by Gary Cremeens

[Editor's note: If you do your figures, you'll notice this article was written the end of March. Gary's point is still fresh.]

Two anniversaries ocurred this week that have had a great impact on my life. Unfortunately, they are not the kind of anniversaries you celebrate, but rather observe and reflect upon.

Monday was the fifth anniversary of the Westside shootings, which hit very close to home for my family. Had we not moved in April of 1997, my daughter Carla would have been in the Westside Middle School building on March 24, 1998. Some of her classmates were among the dead and injured.

Another event in the more distant past saw its 20th anniversary on Tuesday. On March 25, 1983, a bus from the Jonesboro VoTech school was on its way to Conway for state competitions, when it failed to stop at an intersection and ran headlong into the embankment on the other side. The force of the impact flipped the bus over lengthwise --the rear of the bus went over the front, rather than a sideways flip. Nine people were killed, including my wife Karen's favorite teacher from the VoTech. Karen and I had seen and spoken with Lloyd Meharg exactly one week before his death.

Along with that came another startling reality: Had it been two years previous, Karen would have been on that bus, going to that same competition.

I look back on some decisions made following that event, and I am not sure that my being in ministry today was not partly a result of God's getting my attention and showing me, by the death of Karen's friend, that life is uncertain.

In James 4:13-15, we find the following words, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

We need to be reminded that the future is not in our control. We make plans for what we feel our life will be, and in an instant everything is changed -- a tragic accident, a bad diagnosis, a pink slip, a lengthy illness. Since many things are out of our control, we must be mindful that God is still in control, and he can help us with and through whatever happens.

If the Lord wills, we may live a long, healthy life. However, we may not. Regardless of how many years we are blessed with, we are here for a short time, and then our life is over.

What are you doing with your life? What plans are you making? Do the plans center on God? If not, why not?

Gary works with the Center Hill congregation in Paragould, Ark., USA.