We are all but a vapor....

What can I say? Life is so short and so brief. We should all remember to live EACH and EVERY day as if it is our last. Or someone else's last....

Tonight I received the devastating news that some wonderful men of God passed away. Oh, they weren't well-known or famous, but in our small world of Georgia they were known and loved.

I am a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and our conference President Dave Cress, Vice-President Jim Frost, Assistant to the President Clay Farwell, and Director of Communication Jamie Arnall, along with the pilot of the plane they were flying, died in a crash after take-off from Collegedale, Tennessee this morning, or rather yesterday (Thursday) morning. As I understand, the co-pilot has survived though he is hospitalized in Chattanooga. The story thus far is here.

I am just in shock. I knew Dave Cress, spoke with him a few times in the past, listened to him speak during church functions, and he was just a funny and personable person. More personally, I knew Jim Frost. I knew him before he was Conference Vice-President. When I discovered the SDA Church back in 1998, he was the Pastor of the Gainesville, Georgia SDA Church. He was a funny man, from Scotland originally, I believe. He had such a wonderful accent and such a humorous view of life. He was always smiling. Just a wonderful person.

My family moved down here to Metter, Georgia in 2001, but one day were surprised to learn that he would be speaking at our church in the neighboring town, Statesboro. When we first layed eyes on him, it was like seeing a long-lost family member. He hadn't realized that we had moved from our previous home in Dahlonega, Georgia (because we began attending a new church closer to home as it was being established in Dawsonville, so he last knew of us being at the Dawsonville SDA Church, and we had been able to see each other occasionally there) and he was surprised to see US! His warm and tight hug was so sweet and undescribable. It was like "being home" at our first church again. It was so wonderful to see him again, and miles from his home church. He was a wonderful man of God and just a wonderful human being.

He was the pastor that baptized me back in 1999. He performed Kelley's Dedication service when she was still a baby. He was like family to us. And now he's gone! It's so hard to believe. These are all just words. They don't express the shock, the sadness, the just "I can't believe this is real" feeling that comes over one when the death of a dear friend or family member has died so suddenly. Our churches and all who knew them are feeling really sad right now. Oh, how must his wife feel.....how awful...

I'll write more later....