she had sad news. Our former church buildings were on fire. Our church built a new complex around three years ago. We sold the church and grounds to another local church in our city, New Covenant Methodist Church. The portion that is burning was the original building that my parents first visited when I was around 4 years of age. They joined this church, Henderson Hills Baptist Church, when I was six years old.

It is so sad to see it burning and the many memories going up in flames. The fun in the fellowship hall, the baptism area where my siblings and I were baptized, the Sunday School rooms that we grew our faith in and the hallways that we ran down during youth lock ins in the 70s. It is all going up in flames as I type this post. My heart is sad but it is only temporary. The Church is not in a building but in the hearts of His people. I am so thankful for that but tonight I am also a little sad. My parents were a young married couple with two small children when they joined this church in the mid sixties.

So many memories were flooding my heart and mind as I watched the news coverage. I ache for the youth at New Covenant who just completed a huge refurbishing of the youth area in the church. My heart hurts for the Chinese church that meets there each week in the old sanctuary.

Right now it is raging again and I pray it does not take the old sanctuary with the lime green shag carpet! It was quite popular in 1974! I was a freshman in high school the day they dedicated the building. My grandmother's funeral was held there and our weddings too. Many, many memories that I will cling to in my heart. Spiritual markers that molded and developed my character and faith. Those things will not pass away. For that I am eternally grateful.

Please pray for our sweet friends at New Covenant. I saw some of the youth girls on television and my heart just broke seeing their sadness. Thankfully no one has been injured. In the days ahead they will need our prayers and support.