Carpentering for the Carpenter

1. Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?

2.Where were you when Paul Henderson scored the goal? (You have to be Canadian to appreciate that one!)

3. Where were you the morning of September 11, 2001?

Answers:
1. I was in grade seven, eating my lunch with fellow classmates in our grade 7-8 calssroom in Sylvan Heights School. Our teacher, a Mr. Lord, came back from the staff room and said: "President Kennedy has been shot." One student asked: "With a gun?" The teacher made fun of his question when all he was doing was trying to come to the reality of something almost too shoching to understand. In our young lives, we'd never yet heard of anyone being assassinated. We spent most of the afternoon lisening to a radio quickly set up in our classroom. Sketchy details were filled in and the official announcement of JFK's death was made.

2. As a hockey-loving Canadian, I have to pass on this one. (But most Canadians know.) I think I was too busy with Bible College. In 1972, I believe, there was an all important Canada-U.S.S.R. hockey series. For most Canadians this was the height of Canada's invovlement in the "cold war." Near the end of the deciding game, Paul Henderson scored the winning goal which has become known as "the goal of the century." Later on Paul Henderson became a Christian and used his fame as a platform to present the gospel.

3. We were on vacation at Ron's in Chetwynd B.C. Colleen and I were sleeping in (naturally!) when Ron's wife came to the door and said we had to come hear what was happening. As the news events disclosed what had happened, I told myself: "This is the end of life in North America as we know it." A few days later we crossed the reopened border into the United States. It was about 10 p.m. just north of Kalispell, Montana. There were no lineups there. The border officials were more thorough than normal and found a packed of pictures from Taiwan in a suitcase. They asked about them and Colleen said: "Oh, they're from our son in Taiwan." We were through the border in 5 minutes. Wherever we went we saw flags, flags , and more flags. A huge one had been strung across the street in the middle of Whitefish, a small community north of Kalispell. In downtown Kalispell, Missoula, or Stevensville, you could not look down a street without seeing at least ten flags.

On our way home, about a week later, we were stopped and I.D.'d by the U.S. border officials as we left the country. Never had that been done before, or since! We overnighted in Radium Hot Springs. Everyone I talked to in the pool was there because their flights home had been cancled, so they were enjoying an extended vacation. There were people from the U. S., Australia, and Germany.

Suzanne, Colleen and I had tickets to a Gaither concert in Calgary the next evening, but it had been cancled.

Last night Colleen and I watched "World Trade Centre." I thought is was an excellent portail of what it was like to be involved in 9-11 as a rescuer, or as a loved one.
It makes me thankful to God, and to the people who watch over us, for the freedom and protection we enjoy. May we not take it for granted.