A Volcano and A Tropical Storm

My husband, in case you don't know (if ANYONE reads this), is on a mission trip in Guatemala...San Lucas, to be exact. He was due to arrive home tomorrow night. However, he called this morning and said, "Have you had anyone call you or email you?"...."Um, noooo...why?" Then he says these words to me:

"We are trapped between an erupting volcano and a tropical storm."

"WHAT!!!??"

Everything was fine, apparently this is not unusual for the area they are in. The volcano was not spewing hot lava, as one like me might envision. It was just emitting the icky ash that covers everything, and it had coated the airport and grounded all flights. The storm was dumping buckets of water (24 inches!) and washing out roads, houses, causing mudslides, etc. So not your run-of-the-mill Kansas thunder storm.

Anyway, they are going tomorrow by boat and bus to San Salvador, El Salvador where they will stay overnight and then catch a flight out to Houston on Tuesday. He should be home Tuesday evening sometime.

This has been quite an experience for me. I have no idea what the political or milital situation is in the places he is in, but I am assuming they are benign. I have not heard of any uprising or anything in Guatemala. But it did get me thinking about several things, especially with Memorial Day coming. Yesterday I had a friend from church over whose husband is currently serving in Afghanistan. She was telling me how and when they get to talk (1 or 2 times a week) and he tells her where he is and what they are doing there (she is in the service as well, both military police). All this to say this: I have never thought about what it would be like for my husband to go off to another country for an indefinite amount of time and worry for his safety and protection. I have taken for granted that our lifestyle, while different from many others, is fairly without risk and danger. John is no longer in the military, but even when he was I didn't really think about what it would be like for him to be out of the country and possibly in danger. Until now.

Yesterday when he called, for one SPLIT second, my stomach came up into my throat and a feeling of dread came over me. It was FEAR. In one instantaneous fleeting moment, a thought popped into my head that I would never want to face for real. That thought was, "If something happens to him, how will I tell the kids?" Call me morbid, but like I said it was a fleeting thought and I know for a FACT it is not real. It was Satan trying to undermine my faith in my God who is much more powerful than volcanoes and storms and mudslides. It did make me realize, however, how precious life is and how we should thank God for every moment we have with the ones we love.

I am thankful today that my husband will be home Tuesday evening, here in his chair, surrounded by the kids and me, like it should be. And I am thankful that God has gone before him and made a safe path of travel. The kids and I can't wait to see him and have him here with us.