8 Apr, 2008
Bus crash: Waking to disaster
A tour bus filled with high school band students from Pelican Rapids, Minn., flipped at Albertville in the northwest metro area early Saturday, killing one student and leaving dozens injured.
The students were on an all-night trip home from a four-day cultural tour of Chicago when the bus crashed at 5:45 a.m. on Interstate 94, killing 10th-grader Jessica Weishair. Two students were in critical condition Saturday night.
Rescuers spent hours prying students out of the wreckage. Some who were pinned under the bus or thrown from it were taken by ambulance and helicopter to nearby hospitals. The westbound lanes of I-94 in that area were closed all morning.
Some of the students had arms and legs pinned under the bus when firefighters arrived, Peterson said. The bus was carrying 43 students, four chaperones, a tour director and the driver.
Mike Boen of the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office said that Weishair had recently turned 16, had started driving and had just been hired at the Cenex gas station in Pelican Rapids.
Her parents, Stacy and Kim Weishair, run a hair salon in Pelican Rapids and have two other children. "This is just a travesty," Boen said.
In a statement, the Weishairs expressed gratitude "for the love, concern and respect that has been offered to us in the sudden death of our precious Jessica." They added: "Even though we are struggling with our grief, we hold in our thoughts those who have been injured and all the students, staff, chaperones and their families who were involved in the band trip."
photos & story courtesy startribune.com, 4/6/08
Life is but a breath
Our days are numbered...
Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT)
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about the length of our lives?
It sure seems that David, the writer, was going through an emotional time in his life when he wrote this psalm. Only God knew what was really going on inside David's heart, but we do know this:
- God's Spirit was directing King David to write these holy scriptures for God's glory and for the benefit of all future readers.
- David lived a life of both mountain top and deep valley experiences. He knew first hand the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. God brought him to the place where he understood the temporary in light of the eternal - the earthly in comparison to the heavenly.
Compared to eternity, life is short no matter how long we live. It was especially short for Jessica, the 16-year old student who died suddenly in the bus accident in Minnesota.
You're either a student or someone who is pretty young at heart. If you died tomorrow, others would say your life was too short. When an 85-year-old person dies, his or her life doesn't seem short, but compared to eternity, even their life was but a breath.
If you knew that your 'numbered days' would end in six months, what would you do?
If there is something important you want to do, don't wait. If there is someone who needs to hear that you forgive them or love them, don't put it off. If there is a change that is needed in your spiritual life, trust God now. If there is someone you need to talk to about Jesus, do you really want to wait for a better day?
Life is but a breath - do what is really important in light of eternity!
- Thank God for having the perfect plan for your life, no matter how long or short it may be from an earthly human perspective. Ask His Spirit to give you God's eternal perspective every day. Ask His Spirit to give you the discipline you need to do what is really important.
- Memorize Psalm 39:4-5 as a reminder to see life from God's perspective.
- For one month, make a "to do" list at the beginning of every week. Then prioritize it as you ask God to show you what is really important.
How can we connect today's story and God's Story scripture and our story to others?
- Pray for comfort for the family and friends of Jessica, the girl killed in the accident. Pray for the other students who survived, but are injured. Pray for God to use this story to connect people to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Do you have someone in your 'storysphere' who is close to understanding that the greatest part of God's Story is that He sent Jesus to be our Savior? Invite them over to talk. Tell your friend how today's story got you thinking about how life is but a breath. Ask your friend to share his or her perspective on life after death. Share today's scripture found in Psalm 39:4-5 and what it means to you.
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