"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never
fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations
3:22-23
On September 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell stepped into a Pentagon hallway
when the fireball from the hijacked plane hit him. After recovering from the
initial shock, Birdwell realized he was on fire. "Jesus, I'm coming to see you,"
he remembers praying.
When doctors finally attended to him at the Washington Burn Center, they found
second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of Birdwell's body. To save him,
they performed several skin graft operations.
On September 13, while lying in his bed in the burn center, Laura Bush visited
Brian's room and spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they were
life-long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian's wife, Mel, who had been at
the hospital for about two-and-a-half days. She was dirty, grimy, and wore a
bloodstained shirt. Despite this, Laura gave her a long hug, as if she were a
close family member. Laura then told them that there was "someone" there to see
him.
The President walked in. Standing by Brian's bedside, the President told Colonel
Birdwell that he was very proud of them both and regarded them as heroes. The
President then saluted Brian. Brian slowly began to return the salute, taking
about 15 to 20 seconds to get his hand up to his head because of his bandaged
arms. During all of this, President Bush never moved. He dropped his salute only
when Brian was finished with his.
Birdwell lives now with renewed purpose. "I'm a walking miracle. Christ got me
out of the fire. In him not taking me, that means I have a mission to complete.
He'll tell me what it is in due time."
Our Lord is a compassionate God, one who is with us in our most hurting times.
He is one who knows our pain and one who can deliver us for a purpose. Today in
prayer, thank Christ for His compassion towards you and seek to be faithful to
Him to complete your work in Christ.
"Compassion comes first with Jesus. Do you want to be more like Him? Compassion
comes first with Jesus." - Clark Tanner
God's Word: "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them
and healed their sick." - Matthew 14:14
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN JEREMIAH AND
LAMENTATIONS pkennedy@devotional.com
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