Urgent prayer requests

Hey again everyone...
By now I'm sure you've seen the news. The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that crosses the Mississippi River between University and Washington has collapsed. It's devestating! I had a scare when this first happened because Mark was headed into the Cities today. Since he stopped working at the Thrivent (it'll always be Lutheran Brotherhood to us)home office in Minneapolis, we rarely have reason to go over that bridge, so I knew chances were that he wasn't on the bridge. Yet, I also knew that he was planning to go work out at his old club which is in that general vacinity, so I had a little cause for worry. My husband is great about carrying his cell phone with him. However, he's TERRIBLE about actually turning the dang thing on!!! So I tried and tried and tried to reach him, but each time got voicemail...until I was getting busy messages because everyone else in the Twin Cities was on their cells, checking to see if loved ones were safe. Mark's Mom called to see if I had heard what happened and I told her that Mark was headed to the Cities and I hadn't heard from him. Then MY Mom called (she lives 3 hours from us) because she had seen the news on CNN. I told her that I hadn't heard from Mark. Of course we all prayed. Hope and I were getting to bed and Mark came home. I just started crying because he was OK. He had been listening to the Brewers game on the radio so had NO idea what had happened. First I hugged him because I was so happy he was OK. Then I wanted to hit him for not having his cell on. Anyway...please say prayers for those involved in this tragedy. It's just aweful. That bridge is the main North and South artery in and out of Minneapolis. There's always the chance that we know someone who was on the bridge. Right now they're saying there are 7 confirmed dead. I'm sure that number will rise dramatically over night. The news here is reporting that rescue workers are pretty much saying it's now turned into a recovery mission. So, so sad.

The other prayer request I have for you is for my sister Alison and her son (my nephew, of course) Andrew. They leave bright and early (I think their plane leaves the Mosinee airport at like 6am...UGH!!) tomorrow morning for their long weekend in New York City. I'm so excited and, frankly, a bit jealous. They asked me if I wanted to go. Of course!! But then reality sank in and I knew I couldn't be away from Hope for that long. So I said no. This is Andrew's graduation gift from Ali and John and it's fabulous. My plan is to take Hope to Italy for her high school graduation...but if we can't afford that, then New York City would be a great alternative. I haven't been there since 1997, so I'm due for a trip back East. Anyway...please pray for safe travel and a safe trip for them. I didn't even give it a second thought until this whole bridge thing tonight. This has been a wake up call for me. I realize that truly none of us knows when tragedy will strike. I take so much for granted. So please pray for my sis and nephew. They are going to have so much fun and I can't wait to see the pictures!! They're staying at a hotel on Broadway!! So, so cool and what a special time for them to spend together before Andrew starts his service in the USAF.

One more thing: although this whole bridge tragedy has made me once again realize how precious life is and that I take too many things for granted, I also know that we can't live our lives in constant fear. I'm sure there might be some who will not ever want to go over a bridge again in their lives. Trust me, when this happened tonight I swore that I'd never go to Minnesota again because the only way to get there from where we live is over a big bridge. But ya know what?? That's where faith comes in. You just live your life the very best you can, striving to be all that God wants you to be, and you just go with the flow. I don't want to live all cocooned up in my house in fear. Will I think about what happened tonight every time I go over a bridge in the future? Probably. But that's life. And there's no guarantee in life.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. And mostly, thanks for the prayers! I'll let you know how things are going.